having fun with olio

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Just so you know, I'll find anything to help me procrastinate (I have a Groupon for a photobook I need to get done by May 24!), so tonight, I decided to have a bit of fun on Olio.

My mother-in-law wants to redo her bedroom and she already has the duvet cover (beige) and accent colour (teal), but she wasn't sure how to put it altogether. She likes more of a traditional style, so I tried to keep that in mind.

Here's what I came up with...


Disregard the shabby-chic bed frame! This was the closest pic I could find to her bedding (it's more of a matte/sheen stripe if that makes any sense). I just added a fancy headboard, side tables and lamps for fun. I think the rug is probably too bold for her, but I wanted to throw it in there anyway and I thought I'd add two options for curtains.

Regardless if she likes any of these options, I think it might help her visualize what could go in her room.

Playing with this site was pretty fun - I think I might try it for the nursery next!

24 weeks and getting pointy

Monday, April 16, 2012

Here she is at 24 weeks! It seems she's getting a bit pointy in there...

24 weeks! This kid's getting pointy!

I found a pic of me when I was 6 months with Leo in Chicago for our 'babymoon'...


Dunno - kind of the same? Who knows...

Happy Monday!

ps- I tried to smile this time - my best friend C says I need to smile more in these pics, but I can't think about smiling and hold the phone at the same time - too much thinking!

can't wait to try...

Saturday, April 14, 2012

So as I mentioned, I've been pretty good at keeping up with my meal plans and I'm happy to say that I've made a lot of the things I've pinned on my food board. Can I just say that people make their food look soooo good! I wish my stuff turned out looking so good! mmm.

Here are some things that I can't wait to try:

Honey yogurt berry pops
um yum!




Sweet Potato Paleo Brownies
I had never heard of Paleo before but I guess it's some type of diet. Regardless, these look delish.




Grilled chicken tzatziki pita
Anything Greek is good in my books!




Pumpkin and Sage Lasagne
I guess this is more of a fall type meal, but I still may try it soon!




Southwestern Stuffed Peppers
Love anything with peppers



Ok I had better stop for now. I just finished dinner and already I'm feeling hungry!

What has been your favourite Pinterest meal so far?

track-toooor

Friday, April 13, 2012

Leo's dream vehicle (don't you think he looks like a little old man?).

Trac-toooor

Happy Friday 13th y'all!

product review: posterjack

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

The kind people at posterjack contacted me recently to see if I wanted to check out their line of posters. I looked at the options to choose from and thought it would be kind of neat to see one of my photos printed on metal so I got to work.

Overall the system is super easy to use.

I selected the metal option, chose the photo I wanted to use, selected a size (I chose 8.5" x 11" under the More Sizes drop down) and uploaded my photo.


From there you can crop your photo and choose your framing option: a 8.5" x 11" standoff Kit, 8.5" x 11" Float Mount or nothing (I chose nothing).


The next two options allow you to change up your borders and add visual effects. I didn't want a border so I just stuck with the normal options they provide.

Add to cart and Bob's your uncle.


Yesterday I got a package in the mail (about a week later) - don't you love mail?! And this mail turns into a spaceship - see?


If you're ever worried about your item being protected and packaged well, you don't need to worry here - they wrapped this thing so well I needed some serious tools to get it out.


After I got through it all, I found this:


It's a bit hard to tell from the picture, but it turned out pretty cool. It's basically my photo printed right onto a super thin metal sheet.

Maybe this is a better angle.


Anyway I really like it. Not sure where I'll put it yet, but I'll likely add it to the stairs or to my photo wall in the basement.

And just so you know, I was compensated for this cool poster, but the review and opinions are all mine - it's a good product - check it out for yourself!

pillow swap

Monday, April 09, 2012

Hope you all had a nice long weekend! We did a ton of driving and I'm paying for it today I think - I'm super tired (that passenger sitting is tough work! ;)). Leo slept for four hours at daycare - we're all out of it!

To add some brightness to my day, I thought I'd share a little pillow swap I did last week. We got a new rug for the living room (more on that in a later post!) and my pretty orange pillows just didn't look right in the room anymore unfortunately.

I decided to swap them out for the pillows we had in the mudroom. Here is what was there before:


And the bright after!


Wow I really need to clean those windows! ;)

ps- find me on facebook and twitter too!

ahhh long weekends

Friday, April 06, 2012

Happy long weekend/Easter/Passover Everyone!


things that keep me [somewhat] sane

Tuesday, April 03, 2012

As my oh sweet little one was throwing his mini-frittata on the floor last night at dinner, it got me thinking of things that keep me sane, because lord knows my son's eating habits drive me absolutely batty.

In order to achieve as much balance as possible, I started listing out things that keep me compos mentis:

Tidying up.


After reading One Bite at a Time, I'm trying really hard to tidy up as I go. This doesn't always work in the kitchen, but I started leaving a big bowl of soapy water in the sink during each meal so I can clean up the dishes as we go. My sister will attest to the fact that I can sometimes leave quite the pile of dishes in and around the sink which drives me crazy of course, but sometimes I just don't feel like doing the dishes! Yes I have a dishwasher, but I don't put plastic or pots and pants in there so they tend to pile up.

I also put Leo's toys away after he goes to bed and I'm slowly teaching him how to put them away himself so I eventually don't have to do it.

Meal planning.
I posted about this already but I'm happy to say that it's still going strong! It has been a month and I feel so much better about meal times right now (that would be for my husband and me - not for the kid! I know, I know he'll get over being picky...). Anyway, it's so nice to not have to worry what's for dinner every night because all the food is in the fridge!

Laundry.


I was having a laundry discussion with my best friend C the other day and it's crazy how it can pile up right? Since Leo wears cloth diapers, we got into the habit of doing laundry any time we have a full basket. Our laundry room is in the basement so we just throw in a load or two if we're watching tv. Then it's done!

I make the bed every day.


I also wrote about this before, but I find that making the bed every morning before I get Leo keeps me sane. It makes me feel like I've accomplished at least one thing in the day!

Music.


I don't have a particular music genre I love over the other, but I tend to listen to a lot of jazz. Mostly we have it going all the time on the weekends. It soothes the soul! BUT it has to be the right type of jazz. None of that saxophone type stuff. That stuff makes me insane instantly. During the week I usually listen to Top 40 stuff for fun...but sometimes that drives me crazy too ;).

The mute button. Nothing drives me more insane than commercials. We don't have a pvr (In fact we just got rid of our cable and replaced it with an HD antenna) so when commercials come on I mute the tv and usually read or do something else.

Bootcamp/walking/exercise. I go to a bootcamp every week, walk Leo to daycare, and try to get to yoga at least once a week, which all keeps me sane. Especially the walking. Leo's daycare is about a 20-minute walk away so if it's nice, I get a good 80-min walk in a day if I pick him up and drop him off.

Last, but certainly not least, my husband.
(photo by Jennifer Kirk Photography)

I have to say I lucked out in the husband department. He is a super hands-on husband and dad and I rarely have to ask him to do anything. I know this is going to sound really cheesy, but sometimes I just think of something that I need to have done and he comes into the room having just finished it. Crazy I know, but it does happen. He keeps me very sane. He does laundry, the dishes, cooks, stuff around the house; and he's a great dad to Leo. Sure he drives me insane sometimes but 99% of the time he keeps me levelled. I really need to talk to his parents to see how they raised such a great son so I can do the same with Leo.

That's about it these days! What keeps you sane??

the nursery: finding inspiration with leftover fabric...

Monday, April 02, 2012

After lunch on Saturday, I decided it was time to check out the future nursery and all the crap that was currently living in the room. First up: go through my fabric stash to see if I can use anything for some kind of inspiration for colours and a theme. Although I'd love to go all out and do it up, I really want to try to use as much as possible of what I already have to put the room together.


Eons ago (I guess it was 2009 since that's what it says on the fabric), I fell in love with this fabric from Danielle Smeets, but never did anything with it. Mostly I was afraid to do anything because I loved it so much. So I laid it out to see if I could find anything to work with it.

Then I started putting together all my colours. Result: I have a lot of green.


Then I found some fabric I used to make a tote bag a few years back and right now I think this is the starting point.


It's girly without being screaming pink girly and it has some of the fun colours I talked about loving in this post: teal, orange, & yellow...

I starting pulling out more fabric to see if I could find something to go with it and found this old shirt from H&M. Not sure what I'll do with it, but looks fun to use...



In the search, I found this pillow cover I made a couple years ago when I first started sewing. It needs a little fix, but it matches pretty well and it's one less thing I have to make!


This is another pillow cover I did at the same time and might work well.


Finally I pulled some solids to pull it all together.


Whatyathink? I think it's a start for sure, but we'll see if I still like it a week from now!
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