Kantha Throws

I spotted this gorgeous kantha throw on pinterest.

I followed the link and discovered a great little Canadian based company called dignify that sells one of a kind kantha throws and other goods.  Love their products.  Love their story and what they stand for.  Think I might have to do a little shopping on their site one of these days!

Their kantha throws are gorgeous.  I already have two that I purchased from West Elm a while back and love them.  

This one lives in the living room... Emerson is starting to enjoy snuggling up under the "pretty" blanket.  I don't blame her... I love pretty blankets too!

And the other more "boyish" looking one lives on the end of Caleb's bed.

If I would have heard about this company a few months ago-- I would have done my shopping there!  If you're looking for a unique item for your home (or are possibly scouting out a potential mother's day present for yourself) I'd check out dignify...

The Good & The Bad

The weekend had a whole lotta good moments and some not so good ones too.

Started off the weekend by picking up Caleb at school to have Eme start puking all over the car and herself.  Seriously now... all this vomit talk on the blog is making me queasy-- but it seems to never ever stop around here.  The kids have been tag teaming this sickness thing for far too long. 

Thank goodness for my superior immune system-- everyone around these parts is sick sick sick EXCEPT for me.  It's a good thing too... because I'm sick and tired of being pregnant-- does that count?

(I'd like to interrupt this blog post to thank Starbucks for getting on the drive thru bandwagon.  Sure I had to drive half way across town get to a Starbucks with a drive thru-- but not having to get of my car?  So worth it.)

Anyways...

Friday started off not so hot, but Saturday was awesome.  My friends decided to declare Saturday my 30th birthday-- all over again-- so I'd have a chance to really celebrate! Caleb was quite confused.  He was quite uncomfortable with me deciding to have ANOTHER birthday so soon after my REAL one... but I convinced him that it was totally legit and very necessary-- although I kind of suspected that he might wake up and decide to declare Sunday his birthday just for the heck of it.  If mom can do it... why can't he?

So Saturday began with a sleep in thanks to my awesome hubby, coffee and pedicures at the spa with a good friend, and a lunch date!  All child free!!  In the evening I met up with a bunch of my fantastic friends for a girls night at the Roasted Grape-- such yummy food... and so much fun to see all my favourite ladies-- thanks everyone for a good time and for celebrating the big 3-0 with me!

This morning I took a minute to admire my beautiful, freshly painted toes... and then I pulled on my wool socks (not without a struggle and a few breathless moments) and uggs.

Eme continued to be sick all of Saturday but seemed to perk up on Sunday morning.  So... Doug and I left the kids with the grandparents and took off to Vancouver for the afternoon.  We were continuing on with the belated birthday celebration.  I spent a good amount of time shopping at West Elm and brought home this beautiful lamp for my living room.  Thanks for the birthday gift babe!

Unfortunately we came home to a sick and miserable Eme who was having uncontrollable coughing fits and was  throwing up... again.  She was pretty dehydrated and lethargic so I decided to take her in to the ER.

And that was Sunday night... me and my sick girly.

The doctor felt like it wasn't too serious-- she had somehow managed to come down with yet another form of the flu AND a cold in the same weekend.  Lucky girl.  The combo of the two had left her weak and dehydrated so I needed to stick around until we could get her to keep down some fluid.  They gave her some anti-nausea medication and then I started forcing her to drink pedialyte and apple juice.  And wouldn't you know, after 2 cups of apple juice Eme was jumping on the bed, singing, dancing, chattering non-stop and saying over and over "that's silly!!"

Today she's keeping her cookies down (thanks to another dose of the anti-nausea medication) and is acting very much like herself.  I'm taking her into to our doctor's office later on this week to discuss how she's been sick SO much over the past few weeks-- the ER doctor suggested getting her in for blood work to see if there's anything going on.  That should be fun.

And that was what the weekend held around here!  A lot of fun... and a trip to the ER.  Here's to hoping that my next trip to the hospital will involve involve me become "un-pregnant" and the birth of a baby... :)

Cause then I plan to eat a whole lot of chocolate!  This veggie omelette I'm currently eating for lunch is starting to not be all that appealing...

My latest finds...

Post Christmas shopping... always fun.  Since I'm not shopping for new clothes these days (for obvious reasons) I made a stop at Home Sense to check out what they've got to offer in the home department.  I've got a gift card burning a hole in my pocket... so I was excited to check things out!

Here are some of my favourite finds...

Love these woven rugs-- they were $49.99 each-- seriously!

The colours in these throw rugs were really awesome too... perfect to add a punch of colour to your home during the dreary winter months...

They had a great collection of fun and eclectic side tables-- loving this one.

And this one too!  I'm considering for the baby's room... could be a nice contrast sitting beside my all white chair... hmmm...

Did you know Home Sense had Dwell Studio items for sale?  I didn't!  I found a few throw pillows...

And also Dwell Studio baby bedding and storage baskets for clearance/discounted prices in the kids section.  They had pink for girls...

.... And some cute blue/grey bedding for baby boys.  So fun!

Anyhow... Home Sense... I will be back!

For Your Information...

I went with the red ones...

they feel a little fall-ish... don't you think?

Time for Toms

It's officially time for some new Toms.  I bought the Ash Canvas ones a long time ago and wore them out.  Seriously... they smelled... badly... so badly they were un-redeemable.  After wearing them non stop in Italy walking for 12 hours a day I had no choice but to throw them in the trash when we got home.  It was a sad day.  I miss them.  And I need a new pair because they are just so comfortable.

But, as much as I loved the Ash... I'm hesitant to get the same color again.

I don't really like black shoes so those are out... my next choice would be the olive green ones but most of my jackets are of the olive green color so I want something that will contrast.  I'm kind of feeling like color might be my best bet since I tend to wear a lot of black, grey, brown, olive green, and navy during the winter months...

So, I've narrowed it down to the following...

(top left and moving clockwise): red canvas classics-- love em... and Eme has a pair of red toms too so we'd match.  Wine Canvase Classics-- I feel like these could be the ones but darn... they're out of my size.  Burgandy Wool Cordones-- this color is everywhere this fall and it's kind of grown on me... I'm liking the style of these shoes too.  Multi Knit Women's Classics-- I guess if you can't decide on a color you could always get shoes with all of them?  Either that or get a pair in EVERY color--- but I'm pretty sure Doug would say that's not an option :)

Decisions, decisions.  What's a girl to choose?

The Deal of the Day

So I've been casually looking around for an area rug for our bedroom.  The floor is pretty cold in that room since our bedroom is above the garage so I've been thinking that it would be nice to get a rug in there.  Since it is going to be summer (hopefully) it obviously isn't a priority at the moment-- but, I am open to deals.  I've been looking around at a few options but so far haven't been able to commit.

Here were a few contenders...

West Elm Andalusia Dhurrie -- been eying this one for a while... but since it's not available for international shipping it would be a major pain trying to figure out a way to get one. 

I really like the Tarnby Flatwoven Jute Rugs from Ikea.  They are well priced and add a nice natural element to a room. 

But, then I found this one at Home Sense this morning.  I hadn't been to Home Sense in weeks (out of town guests, sickness, and all around busyness will do that to you) and was pleasantly surprised to find this navy and white rug!

(excuse the iphone picture-- Doug's got the camera today)

And at $59.99... it's a steal.  This rug is 1/3 of the price of the Ikea rug and 1/5 the price of the West Elm rug.  And-- I had been looking for some bold pattern in here for the summer.  A few weeks ago I had been considering covering my Euro pillows in a Dwell Studio fabric, but after paying for the fabric, the shipping, and another solid fabric to use on the back of the pillows the total price would be way more than this rug.  The rug is looking like the better option... 

Yay or Nay?  I'm thinking Yay!!

Too Much Rain

I'm not going to lie... I'm tempted to start counting down the hours till this week is done.  I am officially sick of rain.  Seriously... when will it stop?  Doug's been dreaming about buying a boat to fish the Fraser for years now-- and if this rain keeps up we might just have to buy one so we can escape from our house.  Enough of the drama...

The week didn't start well-- I had to say good bye to my out-of-town house guests.  Even though the house gets messy and large quantities of food start to rapidly disappear (a JUMBO sized box of mini wheats in 2 days) I am always so sad to see them go.  When you have house guests that look this cute, do you really blame me?

So my company flew home and I was left with MOUNTAINS of laundry (like seriously-- every sheet, pillow case, duvet cover, towel-- dirty) and it's been pouring rain for days.

At least I still have these two cuties to keep me company.

Although they may be starting to go a little stir crazy too with all this rain.  Caleb did cry for 15 minutes during dinner last night when he found out that T ball was cancelled due to the rain.  Poor guy.

So moving on to happier things...

I thought I'd take some time to show you all a few new things around here...

Like the new upper cabs that went up in our kitchen.  Now that our guests are gone it's going to be time to move all the other stuff over to these shelves so we can start the demolition!

They're not going be this pretty for long... soon all the junk will need a home too...

Any time my sisters come to town we do a little shopping (okay-- it's more like A LOT of shopping).  Remember how I was talking about adding some galvanized accessories to my yard?  Well I found these great planters at Ikea-- only $12.99 each.  Since it's been raining all week they haven't made their way outside yet-- so the kids have hijacked them for their toys.  They'd be pretty cute for toy storage... just saying...

And a LONG time ago I blogged about my plans for the exterior of our house when we were putting in the new windows.  Part of the plan was to put up some new sconces on either side of our front door.  I had admired this sconce from Barn Light Electric... but at $143.00 each that obviously wasn't going to happen.

But when I was at Lowes (across the border) over the weekend I snagged a pair of these... for $24.99 a piece.  Much better... can't wait for them to go up!!

10 points for me for holding up that light fixture and snapping a picture at the same time...

And lastly, I found this great throw pillow for Caleb's room at Ikea for $13.99.  Love the colors (I'm always a sucker for black & white), love the texture (kinda like a kilim pillow)-- love the way it looks in his room.  I'm quite sure he hasn't noticed it yet though :)  Guess he doesn't LOVE it as much as I do...

That's all I have to say for the moment... because if I keep rambling about how much I'm sick of the rain it's going to start to get a little depressing...

Inspiration Overload

Have you ever been to The Cross Decor & Design in Yaletown, Vancouver?  Well I was able to pop in there over the weekend and let me tell you-- total and complete inspiration overload.  Seriously-- how can there be so many beautiful things in one store?  They've got artwork, accessories, gorgeous bedding, things for kids rooms, beautiful one of a kind furniture, and the most amazing throw pillows you'll ever see.  Pretty much everything in there is beyond my budget, but it is still worth the stop... totally inspiring to look at all the beautiful things and take in the gorgeous displays...

If you're in the area it's worth a stop.  And if you are not in the area-- you can always shop online HERE.

I did end up buying one very little thing for Emerson's room... just got to get it put together than I'll give you a little sneak peek.  But, for a little more Monday afternoon inspiration, how about a few pictures of rooms designed by The Cross?

The next few pictures are of Stephanie Vogler's home (owner of the cross) as featured on Design Sponge...

Ah, this kids room is adorable.  Can you believe that two young kids live in this white apartment?

This is from the home of Darci Ilich (owner of the cross) via Design Sponge...

And these pictures are via Style at Home featuring a Vancouver home designed by The Cross.  I'm pretty sure I've blogged about this home before-- but it's worthy of a repeat.

After seeing all that gorgeous-ness I came home and gave my house a good cleaning :)  Gotta start somewhere, right?  And now I feel like a project-- if I can't afford all that fantastic stuff-- I might as well make something!

Oh Martha

I love martha.  I love office supplies.

So when I found out that Martha was making office supplies pretty at Staples... I went... and I bought.

I bought the prettiest file folder labels.

Tax time will now be pretty.

And I'm thinking about these kitchen labels-- moisture, freezer, and microwave safe?  No way!

I also bought a teeny tiny little blue accordion file folder.  It fits into my purse.

Disorganized receipts?  A thing of the past.

Our local staples had an entire aisle of pretty Martha labels.  I was so mesmerized by all the pretty stuff I didn't notice when Eme kicked off her shoes and ran away.  I found her in the next aisle shortly after.  It took a little longer to find her shoes.  Into the cart she went!

Definitely worth checking out.  You can read more about the products here.

Feeling Thrifty

If you've read my blog for any length of time you would know that I love a good deal.  I also love thrift stores-- the thrill of the hunt-- a great deal-- it gets me every time!  A few weeks ago someone suggested that I write about my thrift store shopping process-- when do I go, how often, what do I look for, what's a good deal... and so on.  So, here it is... my personal guide to thrift store shopping.

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Where, When, and how often... 

I usually shop at my local MCC thrift store-- the volume of stuff that they process is incredible-- every time I stop by there is new stuff.  I try to avoid Saturdays (that place is nuts on the weekend) unless they have a sale-- when things are half price I'm willing to brave the crowds.  I usually try to go early on in the week-- most people who drop their donations off would do it on a Saturday-- I assume that the new stuff is probably making its way into the stores at the beginning of the week.  I like to browse through the store a couple times a month on average.  If I'm looking for something specific I'll go more regularly.

Stuff I've found...

Well-- very rarely do I find exactly what I'm looking for.  Most of the time I randomly stumble across something that I think is awesome-- but am not entirely sure where it will go in my house.  But, if it's cheap enough and has a little vintage charm I'm always willing to give it a try!

Pretty much every room in my house has something I've found at a thrift store...

What do I consider a good deal...

The most expensive items (1, 5, 8, & 9) were $15.00... a lot of stuff I've found for $1-2 (2, 3, 4, 6, & 7).  I've painted a few things (8 & 9) but others I've left as is-- the worn finishes are sometimes too fantastic to paint over!  Generally, I don't like to pay more than $15-20 for a piece of furniture-- but if I found something that was insanely fantastic and was in great condition I would be willing to fork out a little more cash :)  For accessories-- I don't buy anything that's more than $2-3.  If something's overpriced-- you can always ask for a deal or wait until there's a sale :)

What do I look for...

Some things to keep an eye out for-- great picture frames (if they have glass you can get a new mat (dollar store!) and frame photos-- if there's no glass-- think chalkboard!) anything vintage schoolhouse-- globes, maps, textbooks, chalkboards, lamps with a classic base that could be updated with a new shade, solid wood furniture, old books with great covers, industrial looking furniture, crates, baskets... those are just a few suggestions.

Here are a few items that are currently on my thrift store radar...

Charming twin bed frames-- I would love to find a spool bed or a vintage metal bed frame for Eme's room.  Check out some of these examples...

Colorful quilts and afghans-- so great.

Landscape paintings or any vintage/antique artwork that would look great on its own or as a part of a collection-- gotta love a great gallery wall!!

Mirrors-- buying a new mirror (any place other than Home Sense) can be expensive!  There are always lots of great old mirrors that just need a coat of paint...

And of course I'm always looking at the dressers and tables to see if there is anything that needs to be painted!  These blue ones are pretty fantastic...

(images via my pinterest)

Now I'm hoping you all don't run out and snatch up all the stuff I've been looking for!

Well I hope some of you found this thrifty little guide useful.  Popping into you nearest thrift store every so often can be fun if you know what to look for!  I really think that it can be a great place to find  fantastic unique stuff for your home when you're working with a tight budget.  All it takes is a little vision and some time.

Anyone else have any tips or great shops to check out?  

Anyone wanna share their best thrift store find of all time?