I recently discovered this Quebec City spa SkySpa and now can’t stop thinking about how relaxing this would be. I am  in desperate in need of a massage (shoulders are currently residing somewhere around my ears) and these spa packages sound like heaven.   I’ve never tried the thermal baths but I think we would become fast friends. 

Plus it has the added bonus of being in one of my favourite Canadian cities, Quebec City which has a definite European flair.  

via

Sign me up!

I love to travel. Part of it is figuring out what I am going to pack. I know, I seriously think I need a support group. When heading out on a trip I like to keep things all compatible so I don’t get there and then complain I have nothing to wear and have to go shopping. Although shopping usually happens at some point during the trip! One of my favourite travel palettes is black and white. Totally chic and goes with anything, that way if I do pick up a little something on my trip I can wear it.

Since we will mostly be hanging out with family on this trip, I decided to go casual and comfy without hauling out the yoga pants.  Loving the faux leather leggings tugged into riding boots with a comfy casual tunic.  The black blouse or the oversized city scene top works well with the leggings and is pulled together without looking like you’re trying too hard.  I am in love with the black and white pullover sweater with the contrasting heart.  Tres chic! The best part is? All of these items (except for the boots) are available in Canada from fab Canadian retailer Simon’s.  Love that.

Happy Friday!

Sponsored by Simon’s

Showing the best of the best in design products and innovation, the show has great installations and guest speakers for both design professionals and consumers. Not to mention one hell of a kick ass party. Opening night is like a who’s who of the HGTV crowd and is a great opportunity to catch up with some friends while talking about all things design. These are my peeps. For realz….

If you’re local and would like to attend, you can purchase tickets here or at the door.  It is always an amazing show.  A snippet of what you can expect is below.  Cool right?

Now my only dilemma is what to wear and footwear plays a major part.  I think I literally limped home last year after having a Seinfeld moment (or sixty) in the parking garage.   You know what? Totally worth it!

Anyhoo, been finding a lot of cool things on the interweb lately and since I’m on a bit of a self-imposed spending freeze, I thought someone should at least take advantage of my internet browsing!

I am loving pretty much everything on the Photojojo site. Mostly for the photography/iPhone geek (um hello?), here are a few of the things that will be on my wish list.

This Photoshop keyboard shortcut cover is genius.  Now I don’t have to hover my mouse over those teeny tiny icons to try and remember which one is which.

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This cool little band is actually a macro lens which takes incredible detailed shots.

Wear it on your wrist till you’re ready for it and then you are able to take incredible shots like this.

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Maybe I’m late to the party on this one but I have just discovered the Camera + app for iPhone.  OMG is all I have to say.  I find myself using my iPhone camera over and over, especially when taking pictures of Hudson but I am usually less than thrilled with the quality.  This app allows you to take professional looking photos without dragging around a huge DSLR.

One of my favourite features is the Clarity feature.  Check out the difference below.

There is also different filters for different times of day, a digital flash which will lighten overly dark photos and a cropping tool.  All photos can then be saved to your camera roll and then uploaded or shared with your favourite social media site.  Thinking this is going to be my new favourite app!

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Duo boots are awesome.  They are custom boots (size, width, calf) without the custom boot price.  They have stores in the UK but have free shipping to North America (including Canada!) and they are having the mother of all sales right now.  If I were in the market for new boots, which I’m not then I would be ordering up these beauties…

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And last but certainly not least, my long-time friend Sandra has started a blog called 52 Weeks of Meal Planning.  I’m not entirely sure how she finds time to raise her adorable daughter, work full-time, cook meals for the week AND find the time to blog about it! If you’re looking for some great meal ideas and recipes then please pop over and say hi!

Creative Market is basically the Etsy for graphic design and web design products.  The market allows web and graphic designers a central shop to sell their wares at cheap extremely reasonable prices.  For just a few dollars you could jazz up cards, invitations, scrapbooks, etc without having to worry about copyright or royalty issues.  Anything from clip art to backgrounds, Photoshop actions, blog headers and themes, if it’s got anything to do with digital design you can find it on Creative Market.

Here are some of my favourites….

See? It’s like having a graphic designer in your back pocket.  I can’t wait to check out the website even more!  If you want to check out some of my favourites on Creative Market, you can follow me here!

All photos via Creative Market

But with a new baby and being on maternity leave, the budget is going to have to be small ($500) and I’m going to have to get creative in repurposing some existing pieces.  Here’s what I’m thinking so far….

The rug was a steal at an online Black friday sale and the curtains are not the silk I would have liked but are a poly version (that look great) in a lovely dusty lilac-y shade.  The existing wall colour will stay (Benjamin Moore’s Horizon) as will the existing bed and armoire, both with a slight upgrade.

Pillows will be in a luxe velvet that I will sew myself from a $4 remnant with the splurge being a pillow in the Kelly Wearstler Katana fabric.  The brass lamps were picked up on a thrifting expedition and the faux fur throw currently resides elsewhere in my home.

With the new pieces (rug, curtains, pillows) I have pretty much exhausted my $500 budget, which means, I’m going to have to get pretty darn creative with the rest of it.  The pair of stools were purchased several months ago for the nursery but I think they’ll do much better at the foot of my bed.  Still trying to figure out artwork and accessories but I have a few things tucked away in storage that might do the trick!  I will give the budget breakdown and sources when I do the final reveal but for now I’m interested in your thoughts.  Love it, hate it or on the fence?  Let me know!

Not gonna lie, things have been slightly insane around here lately with a stream of visiting family and friends and the general holiday craziness. I feel like I’m suffering from a bit of a holiday hangover and if I have to hear one more Christmas carol I may just lose it. Now I am no Scrooge, but it does take me a good 10 months or so to be able to gear up for the holidays again.  Thankfully Christmas is only once a year!

So with that in mind, if I had to name one New Year’s resolution it would be to simplify.  Simplify my stuff and my life.  Check back next Friday as I’ll be starting a new column on organizing and streamlining things.  Some will be baby related, some decor related but all with the idea of making things easier.  I think we all need a little bit of that!

I’ve been trying to show you the plan for my master bedroom revamp for a while now but all will be revealed on Monday and how I plan to do it all for under $500.  I think our wallets could all use a rest right about now, don’t you?

Later!

Been pretty busy the last few weeks tending to this guy who just turned 1 month old last Friday. Seriously he’s going to be off to Med school before I know it! A mama can dream right?

So since I’ve got some major university costs ahead of me for Hudson, I’d best keep an eye on the budget! I’m currently working on a little remix of my master bedroom and I’m hoping to keep the update under $500.  I will be reusing some existing pieces, repurposing some things and doing some (very) creative shopping.  I’ve already purchased this beauty which will be in the space.

This is a gorgeous silk rug that I just ordered from Rugs USA.  They are having an amaze balls Black Friday sale right now, I picked up this 6×9 baby for $250.00 which was 75% off!  The best part? They ship to Canada and you don’t have to sell a major organ to afford the shipping!

Check in next week for a sneak peek of the bedroom design board and some ideas for repurposing your existing pieces and how I plan to spend my remaining budget.  Off now to enjoy the nice weather and Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends and readers!

On a brighter note, the sun is shining and the baby only woke up once last night so am in an extremely good mood today.  Since I’ve been spending a lot of time up at odd hours and feeding my very hungry little guy, the iPad has been getting a ton of use.  Especially the Zinio app (side note this digital subscription app is a-mazing – if you don’t have it you must get it!) which now houses most of my magazine subscriptions.  So late last night while flipping through the latest issue of Veranda magazine, I literally gasped when I came across this foyer designed by the uber-stylish Ruthie Sommers.

Love the lacquered black walls, the blue ceiling and the upholstered doors.  Ohh those doors…. Thinking I must do a version of those in my master bedroom which houses the ugliest sliding builder box doors ever.  *hangs head in shame*

Veranda also has a great article on Ruthie’s decorating tips which I thought was great.  Check it out here.