I'm loving...

These Hibiscus Stay On Coasters from Dimmalimm. I think these will make great Christmas gifts. (Yes, I'm already thinking about Christmas.)


The Serena drum chandelier from Oly. When we were picking out lighting for the new house I fell in love with this chandelier. I thought it would just the right amount of sparkle and romance to the dining nook. Too bad it was waaaaay outside my price range. Damn, good lighting is expensive! I also love this Round Old Silver iron pendant. It was more affordable at $500 but I couldn't find anyone that supplied it to the lighting store we were working with.


When we get into our new house I hope to do an art wall featuring all of the places A. and I have traveled and this DC Love print by Art Shark Designs would be the perfect addition.


I'm in the middle of reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver and it has been transforming. I've been thinking more about what we feed our family and have been especially wary of conventionally grown produce. With this in mind, we purchased a half-share with Oxyoke Farms. I don't think I've eaten so many salads in my life but, it has been fantastic and I would gladly eat garden lettuce all year if I could!

Birthday girl

I can't believe an entire year has passed since my darling baby M. was born. It has been an incredible ride, being a Mom. I truly never knew that I would enjoy motherhood as much as I do. She delights me every day, makes me laugh, makes me cry, makes me marvel at the miracle that is human life. It still seems surreal that such a perfect little person was created simply from a couple of cells. That DNA from A. and I combined to form a special little girl just for us.

She changes and blossoms each and every day and I feel so lucky to have spent this last year with her. There have certainly been frustrating moments and sleepless nights but in the grand scheme of things, they don't seem to matter much. I daydream about what she will be like when she's older - about all of the possibilities and opportunities that will be available to her. I want to work my hardest to give her the best possible life and tell her everyday just how much we love her. I will tell her to be unique, to be herself, to show respect and love, and to use her creativity in the way that she most enjoys. I hope that she enjoys music and books, art and film, sport and science but above all, I hope that she's happy.

Road trippin'

Our road-trip out to Vancouver Island was fantastic! M. was the perfect little traveler and while we did way too much driving, we managed to catch up with good friends and do pretty much everything we wanted. Here are some pictures.

Walking around in Lake Louise.

I've always loved this little house and I finally managed to take a picture of it.

This is the view from The Living Forest Campground - where we stayed in Nanaimo.

Stopped for dinner in Qualicum Beach.

Went to Organic Fair in Cobble Hill where we bought some amazing chocolate bars and ate homemade organic ice cream outside in the sun.

When we left the Island we spent a few days in Vancouver with the Golbeck family and then headed to the Okanagan. We stayed at Banbury Greens campground on the shores of Skaha Lake and this was the view from the door of our tent.

We were very impressed by Nk'Mip Cellars. Our favourite wine that we tasted!

The evenings were glorious!

Mission Hill was stunning!

We had lunch at Mission Hill (their restaurant has been rated one of the top 6 winery restaurants in the world!) and were suitably blown away by the food. YUM!

We had a great first family vacation!

And we bought a lot of wine(and cider)!

Vintage Printable

I discovered this site through an office makeover featured on Young House Love.



Vintage Printable is a collection of vintage illustrations that are in the public domain and free for download and printing. What a fantastic place to go for free artwork! Definitely a resource I will be making use of when decorating the guest room in our new house.

They Might Be Giants

Now this is kids music I can get behind. I'm hoping to pick up their album "Here Comes Science" for our road-trip. Maybe I can turn M. onto science AND good music! All in good time.

It's like coming home

While living in Vancouver, A. and I discovered the most wonderful (and tasty!) invention thanks to my sister. Canned Thai curries! B. found them while house-sitting for me and when I returned from working overseas she promised me they were delicious. At first I turned my nose up because my sister is not known for her cooking skills and will generally just find something quick and easy (love you B.!) but when I tried it, I was in love!

Aroy-D makes several different varieties of canned, ready-to-eat curry but our favourite is the green curry. (It's especially tasty with pineapple, cilantro and pistachios, served on basmati rice - a rip-off of the green curry at Earl's.) We usually add an extra can of bamboo shoots because really, who doesn't love extra bamboo shoots?

Unfortunately, when we moved to Calgary we discovered that Aroy-D curry was one of the items we couldn't find here, despite Calgary being a culturally-diverse city. However, the Thai curry gods smiled on us when A. spied the familiar cans on the shelf at our newly converted Wal-Mart Supercentre. Now we don't have to bring a case of the stuff back with us from Vancouver! I don't think we've ever been happier to see a specific food item.