Fun outdoor pillows

It's that time again... the time to be thinking of the outdoors. As I mentioned in my last post, I'm going to finally make a cushion for the couch on my porch and began my search for pillows to go with it. I found some pretty ones on Etsy of course. Outdoor fabric has come a long way and now you can find all sorts of fabric designs for outdoor cushions and pillows. Oh now what to choose? Secretly my favourite are the Tropical outdoor pillows from Anita's Casa.  I love that pink cording! I'm eyeing the Tonga Weave in Grass or the Eaton, Deep Charcoal from Tonic Living for the main cushion. I'll have to see what works.

1 || Navy and Turquoise Outdoor Pillow from Cathy's Custom Pillows
2 || Gray Outdoor Pillow from Cathy's Custom Pillows
3 || Evil Eye Outdoor Cushion from GorgeousGD
4 || Blue Outdoor Pillow from The Pillow Toss
5 || Orange Lumbar Pillow Cover by Anita's Casa
6 || Tropical Outdoor Pillow from Anita's Casa
7 || Banana Leaf Pillow from Tonic Living

Spring according to my iphone

The weather here in Toronto is giving us a bit of a run for our money. It's warm. It's cold. It's warm. It's cold. But alas, I guess that's what spring is supposed to be like. I got a new computer last week which means more blogging for me! I've missed it... and haven't missed it at the same time so we'll see how this goes!

I'm trying to keep the kids outside more often than not so they can get the much-needed fresh air they need after the winter. We've checked out Corktown Common--a must-visit if you're in the that area of the city. I couldn't get the kids off the giant slide!

I bought new running shoes for the 10k I'm running in June and have started a bit of training for that. I'm using Mark's Garmin watch to track my running and decided to wear it to school drop off the kids the other day and found out that we walk almost exactly 1 kilometre every day to school which  means that I'm walking 4 kilometres everyday back and forth. I was so happy to discover this! What a nice way to get some extra exercise into the daily routine without even realizing it.

We've been keeping up with the meal planning and one day the kids got all my cookbooks off the shelves to check out all the yummy things they could help to cook. We also decided to plant some veggies from seed this year and after two days we already saw something sprouting up... is that even possible??

I cleaned up the porch a couple weeks ago and I'm very excited to get moving on finally making a new cushion for our porch couch. I'm going to get some fun fabric from Tonic Living and make it myself. I've made cushions before, but never with piping so I'm determined to do it this year. I love sitting in that little nook with my book during the summer.

We also celebrated Mark's 40th birthday at Cellar Door--a local restaurant that we love. Finally Mark rode in the Paris to Ancaster race this past weekend and finished an hour sooner than he thought he would. I'm so proud of him and I'm in constant awe of his energy. We need to figure out how the can pass that on to me!

So that's a bit of our spring so far. I'm looking forward to the warmer months that's for sure.

ps: Yes Mila wants a dog after walking our neighbour's dog Oscar home from the park!

Five dinners to try this week

The kids are outside playing on their bikes (and still in their pjs!) and I just finished meal planning for the week. I founds some yummy things to try and although I didn't choose all of these things for this week I wanted to share them with you in case you wanted to try them.

1 || The Ultimate Veggie Burger from The Awesome Green
2 || Easy Tuscan Bean Soup from The Wanderlust Kitchen
3 || Roasted Beet, Baby Kale and Brie Quiche from Half Baked Harvest
4 || Chipotle Sweet Potato Breakfast Skillet from Bloom and Nourish
5 || Very Green Vegan Flatbread Pizza from The Awesome Green

Let me know if you try one of these out! I have the first three on my list this week!

Have a yummy day!

Five things: For the Home from Etsy

Etsy has the best things for the home (and anywhere really!). Every time I go to the site, the little Etsy elves have curated the perfect items for me. More than ever I'm trying to keep my home full of things I love and that are useful (thanks Marie Kondo!). I also want to have things that will last me more than a year. These fit the bill. Gorgeous and useful.

One || Entry Wall Hooks from Loop Design Studio

Two || Salt and Pepper Shakers from Puik Art

Three || Ceramic French Press from Yield Design Co. (I can't get over how beautiful this is!)

Four || Hexagon Dishes from Convivial Production

Five || Tripod tables from Chouette Fabrique