Merry Christmas to me!

I just had to update you!!! My new iPhone case FINALLY arrived today (after a month & a half!) AND my husband is installing the backsplash!!! Merry Christmas to me!!!!!! YAY!!!

Hope you are having as great of a start to your holidays as I am!!

Have I mentioned how much I can't WAIT to get rid of the yellow paint?!? That's next!!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas!

This will probably be my last post until after the New Year...if I have time, I'll post over the holidays, but as you probably know, the holidays can be quite hectic!! I'm wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

On a side note, I went light shopping with my mom on Friday.  OMG I think I'm in love!! We checked out Best Plumbing and Lighting, where my mom scored this amazing light fixture for over her dining table for $250!! (the company that made this fixture went out of business, and they had to get rid of their floor model so people like us would stop asking for it!!).  Now, I have to say, it definitely wasn't listed for $250 (it never would've lasted!!) Luckily, she got it for almost 50% of the listed price, simply because of my connections in the home building industry (it definitely has its perks!).  We had to wait until Saturday to find out if it was ours or not, as it was actually on hold by someone else. She didn't come in to pick it up by the time they said they'd hold it until, so it became ours!! (Well, my mom's, but still....it's so gorgeous, I think it's mine too!!). Hopefully it'll be installed before the rest of the family arrive for Christmas!! Can't wait!!

I also picked up our backsplash last week, and I'm hoping my husband will have time to install it before Christmas too.... what do you think? Should change the whole look of the kitchen!!! I'm so excited to see it completed!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Cocktail Glasses....

You may remember that my husband participated in Movember this year...well, I found these cocktail glasses back during his mustache days and thought they'd be fantastic drinking glasses....wouldn't they look cool, holding your favorite rum and coke? Or scotch neat? (if you like scotch of course.... bleh....but that's what the mustache on the man's glass says to me, "Ho-hum....I like scotch...." -- imagine an old bald man with a spectacle on one eye and repeat that in your head.... Haha!) Old or young, I love these glasses!! Maybe I should order a set.... as gifts too?? What do you think?

{image via here}

Home Office...

I don't work out of the home, but when the weather's been as crazy as it has been, I kind of wish I did.... don't you? (I've been hunched over my work computer the last few days with few breaks of blog catch up...)  My current office chair at home is a previously used one that I bought for super cheap off the company I work for. It's fully functional and it does the job...but it's HUGE in our tiny room (7'-6"x9'0") [and it's supposed to be a SPARE room!!! Can you imagine trying to fit a bed in that room? A twin at most!!]

Since I've been blog obsessed lately, I've come across several home offices that I adore...here are just a few...aren't they AMAZING??

On top of the amazing home offices, I've fallen in love with the white chair from Jen at Made by Girl's office... I found a similar one (not sure where hers is from) at Crate and Barrel online(which is now located in Calgary!!), but it's $299 US...ouch!  On top of her desk chair, I think I'm in love with her coffee table too....(sigh) Oh to dream....


First...her coffe table!! LOVE IT, and would be PERFECT for our front room.....
{image via Made by Girl}



Next...the chair!! Don't you LOVE it???
{image via Made by Girl}



At her old place, she even had TWO of them!!
{image via Made by Girl}




I love how clean and airy this office looks (and probably feels!!)
{Nina's home office - blogger of  Stylizimo}



I love the storage on the walls....and, of course, the chair!!
{image via Stylizimo}




This storage would be AMAZING to have...if only we had the room!
{image via Style at Home}



{image via Stylizimo.com}



And this is my new love!! I want one!! Maybe if I spent more time in my home office, I could justify spending money on a new chair.....(sigh)
{image via Crate and Barrel}

 What does your home office look like? I think I'm putting this office chair on my never-gonna-get-it wish list.....ah.....

Busy, busy....

I hope I'll have time to post everyday still, but I'm just not sure...I'm going to be extremely busy over the next month or so DESIGNING NEW FLOOR PLANS!!! That's right, I'm FINALLY getting to design new houses again!! All thanks to {the company I work for} getting into a new community in the City! Well, it's not "new", but it's new to us! And that means new designs are much needed, as our current stuff just doesn't jive with the community demands.

{image via here}

Can't wait to get started!! Maybe someday you'll see my designs in person!!

Off to the Mountains!

I have a busy day today, so this post will be short...then I'm off on a course tomorrow, Christmas shopping Friday morning and then off to the beautiful Rocky Mountains (Jasper, to be precise) for a weekend of skiing! Can't wait! I'll see you on Monday...enjoy!

Wabi-Sabi

"Wabi-Sabi, the Japanese aesthetic, is the ability to perceive beauty in its essence. Simplicity without extravagances. Harmony of natural materials."

Skimming across my new favorite architectural site, Dezeen, I came across this place, called Wabi-Sabi.  Russian designer, Andrey Gorozhankin, renovated an apartment and added a curved ceiling, made of...get this...lime and wax!!  The contrasting white and espresso leaves this place feeling warm and open.  The curved ceilings and the exquisite staircase are art in and of themselves, don't you think?

{images via Dezeen}

Kelly Moore bag giveaway....via Eternal Reflections

I've been a follower of Eternal Reflections Photography blog for awhile now. So when I came across this Kelly Moore bag giveaway, I knew I had to share it!  Not to mention, with my new interest in photography, this camera bag giveaway is just TO DIE FOR!!  These bags look super stylish and can double as your purse!  I currently have a little backpack for my camera bag, so one of these would be lovely!! (they even have a man's version, incase your guy would never carry something that looks like a purse...)

{images via Eternal Reflections & Kelly Moore}

Office decor....

Like me, many of you may like to work in a festive office over the holidays.... well, we may have taken it one step too far...what do you think? This is how we spent our Friday afternoon at the office, ensuring our coworker (coming back after a 6 week leave) felt welcomed back...too much??

Your weekend...

Paris, France : Moulin Rouge (best show EVER!!)

{image by Krystal}

Christmas stockings....

Although the Christmas tree is up, we are still lacking some major decorations around the house. For one: stockings!  I have some beautiful stocking hangers, but no stockings.  I've been on the hunt for the perfect stockings to hang, but nothing has caught my eye just yet.  I've been tossing around the idea of making our stockings (or, I should say, getting my Mom to make them, as I don't actually own a sewing machine...).  As I'm loving white, I've been thinking white stockings.  Classic winter.  Maybe adding a touch of jewel tones to match my decorations?  Or damask? Or both? Or, since our fireplace is in the TV room with all the classic hockey memoribilia, what about hockey & figure skates? (I saw some nice ones YEARS ago - when I didn't need any - and haven't been able to find nice ones since...).  Here are some ideas I love....if only I could find ones I love in a local store....



I love the quilted look to these and the added touch of sparkle




Maybe change out the red with some electric blue or lime green to match our other decorations




Maybe change out the red for some pink....

 I would love to find these hockey & figure skates somewhere...I just love them. But I haven't seen any nice ones in quite some time.... (sigh)....any ideas? What do your stockings look like?

Would you live here?

When you think of an old abandoned church, what do you think of?  I think majestic, yet eery; calm yet spooky; beautiful yet mysterious.  That's why it would never cross my mind to think, "Hey! Why don't we live here?".  Browsing through the Brocade Home blog, I came across this church that was converted into a home.  Located in the Netherlands and designed by Zecc Architects, this former Catholic church was converted into a private residence.  Of course, the architecture of the old church is stunning and captivating, so why wouldn't it make an AMAZING home? (not to mention, probably GINORMOUS!)  As the monochromatic scheme seems to be very popular overseas (and is making it's way into our lives here...), it's no wonder they chose white to brighten the place and toning down the elements that clearly shout "CHURCH"!  The minimalistic approach to decor lets the architecture speak for itself and allow the modern touches not to overpower anything and blend in seamlessly with the classic elements of the church, like the stained glass windows, the organ in the loft, and the marbled archway with the cross overhead.  Going in a completely different direction from white, the bathroom leaves you with an overall warm and romantic feeling. 

{images via Zecc Architecture}

{image via Arch Daily}

Would you live here?

Brocade Home

I recently fell upon this site and instantly fell in love.  I don't know why, but this style just shouts "drama" and I want it!! A touch of gothic feel to things and a flare for...je ne sais quoi...only that it's completely "me" (although, goth is the last thing anyone would use to describe me!). 

If stuff from Brocade Home was a little more in my price range, I would definitely be filling my house with these treasures...

 How cute would this look at a make up desk?

 Stunning...

 Love it, love it, love it!

 Ah....to dream....

 Is this chandelier too much for a bathroom/laundry room??? I thought so too....but I still adore it!

This coffee table retails for $399 on the site ($488 to ship it to Canada). I found this exact same one at HOMESENSE for $39!! Steal of a deal? I think so!!

{images via Brocade Home}

And you can see my coffee table (along with my new chairs, lamp, & foo dogs) in my house, here (I think the lamp has that "brocade" feel to it, don't you??):

I wasn't sure if the coffee table would be too tall next to the chairs, so after I took the photo, I removed the price tag!! LOVE IT!

Do you love Brocade as much as I do?? I think I'll be following their blog soon!