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!

fly away with me...

i am off. for a week and a half. to vancouver. i will be visiting my sister, my lovely friend tyler, my friend bryan (also part of the sphectrum), my friend court, and my fav city - seattle. and maybe try to bump into one of my many boyfriends.
i. can't. wait.
in case you were wondering. i mostly want to see him.
my lovely friend brianne will be guest posting this week, so please enjoy her musings - have a great week all!

"be our guest, be our guest, put our service to the test"

I have a friend.
I met a group of (at that time) boys in first year university, with whom I quickly became good friends. They are easily the best friends I left university with – we all have the same sense of humour, and gather with diverse sets of interests, and a wonderful group dynamic.
I’m sure none of them would be too happy to hear me call our group of friends lovely and wonderful, and caring and supportive, and expressive and bonded – but I’m going to.
There are also wonderful fringe benefits to being friends with all boys – their girlfriends, and then (after some time), wives.
I am lucky to have such amazing men in my life – because it means that they will be drawn to wonderful women (namely, me!). needless to say, I have the oppourtunity to surround myself with wonderful humans everytime I see my university friends – triple threat (my former roommate cait, and my other lovely friend, brianne) holiday parties; Halloween parties; mini Olympics; camping and cottage adventures.
I have built wonderful relationships with these women – cait, bri and kim, thus far – and have enjoyed laughing with them, their kind notes and thoughtful words. Their willingness to embrace me, and not be threatened or intimidated by my presence in this pack of men showed me that they were true friends. I love these women with all of my heart.
I digress.
One of the pillars of triple threat – brianne – is a dear friend. We have our ebs and flows; we can go long periods of time without seeing one another, and get back together like nothing has changed. We have travelled together (though I’m not sure her and I in a car together would be successful – she’s a planner, I’m a free flower. She hates me), cried together, planned together, and laughed together – a lot. I was the emcee at her wedding, with jake, and I am so happy I was able to share in her and Nate’s day – I know those 2 will be in my life forever.
brianne and i this year - we have a commonality in our big smiles.
Brianne is a teacher – and a wonderful one, I’m sure (though I’ve never actually sat in her classroom). She maintains a beautiful home, and puts up with my friend Nate (which I say with all love and affection). She is a wonderful cook, and has a great eye for design. She has a sense of empathy, and can share emotion like it’s going out of style (which, as a result of my lack of emotion, I completely envy). Though she’s a bit of a FOMO (joking! FOMO = fear of missing out), I love her all the same.
This is all to say, that I have another guest poster coming to you. Brianne will be posting while I’m away in Vancouver, to share with you parts of her life.
Thanks Bri - i can't wait to read!