Note...

Just a note to let my readers know that I will be offline for a little over a week. See you in awhile again with more posts. Take care and hope you are enjoying summer!

The Home: Looking Up

I have always dreamed of having ceiling details in our home. So when we got the opportunity to contract our own build, we decided to add a coffered ceiling.

The detailed ceiling spans through our kitchen and eating nook. My husband framed the beams in by using floor joists. We ordered the lengths that we needed and were able to install it all in one day (the framing). It was a lot of work to paint, however it was so worth it. Be sure to discuss the labour cost with your drywaller/ mudder/ taper, as this is much added work for their trade. This is also something that can be added to an existing home as well, not just new builds. 

There are also different ways it can be done (i.e. mdf). 

It can also have more detailing added, like mouldings.

By painting it the same colour as our walls, it gives us the clean modern look we love. We are so happy with this ceiling and would do it again in a heartbeat. 

The coffered ceiling gives us a reason to be looking up in our home!

The Thoughts: It's Raining, It's Pouring

Oh the rain! There is something magical about rain to me. I love the moodiness of it and how it enables all of my senses. I remember the way it tastes from childhood, trying to catch it in my mouth. The way it feels cool and refreshing as it touches my skin. Seeing how it cleans everything up outside and makes everything so green. The sound of it on the roof makes me feel all cozy. My favourite is the way it smells.... I wish I could bottle it up because it is so refreshing. I love the rain.

The Fashion (for babies): Baby Bling

My dear friend Amy gave us a super cute gift for Stella... a Baby Bling soother. In fact she makes these soothers. They look absolutely adorable. Thank you for the bling Amy.

Check more of them out at www.babybling.me

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Sorry to those of you that tried to post a comment. I have corrected the settings now, so go ahead :)

Stella's Baby Dedication

Today was a very special day for us as Stella was dedicated. Thank you to everyone who came to support us on this special occasion. We are so happy to celebrate such an important event with friends and family. God bless you all for your prayers and support.

Here she is all dressed up for her special day!

The Home: Personalised Decor

Sometimes its nice to frame something other than a picture or photo for decoration. While I was pregnant with Stella I came up with this little song that I would sing to her all the time and still do. So I decided to write it out and frame it for her room. I accompanied this with two stars on either side for the meaning of her name. The colours of her room are pink and yellow, so I coordinated the colours to match as well. There are so many ways you could personalise this decor idea. Just frame something special to you.

It's hard to see the lyrics on the picture... here they are:

Oh Stella, Oh Stella

You are our little star

Oh Stella, Oh Stella

How beautiful you are

With all our hearts we love you

God's gift to us you are

The Eats: Turkey Meatballs

One of my favourite meals at home is turkey meatballs. There are so many ways to make them taste different and its a quick easy meal to make. After eating frozen meatballs from the grocery store for sometime, I got really sick of the taste. I started making meatballs homemade instead.

I like to serve my turkey meatballs with pasta and Parmesan cheese. Added into the skillet is sliced crimini mushrooms, chopped tomatoes, kalamata olives, garlic, olive oil, and chicken broth (to deglaze the pan). I always mix the pasta into the skillet as well so that all the flavours run through everything.

Another way I often serve this dish is simply with tomatoes and sautéed spinach. Also, can't forget the grated Parmesan as well.

Enjoy!

Happy Father's Day

For the last few years, Father's Day has not been the most enjoyable occasion for us due to the loss of our first daughter. However, this year we finally have reason to celebrate. Happy Father's Day to the best man I know. Stella is very lucky to have a Father like you. 

For those of you that have a hard time on Father's day, I wish you comfort and peace. My prayer for you is that Father's Day next year will be much better.

The Fun: People We Love

Last night our dear friend Julie and her son Max brought over a lovely dinner. She made us Shepherds Pie and a lovely salad. Almost all her ingredients were from the Farmer's Market. Everything was so fresh and delicious. Best of all, we got to spend time with our wonderful friends. This is part of the richness of life to me. Spending time with people I really love. Thank you Julie for a wonderful evening. Isn't Max just the cutest ever :)

The Home: Pendant Lights

I just love the way a sphere shaped pendant looks in a room. Since I like modern and clean lines, I find the round shape softens the hard edges in a space.

Saw this one in Urban Barn.... love it!

Josh (my husband) installed this one in our daughter's room. She loves looking at it. It gave us a similar look to the Urban Barn one, but for a fraction of the cost. I love the way it casts the image of a star on the ceiling since our daughter's name means star.

The Eats: Local Rib Eye Steak

(gotta get some white plates to show this food off better)

One of my new resolutions is to shop for our food locally more often. I always try to shop mostly organic at the grocery store, but am venturing into the world of local now as well. So yesterday, Stella and I headed to the local butcher store. There I purchased some rib eye steak. We don't eat steak very often, only a handful of times a year maybe. So if we are going to have steak, I want it to taste really good. Our experience at the local butchery was wonderful. The workers at the shop were so kind and helpful. I even asked them about the meat and where it comes from. They were more than willing to tell me all about where and how it is sourced. It was a great adventure and I can definitely see myself heading back there again in the future.

This steak tasted so good. I just marinated it in a very simple mixture of extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, minced garlic, spicy brown mustard, sea salt, and pepper. The toppings on the steak are feta and mushrooms sautéed in a bit of the marinade. I then sided the steak with grilled carrots and mashed sweet potatoes... yum, yum!

The Fashion: Celebrating Sequence

For all my sequence girls out there... this one is for you...

On top of it all... its stripes... love this!

The Fun: Stella's Newborn Photo Shoot

My dear friend Julie Rice is an amazing photographer. Her ability to capture a moment is a true gift. She gives us the gift of having a moment last a life time through her photographs. Here are some pics from Stella's newborn photo shoot. She was around 10 days old. Having these memories of her mean the world to us. Thank you so much Jules. (Photos taken by Julie Rice www.papercastle.ca)

www.papercastle.ca

The Home: My Happy Colour

"Look at the stars, Look how they shine for you, And everything you do, 
Yeah they were all yellow"

(song "Yellow" by Coldplay)

Yellow is my happy colour. The song "Yellow" by Coldplay always makes me smile when I hear it. In our home we used a palette of white and grey. The purpose of this was to allow colours to pop through art and accessories. Now that spring and summer have arrived I really wanted to implement yellow into our home. I just feel happier around yellow. Yellow has even been implemented into my wardrobe. In our great room, I simply added yellow through a couple throw pillows, I painted some canvases, and the flowers were courtesy of my friend Sabrina. Often people are afraid to use colour in their home, but its not a huge commitment if you add it through simple items like a throw pillow, or even flowers. Test the colour out and maybe one day you will feel more comfortable to paint a feature wall in your happy colour. It can also be used in small amounts, especially if the colour is bold. Colour is more powerful then we think. It can really impact your mood and feelings. If you want to feel happy in your home, I encourage you to take a little risk and add a pop of colour into your space. What is your happy colour?

The Home: Introduction

My husband and I are coming up to our 8th wedding anniversary. In that time, we have moved 6 times. That is a lot of packing and unpacking. Our friends and family think we are crazy. A couple of those moves were transitional, but the rest were into new houses. Our last move gave us the opportunity to general contract our home, whereas the others we had hired builders. Contracting yourself is a huge job, but well worth it. It takes a lot of time and hard work. I have always loved decorating and design. I can even remember as far back as age 9 or 10 dreaming of decorating my bedroom in different ways. My family has always been in construction, so I guess it was natural for me to follow those footsteps in some aspect. We all have different styles and I always believe its important to respect others choices. My style leans to a more contemporary-modern preference. Our home is our escape. A visual delight that pleases us every day our lives. So I hope you enjoy all of the posts I share about decorating and design.

The Fun: Personalised Parties

There are many fun ways to personalise or theme a party. Recently we celebrated the arrival of our daughter with a family shower. We decided to integrate the colours of her nursery into the party. Pink and yellow were used on the invitations and items at the shower to tie it all together. Our daughters name means star so we also used pink and yellow stars on the shower invites. Its worth putting in the extra effort to tie in the theme for a party. We could have just bought store made invitations, but it meant more to make them with the theme of her nursery and continue that theme at the celebration.

The Eats: Pita Pizza

My husband and I love pizza. We all know that it can thicken the waist line a little too much though. So we enjoy a lighter version once in awhile. Here is how you can enjoy it too...

The List:
1 package of 6 whole wheat pitas
2 red bell peppers- julienned
2 grilled skinless boneless chicken breasts- cubed (you can use more if like more meat)
12 crimini mushrooms- sliced
2 cloves of garlic- minced
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 398ml jar of pizza sauce (this can also be homemade with chopped tomatoes and herbs)
2 cups grated cheese (we use marble)
A handful of spinach (for garnish or to eat)

The Method:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit
Lightly saute olive oil, garlic, peppers, and mushrooms (do not over cook, peppers should still have some crunch)
Place pitas on baking sheet and evenly spread pizza sauce on each
Evenly add chicken and grated cheese to each
Add peppers and mushrooms to each evenly on top of cheese (it looks nicer)
Bake in oven till cheese is melted, about 3-5 minutes (watch carefully as pitas crisp fairly fast)
Add sea salt and pepper if desired
Slice and serve with some spinach sprinkled around


There are endless possibilities to this meal. Get your family or friends involved and have a pizza bar set up with different toppings for everyone to select from. Enjoy!

The Eats: Introduction

I love to cook, which is good because my husband, family, and friends really love food. My method of cooking is not measured out to an exact amount. I just add what I feel like and it usually turns out well, so people tell me. That is why I have decided to share meal ideas with everyone. It may not be written like a traditional recipe, but that is part of the fun. I encourage you to take the ideas and run with it. Change up the ingredients, explore and create. That is what makes cooking fun for me. Think of cooking as a way to nourish your body, and bring together family and friends. It is unfortunate that our fast paced society has made meal time so rushed and impersonal. I encourage you to sit down, take some time, enjoy the company of family and friends, and savour some good eats. Make things from scratch, use organic ingredients, and shop the outside of the grocery store as much as possible. Then you will see what good food tastes like. Its simple and much more enjoyable. I hope you are inspired by some of our favourite meals. Enjoy The Eats!

How It Works...

I love to be organized so I find it fitting to have a little order to my blog. For anyone interested in reading my posts you will be able to easily sort out a category by the title. If you want to read a recipe post it will have a title such as The Eats: Chicken Tacos, or travel will be The Trips: Cabo, home decorating and design will be The Home: Wall Art, etc. Some posts will have more serious thoughts, so if you are not into that, you can just skip it. I have been collecting ideas for some time now, so many of my posts will be from the past as well. That is how this blog will work.

Here It Goes...

This is my first attempt at creating a blog. The purpose of my blog is to share with family, friends, and anyone else out there the simple things that put a little smile on my face. In life we have many ups and downs. Durning the hard times, we often need a little escape. Simple things can take our mind off of the trials for a moment so we can catch our breath.

In 2008, after many years of trying, we found out we were having a baby. We were on cloud nine. The pregnancy went very well. At full term I went into labour naturally. Upon arriving at the hospital, the biggest shock of our lives occurred. Due to an umbilical cord accident, our daughter had passed away. On August 8th, 2009, I gave birth to our stillborn baby girl. We named her Macy. Our hearts sunk to the floor and would remain there for the darkest days of our lives.

Life is not perfect. Society tells us that it can be if we have this or that, but all those things give us momentary happiness. I do not believe that momentary happiness is wrong, as long as you can find true joy and healing in your heart from the bumps and bruises in life. Through the grace of God, my husband and I were able to overcome the grief from the loss of our first daughter. We are happy to say that God has blessed us once again with another baby girl. Stella arrived April 11, 2012. We dearly miss Macy every day, but are so thankful for the joy Stella brings us.

This blog represents the simple things that help me momentarily forget the dark side of life. A yummy dinner with friends, an exciting vacation with my family, and creating things around my home that make me remember the blissful side of life. I have so much to be thankful for. This blog is a little slice of my lifestyle that I wish to share with you all.... my Simple Escapes.