Apartment Therapy is holding The Homies 2008 - their competition for best blogs of the year right now. And one of my all-time favorite blogs desire to inspire, done in part by fellow Ottawa blogger Kim (and her six cats), is in the running! Go vote!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Friday, December 26, 2008
french fashion blogs
I'm not sure how I first began tripping over these fashion blogs....You know how it is, one click leads to another...But regardless of how, the fact that I did has led me to click my way through a whole handful of france-based fashion blogs and left me rather intrigued and inspired (inspired to improve my wardrobe!). These girls seem to spend a lot of time directing creative (some are more creative than others - cherry blossom girl is my favorite) fashion shoots that they themselves model fantastic outfits in. Some of the fashionistas are definitely friends because they show up in each others' blogs (not to mention the fact that the blog styles themselves are all very similar). Anyways, they're definitely worth a look - the clothes and accessories and SHOES are really, really fun. These girls look like they have wardrobes that go on forever!
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Small Touches for the Holidays
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You don't have to break the bank or take 2 weeks to decorate for the holidays. I think I would rather have a few things in each of my rooms (even the bathroom!) Then one or two rooms over done. Thats me tho, how about you? Do you go all out? I love these pictures because they all have a festive feeling without being over the top.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Listen.Friday, December 5, 2008
Something Different for Christmas
Traditions are what the holidays are all about but sometimes its fun to think outside the box. How about a herb tree or a twig card holder? A door decoration not in the usual round shape. Just a note, I will be blogging more next week. I was out of town for the Thanksgivng holiday so look for more post next week!
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Love at first sight...
...indeed! This fantastic house tour is exactly what I needed to cheer up my day. Love, love, love this space and what they've done with it. I need to start thrift shopping again - one of the downsides of living car-less in a city that has few downtown thrift shops.PS - no cat stairs to show off yet. Life is too busy. I might not have one free DIY day until after Christmas - yikes!
Monday, November 24, 2008
cat stairs
I've been seriously concerned about my cats' lack of exercise ever since I moved into my new apartment - especially since I think they're looking a little chubbier these days. At the last place, they had way more room to run around and a staircase to run up and down. So, on that note, I've been inspired by this AT post to start a new DIY project this weekend so my cats keep busy. Fun! Will post photos when I'm done :)
wedding ideas
I don't typically get excitable over being involved in wedding plans - or thinking about how I'm going to plan my own wedding one day (presuming one will happen ;). I'm just not one of those girls who are drawn to wedding magazines and who relish all the responsibilities that come with being a bridesmaid (although I always enjoy partying it up at weddings!).
But when I saw this wedding post on design*sponge, I knew I had to bookmark it. I LOVE so many of the decorating ideas used - including the use of tiny wooden stumps as table markers (see photo above). So great! Creative and earthy and classy all wound up in one big party - love it!
Friday, November 21, 2008
Home Offices
One of my favorite rooms to really put a lot of thought into is my home office. With spaces being scarce, it takes some thought. Mine is in my main living area, taking up one small wall. I think the main thing you have to consider is what you actual use your home office for, and then go from there. Sometimes keeping the laptop by your bedside is all you will really need. Do you have a dedicated space for a home office? Mine is used primarily to pay bills, keep all the "papers" organized and surf the net.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
commuter bikes
After being inspired by a biking-obsessed friend last year, I've taken to biking everywhere - work, errands, parties - in everything from flip flops and shorts to high heels and formal dresses - and I love it! LOVE it! It's fast, it's fun, it's free, it's exercise, it's independant, it's environmentally friendly - it just feels GREAT. I bought a second-hand mountain bike from a bike rental company after their summer season at half price last year. It's definitely gotten the job done, but I've been meaning to upgrade it a bit with accessories that will enhance the commuting experience - more lights, fenders to protect my clothes from puddle splashes, and a basket for carrying things in. So I was stoked to see this recommended commuter bike recomendation list (click through to see all seven bikes) from TreeHugger today. I don't think I'll be buying a new bike anytime soon - and theft possibility might keep me from ever buying a really pretty bike, but it sure is fun to look and get ideas...I'm also hoping to gear myself up in order to continue riding my bike through the winter - in other words, through a lot of snow. I've come across a few articles here (see links at the bottom for additional winter biking tips if you're interested), but want to keep looking for more helpful ideas. Feel free to forward me anything you might know of. I've been hearing about bike wheel spikes to keep your bike from slipping in icy weather...I need to look into that.
I'm looking forward to the challenge though!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
cyberoptix tie lab
Okay, these are seriously rad ties.
I donned a hideous, Christmas-patterned, jingle-bell playing tie last night for a cheesy Christmas sweater party and it kinda made me want to start wearing ties to work - you know, in a more femine, classy, non-christmas-jingle-playing kind of way. Which led me a tie search on etsy which led me to these seriously rad ties. Seriously.
I like ALL of them. And I want to pick one out for myself and for every savvy, fashionable male friend of mine for Christmas gifts. SO cool...
Saturday, November 15, 2008
chunky necklaces by vintage existence
Chunky, shiny, necklaces seem to be the jewellry of choice this holiday season. I was shopping with a friend yesterday and we saw big, expensive, brooch-necklaces all over the place that caused us to muse about collecting our grandmother's brooches and creating our own. We'll see if that actually happens, but it would certainly be the economic way of wearing that's as pricey as the pieces seen in the mall and in department stores.
On that note, I thought I'd browse through etsy to see if I could see anything similar, less expensive and homemade. And look what I found! By Vintage Existence...
Saturday, November 8, 2008
memory lane
I've been photo-documenting my living spaces for years now (although not all in a before/ after kind of way) so I thought I'd post photos from a few of my past dwelling places - at least the ones that I've lived in since I've had a digital camera (I'll need a scanner to showcase my pre-digital days). I wish I'd taken photos of ALL the places I've ever lived - the spot my roomates and I (and the rest of the university-aged folks in town) dubbed 'the crack shack' would make for a particularly amusing blog post, but I'm pretty sure the shack's mice population held my camera hostage for those 5 months of my life...that, or I accidently buried it in the vegetable garden I attempted to grow next to the back parking lot's septic tank...
By mentally collecting all my homes in my head (which is kind of like trying to count off all the guys I've been on dates with - you always feel like you've forgotten a few), I think my post-parental dwelling places count is at 13 so far. In each one, I've taken great pleasure in re-decorating the space to make it my own.
At what I think was home #7, welcome to my very first, very tiny studio apartment that was two things: my first apartment sans roomates and my first apartment in downtown Vancouver (suburban beach town girl moves to the big city):
Friday, November 7, 2008
Word Number Play
I love a whimsical touch in decor. Try a lighthearted fun touch. I have lots of "words" all over my house. Just took a huge wall by my front door and turned it into a giant chalkboard. Have fun when you decorated. Your kids will love it too..
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Good Light
No matter how big or small, if a room has large windows, it will probably look great. Nothing beats LOTS of natural light. I'm not a huge fan of the color gray but the gray in the first picture is very pretty with all the light coming in the window.
