Happy New Year!

Martha Stewart Living

Hope you all have a wonderful New Years!  Wishing all of you nothing but good and happy things in 2011!  I will be ringing in the New Year’s at my younger sister’s house.  Always lots of fun and I hear she’s making my favourite dessert – Bananas Foster crepes.

Every year, my sisters and I make resolutions/personal goals so I thought I would write down my list for 2011 here and now I am accountable to all of you:)

1)   Be in bed by 12:00 latest. (This will be so hard as I am a night owl.)

2)  Decrease sugar in my diet. (no more candies!)

3)  Go to the gym at least 3 times per week. Walk or do yoga the off days.

4)  Declutter and keep it that way, especially my home office and basement.

5) Travel to Disneyworld.

6) Play more often with my daughter.

7) Read more.  Tend to read every decor magazine out there but I have missed my book club the last few months because I didn’t read the book.

8) Floss every day!

9) Complete projects around the house: daughter’s bedroom, paint armoire, bed and dining chairs, etc.

10)  Be Happy!

I think these are all attainable and will let you know how I’m doing along the way.  Do you have any New Year’s resolutions?

The top ten of ‘10

Well, the end is near. The end of the year that is. :) I had a great time recapping my top ten posts last year, and this year my friend Rhoda is having a whole linky party dedicated to the biggest and best projects of 2010. So, without further adieu, here’s my top ten of this year, based on your comments! FUN! First up was the start of our master bedroom redo. It was all about the bedding

Office update and the plan

Well hello! I’m back with another update on my office redo. I’ve mentioned before that I had only one goal in mind when redecorating this space – making it BRIGHT. And whooowee, it’s working! :) I’m SO thrilled with the direction it’s going. Last time I updated, I showed you the difference a coat of primer and a couple coats of white did to the space: OH my. Night and day. Get it? Dark

Didn’t.

I didn’t take my comfy pants off for days till last night. (Not the same pair all that time, mind you. Eww.) I didn’t put bows on the presents. Wrapped and done. I didn’t even use many tags. (Just coded them by wrapping.) We didn’t have a beautiful family picture for our Christmas cards – I ended up making a collage so all four of us would be represented. I didn’t get out of bed before 9 a.m

Festive tabletop

Oh! how I love festivities.. Love the twinkling lights, noisy relatives, random clutter, glasses filled with jello shots, cocktails & mocktails, … and lots and lots of food… .... not to forget the desserts ~ cakes, candies, macaroons, cookies and more...



I love the reflection of the pretty lights on the floor…. I’m going to miss all this..

My festivities are incomplete without candles… So on Christmas eve, this adorned our dining table… I love floating candles as well… the shimmering lights… so dreamy!! *sigh*

Here is a final look at my tree… Every year I plan to change the colours on the tree… however red & gold always win!!

This is my last post for the year… signing off… till New Year!! And wishing you all a bright, sparkly, joyful & prosperous new year!

Christmas Cheer!!

Merry Christmas every one!! Are you all having a good time?? So tell me about all the lovely gifts...

A peak into my Christmasy home...


On the bar... santa awaits you with a bottle of wine!

On the bar counter... the little santa is a bell... Very well used yesterday... *smiles*

You've seen this before... Random tinsel, stars and ornaments... in a pretty jar!!

Just before the party... I changed the centerpeice to include floating candles... Pictures to follow tomorrow...

Added a little bowl full of chocolates in between a wreath... And that made for a new table top!! Do you like my two spoons?? I'm linking in to these parties!

Can you see the red rug?? (in the background)

Here is wishing you all a Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Wishes

Hello my lovelies… are you coming home to visit me this Christmas??

Welcome… to my humble abode..

I didnt have too much time for Christmas decorations this year... Most of the ideas remain in my head.. and hope to be implemented for next Christmas....

My brothers put up the tree.... and the girls and I randomly put up some decorations... Have a look.. and I sure hope you like what you see...

My little santa awaits ....

The bigger one will hopefully get me loads of gifts this year...

The tree... my brothers did a good job.. isnt it??

Here is wishing you a Merry Christmas... from my home to yours... *hugs*

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

via Cote De Texas
Dear Readers,
I really appreciate you stopping by and leaving a comment here on my lil old blog.  It truly makes my day.
From my home to yours, I wish you a wonderful, peaceful holiday and all the best in 2011.  Take time to “just be” with friends and family and enjoy everything this time of year has to offer.
I will see you back here in 2011 with my new look.  Well, not me, the blog. 
                                 All the best,

Vanessa

Merry Christmas to you and yours…

Hello all! We are prepping for the big day around here, and there’s SO much to do, but I LOVE IT. I wanted to take a minute to thank you all so very, very much for your support and love this year. I have the BEST readers out there. (I really do.) To wrap up the holiday posts, I thought I’d do a recap in pictures. A few shots I haven’t shown you yet, and some are of my favorites from this

Reminiscing The Past With The Present

When we were first married my husband and I always had a real tree for Christmas. The tree selection process would take nearly the entire day as we would visit several lots trying to find the biggest and cheapest tree (almost always under $10). There were a couple of years that we were lucky enough to find a tree with a double trunk which meant that it would fill up the entire six foot window of our first home. When our children were young we took them to a wooded lot to select and cut down the Christmas tree.
As the years progressed and the prices of Christmas trees increased we began to celebrate the holiday with artificial trees.This year I tried to put up the old artificial tree in the family room. . .several times in fact, yet every time it just looked too pitiful to trim. My frustration mounted as the sad, unadorned tree leaned against the wall day after day.
Last Saturday, just a week before Christmas, we shopped at a freight damage store. That morning before we left I thought, "Wouldn't it be nice if the store was selling real trees for a big discount." True enough, an announcement was made that Christmas trees were being cleared out for $10. I was smiling from ear to ear as I ran through the store to find the exit where the trees were, my husband trailing behind trying his best to keep up with his giddy wife.Once home the real tree was placed in an old bucket filled with water hidden inside a garden urn. Not only was the tree a bargain so were the decorations---most were purchased at dollar stores over the past few years.

It's our bargain tree that looks like a million!

Reindeer Art

This week I have really nothing to post as such because my son's winter break is on and most of my time is devoted to keeping him busy.

My son's school had a Christmas bazaar on the 13th of December, for which I was hosting a game stall. Keeping the Xmas theme in mind, we came up with a 'Stick the nose on the reindeer'. Pretty much on the lines of the popular party game which is Pin the tail on the donkey; this game was a winner from Minute one.

I drew the reindeer out on a chart paper with a touch of gold paint to give it that spot of grandeur :)

Kids were swarming over to take their turn and it got a bit tiring for me in the couple of hours :) Worth it totally though.

Happy holidays all and merry Xmas !! May Santa bring you all the gifts on your wishlist and hope all your dreams come true this festive season !! - I'll see you all in 2011, adios :)

Incredible India!!!!!

Yay!! I'm so happy.... Shanthi is back in time for my last weekend wrap up!! Did you miss her as much as I did!! I wait eagerly for her weekend wrap up posts.. followed by a few email exchanges.. Makes me feel... like I have found a new friend in Norway! Yay!! *smiles*

Over to Shanthi ~~

Just back in time for your last weekend wrap up. Guess what I did , shopping and more shopping and more shopping J . I was busy wrapping up my India tour packing and getting set to come back to Norway. Here are some of the wonderful things I picked up in this trip and hmmmmmmm we are only allowed to carry 20 kilos. I am in a hurry to send this so I will let the pics speak.

Cool wine stoppers

a table top tray

Ganesha perfume diffuser

loved this hand to scratch my back - used a lot when in India :-)

Finally managed to hang some frames on the wall before I left

I have two wonderful paintings that need desreve a blog post of their own which I will do soon.

Merry Christmas and a wonderful new year to all of you.

~~ Shanthi

Blog for Digs: My Childhood Bedroom

I’m happy to be participating in the Blog For Digs campaign organized by Claudia at Stonehouse Love to raise awareness for Dwell with Dignity.   Dwell with Dignity is a non-profit group of Interior Designers and volunteers dedicated to creating comfortable homes for families struggling with homelessness and poverty.

Bloggers were asked to write about their childhood bedroom and it has been fun to read everyone’s posts.  It’s interesting that no one has posted actual photos of their childhood bedroom.  I don’t have any photos either, nor do I have any clear memories. I had to rely on my Mom to fill in the details for me.
By the time I was 7, I had lived in three different countries.   We came to Canada from England via Jamaica, each time leaving behind our possessions and starting new.  I guess it was too expensive to ship everything.  Our first house in Canada was a 3 bedroom bungalow.  I shared a bedroom with my older sister and my younger sister had her own room. 
Our bedroom had twin beds with white vinyl tufted headboards,  a table in between and a white dresser.  We had red and white floral comforters and red drapes. I do remember that it had parquet flooring. Sounds very Scandinavian and may be why red is an accent colour in my home today.
Even though I have absolutely no recollection of this room I do have warm and fuzzy memories of playing “Movie Stars” with my sister before we fell asleep. 


An updated red and white colour scheme via decorpad.
I shared a bedroom until I was 12 when we moved into a two-storey, four bedroom house.  Because of my Mom’s love of wallpaper, no bedroom was left untouched.  My wallpaper was a green and orange floral and the carpet was rust which was THE carpet colour of choice back in the 70’s.  The wallpaper was similar to this.

Etsy
This girl’s bedroom with a bold Marimekko  floral on one wall is an updated version of what I grew up with.

I still love an upholstered headboard (but not in vinyl!) like this shape.

Decorpad
Dans Mon Boudoir posted here  and Style Swoon will be posting about her childhood bedroom on Jan 4th.  To see the schedule of bloggers participating, go here.   Most importantly, please visit Dwell with Dignity to support their efforts.
What do you remember about your childhood bedroom?