Friday

{ watching and waiting for her friends to arrive }

2 hours before party time, mind you

So true! And we have all been doing a lot of waiting this week. Waiting for sunshine, waiting for Spring. Wren has been waiting ever so patiently for her belated Birthday party. But if you don't make the most of the time spent simply waiting for things, you miss what might have been. 

While I am sure I will have a lot more waiting to do before our Spring arrives, I am simply happy to to be done waiting for temperatures to get back above minus twenty. For a little while at least.

{our week was spent inside thanks to temperatures nearing minus 40 Celsius with wind chill }

Wren's patience payed off for her on Thursday when it was PARTY TIME! at last.

But you will have to wait until Monday to see the festivities (sorry!)

Happy Weekend!

Getting Party Ready

 

Sorry if my posting is a little sporadic this week! We are in full party prep mode. Of course, I do update once or twice a day on Instagram as well, but if you don't see me around here much before the weekend this is why.

One thing Wren and I have been doing this week is hangning decorations. Honeycomb balls are all the rage right now, and while I would love to scoop some up I found the very next best thing.

Vintage honeycomb wedding bells.

 

I remember seeing these at weddings all through the late eighties and early nineties, and then I forgot about them. Until I found this giant treasure trove of them in a bag at the Salvation army for $2.99

I loved that there was a whole assortment of happy colors, and miraculously they all seem to coordinate quite well. I know I never would have pulled all these colors together but they somehow work!

 

We are clearing furniture out of the living room and just leaving it open for the girls to have a ball in. Literally. They are having a royal ball. Then I am bringing in some random chairs and blankies and letting the girls build a 'castle' fort to hang out in.

 

So these should be the perfect backdrop to all the magical adventures. I wound some more of my clearance holiday garland on the strands to give the girls some sparkle.

 

Meanwhile the dining room light fixture has an impromptu 'center piece' hanging from it as well.

We still have a few little touches to add to get this place princess ready, but my little princess is already bouncing about her castle in delight.

Springing Up

I'm not sure what it is about January, but historically speaking if you go back through my archives you will see a pattern. In January I get all excited about Spring and buy new house plants. I'm going to be honest and tell you that of all those plants in previous years only one is still going strong. So wish these plants luck.

I have no idea why the feeling moves me in January to go out and victimize new plants. Maybe it's because I haven't had the joy of killing any of my yard plants in close to 5 months. Maybe it is the yearning for Spring to arrive. I'm going to tell myself it is the second reason. Whatever the reason, I do like to remind myself that even if I only get a solid month out of a house plant it is still cheaper than the week I get from cut roses or any other flowers. And if they live longer than a month it is all gravy to me!

This years first gardening adventure was brought to you by these big glass jars I found with wicker lids. I found them at goodwill a few weeks ago for $12 for the pair. I originally wanted them for future storage in Wren's bathroom reno. And they very well may end up there if these plants don't work out for me, but for now they struck me as really cool potential terrariums.

During a trip to Lowe's I picked out 7 little fern-like plants, and made a detour on the way home by a Michael's to get a couple bags of tumbled stones.

I threw the rocks in first (not literally, of course!) for drainage.

Then I just arranged some of the plants in on top of the rocks, tossed in a little extra potting soil and a couple sticks of drift wood for extra texture and interest. In the end I actually had 2 plants left over that I returns so it only took five plants in total to fill both my jars.

All done and lids back on! I really like these guys and hope they survive. I think the wicker lid is probably going to be my (or rather their) saving grace because it keeps the jars nice and toasty but does allow air to circulate.

Of all my past January plants I think this may be my all time favorite! 

Have you added a hint of Spring to your house lately with Plants?

Che-che-check it out

Just wanted to pop in on a Saturday to tell all my fellow Canadian friends that Chapters/Indigo has a pretty good sale on, with an extra 20% off sale prices. If you are a Voluspa fiend like me you definitely need to check it out because there are a bunch for a mere $4!!!

Ya, I know! It took everything I had not to clear them out building up a lifetime supply.

Friday

I think Audrey Hepburn said it best.

 

{ Wren sharing her "angel kiss", also known as her "ketchup chip tattoo" }

It is a nice sentiment in theory as well as in practice. Specially because it has been looking like this for days on end. We went from melting snow to drifts higher than ever in a matter of days.

 

We didn`t leave the house much this week except for school and the odd errand. It has been a fun week of curling up with new movies (thank GOODNESS we raided the library last week!) and baking our little fingers off. 

And lots of cuddling and holding on to each other for lazy mid afternoon naps and late mornings. Who can complain about the weather when you have that?

Have a wonderful, hug filled weekend.

A little warmth

I spy with my little eye something that is striped. Can you spot it?

 

If you said this rug you are an eye spy pro! I made a quick stop in at HomeSense (aka Canadian HomeGoods) to pick up a few baking items for Wren's party earlier this week, and you know that means scour the sale racks and every other aisle if your name is Holly. And that is how I found this dandy.

 

It is a simple flat woven rug (I am a BIG believer in flat woven rugs for high traffic-kid friendly areas) in a perfectly beachy striped pattern. But the part I loved about it so much was the fun pattern in some of the beige stripes made it kind of unexpected. Oh yeah, and this 9x11 rug had a price tag of only $149, but the best part was that I had a gift card from christmas still so it cost me all of zero dollars.

{ thanks for the new rug Grandma!!! }

 

You know that feeling where you would rather not buy something and make the wrong choice than just leave it as is? That is how I felt about it. I have put off finding a rug for in here because I wanted something I would love, but at the same time not quite as predictable as usual. BUT I was a little uncertain how a pattern would look near my happy chair. 

I think these two will get along just fine though.

Have you found any AMAZING after-holiday sales this January?

Real life renovating and our Winner

 

This has been the scene around here lately. Rooms that usually look so polished and tidy are pulled into a mass of furniture in the center. It isn't because I am redecorating or rearranging. It is because I am FINALLY tackling some of our outstanding reno items. 

Sean and I are what I refer to as 90 percenters. We bust our butts and get a project 90% done. It is finished enough to get on with life and seems like so little left that you tell yourself you will get around to it soon, but just not right now. Because you are sick of living in a reno zone. So before you know it you have everything back where it belongs and the thought of moving it all again to finish up is awfully unappealing. 

But I saw a truly inspiring quote recently that read

{ Do it RIGHT NOW because later will become never }

So true! I have realized that I don't want it to become never. Specially when it really isn't a back breaking amount of work. It is just prioritizing and making it happen. 

So for the past few days I have been going around with my spackle and caulking and painting, finishing baseboard in our bedroom and the kitchen reading nook that were nailed in place years ago but never quite finished. Definitely not rocket science, just tedious and not topping any FUN project lists I've ever made. But it feels good to get it done!

 

I also want to THANK Tailor and Stylist again for their amazing giveaway! Our winner was entry number 31.

Shoot me off an email at inthefunlane@gmail.com when you see this Ashley!! 

(in the event Ashley doesn't claim her prize I will redraw in 1 week)

Wren's Birthday Invitations Printable

You may recall me saying we were bumping Wren's birthday party this year from Christmas to January. It honestly feels like January just started, but in the blink of an eye it is more than half over and we are just getting around to making party preparations. But it may all work out for the best because Wren has requested a Princess themed birthday party and I am going to tie in a few valentine's elements to the party decor so I can just leave it up. Which will be awesome and easy for me and super duper exciting for the birthday princess!

Wren and I came up with her birthday invitations together over the weekend and they were much faster and easier to do than I had anticipated so I thought I would share our little project with you all.

Of course all good princesses have a fairy tale to tell their tale, and that is where our invitation inspiration comes from. We simply wrote up a little 'fairy tale' using a few pictures so the girls can read them on their own and printed them up on pink craft paper then rolled them into scrolls!

 

Since it isn't technically Wren's birthday we decided to throw the party 'in honour of' the big day.

 

Wren handed them out to her friends at school this morning and it was quite a hit with our little guests. 

I shared a snapshot of the invites on Instagram and had a couple requests to share the printable version, so here is the exact one Wren and I whipped up, minus our details, but it was a really fun and fast project if you simply want to tell your own story or make your own version using a mix of words and clipart (I whipped this up in Paint, that is how easy it is!).

{front}

 

{back}

These printables are pre-set for the width of a portrait oriented paper, simply put two per page and then cut the page in half.

Hope you have a magical Monday!

Friday

 We have had a tiny glimpse of Spring this week, which has felt almost magical. Of course, Winter isn't through with us but we were all grateful for the little break. 

Mother Nature dressed up this tree in our yard with a beautiful dusting of frost.

A good outfit by tree standards!

 

I have been covering myself in hearts for the last little while. All my favorite sweaters, shirts and sweaters are good reminders that love really is all you need. We all need those reminders sometimes.

Happy Friday!

Rocking Out

Our kitchen reading nook is a very well used corner. With the little table there I often find Wren working or crafting up something. In the evenings Sean puts his feet up and catches up on emails here and during the day I prefer to do the majority of my blogging/emailing here as well. We have circulated a couple chairs through here, not to mention a big old dresser at one point. It was always good enough for us but I never spent a lot of time or effort on it. 

Being a little winter stir crazy lately I want to jazz it up and get it where I want it to be. There was only one addition I really wanted to make: 

{ an Eames rocker }

 

It may seem TOTALLY out of character to what you'd expect of me, but the truth is I have wanted one for years. I first wanted one for Wren's nursery, but decided the nearly $600 price tag was out of my league. Specially with an entire house begging for renovations!

But I always loved the clean lines, specially in contrast to eclectic rooms.

via Coco Cozy

See? Cool, right! 

So I was SUPER DUPER excited to find them on our newest Sponsor, WireHome's website. And for a fraction of the price I thought they would be. Gotta love supporting Canadian businesses!

I am going to start accessorizing in here, but already it is a great fit.

 

I am liking the bright white of the chairs in contrast to the grey light, table and dark wood floors. I may move my sea grass and denim Anthro rug up to Wren's room to find a better sized piece for the room now that nearly all the floors are visible, but I'll play it by ear.

 

My favorite thing is that the chrome legs really tie into the kitchen hardware and faucet perfectly, and the white matches the cabinets too.

What do you think? Are you a Herman Miller/eames chair fan?

And please be sure to check out all the amazing goodness over at WireHome!

A little visit to Parkview

 

Grab some rain boots because it is very muddy right now at Parkview! It amazes me that we can go from fluffy white snow flakes on Monday to rain and mud only a day later in the middle of January... 

I know I haven`t been very diligent on my updates here, but as you will see it really doesn`t appear all that close to being finished yet and while a lot of progress has been made it really didn`t feel blog-worthy. What we have learned in this process is that there is a lot of initial waiting around for all the necessary permits, and then things seem to take right off! In the last two months we have gone from open beams and rough EVERYTHING to this.

 

We have installed all new electrical, plumbing and heating and ventilation, and as of last week our insulation and drywall team have been making a lot of headway.

 

New frame work in the old kitchen creates a hallway with a powder room and roomy laundry room.

 

I am really excited to see this awesome mud room come together! With a separate laundry room this room will be able to house a lot of storage and I am on the hunt for a pretty lantern to hang over the door way.

 

It seems that the old adage ``It always gets worse before it gets better`` is very appropriate in this situation! We are getting a new roof in the next couple weeks.

 

Just as soon as my new covered porch is completed next week!

As you can see, months and months of work are still looking pretty rough but thing really seem to be flying since the start of the year and I am hopeful we will be close to done in February at some point!

 if you are wondering what the heck a 'Parkview' is, check out the beginning of the saga here