a shizzle post

guest blogger: my (long) weekend at a glance

hello hello!
i can't believe it's almost time for jamie to come back to toronto! and my last post... wah.
i hope you all enjoyed a fabulous long weekend with your loved ones. mine was busy and fun!
friday: nate and i headed to fonthill to meet up with our friends from high school at the local "star bar". we had a great chat with some great people - one is leaving to teach elementary school in south korea in a couple of weeks, and this was probably our last time seeing him before he left. after the bar closed and we decided we weren't done catching up, we headed back to my parents' house (sorry mom and dad!) we laughed into the early hours of the morning and they left (taking nate shoes with them... whoops.)
saturday: a bit jealous that nate was heading to the beach, i settled in for some more wedding camp work. my sister asked me to record their first dance song (open my eyes by buckcherry), so i did the piano and vocals in my dad's "studio" - happy with how it turned out! i then hung outside with my mom husking corn for our delicious dinner. she came along with me to my friends' wedding rehearsal in a beautiful old catholic church, where i'll be playing their wedding music next weekend!
after we got back home, nate and i met up with some friends of ours for a triple header drive-in (a huge perk of fonthill!) we saw crazy stupid love (love. that. movie.), horrible bosses, and i slept through green lantern (by choice. and every time i woke up and saw/heard what i was missing, i had no regrets and happily fell back asleep). bed at 3:30! not so pretty considering how early we had to wake up sunday.
sunday: delicious breakfast with my parents before heading back to brampton. my sister's fiance, brennan, helped us to gut part of our horrific laundry room, and re-drywall, paint, and prettify. we watched happy gilmore and headed to bed. it sounds short, but was very productive!
monday: we woke up early and spent the day finishing the basement laundry room, installing lights, and listening to some great tunes. sushi party for dinner (yum yum!) and a chill night - its always nice to have some peace and quiet on a long weekend!
it's been my pleasure guest blogging for jamie. i've missed her a lot since she's been traveling, but can't wait to catch up on her journey and see some photos! thank you for reading - maybe i'll be back again some day (please?)
much love,
bri xo

happy long weekend!

enjoy the long weekend! i'll be heading to niagara to catch up with some high school friends tonight, recording a song for my sister's wedding, and then off to the wedding rehearsal tomorrow night. followed by some last-minute home renos (fun fun). if you're heading to a cottage, planning a night out, or just laying low, enjoy :)
i know jamie will be loving life here this weekend...


from my trip to seattle last summer

it's cloudy, and i'm counting down the minutes until the rain starts. i plan to spend the day inside with a good book, some tea, piano practice, and... laundry. i love rainy days. wrapped in a blanket, with no reason to leave home.

image from domestiv diva


home sweet home

nate and i have been planning a move for some time now, and the pieces are starting to fall into place. 2 years ago, we bought our first house in brampton, and in those 2 years we have been working tirelessly to renovate EVERY single room in the house. the changes are big, and the plan is to sell and move on to friendlier waters. not that brampton isn't friendly. but we don't have many friends here.
in renovating, i've discovered a new/old interest in decorating. growing up, i used to "play" maid, and clean my parents' house top to bottom. so yes, as jamie said, i love to clean and love to decorate. my home inspiration is sarah richardson's design approach (very country chic!) http://sarahrichardsondesign.com/ obviously this means i'm quite addicted to HGTV.
here are two more blogs i refer to for inspiration:
obviously, renovating means you need a budget. while we have spent a lot of our earnings working on our home, we've made it a point to spend our money wisely, and only when we can. therefore, all of our renos have been DIY, and have been the biggest bang for the smallest buck. take a look at some of the work we've done - hopefully it all pays off in the next couple months as we try to sell!

the kitchen "before" (move-in day)

the kitchen "after" (four months ago)
master bathroom "before" (beach theme?)

master bathroom "after"

guest blogger: my weekend in summary

hello friends of jamie! i'm so excited to be sharing with you via lowercase text.
jamie and i have been friends for eight years now, and have experienced a LOT together! and what she hasn't done with me, i've been sad to miss out on. (must be the FOMO in me)
while jamie is in van city and seattle, i'll be posting about some of the little things that make me smile. this past weekend, it was actually a pretty big thing that made me smile - the wedding of my best friend/soul twin jessica. i was lucky enough to be her maid of honour - my first bridesmaid experience and boy was it a good one.
friday: i spent the morning with jess and two other bridesmaids getting our nails "did", eating at a greasy spoon for breakfast (amazing), and singing whatever songs popped into our heads. after a quick and delightful grilled cheese at the wedding venue (a golf course in my hometown of niagara) we went to work, setting up for the wedding and practicing our walks down the aisle. needless to say, the two flower girls were better behaved than us bridesmaids. whoops.
after the rehearsal, we headed to jess and her fiance justin's house for an incredible dinner made by a groomsman (also a head chef at a restaurant). beanbag tossing, some wine, and an adventure in packing the bride's honeymoon luggage followed - and then off to a hotel for the night. we fell asleep early because we were le tired!
saturday: wedding day! hair done, makeup done, and lots more random singing! i tell you, bridesmaids in three part harmony never sounded better. after getting photos of the gals, we headed out limo-style to the wedding. the ceremony was beautiful! i did happen to bawl my eyes out (very un-jamie shea like of me!)
the reception was peacock-themed, so we bridesmaids wore little feathers in our hair that matched the centerpieces. ooh la la. after an incredible speech by the father of the bride that made me burst into tears (yes, again - he's a writer, i couldn't help myself!) it was my turn to speak. i was a bit nervous at first, but managed to pull myself together and deliver a few good laughs AND i didn't cry! yay!
there was a fog machine... some beverages followed by a lot of water... a lot of dancing (some choreographed)... a photo booth for which my husband nate was the photographer... and at 1:30 am, our desig"nate"ed driver took myself, the bride and the groom back home. we dropped them off, and headed to my parent's house where i had spent my week at "wedding camp" and hit the hay.
sunday: after only one more time spent crying (listening to the song jess walked down the aisle to, from the movie pride and prejudice), nate and i headed back to brampton. we spent the evening catching up on the glee project (yes, i'm a glee nerd) and eating our wedding favours - apples covered in caramel and chocolate from the rocky mountain chocolate factory. yum! we chatted with nate's brother and his wife, and heard our little niece talk for the first time! so sweet! they live in BC, and its so great to catch up. read for a bit, and headed to bed.
this week will be busy getting ready for another wedding - i'll be playing all of the music at my friend's wedding in two weeks, so i have some practicing to do! enjoy photos from this past weekend. hope you all had a great weekend, too :)





the beautiful bride and myself, her "twin" - some friends from university - nate and i being super glamorous - the bridesmaids dance to "run the world" - just married!