Snow Balls and Cotton Balls

This week the city I live in has had record breaking, bone chilling temperatures. We have even had three days of snow; which for a city who usually only gets about 7 days of snow a year...this is HUGE! While most of the city is panicking and complaining, I am loving every minute of it. The city is a true winter wonderland.

Now lets move from snow balls to cotton balls lol. For as long as I can remember I have been storing my cotton balls, eye pads and Q-tips under my bathroom sink. Half of them end up getting spilled all over the place and the bags and boxes take up so much unnecessary room.


I recently decided to put them in my extra jars I had lying around. I bought these jars at a second hand shop for 50 cents. They worked out perfectly because now I can display them on my bathroom counter for easy access. If there is one thing I have learned, its that you can never have enough mason jars!

Bare with me as I fiddle with the functions on my new camera. The lighting was kind of off when I took these pictures but I am sure I will eventually get the hang of it.

On another (more sad) note...I had to go with my very brave Mom today to say goodbye to one of her beloved kitty cats. Minnie was such a beautiful, sweet little kitty who will be terribly missed. It is so amazing how pets can enter our lives and take such a huge piece of our hearts. It was definitely Minnies time to go but that never makes the good bye any easier. Enjoy your time with your little creatures while they are here and give yours an extra pet tonight from my Mom and me :) Xox

Camera...check!

For those who have been following me since the beginning, you may remember me posting about my wish list. The item on the top of that wish list was an SLR digital camera like my sisters. I have a basic point and shoot but I found it just wasn't doing the trick for my furniture and clothing posts. I have been drooling over the Canon Rebel T1i for sooo long.

Yesterday my boyfriend took me on a little outing to go pick one out! My birthday isn't for another 11 days but it snowed on Friday for the first time this year so he thought this would be the perfect weekend for my early Birthday present. I can now check it off my list :)

As you can tell from the picture above, I am super excited! I have read the manual front to back and watched some You Tube tutorials so I should have it figured out in no time. I am looking forward to the quality of the pictures in my blog posts getting so much better. If you have a Canon Rebel, I would love any tips or pointers.

Thank you so much to the most amazing boyfriend a girl could ask for. You are the man I used to close my eyes and day dream about finding one day. Who knew that reality could turn out even better than dreams.

Tis The Season

True story...As I was driving home from work today I realized I had a huge smile on my face. Lol. After getting over the shock of how dorky I probably looked, I realized WHY I was smiling. It was dark at 5pm, the downtown streets are now decorated for Christmas and there is the odd house with lights up.

I am so excited that Christmas is coming! The lights are up, snow is in the forecast for Saturday, Bloggers have Christmas music playing on their blogs and Starbucks has their Holiday flavours out...its official! Oh, and speaking of Starbucks, I tried their Peppermint Mocha today for the first time. It was a fail... :( I really didn't like the minty flavour. So looks like its Eggnog Lattes for me!

So as I sit here in my cozy (yet slightly itchy) sweater, listening to my Christmas music I thought I would share some Christmas inspiration pictures with you. I am thinking of keeping with a white/silver/gold/turquoise theme this year.

I have to credit Country Living with almost all of these amazing photos. I only hope I can make my home look as festive and warm as these ones.

I love the simplicity of the decorations in these pictures. They are all still very Christmasy without being too in your face.

Some of my all time favourite Christmas songs are Mariah Carey- All I want for Christmas, Faith Hill- Where are you Christmas, Band Aid- Do they know its Christmas, U2- Christmas, Christmas Eve Sarajevo and John Lennon & Yoko Ono- Happy Christmas...just to name a few.

I hope everyone is as happy about the holiday season as me!

A Friendly Affair

Hello my lovely readers! I had the most wonderful weekend. Although I didn't do anything too crazy exciting, I got all my errands done, my housecleaning off my 'to do' list and spent some QT with my friends and boyfriend.

This is the outfit I wore to dinner with three of my wonderful friends. I found the sweater at a thrift shop called Win which stands for 'Women In Need'. It is such a great thrift shop because all of the money goes directly towards assisting women escaping from abusive relationships. My belt and bracelets are also from there :)

I always completely enjoy my time with my girlfriends. And one of my favourite ladies is expecting!! She is so tiny and beautiful and has a teeny little belly. I have recently discovered that I am pretty much obsessed with her little tummy lol....no, seriously!

I hope you all had as relaxing and satisfying of a weekend as I did.

Outfit: Sweater-vintage, Necklace/watch-Forever 21, Belt-vintage, Jeans-wax brand from Sirens, Shoes-Forever 21

We Will Never Forget

Today is a very special day. It is a day where we take the time to remember and thank those who so selflessly served in the military; many of whom made the ultimate sacrifice.

My Grandpa Cliff served in World War II. For as long as I can remember I have had the privilege of listening to my Grandpa's war stories and looking at all his war time photos. Some of his stories are of pure bravery, some are just plain heart breaking but all of them leave me with a feeling of gratitude. Unfortunately the war took two of his brothers but their memories have lived on through my Grandpa and his family. My Grandpa is my real life hero.

I don't have words to describe the feelings I have for my Grandpa and his service. It is a strange mixture of pride, humility, gratitude and sadness. I know I will never quite understand what my Grandpa and his fellow soldiers went through but I sure am grateful to have the opportunity to try.

It was during the war, in England, that my Grandpa met my Grandma. My Grandpa once told me that the moment he laid eyes on my Grandma, he knew she was going to be his wife. They have now been married for over 64 years and are wonderfully cute together. My Grandmother is also such an amazing person who gave up so much during the war; including her first husband Dennis who was killed in action.

I had the absolute pleasure of going for lunch with my Grandparents today. My Grandpa looked so wonderful all decorated in all of his medals. It really warmed my heart when a complete stranger walked up and shook my Grandpa's hand and thanked him for all that he did. The best part was the little twinkle in both my Grandparents eyes as that man walked away. They made eye contact with one another and gave each other a little smile. Only they truly understand the sacrifices.

As my Grandpa was explaining his medals to me, he pulled the chain (in the picture above) out of his pocket. He told me that this was his good luck charm he carried with him in his pocket throughout the war. I looked at it and realized it was a picture of my Grandma. I had to pretend I was looking at it very closely to hide my tears.

I love you Grandma and Grandpa and your stories will be passed down by all of your children, Grandchildren, our children and forever.

This is a picture of my other hero. This is Nathaniel my brother-in-law. Nathaniel recently got back from serving over 8 months in Afghanistan. I remember the day he left along with every day of those eight months as if they were yesterday. The worry and heart ache you carry for a loved one overseas is difficult to describe. I can't even begin to imagine what it was like for my sister and all the other wives, husbands and parents of service people overseas.

This is Nathaniel serving in Afghanistan; he is the second from the left. Nathaniel is one of the strongest, most loving people I know. I have had the privilege of hearing his eye opening war stories as well. He returned from this war with a true appreciation for the little things in life and understands more than anyone the importance of family.

This is a picture from when Nathaniel arrived home safely. He was looking at my sister for the first time in a VERY long time. It is so neat that in both my Grandpa's and Nathaniel's case, they both had strong, amazing women behind them, keeping them going in times of despair.

My Grandpa Dave also spent his entire career in the Canadian army, retiring as a Chief Warrant Officer and my Uncle Dave served in the Gulf war. The strength, dedication and courage a person must have to serve is unimaginable. These are all my hero's, along with the service men and women that I have never had the pleasure of meeting.

Thank you for all that you do and all that you have sacrificed. We will never forget.

What's Style To You?...The Show!

If you have been following my blog, you know that I have a love for all things fashion! I have had an interest in fashion for as long as I can remember. While I was a student in College and University (for 5 long years) I had to learn ways to fulfill my fashion desires while living on a limited budget...enter thrift shops ;) I quickly discovered that fashion doesn't (always) have to cost you an arm and a leg; there are some amazing pieces to be found while thrifting.


So I am sure you are wondering what this post is all about...well a few weeks ago one of my besties told me about a friend of hers who was filming a pilot for a show about fashion titled "What's Style To You?". It is all about updating a persons wardrobe according to what their concept of style is and incorporating elements of their personality into their new look. The host of the show is the unbelievably fashionable Blake. And there are three panelists whose positions are to critique the contestants wardrobe and give shopping/fashion tips. They liked the fact that I have an interest in vintage, lower cost clothing so I interviewed for the position of a panelist and got the spot!!

I wore the above outfit for the last day of filming. Being part of the filming was one of the most exciting, amazing experiences of my life. Everyone was so talented and kind. Special thanks to Blake and Jeff who worked so hard :) I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed that the pilot gets picked up!

A new hair style is also part of the show. Check out the link below for a short video on the filming of the hair makeover.
lab salon: Makeover pilot films at Lab

Outfit: Jacob faux leather flapper dress, vintage blazer, vintage belt, vintage bracelet's and no name watch, super opaque HUE tights, Aldo shoes.

A New Life

A lovely client wanted to find a use for this cute little table she had. Unfortunately, the outdated look just didn't fit with her (amazing) style. She had been patiently waiting for my schedule to clear in order to give it a new life!

She liked the original hardware but wanted it a creamy white colour with some slight distressing.

I mixed the colour myself using a semi-gloss white and a dark creme colour. The wood was so smooth to begin with so it actually required minimal sanding.

I lightly distressed the majority of it, going a little heavier where it would naturally be distressed. I forgot to take a picture but I lined the drawer with some beautiful wall paper.

I can't wait to see some after pictures now that it has been given some new life :)

Happy Belated Halloween...

I love blogging! Especially during Halloween :) This is the first year that I have been in blog land during this time of year. It is SO much fun seeing all of the great, hilarious costume ideas out there; you all are so creative. Sorry about the picture quality...they were taken from a cell phone.

Can anyone guess what my boyfriend and I went as this year? I had a couple people ask if I was a secretary lol. My step-Mom's Mom...so I guess that would make her my Step-Grandma was kind enough to make muscly arms for Popeye. He emptied out a can of spinach (yuck) and used it as his cup for the evening lol.

My costume was clearly really easy to throw together. I had everything except for the red cardigan which I bought from a thrift shop. I actually love it so I will be wearing it again I am sure. I bought this canned black spray for my hair. I was so scared to use it because it said not to use on thin, dyed hair. That pretty much describes my hair but it actually turned out great and washed out easily.

I hope you all had a wonderful, happy Halloween. Keep the costume pictures coming :)