Leave it to Indigo to be the only place I can get excited thinking about Fall right now. We had a chance to visit with them and have a peek at their new fall merchandise getting ready to land in store this July. As usual, it was packed with whimsy, charm and gorgeous objects. Lots and lots of stuff that would make excellent gifts for the people you love or for yourself!
There are quite a few items I spotted that will make their way into my home. Check out a sneak peek of a few of our favorite things, more to come later on in the season! Can’t wait to get my hands on a couple of these babies…
Lots and lots of everyday objects with fantastic words or sayings on them. Scripted stuff continues to be popular and surrounds you with words that make you feel good. Loving that clutch.
I recently read an advance copy of The Dolphin Way by Dr. Shimi Kang and spent some time mulling over my own parenting style. In this book, Dr. Kang explores the Tiger Parenting model, which hit mainstream consciousness recently with the publication of Amy Chua’s controversial 2011 book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. She shows, with statistics and real life example, how this style leaves both parents and children exhausted, stressed, and burned out.
Dr. Kang draws on her own experience as a Harvard-trained child and youth psychiatrist, mother of 3, and daughter of immigrant parents to create an alternative model she calls the Dolphin Way. In contrast to the rigid, demanding, and controlling style of the Tiger parent, Dolphins guide their children in a firm but flexible way, and focus on creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration. This creates the balanced, successful, and happy individuals the world needs. She provides “prescriptions” for shifting away from some of the negative patterns and incorporating the Dolphin approach.
I get excited about lighting. Really, I have a fetish for lamps and am really in love with all things mid century, so when we were invited to preview the launch of a new collaboration between Mobilia and Montreal design collective Lambert & Fils, we jumped.
Entitled CLIFF, the collection blends clean lines, industrial influences and traditional materials with a mid century spin, all at a very accessible price point. Made entirely in Canada, the line is a perfect blend of old and new, with a timeless sensibility that will look spectacular in any room. Johannes Kau, marketing and buyer for Mobilia talks about the partnership with Lambert and Fils, and the inspiration behind these gorgeous pieces:
Johannes Kau talks lamps, design and collaboration with Montreal based Lambert & Fils
Check out the pieces here and make sure to check them out live in store. I may have to share a pic of them live in my bedroom! Available this month.
Who doesn’t love peanut butter and chocolate? They go together like bacon and eggs. Like wine and cheese. Like gin and tonic. Like champagne and me. You get the picture.
This weekend we had a little celebration for my baby’s 16th.
(My baby…is…16…heart palpitations…deep breaths…)
It was a mini-birthday thing. Just me, her, and the hubby and a little cozy movie night together with good food and a peanut butter pie. She was away on a class trip to Washington for her actual birthday, so we wanted to do a little something fun when she got back. We watched Serendipity. So it was John Cusack and pie.
Here’s a little more inspiration for you. The weather’s getting warmer, Easter is coming up, and it’s a great time to add a few spring touches to your home.
Now, I have to be really clear – these are not my pictures! We got our hands on some fun stock images and wanted to share them with you. Normally, we always take our own photography, but these are an exception. I wasn’t clear with the egg post the other day, so I just wanted to let you know. I hope I can takes pics this good one day – I’m working on it!
I am a bona fide fish lover. I could eat fish everyday. Without blinking. Happily.
The one kicker when it comes to fish is that it needs to be fresh and cooked properly. There is no wiggle room here. What that usually means is that it is pretty difficult to find a great plate of fish grub in this city. Reasonable prices? Huge portions? Impossible. Until now.
This is a fun post. Nothing deep. We’re just talking about eggs. Getting you in the mood for Easter, which is finally around the corner. And after all the arctic temperatures and ice storms we’ve put up with this year, cute, coloured eggs are exactly what we want to be talking about.
Just a little spring inspiration is all.
What do you do with all those cartons of eggs you and your kids decorate each year? I usually put them in a pretty bowl somewhere, and that’s that. But this year I’m going to spread them around a little. Pretty up the house. Add a little Easter here and there.
Here are some pics to get you thinking. This egg is only decorated with a red ribbon – easy, non?
This is what’s been simmering on my stove in the last week. Anyone who knows me knows I love soup. I’ve always got a bowl of something ready to heat up at a moments notice, kind of like a big warm hug.
We’ve joined up with a fab group of bloggers to bring you a $300 #CleanSweepCash giveaway. What could you do with 300 dollars?
Here are some ideas:
1. Buy 1 Prada wedge sandal. Either left foot or right foot, your choice.
2. Get a cleaning lady for 3 days so that you can sit on your couch and catch up on Mad Men while eating truffles and yelling things like, “Cleaner! More sparkling!”
3. Get your kids a new tablet and load it with apps, which should buy you about 14 hours of complete silence.
4. Buy 75.19 happy meals at McDonals, which will make you very happy because that is exactly 75.19 meals that you don’t have to cook.
5. Go to the bank and get 300 dollar bills. Come home and throw them up in the air while dancing around as they fall. This will make you feel like a really rich person. If you are Canadian, you will be throwing 300 loonies in the air, which won’t quite have the same effect and could actually be hazardous.
I’m sure you can come up with even better ideas of your own.
And here’s an extra added bonus: those are actually AMERICAN dollars. For you Canadian readers, that’s a whole lot more dollars. Kind of like a gift with purchase.
Nothing would make me happier than to see you win. So promise me you’ll enter. I’ll be crossing my fingers for you.
And icing on the cake is that you’ll get to meet some great new bloggers. These are all amazing ladies with fab blogs I’m sure you’ll love to check out. Many of them run their own giveaways too, so be sure to visit.
Winter is finally winding down and its time to do some Spring Cleaning and Sweeping. We are feeling very energized and want to motivate you. DownshiftingPRO and a group of Canadian Bloggers want to help you celebrate
Contest Rules: To enter, just use the Giveaway Tools form above. In order to win, you must have a Paypal account (no other form of payment will be issued). If it doesn’t load after a minute or so, refresh your browser. Contest is void where prohibited. Only one IP address per household is eligible to win. This giveaway is open to World Wide to Paypal account holders, aged 13 and older. Giveaway ends April 30, 2014 at 11:59pm ET. Winner will have 48 hours to claim their prize otherwise a new winner will be chosen. No exceptions to this rule. . Good luck!
Here’s the before, just to give you a little context although I will say I was a little shy to share. It’s pretty bad.
There really doesn’t seem to be any need to elaborate except to re-iterate our current closet set-up was really uninspired. In dire need of a little pick-me-up. Hurting for a spring fling. You get the point.
