new year's comfy style: no hype, all pyjamas

Ever noticed how if you're coupled up and you say you're staying in on New Year's everyone is all "oh how nice!", but if you're single and you say it you get pitty face? Like, super duper pitty face? "Oh poor dear" those eyes are saying, "I hope she doesn't choke to death on bonbons and tears."  

Well, this girl has always stayed in before (it's all just too much hype/disappointment), and she's not about to change it up now for lack of a couch buddy. Cuz you know what's better than stilettos in the snow? Not stilettos in the snow.  

So here, in short, is exactly what you'll find me doing tonight. I promise you, if I choke on anything, it will be macarons and coziness. Exactly how I plan to go anyway.

Happy New Year beautifuls! Whatever you may be doing - be it at home in a sweater or out in skin tight sequins - I hope you love every minute of it. xoxoxo

{sweater // mini champagne // jama bottoms // macarons // slippers // throw}

peace and out!

Just wanted to pop by to say Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays - no matter what you might celebrate - from both me and this mashugana...

...who's a little less than pleased with life right now.

A scratched cornea - probably from play with the puppy or a branch outside - means my little man will be spending the holidays as a cone-head. We plan to decorate it with bows. Or maybe reindeer horns. He's gonna love us sooooo much.

You know what's weird though? This whole thing has managed to increase my Christmas spirit tenfold. Yesterday when I accepted that a trip to the vet was necessary to figure out what was wrong, I started worrying about cost. Christmas eve almost always means emergency vet hours, which means hundreds of dollars just to step in the door. Well, a couple of hours after I voiced that worry, my family gathered around and presented me with this:

My amazing little sister had suggested everyone pool a bit of money and help me out. It is very, very hard to be bah-humbuggy in the face of that. The gift wasn't the money (they know I can afford it, it's just rough given the time of year), the gift was the care. Truly. I'm feeling the definition of loved.

Speaking of love, did you see Sara Ruffin Costello's home featured in the Wall Street Journal? No? Well you should definitely check it out. Maybe it's just because I wasn't feelin Christmas until now, but this is the first holiday decor feature that I've been really inspired by this year:

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It's so understated, and somehow she's managed to elevate writing on a mirror in lipstick from the tacky tag of a drunk teenager to ridiculously chic and pretty. I'll definitely be taking some cues from this for next year!

And with that, I'll be off. Enjoy every moment of this time with your loved ones, and eat as much chocolate and gravy as you can possibly stand. It's good for you. Promise. 

See you in the new year beauties!

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shared office love: cuz i like people more than i like doors

Poop. That's how I feel about today. I'm grumpy and sulky and my lower lip could be a bird perch. 

Poop.

My team at work has grown from a duo to a quartet, and today we're moving because of it - from a floor of about twenty peeps (the larger group we work with) to a small space housing just 5. I personally am going from a small open air "nook" that I shared with two interns to a private office. Which I should be pleased as punch about, but again, I say poop.

I know most people would consider the office an upgrade, but the new desk config - they have me facing a wall with my back to the door - means I'll need to shut my door to avoid feeling as though the world is peering over my shoulder. And that, plus the reduction in faces, just sounds like one big stinking pile of lonely to me. I'm already yearning for my nook back. 

So in the spirit of my internal tantrum, here are some gorgeous shared offices that just scream collaboration! If I ever start my own teeny tiny business, you best believe I'd be throwing sarcastic jabs at coworkers over computer screens in a space like this:

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happenings around here: it's diy o'clock!

A couple of my very bestest - Dal and her husband Brian - are moving away in a few weeks, and I won't be here for their blow-out send-off weekend, so I'm having them over for dinner next week to say goodbye (sniff). This means my "get this place into shape" projects have been kicked into high gear, and I'm d.i.y'ing my little butt off!

It's not like they would care about it's current state - Dallas is probably the most encouraging person I've ever met, and would say it looked amazing no matter what - but I do. In fact, Brian has never been allowed past my front door I care so much. Ri-di-cu-lous.

Anyway, it's not really all for the get-together - these projects were all already planned or on the go - but knowing it was coming up has been exactly the kick in the ass I needed to get shit done! In the last week I've a) finally found an awesome purple velvet (discounted by 80%!) and dropped it off with the seamstress to sew up some sofa cushions, b) ordered a pink velvet ikat pillow off etsy, c) bought a new rug for my bedroom (as you know), and d) picked out a pretty linen to cover the lampshades in my livingroom.

I've also been spray painting up a storm, tackling a pair of ikea frames and these puppies...

...which are going to go glossy black.

While paint coats were drying I've been working away at the palm leaf pendant light, and am almost at the finish line! Which is so f-ing amazing, because what I thought was going to be a simple d.i.y. has turned out to be anything but: the fabric that looked like it was going to peel straight off ended up ripping into tiny little shards every time I pulled. Like, shards the size of a fly.

Let's just say I wasn't able to trace the old fabric as a template :P

Last but not least, my lovely parents came up for the weekend and built custom shelves for my bedroom closet! This was actually the most transformational of all, because it means that all my crap is tidied away and easily accessible. No more cans of spray paint and spools of ribbon on the floor for me!

There was so much stuff piled half-hazardly in there before that when my mom emptied it all onto the bed it looked like a bomb had gone off:

But then all of that - plus a whole bunch more - made it's way back in looking like this (apologies for the crap photos):

Ahhhh, order in my home means order in my brain.

You'd think that after all of this I'd be just about done, but I'm actually considering reupholstering my kitchen chairs too. Oh, and painting the fabric by hand. Because apparently I've lost my f-ing mind.

At least it's the fun kind of crazy ;)

Any of you have projects on the go? Are you as anal about people seeing your place as I am? Do tell!

xoxoxoxoxo

decisions decisions

A busy week at work means a late post today, but I wanted to get your expert opinions on somethin'!

A couple of weeks ago I moved my cowhide rug out of my "dressing room" and into my living room, where I'm loving it. The jute rug I had bought from West Elm for there only really lasted a year (am I the only one who's been a bit disappointed in West Elm rugs?) so this was my solution.

That's left the floor in my "dressing room" (the glorified other half of my bedroom separated by an arch) naked, and I'm looking for a new pretty pronto! I was hoping to bring in something different rather than just going with another hide, but the catch is this: the room is a VERY odd shape. Something like this:

See what I mean? That weird jut makes a cowhide really the best and only choice if I don't want the area near the door to look very off. Essentially, a rectangular rug would need to be shoved to one side of the room to fit.

I'm still torn though, and have it down to these two options:

The difference in price is fairly minimal, with the oriental coming out at about 80$ more. Both would go with my room colours swimmingly, but the cowhide would likely make the transition to a new look better. Plus, cowhides are the most durable and easy to maintain rugs in the history of time. Ever.

With all this logic on the side of the hide, you'd think my choice would be clear, but this morning I put a lowball "make an offer" bid on the oriental in a fit of impatience . . . now I'm not sure if I want it accepted or not!

So what say you? Was that bid a mistake? Do you think it would look absolutely ridiculous so off-center in the room? Are you kind of "meh" on the hide? A penny for your thoughts!

P.S. Happy weekend lovelies! We just got snow (yay!), but we also got -12 temps (booo). For you americanos, that's 10 degrees Fahrenheit. Yuck. Looks like a lot of puppy snuggling and cider for me!

happenins around here

Hey there lovelies, hope you're gearing up for a great weekend! My boss is getting married tomorrow, so it's clean up/get down time for me. Long black dress, good friends, open bar. 'Nuff said.

I'm also gonna' be gettin' down d.i.y styles, because the fabric to make this happen just arrived on my doorstep**:

I know it might seem like the current look doesn't need fixin', but unfortunately the last time I bleached it (yes, I mean the last of multiple times - only thing I like better than d.i.y'ing is changing my mind), the light had had enough of my bullshit and got runny yellow stains all over the bottom. Which I tried to paint over. Which did not work.

So losses = cut. New plan = bold.

**Note: The fabric did not actually arrive on my doorstep. In fact, it arrived at my office because UPS decided to *say* they had been to my house three times but never actually show up, or at least not ring the doorbell. I know this because I WAS THERE AT ALL THOSE TIMES, DOUCHEBAGS. So I had to change my delivery address because I couldn't wait at home like a chump anymore.

They also charged me a 25$ "bringing it over the border" fee. On a 40$ package. Thanks for that motherfuckers.

Moving on.

I visited my parents last weekend and found this lovely lady just sitting lazily in my mom's sewing room:

(Oh, shitty iPhone pic. Enemy / trusty sidekick of bloggers everywhere...)

It's by my Aunt, and I'm a fan. It's gonna get a pretty mat and a snazzy frame and relocate to Montreal. My bedroom wall will welcome it.

While I was there I got the chance to smother/take a million pictures of the newest member of my fam-jam :

I am a huge supporter of anything that makes my Dad do things like this:

And then my little sister went and topped it all off by getting a super pretty ring to match her super pretty face:

BAM!

If the wedding didn't need to wait until after she finishes nursing school it would be on like Donkey Kong. D.I.Y centerpieces out the wazoo, bitches.

But Donkey Kong can be patient.

He'll just be riiiiiiight here . . . sitting . . . waiting . . .

Pops of red and a grounding of black (+ a new puppy!)

Hey there luvlies! Hope your week is going swimmingly!

I had a nice, big, choc-full-o'-pretty round-up planned for today, but it's been a long week, and I must admit I'm pooped. More importantly, my parents just adopted a new puppy (our sweet Paddington Bear - my father's best friend for 15 years - passed away recently) and I've spontaneously decided to go home for the weekend to meet the little fella! Which means I'm packing rather than posting :)

That being said, I couldn't just leave you with no pretty at all, so here are a few pics I've been drooling over lately. These babies feature my colour combo obsession du-jour: pops of moody red against sumptuous black. I honestly can't get enough of these two together right now. It can be done so wrong, but it can also be done so, so right:

{images via 1/2/3/4/5}

Gorgeous, no? I would 100% pick up and move into any one of those spaces. Like a bullet. 

And while I realize I may be the only one that cares, I can't help but post a pic of the new munchkin. I really can't. And really, who doesn't like puppies? Bad people, that's who. 

His name is Quinn (after Bob Dylan's song "Quinn the Eskimo") and he is so. damn. cute. I am bursting at the seams to get home and squeeze his fat little belly. 

See you on the other side of what is sure to be a ridiculous smother-fest!

project organize: adventures in dollarama-land

Dollarama is usually a place I avoid. Not because of the stuff (lord knows I like a bargain) but because sometimes the people in there can be seriously sketch. Ok, all the time. The last time I went in a woman told me that "there's such a thing as saying excuse me you know". I walked by her in an aisle. Literally didn't even brush against her. It was so weird . . . I think her I-hate-my-life glare burned a hole in my soul . . .

Anyway, project organize has me braving the weirdos and hitting up Dollarama like it's my job. For a while I was researching fancy pants plastic catch-all's for my bathroom cabinet like this one from Amazon:

But then I thought "what if all the shit I own doesn't magically sort into those compartment sizes"? I mean, they're pretty specific. I could go about filling them all and end up with a whole lot of leftover stuff, like my hairspray, with nowhere to live. That's not cool. No man left behind. 

Also, those things are expensive . . .

So back to Dollarama I went, and for a grand total of 10$ (instead of about 60$) I got the same kind of plastic containers I used to organize my clutter drawer in the kitchen. And those puppies worked like a charm! The bottom shelf now holds everything that used to live there plus almost everything that the large wicker basket used to hold as well. Which means the wicker basket is all proper-like too! It even learned how to curtsy and keep its elbows off the table!

Here's the before again:

And now here's the after:

I know it may not look like a big change, but it so is! Every compartment thingy is organized by type of item (like vitamins, or nail care), except for the one in the front, which is all the things I use every day. It's so perfect, I just slide that one from side to side or out to get what I want in the back. And the ones in the back each slide out without moving anything else. Yay!! I'm thinking about labeling them, but have considered the fact that that might, in turn, label me. As a crazy person. 

I also put a simple white stick-on hook on the door for the cloth I dry my face with. I HATE having that cloth out in the open because it gets covered in eyeliner, so hiding it in the cupboard but having it easy to reach for when my face is wet is a must. 

Closeups on the containers: 

While it occurs to me that this may be incredibly boring for others, I think it shows how insanely simple and cheap it can be to get organized if you set your mind to it, and maybe it will inspire you to do the same! 

I said can be simple, not always is. Please don't look in my closets...