just bella

Around Here...

2012-05-25T10:48:00.000-06:00

Happy Friday!
Christine

Pinned: Baby Girl Dress, H&M

2012-05-24T08:47:00.000-06:00

Um, does shopping count as actually accomplishing something I pinned on pinterest?? I like to think of shopping as being productive so I'm counting it: H&M dress pinned here and live and even more adorable (and wrinklier) in person....

dress: h&m, bib: dote baby

Have I mentioned how hard it is to get a photo these days?

Christine

More pinned pinterest projects...

My House: Adding Life to the Yard

2012-05-22T15:01:00.000-06:00

Hope you all had a great long weekend! We were busy around here, but the good kind of busy cause we got so much accomplished around the yard. Actually most of the credit goes to my husband and the other little worker bees. Thanks Steven, Heather and Len (and my mom for baby duty!). Landscaping is hard and definitely not my forte. I sorta feel like Mike should be the one writing this post because this project is all him and he's done such an amazing job. His planning definitely made this project flow smoothly and quickly. He actually did up the plans last summer but, with a baby on the way etc, etc, we just never got around to it.

Living in a newer neighbourhood things tend to look a little stark. The previous owners did some "landscaping" including grass (good!) and a sad little strip of dirt which was great for growing weeds (bad!).

Here's the before (with the plan sort of in action). Definitely in need of some life, isn't it?

And here's a look at where we're at after a long weekend of work....

We wanted simple and low maintenance, we'll be adding some limestone to cover the soil which hopefully means little to no weeding (just how I like it).

I think it's going to look even better once things start to grow and fill in. Those grasses will grow really large and full and the trees nice and tall to block the wonderful view of all our neighbours. Things are also still greening up around Edmonton, so excuse the sad grass. We also tackled the front yard, but I didn't get a photo and well, it's raining. I'll show it all once everything is finished!

I love accomplishing something so huge off the to-do list and can't wait to enjoy the yard this summer, now grow yard grow! Should be another busy one next weekend finishing up, but it'll be so worth it. Already it's so nice to look out back and see some greenery.

Hope you got up to some fun this long weekend too!

Christine

Around Here...

2012-05-18T13:20:00.000-06:00

I've been spending a lot of time on instagram lately (I know, I know just another social media network to keep up with). I sorta love it's quick and dirty posting and how it allows me to capture the little moments of day to day life. I love looking back on these little things so I'm starting a recap of the week that was...

Happy Friday (long weekend, woot!)

Christine

instagram username: christineshankowsky

Nursery: A Touch of Girliness (DIY mobile)

2012-05-17T20:21:00.000-06:00

Since we didn't find out what we were having before Alice was born, the nursery was designed to be gender neutral. I knew if it was a girl I didn't want an all pink room to begin with, but now that I have a little girlie I just can't resist. I added a small (like blink and you might miss it) punch of girliness to Alice's room today.

Just a teeny touch of pink and purple :) I also really want to add in some teal to tie in with all the other pops of teal in the room, but I can't for the life of me find the right coloured felt.

Best part, it took all but five minutes. Those are the best kinda projects, aren't they?

Christine

Alice: Month Six

2012-05-11T21:32:00.001-06:00

Happy half birthday to our little girl!!

Month six and currently loving...

- rolls. Gone are the days of finding her where I left her, this girl is a little worm.

- sleep. I love sleep. Right around four months our sleeping went downhill. I think it's a combination of teething, rolling, growing and who knows what else... I swear she slept better as a newborn. I'm tired.

- baby food! Alice has had her first taste of food and I am proud to say she loves it! She is definitely her mother's daughter. We just need to expand her palette now beyond rice cereal, peas, and carrots.

- this is totally non baby related but I am obsessed with this taro frozen yogurt. so. good.

- my family and my friends. I'm grateful to have such a great support system right now. And of course my husband, he's pretty awesome too :)

- mom's groups. Ten babies on one couch is pretty much cuteness overload.

- cute baby squeals. Alice is still not much of a laugher. She seems to prefer the silent kind, I guess it's just so funny no sound comes out?? She really loves peekaboo though and can get some pretty intense squeals going on. Squeals are also reserved for her cousin/bff, Sydney.

- the way her eyes light up when her daddy comes home.

- I never thought I'd say this but: making dinner. Okay, not every night, but I sorta appreciate when Mike comes home and hangs with Alice and I have some alone time in the kitchen to be productive and actually finish something I started. Maybe I should just change that to alone time...

- fluffy hair that tickles your nose.

- bath time. She get's really hyper around bath time and I love listening to her and Mike play.

- getting to bed by 9:00pm. Not so cool, being woken up an hour later and then realizing it's only an hour later... did I mention I'm tired ;)

It was near impossible getting a photo this month, just imagine lots of squealing, rolling and lots and lots of blurry pics. I love this photo and that hyper look in her eyes, it kinda captures her little personality right about now. So happy. So wiggly.

Six months. wow.

Christine

My House: Laundry, Progress

2012-05-09T09:50:00.001-06:00

As predicted the laundry room is slooowly moving along. The good news is it's still entirely functional, or maybe we'd move faster if it wasn't??

Anywho, I picked up one of the last touches to the room and one that I'm pretty excited about: the countertop. This was a huge debacle in the room. The washer/dryer is deeper than your standard countertop so the first thing we did was look into getting a custom countertop done. It's doable but not the most affordable option. We want it to look good but the reality is it is in a closet. Next we hit up IKEA, which I blame for weeks and weeks delay on this project.

I had written out an extremely long winded story, but I know you all have better things to do with your time so long story short: IKEA employees led us astray. First two visits we were told countertops had to be custom, turns out (3 weeks later) you can in fact pick up a countertop in store. Arg.

So on Monday I picked up the PRAGEL countertop and we will be rigging something up to make the standard 26" depth work for us. All for a wopping $80. That's more like it, sure wish that first guy at IKEA would have told me that.

Here's a little peek at the room so far...

... and my mad skills fitting a 6' countertop and a stroller into my little VW tiguan, go car go! (don't worry baby hitched a ride with Nana).

Phew! So glad we finally sorted that out. I'll keep you posted on what we do to make it work in the space.

Christine

Victoria: Good Eats

2012-05-03T12:05:00.001-06:00

One of my favourite things to do while traveling is eat! Heck, that's one of my fav things even when I'm not traveling ;) We had some awesome meals in Victoria that were just too yummy not to share.

Fav place hands down was Red Fish Blue Fish, a little eatery right along the harbour. Giant line, but definitely worth the wait. You must go. Fish tacos, deep fried pickles, seafood poutine (yes, poutine!).

Amazing food and ocean view *sigh*, I love it.

Victoria is famous for it's high tea, especially at the Fairmont Empress. We popped in to look around but opted for the White Heather Tea Room, a local granny type place recommended by our b&b.

Alice's first high tea, how stinkin' adorable is that?

The majority of our eating was actually done at our b&b. As I mentioned in my recap post, breakfast was four freaking courses. Can you say full? Definitely worth every penny and worked out kinda awesome not having to venture out every morning with a baby.

In other news, Alice has mastered the high chair. We were actually a bit worried about if we'd be able to pull of restaurants or not. She can't sit up on her own yet, but with some strategically placed blankets and this support cushion I picked up at IKEA for $5, she was good to go! She surprisingly was pretty happy hanging out and staring at the other people in the restaurant while we ate. Phew!

Other deliciousness included takeout pizza from prima strada, sushi matsuri, and fish and chips near the airport.

Mmmmm, remind me not to do food posts before lunch, ok? Are you hungry yet?

Christine

Scenes from Victoria

2012-05-01T11:27:00.000-06:00

We'd been itching to get away with Alice for months but just kept putting it off. Where should we go, how far, will it be baby friendly, what will we pack?? Finally, we just bit the bullet, booked a trip and a week later we were on our way for our first family vacation to Victoria, BC.

Turns out Victoria is actually pretty baby friendly (and old people friendly, I can see why so many people go there to retire). Coming from brown and dirty Edmonton, it was so nice to soak up all the greenery and blooms everywhere. Seriously, this city was made for spring!

We stayed at the beautiful Ashcroft House Bed and Breakfast. I was a bit worried about staying at a b&b with a baby, but I contacted them ahead of time and they were more than willing to welcome a baby of her age. We booked the Orchid Suite which was the only room on the main floor so we didn't have to worry about a crying babe waking up the other guests.

It worked out pretty awesome. The suite had a bedroom, a giant bathroom, and a little kitchenette. It was like our own little apartment. I think we were all a bit tense the first night - us worrying about noise, Alice sleeping in a new bed - but her sleeping has been off at home anyway so at least we were tired in a beautiful place, right? We got through it and had some moderately restful nights after that. I mean how can you not in that giant king size bed, hello diagonal sleeping!

The best part had to be the amazing breakfasts: 4 delicious courses and baggies to take fresh baking to go, we were literally full until dinner.

And a block away from us was this...

We hit up the famous Butchart Gardens. I swear Mike almost turned right around when we pulled up and saw it was $30/person, but once we got inside we saw what all the fuss was about. Preeetttty.

Sometimes it felt like we were walking in a fairytale, I swear the squirrels were this close to coming up to talk to us!

Lots of walks, lots of naps, great food - all round a successful first trip with a baby. I'd do it again, though who knows what we'll be in for next time...

Christine

A Wedding Shower y'all

2012-04-27T09:44:00.000-06:00

Okay this is definitely not the first time I've come to this realization but man, everything takes longer with a baby. Planning a party, cleaning for a party, decorating, prepping, and well, blogging a party. haha. These photos have been up on my computer for a good two weeks! It's all worth it though, I love me a good wedding shower and jumped at the chance to throw this party for my brother and his future wifey.

Brittany is from way down south in Mississippi and will be moving up to Canada after they get married (yay!). We wanted Brittany to feel as at home as possible so a shower with a litte southern charm was definitely on the agenda.

Sweet tea and deep fried pickles, y'all!

I loved embarrassing my brother with some scantilly clad wedding undies.

Congrats you two, looking forward watching y'all tie the knot in June!

Christine

Do you like how I tried to casually throw y'all into a sentence? I'm not sure this Canadian can quite pull it off...

oh baby! First Flight

2012-04-24T09:18:00.000-06:00

Woops, I meant to post photos of the wedding shower last week but, well, life got busy and then we were off for our first family vacation. We spent an extended weekend in beautiful, sunny, springy Victoria, BC. The sun, the ocean, the flowers, the grass. I had almost forgot what grass felt like.

We really wanted to get away on a mini-vacation while she was still somewhat portable and I'm so glad we did. Alice traveled really, really well. Besides a few tense "it's past my bedtime" moments on the way home, she pretty much slept the whole time on the airplane. phew!

So many photos to post but for now I'm off to tackle laundry, those babies don't travel light (and quite frankly, neither do I ;)

Christine

Crafting Fail: Doily Balls

2012-04-16T10:06:00.000-06:00

I hosted a wedding shower for my brother and his future wifey last weekend which of course meant some fun decorating and crafting...

First attempt at fancy doily balls: FAIL.

Yaaa, I could see my efforts and a small tub of wallpaper glue slowly deflating before my eyes. I think it might have been too heavy for the poor balloon too handle. I was inspired by a segment I saw on Cityline*, things always look easier on TV, don't they??

Luckily, I learned some things from my first fail and the second attempt turned out slightly better. Then I just tucked them in with some giant tissue poms to hide all the imperfections (don't look tooo closely, ok). Here's a peek of them in action, I'll post the rest of the pics from the shower soon!

Happy Monday!
Christine

*You can find the full tutorial for the doily ball here.

The Little Things: Little Girl, Big Bed

2012-04-12T08:36:00.003-06:00

I love mornings when we're too lazy to get out of bed. Plus, she just looks so stinkin' cute and tiny in our big bed. Hooray for jammy days*

Christine

*especially love after being up all night with a teething baby... I miss sleep.

DIY: Glitter Eggs

2012-04-05T21:49:00.000-06:00

Nothing crazy for easter decor this year, but Andrea and I did have a ridiculous amount of fun with some glitter. Check out my fancy easter eggs:

Inspired by Ms. Martha Stewart, of course, this was such an easy project - just some glue, glitter and eggs. You can blow out the insides of real eggs, but holy heck that is hard work. I think I killed a million brain cells doing that. The styrofoam ones from the dollar store were a bit more up my alley.

Glitter is so fun and kinda addicting, you'll want to go home and cover everything you own in glitter... just warning ya. Oh and also be prepared for a much sparklier home cause this stuff gets EVERYWHERE.

I'm off to go finish off that bowl of mini eggs, happy easter to you!
Christine

Cute (almost) Curls

2012-04-04T21:47:00.000-06:00

I think someone's going to have her mama's "textured" hair...

I swear it's got a mind of it's own. I promise to teach you how to style it, honey :)

I've definitely had a love hate relationship with my curly hair. Current product of choice: Bumble and Bumble's Curl Conscious Defining Cream. Any other curly haired gals out there? What's your secret?

Christine

Loving... Alice in Wonderland Babylit

2012-03-30T14:03:00.000-06:00

Alice got a new book in the mail the other day. It's a part of the Babylit series of classic literature board books. So far, we have Alice in Wonderland and Romeo and Juliet. Don't worry there's no death or anything, it's mostly just a counting book with pretty, pretty pictures. I love the design of these things, such gorgeous artwork. Here's a look at all the books in the series...

Mostly Alice just wants to eat them, but I think that means they're A+ in her books as well. She told me she wants to eat Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice next.

You can never have too many books, right? Especially pretty ones :)

Christine

Virtual Shop: Spring Brights at First Time Fancy

2012-03-28T09:40:00.000-06:00

My bloggy friend, Kerry, is embarking on a cross country move and since I'm a few provinces away I'm helping her out by doing what I do best, shop. I know I just blogged about all the SNOW we received the other day, but I'm still feeling spring and all the bright colours that come with it.

Pop on over to First Time Fancy to see my super bright and cheery picks for spring!

Fluro Random Spot Pillowcases, Castle

Christine

Edmonton Home & Garden Show

2012-03-26T14:54:00.000-06:00

My mom, sis and I hit up the Edmonton Home & Garden Show on Saturday and ohmygosh, this thing was HUGE. I don't think we gave ourselves near enough time to check out the whole thing. Seriously, it took us a good 15 minutes just to find the mini donut stand! (priorities, people, priorities)

There were tons of great exhibitors, displays and design eye candy to check out, but I'd say the highlight of the show for us was the presentation by Tara of Lauren Lane Decor. I have always been intrigued by the idea of finishing furniture but I was totally intimidated to do it. Enter Annie Sloan Chalk Paint: no stripping, no sanding, no priming - now that might be something I can handle. Seriously, you have to check out this paint. I'm all about anything that means less work and this paint is just that.

Tara shared her expertise on the paint as well as tips for finding and fancifying any piece of furniture. I just want to paint every tired looking piece of furniture I own now! Thanks, Tara.

We left with a can of paint, some samples and a ton of inspiration. I think we'll hit up the show next year, only this time with a plan and map in hand.

Christine

p.s. For anyone interested in the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint you can purchase it online at Lauren Lane Decor or for Edmontonians you can find it at Apple Box Boutique.

An Edmonton Spring

2012-03-23T08:58:00.001-06:00

Yep, snow. I actually don't mind when it snows this late. We all know winter is almost over and it's been such a mild one that these giant fluffy snowflakes were almost welcomed, almost. Happy third day of spring!! haha.

We're off to the Edmonton Home Show this weekend and then to a 'welcome to the world' party for Alice's bud Broderick - can't wait. Have a happy weekend, y'all.

Christine

oh baby! Play Date

2012-03-21T07:58:00.000-06:00

A little staring, a little flirting, some harmless arm sucking... good times with Alice and her buddy, Cole.

Cuteness overload, right?
Christine

My House: Laundry, The Plan

2012-03-19T09:03:00.006-06:00

Sometimes I envy my sister's decision making skills. She has moved into a house, furnished two rooms, and painted her living room ALL in the time it's taken me to finally choose the colour for our laundry/mud room. She knows what she likes and she goes for it. We have a lot of things in common, but this is one place where we differ. Maybe I over think things, over research... I like to say I'm thorough. Yep, I'm a planner, I can't help it. I'm a visual person too, so while she was busy getting things done, I was having fun organizing my ideas in a fancy mood board. oooooo, pretty.

I'm planning on adding a few more pops of colour maybe in artwork or a pillow, but this really helped me get a general direction for the basic pieces.

l-r: akurum wall cabinet with adel white door, IKEA. foto pendant lamp, IKEA. stockholm cushion, IKEA. staineless steel backsplash, lowes. wooden hangers, IKEA. cil paint, home depot. hemnes shoe cabinet, IKEA.

So now that I have a plan things are starting to take shape! We got the room painted this weekend and it's looking lovely!

Progress feels good :)

Christine

p.s. Michelle, your house is looking awesome. Thank you for the motivation and reminder I was slacking in the decision making area ;) You're an inspiration!

Winner: Edmonton Home & Garden Show

2012-03-16T10:35:00.000-06:00

Congratulations, Joanne!! I've got two tickets with your name on them for the Edmonton Home & Garden Show. I'm glad you decided to pop in and leave a comment! Send me an email with your address and I'll get them in the mail for you asap.

Thanks to Lauren Lane Decor and everyone who entered, it was so nice to see some local peeps pop in - yay Edmonton! If you still want to go to the show you can save $3 by buying your tickets online.

Hope to see ya there!
Christine

Alice: Month Three and Four

2012-03-13T21:42:00.000-06:00

I sorta dropped the ball at 3 months, I did remember to take a photo just never got around to posting it. Here's our big girl all grown up at 3 and 4 months old. Has anyone invented that machine to freeze time yet??

Month four and currently loving...

- little hands. She discovered her hands at 3 months and went from, "oh my gosh, have you guys seen these things" to grabbing and holding toys at 4 months.

- little feet. built-in toys nowadays, I'd say she's just days away from getting those suckers in her mouth.

- the amazing magic tricks Alice can perform at night to escape from her swaddle and move from one end of the crib to the other.

- baby babble. She has definitely "found her voice" and it's adorable, though she seems to have a tendency to get louder and louder when we're trying to watch a movie.

- jumping. Jumperoo, jolly jumper, mom or dad's lap - all the cool babies are doing it ;)

- cousin time. My sister and her family moved home from Manitoba and I cannot tell you how happy I am to have them here. Alice and Sydney love each other and I love having my sis to just hang with even if it's just sitting on the couch pinning while our husbands get us ice cream. Good times.

- cute baby bibs because man, there is so much drool!!!

- smiles. I'll never get sick of that cute little smiley face.

Here's a look at the months so far...

Month One, Month Two

Don't you just want to squish those cheeks!??

Christine

Giveaway: Edmonton Home & Garden Show

2012-03-12T09:12:00.000-06:00

The Edmonton Home and Garden Show is coming up on March 22 - 25. It's a great place to hit up for inspiration, ideas and just all round motivation. (plus, the Edmonton Expo Centre usually has mini donut stands kicking around, mmmmm).

There are tons of great presenters this year including Tara Jamieson from Lauren Lane Decor. Tara is a custom furniture painter/refinisher from Calgary. My sister and I are looking forward to checking out her presentation and hopefully learning a tip or two along the way. We both have a dining room table refinishing project we'd like to tackle one day, maybe this'll be just the inspiration we need to get our butts in gear.

Enough babbling, wanna win some tickets!? Tara has kindly offered up two tickets to one of you lucky readers. To win just leave a comment mentioning anything on your "to-do list" (or just a "I want to go" will suffice) and a winner will be randomly drawn before the show.

Contest closes March 15, 2012.

custom work by lauren lane decor, photo via lldecor.ca

Isn't that dining room table gorgeous? Thank you to Lauren Lane Decor for offering up the tickets!

Christine

Keepin' it Real: The "Lived in" Nursery

2012-03-08T16:02:00.002-07:00

This is Alice's nursery before she was born:

And here's how it looks these days:

Please tell me how a baby who just learned to even hold a toy can make such a mess... oh wait, I guess that's all my doing then, hey? Cleaning house vs squishing cheeks? The house never stood a chance ;)

Just keepin' it real....

Christine