New House Tour

Here's an update!

Living Room first ...

Not much has changed here. Some books have been rearranged as well as a lamp or two. 

Some new pillows & pillow covers. But the biggest improvement was getting rid of that big ol' TV.

I have moved into what used to be the Spare Room. I was really needing to pare down how much clothing and how many of pairs shoes I have, so I figured moving into the smaller room would force me to do that! It has, but I still have a ways to go!

Clearly, the biggest changes are in here. I did finally replace the old Ikea dresser with a new Ikea dresser, as well as brought in my old childhood dresser with some new knobs added from Anthropologie. I got some new lamps from Target and I love the little rug and colourful swirly pillow both from CB2.

I added in some Ikea shelves to the wall for shoe storage, and finally got around to properly covering that vintage chair. New bedding is from Winners. And I actually bit the bullet and made new curtains from an Ikea duvet cover. The "closet" situation is also much improved by maxing out the ceiling height and hanging two of these bars from Ikea.

Here's the Kitchen which is fairly unchanged ...

Just a few Mccoys and a chopping block over the sink to create more counter space.

And the Bathroom ...

Yes, I did finally get around to hemming the Anthropologie shower curtains and goodness what a difference!

Though at this point, this room could use a good re-painting since my landlord didn't get around to it when repairing that ceiling mess.

There are no updated shots of the big back bedroom which used to be mine. Currently it is very sparsely furnished and decorated since I'm renting it out. I did however move the lovely Flora and Fauna curtains from the spare room in there and they look great on the window. I do plan to put a few of the things from the boat in there as well as a small couch and maybe a desk when the current roommie moves out in the Spring. 

let love rule

Okay, hi there, I've been kinda awol, I know but I'm back. As you might have guessed from my last couple of posts this summer brought some interesting challenges to my door. But my horoscope has improved dramatically and so has my life!

"You have cosmic clearance to fall deeply, madly, and frequently in love, Gemini. In fact, it's OK with the gods of fate and the angels of karma if you swell up with a flood of infatuation and longing big enough to engorge an entire city block. The only stipulation those gods and angels insist on is that you do not make any rash decisions or huge life changes while in the throes of this stupendous vortex. Don't quit your job, for instance, or sell all your belongings, or dump your temporarily out-of-favor friends and loved ones. For the foreseeable future, simply enjoy being enthralled by the lush sexy glory of the liquid blue fire." Rob Brezsny, Free Will Astrology

I'm gonna go with that. Here are a few new things that are making me love my kitchen even more than before.

etsy experiment continues

I've tried out some new "poses" for earrings with a few new pairs that I've made by hanging them from some other pieces of my vintage pottery collection. I love how the little hand looks!

And the green vase is a nice soft backdrop. I have lavender in it but that didn't show up in the close ups.

I love the smoky mauve and pink taupe pearls together - this is going to be a rare pair.

The white pitcher does a pretty good job too.

 

Then I worked on the banner and I was hoping it would look like this ...

but once I made it the correct size for etsy it turned into this ...

I guess I'll need to have another go at this to get more beads in the banner photo. Here's the link to the store again: http://www.etsy.com/shop/JessicaLovesJewelry

what do I want to do when I grow up?

This is a good question since being on the cusp of 40 one could argue that I am, in fact, grown up.

So far, I've been a dancer, a dance teacher, a dance studio owner, a high school english and dance teacher, and an executive assistant.

I guess in comparison to the rest it figures that the last one really wasn't me - all that sitting and all!!

So here's something I've always wanted to do: I love giving advice; I give great advice; I would like to do an advice column.

 Anybody need some advice?

it feels like spring!!

I wore my spring coat yesterday and no hat, and I didn't even need my gloves!

Today is supposed to be warm too but maybe with a bit of rain to wash away all the dirty ice on the sidewalks.

I know it's not spring yet, but knowing that it is right around the corner is such a relief with lots of good things to look forward to.

Including my 40th birthday ...

Happy Thanksgiving

To all my American friends and family!!

Marcel and I are truly thankful for you all!

 

Marcel would like you all to know that he caught a mouse today, but that he let it go. He's just keeping up his skills.

more mini-me: flowers

Since I adore flowers and I love to make my own arrangements I thought it would be fun for the little miss to do the same for a birthday treat.

And you know how much Marcel loves flowers too.

So I went to the flower shops at Ave & Dav and bought a whole lot of pink and purple loveliness for the little miss' birthday bouquets.

I just took direction. She told me which things to cut shorter and which vases to fill up. She seems to favour like with like.

And then she ran all over the house placing them just so ...

and then changed her mind and ran around moving them from room to room.

I think it's safe to say this was a sucessfull activity.

things I did for my b-day - part 3

I recently discovered some amazing wheat-free, dairy-free sweet treats at Pulp Kitchen - it's across the street from the Damzels' store in Leslieville. 

Turns out they get their deserts from LPK's Culinary Groove where they make all kinds of gluten-free, vegan deliciousness!

I am officially in loooooove with their coconut cake with lime frosting - couldn't ask for a better birthday cake!! But what's that you're looking at Marcel?

Yes, those peonies you picked for me are simply amazing!!

And thank you for remembering how much I like to have flowers in the bedroom too!!

He's so thoughtful!

an orange orange-tree bowl

I won this baby last week and she just arrived!

I think I’ll call her ginger laughlin.

I love the colour and how lovely she looks with her aqua brothers and sister.

I find I use big homer the most and although they are supposed the be the same size, ginger is a bit bigger.

So glad salad season is here – greens are gonna be a good look for ginger.

bedroom spring clean

I did a quick tidy-up in the bedroom with the intention of taking some "before" pictures of the whole room. But an entire spring clean is clearly in order as it is definitely time to retire the winter clothes and break out all my happy-bright-swirly skirts (and I seem to have all kinds of crap under my bed that is a total mystery to me).

(mccoy there next to a card my sister made me with a photo of us as babies)

I've been thinking about this wall quite a bit now that the mirror is happily perched there and I can get a sense of how much/little space there is around it compared to the inspiration photo - so I've got some new thoughts percolating about that.

But I'm not sure when I'm gonna get around to all these things because I have plans to spend the better part of the weekend on this boat with the fine fellow who owns it - yay for me!