decorating

Remember my post on plant life? I finally found two little succulents I really love to decorate our shelving unit in the livingroom. This weekend I hope to also print some wedding photos to frame, and pick up a few little decorative items from the antique store. I'll have to share some pictures once we finally have that piece all spruced up. It's starting to look a little more lived in! It's really a process though, decorating your home, no?

Photos: My own.

the garden centre + a winner

This past weekend Rick and I took another trip to our local garden centre – a place i'm sure we'll be visiting often in the future. I love it there. So many plants and trees to look at, it's row upon row of endless inspiration and colour. So far, we've planted 10 trees in our backyard... 8 cedars for privacy, a sunset maple, and a yellow butterflies magnolia. I am so excited for the maple to turn a fiery shade of red this fall, and then to witness the yellow magnolia blooming next spring. We also have one more on the way... a crab apple tree with bright pink blooms just starting to blossom. I can't explain what it is about blooming trees in the spring, but each time I pass one it makes my heart just swell... they are just. so. beautiful. As "Tony" from the garden centre said, "It's like nature's smile after the winter season." It really is though, isn't it? If we had unlimited funds, our backyard would be full by now, but I guess we should pace ourselves, lol. (Next year, I'd love to do this...)

Also, speaking of gardens and greenery... we have a winner for the Pure Green Magazine giveaway! Congrats to Milynn of {Love + Whimsy}! I'll be emailing you soon. And thanks again to Pure Green Mag!

Photos: My own of the Cambridge Garden Centre

in celebration

Even though it's a cold, wet day out there today, my Mother and I are headed to high tea to celebrate Mother's Day! It's at a new local tearoom we can't wait to try out. Wishing her and all the Mothers and Moms-to-be a very Happy Mother's Day today!

pure green mag giveaway

If you ask any of those close to me, they'd definitely tell you I'm a little bit magazine obsessed. My Dad and Rick have one too many times moved heavy boxes of my collection to each new apartment, and most recently, our home together. In highschool, my over-the-bed bench was sagging in the middle underneath the weight of ELLE and Vogue. My tastes in magazines have changed over the years, depending on what's going on in my life (I just recently subscribed to Modern Dog, fun!), but what remains the same is a love for truly gorgeous editorial design. Unfortunately though, there's only so much room for an avid collector to keep all these magazines, and more and more lately i've been thinking of purchasing an iPad just for this reason.

So many print versions are now going digital, still keeping in alignment with high design standards creating gorgeous layouts, with the addition of digital-only features (bonus!). I will always buy those special issues I particularly love in print, but I think it might be about time I invest in an iPad for some of my beloved subscriptions!

One of those beauties is Pure Green Magazine – a feast for the eyes in print, but now also on their brand new standalone iPad app! Volume 5, entitled Wanderlust, is now out and the iPad version is retina ready and full of bonus features including enlargeable images, downloadable recipe cards, and bonus image galleries. The latest issue includes:

• A visit to the great white south.
• The Last Great Wilderness of Antarctica.
• A hike through the mountain passes of Colorado.
• A charming and leisurely walking tour of Paris.
• A visit to Puglia.
• A trip to Guyana in the Organic Kitchen.
• A road trip across Europe in a camper van.
• A welcoming stay in a traditional bed and breakfast set in the English countryside.

I don't know about you, but they had me at "Paris".

Pure Green Magazine with kind enough to offer a promo code for one lucky reader to try out the new iPad app! Just enter in the comments below, leaving your name and email address, and one random winner will be picked next Monday, May 13th. Good luck, and thanks Pure Green Mag!

sunday evening

Sunshine and gardening.
Blooming magnolias.
Road trips and ice cream stops.
A birthday get together and plenty of puppy walks.

Such a great weekend. Hope yours was too!

Photo: Neighbourhood lookout over our city.

this month

In a flash, May has arrived! Where does the time go? I'm just happy it finally feels like spring is here for good. There's green buds on the trees and the very first of flowering stems. Lately we've been super busy with the new pup, getting her used to our home and spending a lot time trying to train her. It'll be neat to see how she progresses over the next few weeks.

I'm all about being outside this month though! Puppy walks (in these new shoes), hanging planters, picnics in the park... all this vitamin D makes me oh so happy! It's a shame some of the best days of the year are spent working indoors, don't you think? Thank goodness we have a public holiday this month, I think we all could use a little spring break.

What are you up to this month?

signs of spring

When sunglasses become a necessity. Perfect. Saturday.

Hope it's sunny where you are!

Photo: My own.

happy weekend

This weekend finally looks promising for gorgeous Spring weather (18˚C people!), and it's an action-packed one at that. Tonight we have dinner at my best friend's house (where Scout will be joining us for her first doggy-date). Over the weekend we have her first training class (Grade 1!), dinner with my parents, a client meeting, and what will hopefully be the first of many home bbq's to come. I can't wait to feel the sun on my face, and the breeze of an open-sunroof... *bliss*.

I hope you all have an enjoyable weekend! I also thought i'd share some links... it's been an inspiring week!

1 | Loving the stunning home of Hanna Seabrook, of Gadabout Creative.
2 | My friend Kinga just opened her debut Etsy shops! Take a peek!
3 | This came in the mail this week (my iPhone is happy)...
4 | ...along with two Spring tees, in Sweet Mint and Heather Chrome.
5 | I'm shy with prints, but this is fabulous!
6 | A good lookin' blog, about an interesting (and uncommon) topic.
7 | In total "puppy fever" mode, any recommendations worth pinning?

Photo: Chance Co. - the perfect place for basic stripes!

a little life and colour

We only have one room redecorated in our home so far, that being the living room. It's been a slow process, but we plan on having the rest of the house painted later this year, along with putting up new trim. As you can imagine, being a designer, our home is mostly neutral tones of the softest greys and dark charcoal. I love it, but sometimes you do need a little bit of colour. Colour to me means decorative accessories, as well as the odd plant here and there. It'd be nice to pick out a few little succulents to decorate the shelves, and a tall fig leaf tree for the corner of the room. Just a little life to perk the place up a bit, hoping I can keep them alive!

Do you have a green-thumb? Any tips for the best surviving indoor plants? (I hate those "Mother-in-law Tongue" ones, or whatever they're called, lol)

Photos, clockwise: hikihiki (Flickr), Line Thit Klein via yvonne kone, Olivia Rae James

a new addition

We have a new addition to the family!

In my last post, I genuinely thought we wouldn't get a new puppy until later this year. However, sometimes things have a way of working themselves out, and we found ourselves visiting with a family this past weekend that could no longer keep this little gal. It was hard to believe that we were driving home with a dog on Sunday evening! She's been fitting in well though, and keeping us on our toes! Plus, she's freaking adorable. We love her.

She's unbelievable sweet and cuddly, and has to be right by our side all the time. She knows a few commands, like sit and wait, but we've signed her up for professional training starting next week. Dobermans love to learn, so we're hoping she picks up on things quickly. She's obviously super excited to go walking and exploring all the time, so it'd be nice to have her not pulling on the leash at least!

Her ears have been cropped and have to be taped up for several months to allow the cartilage to heal so her ears will stand. I think every person we've come across when having her out with us has asked, "What's wrong with her ears?", hahaha. Poor puppy looks like a reindeer with all the medical tape (she's pictured above in between wrapping changes so her ears are floppy). We hope they'll be standing before this Fall.

For those of you who don't know, we also have a siamese cat named Miley. She's weary of this new "crazy thing" we let invade her home, but they're ok in the same room together just minding their own business, thank goodness! It'll take time for Miley to totally be comfortable, but so far, so good. Scout mostly just wants to lick her, lol.

You can expect to see more of the new pup around here in the future I'm sure. I'll try not to go too pet crazy though, ha! Thanks for all your lovely comments in my last post as well!