Things I learned Today.

Things I learned Today.

by | Jan 7, 2017 | Tools for Awesome Living, Uncategorized

I have been trying my best as of late to learn and grow and take the things that I notice in my everyday life and figure out how to use them to better myself, my family and my business. It turns out if you take the negative experiences and the frustrating situations you deal with into learning experiences, you can learn a lot. So far it hasn’t taken away the frustration of the situation for me, but at least there was some benefit to it!

So here is what I took away from normal to not so great experiences today.

  1. Communication is VITAL. So SO important. Yup, in family, marriage, with your kids, and your business interactions. SO MUCH frustration can be avoided if you tell people your expectations and what they need to know, BEFORE they need to know it.
  2. It is so great to feel special. What little touches can you add to your every day to make the people that are special to you FEEL special.
  3. I am not sure what to learn from this other than not to do it…. but I was at the gas station today and I went in to pay which is rare for me but I had to pee. The line up was about 10 people long and there was only one cashier. She was trying to handle one guy who had about 100 lottery tickets to check while checking other people out. The owner or manager was talking to someone at the back of the station an when she left…he went to the back room…he didn’t help her. She was overwhelmed and stressed and the other agent was on her break, and when she came back asked where the manager was and they both rolled their eyes. I understand that it is good to delegate and whatnot, but its not good business to both leave your customers frustrated and your employees overwhelmed. Lesson learned. I think I already knew, but a good reminder!

 

New Years Party Time

New Years Party Time

by | Dec 30, 2016 | I like Pretty Things, Parties + Events, Uncategorized

New Years Party Time

I know New Years Eve is TOMORROW (yikes!) But I promise you that you can put together a fun little table set up in 5 simple sets.

  1. Pick up the new Year’s Eve “must haves” like party hats, noisemakers and poppers. I got all of my goods at Glow, and they had really fun Kits that had enough for 5-10 people all in one box for $20 (there were a bunch of options!) One of my favorite things to decorate with were the container full of gold, black, silver and white “mardi gras” style beads. They were great on the backs of the chairs, on the table, hanging from goblets and filling a vase for a centrepiece.
  2. Rent/Buy/Use a tablecloth and some chair covers, placemats or charger plates. If you don’t know why I think renting a few things is great you can check out the post here! Pick a simple centrepiece (I used a feather ball on top of a vase filled with beads!)
  3. Repurpose things that you have in your house! I used vases and crystal goblets & champagne flutes that I already had, as well as photo booth props (not shown) and candles. I love candles!
  4. Get inspiration from blogs, Pinterest etc but then make it your own! What I love about party decor is it’s not as precise as some things so you can have a lot of fun with it!
  5. Make a statement wall/piece that can second as a photo area later on!  You can use Christmas lights, balloons, fun fringe like me, a banner…whatever you’re feeling.

Layer it all together and VOILA! I am a big fan of a full table.

Quick Tip: There are so many Christmas decorations on sale right now that are black and gold, like 70% off on sale at Michaels!

Fun Fact : Paper plates still look fancy if you use a charger plate, and then you don’t have to wash dishes after the party. And it’s New Year’s Eve, let’s be real, you don’t want to clean when everyone leaves!

I truly hope that you have an AMAZING night tomorrow and that your 2017 if full of all the good things you want it to be!

I can’t wait to eat Chinese with friends and celebrate!!!

Last Minute & Local Christmas Shopping

Last Minute & Local Christmas Shopping

by | Dec 17, 2016 | Uncategorized

Christmas is only 9 days away!!!

I am so excited but as it gets closer I keep remembering things I forgot. I am not too worried about it, I have some ideas up my sleeve and I thought that I would share a few things that you can still get in time for Christmas. Totally local, totally awesome, and things that I love! (and yes some of them are from my businesses, but what kind of businesswoman would I be if I didn’t love what I have to offer!) I hope you’re excited for Christmas.

Boudoir

I really believe that boudoir is an amazing thing for every woman to do! If you haven’t read about my first boudoir experience you should read it here. It is such an amazing experience. I have never had a woman upset it was purchased as a gift for her and as far as I know every woman has loved the experience! So definitely a win. We have mini sessions coming up again Jan 15th and they are an amazing price including professional hair, makeup, spray tan and beautiful & sexy photos by yours truly at the Alt Hotel!

 

Bennett’s Boxes

I was recently introduced to this new local business. You can purchase pre-curated or custom made boxes with Canadian made products that are all fabulous! I was gifted a beautiful custom box for my birthday and got one to give away for Christmas. I opened them both up (I wanted to take pictures of them all pretty) but I could NOT get the bow tied back up. So top tip on this one…don’t open it up to sneak a peak! Trust that they have packaged it perfectly and included an information card for details on all of the products in the box. You’ll never make a bow as pretty as theirs, so just trust that it’s perfect inside

 Oceanstone

Have you been here? It’s an AMAZING spot and a weekend away is never a bad idea! Buy a gift certificate for a cozy winter escape, or a sweet summer adventure.

Awesome Life Retreat!!!

Speaking of Oceanstone… it’s where we are hosting our Awesome Life Retreat this year! We only have 20 seats and this is the first place we’re announcing them! Blog readers get first dibs! A weekend of growth, learning, relaxing and enjoying great food, scenery and amazing accommodations. The focus is on living your best life! You can use the code : earlybird to get $50 off booking. It’s a great gift, I promise!

A gift certificate tour.

I have actually been meaning to do this for someone, but haven’t gotten around to it yet. But I think it’s a pretty nifty idea! For this idea you buy gift certificates (big or small) at a few places that make your friend or loved one tour around and pick a little thing at places they love. I used to think gift certificates were a silly gift, but then, when I grew up, and cash would end up going to things like bills, and necessities…the gift certificate became a win! It meant that I could spoil myself with permission! And who doesn’t love that?? For me a perfect little downtown gift certificate tour would include Duly Noted (what a cute little shop with so many fun little stationery items! I feel spoiled every time I get to pick something out there!) or Kept Shop, I love all the little things. Not necessities but little cute things that you feel ok buying as a gift for yourself. Actually you could find gifts for lots of people at these cute local shops as well! It would have to include Layers Cupcakes (I am guessing you could buy a gift certificate for just one cupcake….but a half dozen is always a good bet!) and a flower shop (faves are Props or Halifax Flower Shop) and your recipient can pick up a couple blooms to make them feel special! Gift certificates can be super personal and let someone feel completely spoiled! Maybe a favorite restaurant, dessert spot or coffee shop. If they love candy or reading, enough for a book or a bag of candy at Sweet Janes! I can’t wait to do this for someone soon!

Use What You’ve Got!

The Beginner Photography Workshop. Bring whatever camera you have (Iphone, Point and Shoot or Digital SLR) and we will help you to learn to use it better. We’re spending two Tuesday evenings in January together in Bedford, learning, practicing and one on one time, less technical and more very practical lessons!

*This post was partially sponsored by Benett’s Boxes. As always opinions expressed are completely my own!

Winter Wonderland – A Simple White Table

Winter Wonderland – A Simple White Table

by | Dec 12, 2016 | I like Pretty Things, Parties + Events, Uncategorized

I don’t know about you, but I have been loving simplicity lately. I have enjoyed weekends at home with my family (although I have to admit that I go a little bit batty when I’ve been home for more than a day at a time), a tidy home, a calmer schedule and a paired down wardrobe. Simple is just nice for me right now.

As I watch the snow floating (blowing) by our windows I thought it would be a perfect time to post this beautifully simple table. There is something that just calms the world when it is covered in a white blanket of freshly fallen snow. I am always amazed by what a quality tablecloth and chair covers can do. I love the simple cleanness of the look.

I wanted to show how you could take many of the same main elements as in our rustic look (simple wreathes and garlands) to see what an impact adding the white tablecloth and chair covers made. I loved that simple table but I wanted to take it up another notch by adding some glittery elements! A little crystal on the garland, in martini glasses, and the charger plates made the white go glam! And I stand by the hand lettered place cards! They make everyone feel so special! I actually went to a party the other night and they had signs and bar menus made by Amy, and it added such an amazing element to the evening! Top Notch ladies!!

Now that the kiddos are getting bigger it’s more difficult to fit them at the adult table, and well…white linen just seems like a bad idea when it comes to littles so I thought they would appreciate a cute little set up all of their own! Most people have a coffee table that is a good height for children, and glow has little ottomans with lots if covers available that were just about the perfect size. I used snowflake decorations as the charger plate and then two colored plates stacked (another cute little touch that added another visual element) and then used a little silver pine-cone to finish the look.

Credits

Photography by : This is Photography

Super cute hand lettered place cards : Calligraphy by Amy

All greenery : Twig & Twine Floristry

Glow for White Tables :

Crystal Garland

White Swag Chair Covers

White Poly Tablecloth

White Matte Satin Napkins

Silver Rhinestone Charger Plates

Glow for the Children’s Table :

Red Ottomans

Silver Snowflake Decoration

White & Red Plastic Plates from our Solids Collection

Red Plastic Cutlery from our Solids Collection

Red/White Paper Straws

Silver Pine-cones

Table : Wicker Emporium

Chairs: Ikea

Create a Stunning + Stylish Holiday Table

Create a Stunning + Stylish Holiday Table

by | Dec 1, 2016 | Parties + Events, Uncategorized

I love all the pretty things. I often avoid Pinterest because I get pulled into the pretty. Instagram is the same way. There are so many beautiful things out there! So I thought I would throw my hat in the ring and show you my take on some simple (but awesome) Holiday tablescapes.

I like for my house to be beautiful but I am also wanting it to be more SIMPLE.  I am working on it for 2017, for my house to be clean and uncluttered. I have BIG goals in this arena, and the best part is that I can SEE it in my mind, I believe it’s actually going to happen. I know I am going to need to get my butt into gear (and I’ve already been talking to a life coach and a home design/organizer/stager, because this poop is gonna get done!) All that said,  I wanted to create pretty things for Christmas. I wanted to have pretty tables, and create pretty pictures without thinking I had to have ALL THE THINGS. You see, there are places that already have all the things. I am sure your city or town has them, and here in Halifax I have found GLOW. Yes. They have the things. And you can RENT them.

Yup, back in the day (***ahem*** last year***) I wouldn’t have rented. I would have said something along the lines of, well I could just BUY it for a little bit more (well usually two or three times more…) and then I HAVE it. Some things this legitimately works for, like the Christmas decorations I have up in my home for about 8 weeks, cake plates that I use at every single event I host. But those things you use for one fancy dinner? The extra large linens? I have come to learn, is that if you buy things so that you have them…then you HAVE them. Yup. I know, its rocket science! When you HAVE them, you HAVE them…in your home…taking up space… Maybe that’s not an issue for me, I didn’t realize it was for me until I started doing this learning on what it means for me to be well. I realized I wanted things more simple.

I’m trying to get rid of all the things ; to declutter, simplify, clean and organize. But when I have totes full of things that I “might use again someday” it kind of goes against that end goal. Definitely there are things worth investing in but if you don’t need to HAVE all the things, maybe you can rent some of the things and get the same look (or even better!) This is growth for me people.

For this little styled table I partnered with GLOW, Twig & Twine Floristry and Calligraphy by Amy. I was actually supposed to have friends over for dinner to show off this pretty set up, but fall sickness kicked that plan in the butt!

If you have never tried building a beautiful tablescape, I think you should give it a try. It’s another great way to let those creative juices flow. This table had the beautiful greenery as the base. I liked it plain with just the greenery, but it’s fun to keep building on it. Danielle (Twig and Twine) had hooked us up with some more spruce sprigs and magnolia (cool leaves!) to layer with the main garland table runner and then we layered on top and around that. We added candles of different styles (gold, tall tapers and wooden candleholders). And then we added the personalized hand lettered placecards for the finishing touch. I LOVE place cards. (and Amy is doing a Holiday special for up to 8 hand lettered place cards for just $20. I would recommend this for making the table extra special!) You can for sure put a place card right on a napkin, but the slicing into a pinecone or using the mini wreath added a little extra depth to the look! There are a million ways to place place cards, but I think these ones worked best for this look! 

I hope you like what we put together and that it inspires you to give holiday table styling a try! Stay tuned for turning this greenery into glam later this week! 

On a side note I would love to see your table stylings this Holiday season! Please comment with a link or tag us in a post so we can see what you’re up to!

Sources

GLOW

Wood Slabs

Wood Lanterns

Silver & Gold Candle Holders

Crossback Chairs

Vintage Wood Boxes

Twig & Twine

Wreaths

Mini Wreaths

Greenery/Magnolias/Garland Table Runner

Calligraphy by Amy – Hand Lettered Place Cards

Tapered Candle Holders – Value Village

Table & Bench – Wicker Emporium

Wooden Tealight Holders – Gift from my Dad – Unknown Source

Linen Napkins – Homesense

Fall Harvest Soup – A Quick, Healthy and Frugal Fix

Fall Harvest Soup – A Quick, Healthy and Frugal Fix

by | Oct 21, 2016 | Uncategorized

Soup. So simple. Or at least it can be. I can’t remember when I first started cooking, but I know I have been watching my dad cook soup since I was a kid. And I’m not going to lie, he ROCKS at it. So much so that I think I kind of avoided soups. I wouldn’t ever make them as good as him, and when he makes them I get to take litres home. So soup was off the list. I make all kinds of Asian inspired cuisine (all dishes my dad has never made…just hitting me now…lol writing is such a wonderful thing) and I bake a TONNE now, but soups, they were kind of off the table.

That is until Mike or Jackie made the Eat Clean Diet’s carrot ginger soup. I had to make it. And so it began. I still am more prone to make chili, but soup is definitely now on the radar in my kitchen.

I was home the other day, looking in the fridge for what I wanted to use up. I have been making a much more conscious effort to not waste food, even if it means eating something I’m not really “feeling”.

The fridge was pretty bare. Five already peeled carrots from muffin making earlier in the week, half a peeled sweet potato, the remainder of a little bag of mini potatoes that had been spilled all over the fridge and floor multiple times (maybe I shouldn’t have torn a hole in the SIDE!) and some apples we picked last weekend in the Valley at Mason’s.

Thinking of the ingredients in the Carrot Soup I so much enjoy, an Instagram post from Kyla of Shanti Yoga and a picture my friend Avril shared on Facebook I think last fall, I took these lackluster ingredients and made a plan.

I chunky chopped the veggies (doesn’t that sound fun…chunky chop…no wonder my kids are silly!) and apple, added an onion and a couple cloves of garlic. I put it all on my pre-heated Pampered Chef baking stone (my absolute favorite kitchen thing! I bake everything on these (with the exception of runny or messy things…like no lasagna in mine because it doesn’t have edges!) at 325. I drizzled a couple tbsp’s of olive oil (would have used coconut of I hadn’t run out, knowing that I was going to add coconut milk in the end to make it a bit Thai style) sprinkled on a 1/2 tsp of ground ginger, a couple tbsp of curry powder and some garlic powder, pepper and sea salt. I let them cook in the oven for 20 min and then flipped and left them cooking for about 20 more minutes.

Once the fork went straight through the veggies with no resistance I knew they were ready. I scooped all of the veggies into the blender, added a cup of organic chicken stock and a cup of unsweetened coconut milk. Blender blended. We enjoyed. And it was healthy. AND it used up veggies that would probably have gone to waste otherwise. AND well that’s it….it is just soup!

I could have handled a little more spice in my soup, and added some green onions and pepper when I sat down to nosh, but it was a pretty easy way to use up the veggies and it fed four of us perfectly

(If you count my mom, Alex and myself as one each… and letting Addy check off her bites to make it to 15 bites, and Finn eating tuna….)

And my words of wisdom. You know, because I am so wisdomus….(FRIENDS reference anyone?)

Her success is not your failure

Just because someone does something, doesn’t mean you can’t do it.

Someone else’s success doesn’t mean your failure.

So go ahead.

Try it.

Make soup.