On the walls: The Bianchini

Photo via Jennifer Kirk Photography

If you recently read my post over at Just a Trace you may have noticed the little red car (also known as a Bianchini) we drove to and from our wedding. This car was one of the highlights of our wedding day; it had so much character: it was red, it had an old green suitcase attached at the back, the driver wore driving goggles and since the car didn't have a radio, the driver brought one with him and kept it in the front seat.

Photo via Jennifer Kirk Photography

This car will always hold a special little place in our hearts.

Late last year, Becky from Sketchy Styles posted something on her Facebook page talking about her illustrations and what a great gift idea one of them would be for a loved one. My brain went into over drive as I thought about what I could have illustrated to give to Mark for Christmas and it popped into my head: the car!

I sent a note to Becky asking her what she thought of the idea. She seemed on board. She typically works in black and white and when I asked her if it would be possible to make the car red she was up for the challenge (if you've seen her recent painting posts, I'm sure my little car wasn't much of a challenge! This gal is super talented!).

I sent her a few photos for inspiration and she got to work. After approving a proof via email, I got the final piece of art in the mail a few weeks later.

Voila! Cute right? I put it in a rustic looking frame I found at Target and put it in the basement under a picture of the house where Mark and I met (and lived in school!) which is pretty fitting. I think I might change up the mats in both photos to keep them a bit more consistent, but for now it's fine.

What do you think? What would you have illustrated?

*This is not a promotional post however I do use affiliate links.

It's All Good

A while back I went to my friend Carol's for an afternoon/dinner play date with our kids and she made the yummiest meal: Mexican Tomato Rice with Go-To Black Beans and Mango + Avocado Salad with Balsamic-Lime Vinaigrette. 

And before you ask: yes this was for the kids too and yes they ate it (well Leo ate the avocado, but he's a special case...). The meal was so yummy that I made her lend me the book to take home to try some other recipes.

This one is a favourite:

Quinoa with sauteed kale & garlic topped with an olive oil fried egg. I have eaten this for breakfast a few times and it's so good. Savoury.

I also made the Veggie Dumplings which were fantastic. They were pretty easy to make from scratch but if you follow me on Instagram you'll know that my very first attempt didn't go so well:

I haven't gotten around to trying much else but here are a few that caught my eye for next time.

Spring Vegetable Soup, Two ways

Spanish Chopped Salad with Tuna + Piquillos with Spanish Salad Dressing

Sweet Potato + Five-Spice Muffins

Lentil Salad with Mustard + Tomatoes

She also has an awesome almond butter cooke recipe in here... um.

I should also note that she has a ton of meat recipes in here too - mainly lamb and chicken but this is not a vegetarian book for all you meat eaters!

Anyway, Gwenyth got a bit of a bad rap about this book which I'll never understand. The food is great, real, whole, fantastic and good for you. I think people have a really hard time with recipes and food that are in fact 'clean' and not full of crap that comes with eating processed foods.

Poor Gwenyth! Don't worry I'm a believer!

Believer or not the food is good. Check it out.

Family Day long weekend

Hey there.

Did you have a nice Family Day long weekend (if you live in Ontario, Alberta or Saskatchewan or had President's Day in the States...)?

Mine was great. I love long weekends - more time with the hubby!

We managed to pack a lot into the weekend. Here's what we did.

I made a heart banner for my little valentines.

I made a pretty decent vegetarian 'meatball' thanks to How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman. It's made out of walnuts! I was very happy about this discovery. With a few herb & spice tweaks I think it just might fool the Italian in the house!

I found a light that I want for the powder room. My sister and I went shopping for her new home on the weekend and I found this pendant (the shorter one) from Living Lighting.

Mark and I went on a date to a pub. No photos! Just picture me eating a huge plate of fish and chips and downing several Mill Street beers.

We took the kids on their first subway trip downtown.

After the subway we went for lunch at a new restaurant Mark's company built downtown. It's called Bread & Bowl and it's yummy (more on that another time!).

We went to the Auto Show after lunch and now Leo wants a race car and a motorbike.

My kids turned into teenagers and took off on a joyride.

What did you do on the long weekend?

And the winner is...

Lara! Congrats and thanks to everyone for entering the contest. See my favourites for more fun stuff from Etsy.

Happy Friday + Destination Wedding Talk

Happy Friday Friends!

I wanted to take a minute to share something cool with you today - I'm featured over at Just a Trace today talking about our destination wedding (five years ago - yikes!). I loved writing this post, but it's making me really want to go back now!

Visit Just a Trace to read the post and have a great weekend!

Say I Love You with Etsy + Giveaway

Paris Heart Map via Explore Your Heart

Remember those days back in elementary school when we gave little valentines to each other that came out of a box from the store? I used to love getting them (as I'm sure you did), but now that I'm an adult I love looking around for handmade cards I can give my special Valentine like these sweet ones from Etsy. Ok the first one isn't an actual card, but it would be very fun to get and keep on your wall year-round non?

I Think I Kind of Really Love You a Little Bit card via Sea and Lake

Bonus, these special cards are all made in Canada which makes my heart skip an extra beat.

A New Reason to Love You card via Ulysses Design (Instant Download!)

Ombre Hearts card via Sea and Lake

So here's an extra, extra bonus: Etsy wants to help you say I love you to your special someone by giving you a chance to win a $50 gift card so you can buy all the cards you want. Check out the nifty little Rafflecopter gadget below to enter. The contest will run until February 10 and we'll let you know if you've won!

Have a great week!

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a Rafflecopter giveaway