Distressing Furniture

The hubs and I have been blessed with families that unloaded their old furniture onto us when we moved out.  Which is actually kind of awesome because we saved lots of money.  But it's less awesome when the furniture is outdated and non-matching.  Luckily for us, I'm a thrifty DIY kinda gal!

I did some serious research (ahem) on Pinterest, and consulted my copy of the very 90's DIY paint book Debbie Travis Painted House (thanks Mom!).  And came up with this!

Autumn in Dramatic Fashion

After a glorious summer here in the Sea-to-Sky corridor, autumn has officially arrived.  Bringing with it chilly temperatures, changing leaves, and torrential rains!  I actually like fall since some of my favourite clothes are perfect for the cooler weather.  Boots, sweaters, tuques, mittens... and my brand-new sweatshirt with a dramatic collar!

Caramia Made - Nursery (Part I)

Second-hand antique bassinette, hand-me-down crib, me-made diaper bag

Well, I'm officially due a month from today!  So in addition to finalizing our short list of names, I've also realized that we better get the nursery finished.  We've slowly been accumulating second-hand items from thrift shops, Craigslist, and friends, but now we need to put it all together.

Moving Adventures 2011 and the Musings of a Consumer

Well, we're nearly finished unpacking everything in our new home in Squamish.  Thanks to a couple of our friends who helped N load everything into the house last Sunday while I was frolicking in Kelowna on a wine tour and stagette, ha ha!   They commented (and both N and I agree completely) that we have a lot of stuff!!!  To be fair, a lot of the boxes contained books - both of our combined textbooks from 4+ years of uni as well as just normal reading books.  And we have a lot of kitchen gadgets and small appliances (mixers, blenders, griddles, etc) but I like to cook and entertain at home.  It's so easy for hoarders to make excuses though, isn't it?

Kitchen disaster!

Twenty-seven years young...

Sooo yesterday was my 27th birthday - hooray! I was informed last weekend by a friend that 27 is "the best age", since it doesn't matter where you are at in your life, everything is perfectly on-time... For example, one could be married, un-married, single, or divorced; could have/not have children, etc. etc. So here's to being 27! Everything is perfect! Hip-hip-hooray!

To celebrate my birthday, I decided to go shopping. I went hog-wild at the thrift store, picking up vintage sewing pattens, fabrics, and baby clothes. My very best friend in the entire universe is expecting a little boy this coming summer, so when I saw this ADORABLE cotton outfit I had to have it. And for $2 I'd be silly to pass it up. I also found this lovely hand-knitted yellow onezie for $3. I'm still on the fence as to give it as a gift or keep it for my future child(ren)... What do you think? Too feminine for a bouncing baby boy???

There were sooo many lovely vintage patterns for children's clothing.... sigh... I sure hope I have a little girl one day because I am smitten for these dresses and that petal hat - eek!

Here is the fabric I picked up at the thrift store: lilac cotton, heavy red linen and some green/red print cotton (perfect for Christmas sewing), some charcoal sweatshirt knit fabric, striped cotton, and a ridiculously adorable printed jersey with little rabbits and carrots on it (top centre). Oh, and a couple metres of eyelet lace in the foreground as well. Can't wait to create!

It's still a little while before I can put my garden in, but I picked up lots of seeds yesterday. This summer is going to be delicious: spinach, lettuce, snow peas, banana peppers, cherry tomatoes, golden tomatoes, herbs (basil, rosemary, thyme, dill, oregano, chives, fennel, cilantro), green onions, 2 kinds of zucchini, and purple potatoes (!!!). I also picked up two different varieties of nasturtium and some marigolds to help with pollination AND to deter pests.

Plans for the rest of the day included veggin' out on the couch watching the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice (Colin Firth) and going to the Greek restaurant for supper with my darling husband, then meeting some friends downtown at the pub for some karaoke. Hope you all have a magnificent day!