Dixie Orchards pumpkin patch

Monday, October 26, 2015


dixie orchards caledon

dixie orchards caledon

dixie orchards caledon


dixie orchards caledon

dixie orchards caledon

dixie orchards caledon

dixie orchards caledon

We took a little drive up to Caledon to visit Dixie Orchards. It's a quaint little farm north of Toronto that is kind of off the beaten path. Small crowds, coffee and apple cider, a small market, a few animals, tractor rides and of course pumpkins! I think Leo had the most fun playing with all those trucks more than anything. He was in heaven.

We got a few pumpkins and hopefully they last... the squirrels like to eat them around here. Little buggers.

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Etsy shop feature: Love at First Blush

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

leather necklaces

leather necklaces

leather necklaces

leather necklaces
All photos via Love at First Blush on Etsy
I was poking around on Etsy last Friday and fell hard for this feather jewelry from Toronto, Ontario-based designer Sabrina Chin of  Love at First Blush. Isn't it gorgeous? I particularly love the feather necklace in black and gold. I could see any one of these as the perfect piece for the holidays. (Did I just mention the holidays? Ahh!)

Find more gorgeous pieces from Love at First Blush here.

Get more from me here:
IG: @lealoulemonade
Facebook: /lealoulemonade
Twitter: @lealou

Make sure to vote!

Monday, October 19, 2015

Today is the day if you live in Canada: it's time to get out and vote if you haven't done so in the advance polls. I'm not overly political, but I do know the value of voting and I'm a true believer that every vote counts. So make sure you take advantage of your right to vote!

I'd like to leave you with a fun little video written and performed by an old friend of my sister Paul Kolinski. (ps: Close your ears if you don't like swearing. ;)).



Happy vote day and may the best person win!

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IG: @lealoulemonade
Facebook: /lealoulemonade
Twitter: @lealou

10 vegetarian dinners from Pinterest

Tuesday, October 13, 2015


I had someone ask me the other day if I had any vegetarian recipes I could share. My response was: "Are you on Pinterest? Because I have more than a thousand recipes on there if you care to look at them." 

Pinterest is my online cookbook. It's my first stop for when I'm meal planning for the week. I'm also constantly adding new recipes. 

Today I thought I would share 10 recipes from my Pinterest food page that I've tried and loved. All the links below link to Pinterest for easy pinning. Here we go!

1. Fusilli with Roasted Eggplant and Goat Cheese (I'm having this tonight!)
2. Julia Child's Eggplant Pizzas (I cut the skin off for the kids)

3. Lentil Walnut Tacos
4. Big green salad (Use up whatever you have in the fridge!


5. Spaghetti Squash w/ Chickpeas & Kale

6. Avocado & quinoa stuffed acorn squash

7. Ricotta Stuffed Eggplant Rolls


8. Chickpeas With Chard and Pan-Roasted Tomatoes


9. Harvest Wild Rice Skillet


10. Kamut Pasta with Roasted Veggies


Bonus: a healthy salad dressing


What's your favourite thing to eat?


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IG: @lealoulemonade
Facebook: /lealoulemonade
Twitter: @lealou

The house Exterior is done [for now]

Wednesday, October 07, 2015

Well my friends. It has been a long summer of exterior renovations. What we thought would be an eight-week project turned into a 17-project. Guys weren't showing up, things weren't getting done. I was grumpy. #firstworldproblems. Yes I know. But we made it through the other side of the long tunnel and I'm here to show you the final(ish) product. There are still some things to do and some things we need to address, but more on that later. First: the before pics!

This is where we started. We had lots of white siding and pardging as well as stairs that were falling apart. Also, you can't see it, but there is also about 3-inches of water hanging out on the roof right over Mila's bed so the roof was first to be addressed.



This was the back during renos. You can also see pics of the original back here:

meibec siding

And here is the after.

house exterior renos

meibec siding

meibec siding

meibec siding

We went with a Maibec wood siding in Pepperwood and chose StoneRox Cobblestone in Meaford Mist. The stone is my favourite part of the whole reno. We wanted an old stone look and we're super happy with the result.


meibec siding

house exterior renos

meibec siding

Half-way through we decided to add stone and shakes to the garage as well. We still need to paint the door and the side trim.

meibec siding

As I mentioned we still need to address a few things. We want to paint out the windows. As soon as the siding went up we realized that the white windows washed out the colour a bit. We also need to address those darn arches on the porch. The red brick makes the siding look too green to me. We might clad them in something next year but we're going to live with them for now. 

Also next spring we'll be tackling the landscaping. We'll have to re-lay the front stone walkway and put replace all the plants in the front. We also have plans to redo the west-side walk way. All in due time. For now I'm happy to get another major reno done in the books.

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IG: @lealoulemonade
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Twitter: @lealou

A little terrarium makeover

Thursday, October 01, 2015


I went to Mark's office last week and cast my eyes on this sad little terrarium. Or what was left of one. A few years ago Mark's company had a renovation and the designer put a terrarium at the front door as a nice detail when people came into the office. Only no one took care of it. I think they forgot it was there. Poor little terrarium.

I decided it was an injustice to let this nice container be treated this way so I took it home to fix it up. I've never made a terrarium before, but I thought if I kept it simple I could figure it out. I went to the local flower market and got two succulent looking things thinking they'd be tough to kill. Then I took the glass off the top and cleaned it up as much as I could (it's been sitting dry and water-stained for a while!). I pulled all the dead stuff off and found a sweet little bird. Hooray! Then I shoved the succulents in, replaced some of the moss that looked half decent and tucked the bird back in.


Et Voila! 


I'm quite happy with how it turned out. I'm not sure how long it will live but we'll see. I'll have to make more visits to the office I guess!

Have you made a terrarium? I'm going to make one for the house soon! Or maybe I'll just keep this one..... Don't want to make one? Find pretty terrariums on Etsy!

Get more from me here:
IG: @lealoulemonade
Facebook: /lealoulemonade
Twitter: @lealou
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