backyard addition....

As I tried desperately to get my wound up child to go to bed tonight, Aubrey worked away on our newest addition to the house in our backyard. In the dark. Being bitten by mosquitos. We're trying to have it ready for the weekend for when Oscar has a few of his little friends over for some fun - Aubrey definitely earned a "Daddy of the Year" award for this. I'll reveal more next week after I've moved it around the yard in the search for the perfect spot. :) Now I'm going to go crash after trying to keep up with my three year old. ;) xo

three years old...

Oscar turns three today! Yay!
Here was the first post introducing our little man to the blog, and here is a series of posts that include my sweetheart. :)

West Elm Preview

I was invited to attend the West Elm media preview last week to see what's new in the store. I adore this store. I feel like everyone in the store is friends, and have a soft spot because I was invited to take part in this event in 2011. Here are some shots of items I loved during my walk through...

I just really loved the typography and how fun these glasses were.

I should have really picked up this honey jar (above), I've been coveting it for a year. But we don't use a lot of honey - but I still can't stop loving the design of it.

I actually got giddy when I saw that they had a HUGE collection of succulents in the store. I've been obsessed with making a terrarium and West Elm has everything you need to make one. As in dirt, stones, plants and obviously pretty stylish vessels. I may have also felt like I won the lottery when they gave me the following terrarium to take home...
 

Not an awesome picture but it's a selfie of me and my terrarium. :) It actually ended up staying at my Mom's (I was still living with her at the time of the event) and I thought she'd like it so it's living with her. But I'll be heading back to the store to get some more items to make my own for my house. Maybe one of these? 

I think I saw in an article once that if you're a blogger you need to have either a Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree or an array of succulents so I figure I've got both almost covered now. ;) Are you into the succulents?

Baker's Twine - Buy 1, Get 1 Free

Like Baker's Twine? I'm obsessed. My new favourite colour is black - it goes perfectly with kraft wrapping paper. I thought I'd post about a sale going on in my shop for this week only - when you buy 1 roll of twine, you can pick a second roll, free. Buy two rolls, you get an additional two rolls free ... and so on, and so on. Anyhow, this won't happen again anytime soon so I thought I'd post here because it is such a fun promotion. Click here to read more about the sale. xo Lindsay

Milk Crate Planter and a Save Your Weekend Graco Paint Sprayer Giveaway!

 

 

I found this milk crate at a garage sale last year.  It was filthy, really, really filthy!!  But I scrubbed and scrubbed it and got it presentable looking. 

 

 

Last weekend we were in Sandwich, Illinois for a wedding.  We were able to steal a little time before the ceremony and do some shopping.  We saw these great old boxes at The Sandwich Antique Mart and loved the dark color.

 

 

 

 

 So we decided to stain this one using Natural Stain.

 

 

So that the dirt and plants wouldn't fall out, I lined the bottom with two layers of burlap.  I filled the box with Miracle Gro Potting Mix and planted away.  I put it on my front porch and love it!

Now on to the Giveaway!



 

Graco is going to give me a paint sprayer to give away to one of my readers. What a great giveaway!

 

 

The giveaway is for the Graco TrueCoat Plus II Paint Sprayer

 

 

 



 

Did you know that applying paint with a paint sprayer is up to 10x faster than brushing and up to 4x faster than rolling?

 

There are no messy trays or rollers.  Setting up a paint sprayer takes only minutes.  Cleanup is fast and easy too!

 

Your smooth, flawless project lasts longer and looks great. Graco is the brand the professionals pick—U.S. painting contractors prefer Graco 7 to 1 over the nearest competitive brand, according to the Frost & Sullivan Paint Contractors Choice Award for Overall Best Brands.

 

 The Graco TrueCoat Plus II Paint Sprayer:

 • For small projects that require 1-2 gallons

• Sprays a variety of materials such as stain, acrylic, enamels, oil-based primers and latex

• No thinning required—simply pour your material into the cup

• Available at your nearest home improvement retailer

 

 

Ok, so here's how you enter:  You can enter four times--one time for each item below.  Be sure to come back and leave a separate comment for each one.

 ***Jessica is the winner of the Graco Paint Sprayer.***
Thank you to everyone who entered. 
Congratulations Jessica!

1. You must be a follower of my blog.
2. Follow Graco Paint Sprayers on Twitter @GracoPaintSpray 
3. Tweet about an upcoming weekend project or completed project using #SaveYourWeekend. 
4. "Like"  Graco Paint Sprayers on Facebook

 

I will be choosing a winner via Random Number Generator on Saturday, June 1, 2013.

 

 

Thank you for your visit!  And good luck with the Giveaway!

 

Pam

 

 

I am linking to the following parties:

 

 

happy friday

Nothing much to end this week but I had to post this video that my brother played for me, that had us in tears laughing. So basically the background is a husband recorded his wife, who was drunk, telling a joke. He then did an animation to her (drunken) story telling. It makes me laugh so much. Another video (that has some bad language so if you're at work careful) is this video - I also love Will Sasso. I have a childish sense of humor. ;) xo Linds

tiling the washroom

Tile is going in. :) For the shower I chose a really huge porcelain tile that looks like marble but doesn't have the upkeep. I'm in love with them. They definitely make the shower feel much more modern and really super clean. I love the reduction of grout lines compared to what we had before.

I would have liked to continue the same huge  tile on the floor, but I was worried about such large tiles being slippery. So we ended up going with hexagon tiles. I'm not totally sure it is the right choice - but the washroom is so small that I don't think it's that big of a deal. It's proving to take awhile to do the tile as Aubrey is doing it on his days off. But we're getting closer!

a quick trip before coming home

I'm back home! But before I did the official move back, we did a quick trip to the cottage for the long weekend. Three cars full of adults, one (soon to be) three year old and a dog = the best weekend ever.

The weekend obviously included some antiquing. Or as Aubrey says "looking at old stuff." Aubrey got out of having to accompany me to antique stores as my brother is like me and enjoys the hunt of trying to finding treasures. (See this post on some of my favourite spots in cottage country) I spotted that awesome spindle bed, and although I have no place to put it in our house I ended up buying it because it was ridiculously well priced and I always regretted passing this one up in 2011. Plus, since we have a shed - I now have a place to store it. I'm thinking it would be gorgeous painted a green? I also spotted that HUGE green glass jar and sent Debra a picture as I remembered that she had blogged about liking similar jars. We got rid of an old favorite chair that was on its last legs - but before it went to the dump each family member sat in it and my brother took a picture. It made for a series of hilarious shots.

Back to the house - the bathroom is continuing to be tiled - Aubrey found the larger tiles to be slightly more difficult than the small subway tiles but he is now on a roll. I'll post some updates on the bathroom tomorrow!

xo Linds

Ps., Can you spot the moon in the top photo?

lazy spring days...

I'm still at my Mom's house and I'm having a blast. I'm feeling so relaxed. Having a set of hands around to help with Oscar is the nicest treat. Whether it is my Mom, Brother, Sister, soon to be Sister in Law, or Aubrey who comes up at night to help, I'm not short of someone to lend a hand or just be a playmate for the little guy. I also adore having the company of family - there have been a lot of laughs and wedding talk as we get closer to my brother's wedding next September.

My Mom has a pool and Oscar and I have been swimming daily. My Mom has taken Oscar out on a few occasions to do some grocery shopping and encouraged me to just go for a walk and get a coffee - solo. Moments like that are really, really appreciated. I'm a little sad to move home because the support, and the fun that we're having will be greatly missed. Ok, all of that being said,  I need to clarify that I'm a 15-20 minute drive from my Mom's house so I shouldn't be overly dramatic about moving home because I see my family all the time. :)

In other news (*there isn't much news happening here lately) Mom and I went to HomeSense today and I quickly peeked at their kids art section to see what was new and I did a little happy dance (as I tend to do) when I saw that my Spring/Summer collection was on the shelves. A lot of my art is inspired by Oscar or sayings I say to Oscar - so I sometimes want to buy them all to put in his room. But I have to refrain from that as I have zero wall space left for art. Oscar excitedly exclaimed "See Mommy's art!?", which made my heart swell.

So back to the reason why I've camped out at my Mom's house --- our bathroom reno. The bathroom is at the tiling stage - although we had hoped that I would move back to a finished washroom, I'm going to move back next week even though it's not totally done. I'm in vacation mode at my Mom's --- and unfortunately I think it's time I got back to reality. (Booooo)

Last night I went to a Summer Preview at West Elm, had dinner with Debra, which I'll show you some pictures of next week. Anyhow, that's really all that has been happening. Oh, and maybe a lot of this...

(A lot of teaching Oscar that we have to be nice to Andrew. Yes. The cat's name is Andrew)

Chatelaine's 85th Anniversary at CityLine

Last Tuesday I had the pleasure of being invited to a special taping of Cityline here in Toronto - a taping for Chatelaine Magazine's 85th anniversary. (Insert freak out moment) I know a lot of my readers are based in the US, so I'll explain the significance of this occasion -

Chatelaine is Canada's #1 Magazine and with the addition of Jane Franscico as Editor in Chief recently it has gone through an amazing revamp. In addition there has been the addition of Emma, one of my favourite bloggers to the team as their Home Editor (Yay!)

I grew up with both Chatelaine, and CityLine as a kid - Chatelaine was always around the house as my Mom read it (I used to flip through it as a child) and CityLine I watched religiously as a teen - it's where I fell in love with Home Decor and DIY's watching Steven Sabados and of course Fashion Fridays were a favourite.

Both CityLine and Chateline have gone through transformations - so a little bit of nostalgia, but because of their continued updates, they continue to speak to me as a young adult, young Mom, and professional. So to be invited to an event where these two Canadian institutions were combining - was pretty awesome moment.



Ceri Marsh from The Sweet Potato Chronicles and Jane Francisco, Editor in Chief of Chatelaine

I got to sit in the back row with a few other media like Ceri Marsh and Taylor Kaye. I saw on twitter that Jen was actually one of the audience members and got giddy for her, knowing that the show was jam packed with giveaways.

Giveaways? Oh yes. Ok, can I explain my envy that this was one....

Every audience member got TWO round trip tickets anywhere Porter Airlines Flies. GET OUT. I looooove Porter - I flew them for the first time when I went to New York for the Gift Show and LOVED them. I actually said to my Mom that I'd consider taking Oscar on a plane as long as it was via Porter because of the low stress and comfortable accommodation they have. So I was super jealous of all the audience members.

The show was jam packed with giveaways for everyone... A gorgeous "Chatelaine Extraordinaire diamond stackable ring" by The Right Hand Gal -

There was also a set of 4 Royal Doulton Pop in for Drinks Collection Champagne Flutes, and oh my goodness THIS Roots Bag. I was dying in the back row knowing everyone was getting one, and may have squealed with delight when I was given one at the end of the show too. I LOVE it. Read more about the bag here.

Seriously, it's SO CHIC. It's so, so pretty.

So you too can take part - Chatelaine is having 85 days of giveaways over on their website and you can take part in entering to win. YAY! But I'm also going to give away five Chatelaine Issues to readers. I know it's not a major giveaway but I'm personally going to buy you some magazines and ship them to you. US, Canada, Switzerland - anyone can enter, I'll ship you a magazine. Just comment below and tell me what your favourite magazine is. (I'm actually interested to know!) I know a lot of us have a few favourites, so tell me what you love to read. Contest ends Monday, May 20th at midnight.

xoxo Linds

Ps., The CityLine episode aired this morning - If I'm too late for you to catch it on your TV (which I may be) you can catch the episode online here!

Links you may like:
Episode Video, Chatelaine 85th Anniversary Online Celebration,

Featured as one of the Best Home Improvement Blogs!

I was thrilled to be contacted by Jason at Totally Home Improvement to let me know that he featured my little blog as one of the Best Home Improvement blogs!

 

Thanks so much Jason!

 

 

I'm honored to be listed among so many talented folks!

 

Pam

out of the mouth of babes....

"Look! An Elephant Truck!" - Oscar, 2.5 years old

How to choose a bathtub

Our bathtub is in! Yay! It is a great feeling when a renovation turns from the demolition process to the "rebuilding" stage - this is when things start to take shape. This post is on the entire process of choosing a bathtub. So if you're going to do a bathroom renovation and have limited space like we do - then the rest of the post may be of interest to you.

Read more »

Niagara on the Lake

Aubrey and I attended the wedding of a good friend at the Pillar and Post Spa this past Saturday. The wedding was absolutely spectacular ......


It was a welcomed break from the renovation for Aubrey. It actually was a family adventure.... Since Oscar hasn't been left overnight before, my Mom got a room at the Spa with us and watched Oscar all night so we could enjoy ourselves. The next day we headed to the falls before heading home. If you're looking for a getaway outside of Toronto, Niagara on the Lake is a destination Aubrey and I love and the Pillar and Post Inn is one of our favourite places to stay.

Anyways, back to dirt and drywall..... ;)

Simple Closet Organization and a Winner of the Ramsign Giveaway

 

I used to have my purses stuck up on a shelf in my closet.  Each time I went in there, that shelf just looked messy!

So this is what it looked like before...

 

 

And now this is what it looks like.

 

 

I had my husband add this dowel and now the purses hang nicely.  The straps are a little long on these, so I had to  wrap them around the hangers, but what a nice difference.

I think I'm going to try hanging my boots from hangers on this rod too...

 

 

 

 

Thank you to all of those who entered my Ramsign giveaway.  Using Random Number Generator, it chose #4.  HeatherF1 is the lucky winner!  Congratulations Heather!

 

Thanks so much for your visit.

 

Pam

bathroom reno pictures

Sorry for the quiet. With the exception of checking work e-mails once a day to make sure I can help customers, I'm not drawn to the computer very much while living with my family. There is less of a feeling of the need to work while here and it feels slightly like a little vacation. I know the feeling isn't mutual for Aubrey - as he's in the thick of the renovation.

I've yet to see the progress of the reno in person, but get photos sent to me via e-mail. The boys got the new tub in place (top photo) and bumped out the bathroom wall to create a nook for the new vanity - giving us more floor space in our very tiny washroom. Tomorrow the drywall guys come and things start being put back together. We're a long way away from completion but perhaps inching closer to when it won't be super dirty and Oscar and I can move home.

Anyhow, I do love some good photos of rooms that are torn down to the studs. :)