Have you registered your phone number?

Starting today, you can put yourself on the Do Not Call list and maybe get some peace from those telemarketers. Hurrah!
Click here to visit the site.

Kvartal Anno Sanela's, yahhhh

We hooked ourselves up with the Ikea connection over the weekend and grabbed a set of sliding panels for the back door (there are so many UGLY options for glass sliding doors, but I think this one is the most tolerable). We were crazy to try and figure this system out while in the store (busy Sunday) and got to witness other couples with big question marks over their heads and frazzled looks. This was not us though, because I have Trevor, Canadian superhuman-man who can decode strange Swedish illustrations and directions for window coverings. So we were successful (although karma bit us in the ass with a box that didn't include hardware -- now another trip has to be made for the last panel, hence the evidence above in the photo with only three panels).

Creative shoes

Sometimes it's nice to have some stripes going on to liven up an un-creative day.

Lurvely

Photos via James Merrell

Lulu Thursday

Ta-da! Sweetbean!

My sister had an idea over the summer to start a little business for herself (she's a new mom and working from home), and she wanted to do something that involved baby clothes. She bounced the idea off of me (and bounced, and bounced, AND bounced, LOL!) and we worked on a name and a concept. I'm not too involved with the business (she's the go-getter and one with the huge amounts of motivation -- I'm just the little creative brain that does logos and draws things), but I'm her number one fan so I thought I'd post a little introduction on Sweetbean and let you all see what we've done:

Logo (of course).

And the 'core' Sweetbean family, made up of:

If you need to get your little hands on these for yourself...click the banner over on the right and it will link up to the current Etsy site.
*Oh, and remember, copyrights do apply to these (and other original photos on this blog). Be kind, don't rip them off or copy them and use them for yourselves. And if you do want to post these on your site, we nicely ask you to link to the Sweetbean site. Many thanks! :)

Just say no to Vegas

Guess who's not going to Vegas after all? Yup, Trevor stays, and mass panic has been averted (for now).

Tastes like fall

This little buttercup squash is in the oven cooking away as I type. mmmm...

I'm checking into the poorhouse

Just browsing websites for London shopping ideas gets me into trouble...and then seeing their logo/wordmark -- well, consider me sold.

Busy days

Our countdown to vay-kay has begun (15 days, ACK!) and there's still a few kinks in the plan to get away. Number one kink for me would be the fact that a certain client's work has stalled (even though warnings of my departure have come since MAY), and the number two kink is Trevor going to Vegas next Sunday until next Wednesday (work stuff, no partying for him). And there's always the house reno's we can talk about (um, final inspection part deux anyone?), but I won't go there now.

But on the good side of things I just have to find another rental car for Belfast and some Med excursions and we should be set for the extended planning. Getting to the bank and ordering euros and pounds is another important item on the list. Maybe I should write all this down, lol!

Back to our regularly scheduled dose of mass panic...
postcards via tobyotter's flickr

Small magazine

Look at all the goodies from Small magazine:

The weekend

The weekend started off with picking a load of ripe tomatoes from the back yard and delivering them to a neighbour-friend on our street (she shares my bitterness for certain neighbours...LOL!). One plant has decided to make yellow tomatoes, while all the others are red. Makes for a nice photo!

We did more of the mega-house-reno's as well, and we were determined to get the kitchen/family room back up and functioning again so we can feel that one of the most-used parts of the house is NORMAL. We sanded and painted crown moulding (blegh...I really can't stand that job) and painted more of the kitchen cupboards. By Sunday evening we were able to load furniture in and clean the kitchen...I said to Trevor that I almost felt 'zen-like' at that point, lol. It was so nice to have a room almost done (I say 'almost' because we still have to replace the countertop in the kitchen and put in a tile backsplash, but that feels like little things at this point).
And at the end of the weekend we both realized that we only have two more weekends to go until we leave on our trip. That was scary...and makes it seem like these next two weeks will disappear like *that*. We still have to reserve car rentals for Toronto and Belfast and look at shore excursions in the Med. And then pack...I have a goal of getting the suitcases out this week and plopping them in the spare bedroom to gradually pack them (and avoid mass panic and forgetting things).

Mornings with Lulu

Every day this week, around 8:30am or so, I hear a muffled 'reooowww' upstairs that goes on and on, with the eventual appearance of Lulu...and her toy. Every. Day. This. Week. This morning I managed to grab my camera in time and capture some evidence:

Which? covers

Nice covers, especially when they're bunched together.

via the serif

Glögg it

Blossa has a much fancier glögg than Ikea, and they release a new one every year with a redesigned bottle.
via the dieline

Quote

I read this yesterday and loved it:

'The thing I hate the most about advertising is that it attracts all the bright, creative and ambitious young people, leaving us mainly with the slow and self-obsessed to become our artists.'
- Banksy

Oh yes...

Our cruise ticket booklet arrived today. It's now official, we are going on vacation soon!!

As seen in the living room

The terrarium...slightly dusty, but still alive!

Living room/kitchen update

We've been working in spurts on the living room/kitchen at the moment, the ceiling has been painted (took almost two cans!), new ceiling fan put up, crown moulding nailed up (and being filled, then painted), and the kitchen cupboards are getting a fresh coat of paint. No countertop yet, and we returned the tile we bought for the backsplash so we can figure out the countertop first and then find a tile that goes with it (and not the other way around, which is wayyyy more difficult!).

Hardwood floors are almost done, just staining the vents and a transition strip to go and then we can cross that off the list.

Guess what I'm up to this weekend?

Yes, it's painting time again! (When is it not?) Lots to do around here, inside and out. Plus a meeting at the bank about renewing our mortgage. Excitement. All that aside, we'll be reno-ing it up on our 5th wedding anniversary tomorrow (I guess we can't call ourselves newlyweds at all anymore...I wonder what we could call ourselves? LOL...too many R-rated ideas there, must keep this blog clean you know.) ;)
photo via flickr

Ahhhh...gardens

I wish I had more time to spend in mine lately. I was out watering things this morning and there's lots to weed, trim, mow and prune (and I have a small garden!). There's one lonely zucchini that survived the slug threat, but I don't think it will produce anything (keeps flowering then *ptht* done). I am, however, ecstatic about the honeysuckle this year -- for years I just swore at it because it was plagued by aphids, but it's had a banner year with tons of flowers and now *gasp* berries! (Lovely berries that are almost a candy shade of red, very beautiful to look at.) So I'm not writing off honeysuckle anymore.

Work has been busy this week too. Lots of tight deadlines (not my fault) and a nice 20-page brochure that's due tomorrow (I stayed up until 10pm last night working on it...phew). I'll be sending out emails soon to let all the clients know that I'm gone in October, and fingers crossed things won't get too hairy this month before we leave (although I know I can wish all I want, it seems like it always happens).

And reno's keep on going. I'll have pictures eventually, but we're still living with hardly any furniture in the room. Crown moulding goes up this weekend, and I have to put a coat of paint on the cupboards to freshen them up. (Oh, and have I mentioned that Trevor offered to have a BBQ at our place next weekend for some relatives visiting from LA? Yes, it's true...nothing like a deadline to get things done.)

photos via the very lovely Woodhams (which I might just pop into when we're in London!)

Cute McCute

Tiny McSmall has some carefully picked paper notes, kid's clothes, books and decor.