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,

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.

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..... ;)

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. :)

No turning back now....

Bathroom demo day one is done - There is no turning back now. :)

*Huge thanks to my awesome brother (who is elegantly posing in our old bathtub on our lawn) for the manual labour help! :)

I hate our grass - landscaping plans

I've been staring at our front lawn coming up with landscaping plans. I apparently can't focus on one project, I need to take on a few to drive myself (and Aubrey) crazy.

Our front yard is significantly better than when we first bought the house thanks to the amazing landscaping design of Bill Chandler (who I think is one of Toronto's top landscape designers) I met him because he worked on my parents back garden and he helped us with our front walkway both with designing and installation. Although Bill came up with a gorgeous planting plan in addition to the stairs and walkway, we only did the stone work because budget. You can see the evolution of the front of our house here.

Printing on Kraft Bags

I came across this post on Cottage Hill where printed on some Kraft Bags. I fell head over heels in love for the Elephant bag that she made. I thought I would recreate the project using the free image that she had used as a potential loot bag for Oscar's own birthday party but I also wanted to photograph it to show as an example for others as how they can get creative with the bags.

It was so addictive to print these bags that I printed up some other bags using stamp designs I've made for customers to show how a stamp (or clipart) would work. Anyhow, this post is nothing more than to show you some shots I took today - Hopefully it may inspire you for some loot bag projects or just fun lunch bags. Cheers to Cottage Hill for the grand idea and to The Graphics Fairy for the free images for personal projects.

Kraft bags available here

*Ps., My shop is closed for the next two weeks because of the upcoming bathroom reno. Eeek!

etsy finds

I still love to shop on Etsy even though it has grown so huge that it sometimes is pretty daunting to find the cool little shops. I often browse people's favourites to find neat new items, so I always love doing posts like this. So anyhow, here are some of the newest items I've added to my favourites lately.

Top Row / Necklaces / Bowls / Vintage Pull Toy / Middle Row / Octopus Coat Rack / Mouse  / Gold Ring / Bottom Row / Lionel Ritchie Milk Container / Green Tartan Pillow

Ok - so HOW CUTE is that little mouse? And that Lionel Ritchie Milk container!? It appears to have sold since I favoured it but maybe more will be added.