Etsy Orange

Thursday, March 27, 2014

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I decided that if spring isn't going to come outdoors, I'm going to force it to come indoors by bringing in some colour. Inspired by the orange tulips I got the other day from the store, I thought I'd start a little favourites folder in Etsy of just orange things. That's it.

I can tell you the second I started collecting orange things, my mood picked up and I could feel the orange making me warmer. Cheesy? Try it.

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What do you think? Did it work? Find more orange things here on my favourites board here.

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Main floor update: fireplace ideas

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Mark and I have been throwing around ideas for a couple years now about what we'd like to do with our massive fireplace on the main floor. I say massive because it's basically a wall of white brick and it's a bit much for the room. Some people seem to like it, but we're looking for a bit of a change.

For the longest time we were thinking of adding drywall to the top, redoing the mantle and adding mouldings to the bottom. Mark even had it taped out. But we never did anything about it because I don't think we were totally into the idea.

The other week I thought it would be fun to cover the existing brick with some other type of light stone. Similar to what we did here in the basement, but more of a whitewashed stone.


Then we'd fill in the sides with MDF to make built-in type shelves.


Here are some photos I found for inspiration.
Via


I actually really like this too but it may be too modern for us! Via

What do you think? What would you do to this wall of brick?

On the menu this week

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Well it seems I'm sick as a dog with a cold of some sort. The kids and I have been relatively lucky with not getting sick this year. I remember getting sick like this before Christmas and that's about it really. I know lots of people who haven't been so lucky.

Anyway, I gathered up some strength to plan some meals this week. Last week was a bit of write-off because it was a short week from our trip to Florida.

Here's what I'm thinking for dinner this week:

Photo credits from top middle to bottom right: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Monday
I wanted to make something green for St. Paddy's Day so I'll be Kale Pesto Pasta with Ricotta and Chili  from Heather Christo on Monday. I'm getting kale in my veggie box so I'm kind of hoping it comes early tomorrow!

Tuesday
20-Minute Chickpea Curry from Creme de la Crumb

Wednesday
Leek Fritters (and likely a salad of some sort) from A Thought For Food

Thursday 
Sweet Potato Enchiladas from Damn Delicious

Friday
Swiss Chard and Ricotta Pizza from Real Simple

Ok now I'm hungry. Mark's making burritos tonight and I'm starting to get my appetite back!

What are you cooking this week?

Interview with: Carrie Duncan from Four Bees Photography

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

I'm excited to share my next interview with you today: Carrie Duncan from Four Bees Photography. Carrie is an awesome mother of two sweet children and I first met her when she took a mini photo shoot of my family two Christmases ago. Since then, we have frequented the same mom group in our neighbourhood and most recently she started up a new Facebook group for entrepreneurial mamas & women in west Toronto.

I wanted to interview and include her here because I love her photos which focus on the true beauty of birth and families. Find out more about Carrie below.

Photo via Carrie Duncan
Tell me about Carrie Duncan. What do you love to do, hate to do, wish you could do?

Love: snuggling with my kids in that moment right before they fall asleep. It’s like magic watching them drift off.

Hate: laundry and taxes.

Wish: I could be more organized. It’s like I’m genetically predisposed to disorder.

How did you get into the photography business? 

In my former life, I was a journalist. I think photography is very similar. It’s still telling stories, just visually instead of verbally.

Why did you start your own company? 

Truth be told, I never considered myself an “entrepreneur”– making that leap was really scary. However, I feel like capturing women in motherhood artfully is part of my path. My kids have changed me, changed my life. I wanted to be more for them. I wanted them to see they could be whatever they wanted to be.

Where does your company name come from? How did you come up with it?

When I was carving out my niche in the photography world, I wanted to specialize in genres that made my heart sing. Those were: Bellies, Babies, Birth and Breastfeeding— the four “B”s or “Bees” because I thought that would be more visually appealing.

What do you think is missing from the photography industry and how do you want to change it? 

Love. Self-love. Women are the largest consumers of photography and yet we are often the ones that enjoy the process the least. How ironic. If I could figure out a way to make women love the process, and love themselves (minus photoshop) then I’ll be a very wealthy photographer (I’m still working on that bit).


What types of photos do you love to take? 

My goal in any session is to take photos that truly capture my subject’s essence. I know that sounds corny. But you know when you see a new mom and she’s just SO in love with that new baby that it just oozes from her pores. That joy that radiates from her— that’s what I love to photograph.

What are you passionate about outside of photography? 

Food. I actually took chef training classes at George Brown College. I only stopped when the chef uniform stopped fitting me near the end of my first pregnancy.

Favourite vegetable?

Today, I’ll say kale. It’s so versatile and hearty. Soups, salads, stews… it goes wherever you need a boost of greens :).

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?

The south of France. And by “go” I mean "live there forever.” The food is amazing, it’s virtually tropical with its palm trees and the Mediterranean Sea and the pace of life is slower.

Thanks so much Carrie! Please visit Four Bees Photography for more information and photos.



Previous interview: Tara Russel of Russel Events

A much needed vacation

Tuesday, March 11, 2014


Mark and I just got back from taking the kids to south Florida for 10 days. His parents rent a house every year for a few months so we love to fly down for a bit to spend some time with them and with the warm weather. As many of you are experiencing, we've had quite the winter and we really needed to get away. I felt many times before we left that I was going a bit crazy - lack of vitamin D?? The sun was perfect. I highly recommend it, if only for a few days!


Mark's parents have a pool so we spent a lot of the time swimming (ok I'm a lounger but the kids swam a lot with Mark and his parents!) and took a few side trips to the beach and to the zoo in Tampa (Leo got to feed a giraffe!). There was only one day of rain and one other day was on the cool side, but over all it was amazing weather. It was worth it to go a bit later in the year to catch the warm rays and get away from the snow (did you hear we're getting more tomorrow?? ack!)

To top it off, the kids were amazing. They shared a room (Leo in the bed and Mila in a pack and play) and they slept so well there. They were up pretty early every morning (5 am on the morning of the time change - yikes!) but over all it was a great set up.

Thanks for the visit Nonno and Mimi! xo


How are you keeping warm this year? Did you go away?
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