A good deal

Put your hands up if you like a good deal? Me, me, me. I do. I do.

I love to come up with really innovative ways to spend my money. Especially when it comes to decorating my house. I guess I'm one of those people who see's a piece of art or decoration and says "I can do that. Why should I pay top dollar for it." Well that's me and even though I have the best intentions of doing it myself the idea gets lost in my head and usually never resurfaces.

Well...

That's why when I saw this really cool mirror at Pier 1, for a fraction of the original price, I had to buy it. The only caveat was a few pieces needed to be fixed. But like me, I said to myself " I can fix it."

So far a year has gone by and notta. I have it sitting in my dinning room so that I can be reminded every day to get on it. Sadly, that's not working.

I guess my question is, why do I procrastinate? Just do it already so I can enjoy the piece on my wall every time I get ready to leave the house.

I'm thinking tomorrow. I can do this. I can get it done. Stained and hung before the days done. I have to. I just have to.

Stay tuned for the final piece.

Where do ideas come from?

As a creative, my mind is always thinking. Thinking of what the next big idea is or even the most simplest thoughts, what's for dinner, and what I should do with the kids today? Yahdah, yahdah, yahdah. I don't know about you, I can only say for myself, but I am a busy lady. Every minute is consumed with something so the only real time that I get to myself is, well... the washroom. No one can bother me there. The door is shut, locked and I'm left alone to my own thoughts. No one to interrupt my thought process. So, for me I do my best thinking in the ladies room. And because of this, this lead me to another thought. Why not be literal about it.

I pulled out the iPad and did a search for light bulb decals. Came across these really cool incandescent bulb decals from Blik. Feel in love right away. Placed my order and within a couple of days my decals arrived. Put them up and here we go. For every guest that uses my restroom will now be forced to come up with some sort of an idea.

It may not be the most ideal place to put decals but why not? Why not have fun. It's a great conversation starter.

Where do you do your best thinking? And are you willing to share that space with everyone?

What's red and has wings?

While I realize this post comes a little late, I still feel the need to share. This past Halloween my oldest son told me that he wanted to be a RED AIRPLANE. Ok. No problem. Well... except there was a problem, I couldn't find a red airplane costume anywhere. However, I did find images of red airplane costumes on google. One of which was made by Pottery Barn, USA. So I tried to track it down. Found a few on eBay. Wicked right? No. Try they were sizes 7-8 yrs of age and it was last years stock. I found no luck and Halloween was fast approaching.

Because I am always thinking something, I decided to take on a big project; make my son's Halloween costume. How hard could it be? Right? Well, considering I've never made a costume, yet alone any piece of garment before I figured meh what do I have to loose? Aside from my son having no Halloween costume at all. :-/

I enlisted my mother, who is a sewing genius, and we headed off to the fabric store.

We decided on felt and fleece. Figured it would keep him warm if we had a cold Halloween night. It had to be RED so most of our fabric was RED. But we added a few other fun colours for the small details. We measured him up and attempted to make the pattern. Which I might add was a nightmare. Buy a pattern and make something from it is easy, for the most part. Making a pattern and sewing it and hoping it will fit, is another thing. At last we figured it out. It took us a while and a little help but we managed.

In the end, not bad for a couple of rookies. It was hard work and I am truly thankful I have a Mother who is a genius when it comes to sewing. Logan loved it and wore it to daycare and all of Hallows eve.

He had an amazing Halloween, what more can a mother ask for. :-) Except maybe for a decent picture of the little guy.

A surprise visit!

About three weeks ago, I thought that it would be a great idea if my older brother Paul and I took a trip out to New Brunswick to see our little brother Nick for a surprise visit. I called Paul that same very night, he thought it was a wicked idea too but he didn't know when we should go - I thought the sooner the better.

To be quite honest I was missing my little brother, we got to see him over the Christmas Holidays but it just wasn't enough time.

So... with that in mind I started to check out flight times and prices. Called my brother Paul the next day and gave him a few dates and options. Before you knew it we had already booked our flight and hotel room and were set to fly out in three weeks time.

Meanwhile, as this was being planned, our brother Nick had no clue what was up. We wanted to make sure that we were able to spend time with him considering we were only going to be there for a weekend. So, I got in touch with his girlfriend, Virg. She was amazing! She was able to get Nick off of work on Saturday and Sunday and keep a huge secret that she was dying to tell.

The three weeks came up fast. Feb 3rd was finally here. Paul and I had never been so excited to travel and hang out with one another. To be honest, I can't recall when us siblings ever got to hang out exclusively... got to be at least over a decade, for sure. But what I can say is that we brought the best out of each other. 

And we're off...

Paul and I waiting to board the plane.

On the plane. Ready to take off.

About to land in Moncton, New Brunswick.

After we landed in Moncton, New Brunswick I thought to myself that this is probably the smallest airport that I've ever been in. Only three gates and one security check. Very unusual considering I'm used to traveling to major cities with bigger airports. Virg came and picked us up. We packed the car and were off to the hotel to drop off our stuff.

We stayed in The Hampton Inn by Hilton. When we got there we were bumped to a Whirlpool suite with only one California king size bed. For couples this would've of been a great bump, but for a brother and sister - yah not so much. None the less, it was a very nice room. Super clean and modern. Too bad we never got to use the Whirlpool.

After we checked in we made our way to Main street. Got something to eat and headed over to the Keg for Drinks. The Keg is where my little brother works. We thought that it would be a great idea to wait for him to finish his shift and then surprise the shit out of him.

Needless to say, he was. He was so shocked he didn't even know what to say, think or do. Which is rare for him.

Nick just seeing us for the first time.

A super happy bro.

Paul, Nick and Virg.

The three of us. Paul, I think at this point, was up for 29 hrs +. He just came off the night shift before leaving.

The next day we headed out to the slopes. We traveled to Wentworth ski hill in Nova Scotia. Paul and I were excited to see two provinces in one weekend. Total score! Nick, Virg and I snowboarded and Paul put on skis. Thank goodness Nick and Virg know what they are doing because without their help, Paul and I wouldn't be landing 180s and 360s. NOT. But we were doing jumps, landing some and falling a lot with others.

Entering Nova Scotia

Really cool artwork inside the Chalet.

In line waiting for the lift.

Grabbing lunch.

Getting ready to head back to Moncton, NB. Needless to say, it was a wicked, fun filled day and I'd do it again in a heart beat.

Sunday was a great day to chill, considering every inch of our body was sore. Must of been all those jumps Paul and I landed. Well... didn't land. lol. We spent the day hanging out with our little brother. (Just thinking about him makes me miss him even more and wishing he was just around the corner so I can chill with him for an extra 10 more minutes. But that's just not reality.)

In the end, Paul and I were so happy that we hopped on a plane and got to spend the weekend with our brother Nick. Some really good bonding time. We hope that we can do it again this summer, but with the whole family. Can anyone say "road trip".

On the plane coming back home. Bitter sweet. Miss ya buddy. We'll see you soon. xo.

Take control

Why is it so hard to control every aspect of our lives? Our kids, our house hold, work, weight, the list goes on and on. And should we treat life like a game of strategy? Make one move that effects, potentially, it all.

I often think that.

And sometimes I think it's all about balance and positive energy. If we project positive energy towards something that we would like to conquer or achieve the chances are we will be able to reach that goal.

I know for me trying to control my children is a huge deal and is something that I work on, very hard, everyday. It is not easy and it is probably that hardest task that has ever been given to me. We think children are complicated but really, they're simple. If we could only learn from them I think we as adults would be less stressed out and more carefree. As for me, I have to realize that it's not about controlling my children; I need to teach them.

When it comes to your life you are able to control it. You are able to create your own destiny. Life will fall into its own and everything will find its place. Remember that when you find yourself in an unlikely situation. Ask yourself how you got there and what you can do to make it a better place.

One of the best pieces of advice I got from an unlikely source was "Go with the universe and not against it." This simple quote comes in handy when I find myself in situations that I can't control. In return it makes the situation less stressful and me in a better frame of mind. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow.

Take control of your life. Who knows where it just might take you.

Mind drifting

Do you ever find yourself zoning out into your own thoughts? Especially, when you're in a conversation with someone? Well, I found myself in that zone today. To be honest I can't even remember what I was thinking about, I just remember my mind wondering from one thought to the next. Did the person across from me realize that I was nodding my head and saying uh huh and oh reallys, even though I had only heard a word or two? K, maybe it was a few more words then that. Half way through the conversation I found myself realizing that I wasn't listening and I should be, because I actually did care what this person was saying. Is this "mind-drifting" another way of multi-tasking? Mind-tasking? How is it that our minds can focus on more than one thing at a time? The human body never fails to amuse me. I'm always learning something new about us human beings. This "mind-drifting" really has me thinking. Lots of unanswered questions. I think I might do some more research on this matter just to find out if this is a common thing that occurs to people and if so, why. Does this sort of "mind-drifting" happens to you? Do share.

I'm thinking it's time for the beach! Even though the winter days are very mild I still feel there is a need for some vitamin D. A few thoughts are going through my mind though. Where? When? And do we bring the kids?

I pitched the idea to my husband and he's down with it. I guess he too was feeling a little low on Vitamin D. :-) But where should we go? I was thinking Cuba, Veradero because we've been there before and absolutely loved it and it's reasonably priced too. Or we could go to The Dominican, Punta Cana, where neither of us have been before.

Do we chose the place that we know we will like or take the chance and enjoy the white sandy beaches in The Dominican?

Any recommendations?

Punta Cana Beach

Veradero Beach

Decorating on a budget

One would think that being on mat leave means having to only take care of your new born. While this thought is true, I still find myself taking on many little projects. As of late I'm really into redecorating and I'm constantly thinking how I can make my space more inspirational. When one is at home a lot it's hard not to want to change the same four walls that you're constantly looking at.

Being on mat leave meant that I had to decorate on a budget. I set my budget to $1,200 and started hunting. I found myself going to many garage sales, shopping the clearance section at Homesense and making frequent trips to Ikea and West Elm. Not to mention my endless nights searching Kijiji and Craigslist either.

First I started with the little things, like picture frames, lamps, accessories, and other small items, since they were the least expensive. I really needed a new couch and arm chair, but I wasn't going to settle for second hand - so I sold off my leather couches. In return, this helped me increase my budget. Now I was able to afford a decent Ikea couch that was kid and dog friendly (machine washable).

I couldn't stop thinking of the final outcome. My mind raced day after day until every little detail was taken care of. In the end, I'm about 98% done. Still need a few things to complete it. But over all, I'm soooooo happy with the way it turned out.

Here are a few of my favs that transformed my space.

My owl and protector at night. This was a splurge at $200. I absolutely fell in love with it.

Two stools I found at a garage sale. $4 for both. 

 

 

This is what I turned it into. Designer fabric for $5.50/ per yard. In total this stool cost me $7.50

How the stool lives in my new space. The bird decals I got at Home Depot for $25. Ikea storage bins $6.50

Side chair is from Homesense - clearance plus additional discount for scratched leg. $125

Reused a bed side table by painting it all white and adding new hardware.
Table lamp $25 at Homesense on clearance.

 

First blog entry

Well... I'm thinking of what I should write for my first blog entry. Can't say I've ever done this before so I'm not really sure what to write. Hmmm... Ok first thing that comes to mind. I've been taking pictures of my three years artwork in hopes that I will turn it into a published book. He loves to paint, draw, colour, put stickers on and then take stickers off. So why not document it? This way, when he gets older, he just might appreciate it. Has anyone else done such a thing? Any suggestions? Some of his work is really inspiring. Who knows, maybe he'll fall into mommies footsteps.

Using Red. His favourite colour.

How to paint in lines.

This one is my fave. I can't pin point why. It's as if something is taking over whatever is in the past.