amaryllis

holiday decorating

I  have always spent Christmas at my parents, so I've never really done a lot of holiday decorating. But I really enjoy these clever holiday ideas. (via apartment therapy and lake jane )

existential crisis #334

So I'll admit that I seem to be hardwired to ponder the meaning of things. The long cold nights that make me want to snuggle in at home are getting a bit heavy and perhaps providing way too much time to my thoughts. Maybe I'm just not getting enough sun...


Regardless, just days ago (my last post), I was feeling thankful for being in such a great line of work and now I'm questioning it all. Is this what I'm meant to do? I don't feel like I'm using my talents. How might I bring those talents to the table? Would I be happier elsewhere? Where? 


I'm mid trip planning and I'm wondering- Am I running away? Will time away help me figure this out? How the hell am I going to pull this off?


Do the long nights of December bring on your dark nights of the soul?


(photo via Bliss )

a day at the office

Yesterday was a nice break from my usual design desk job- I got to visit a site I've been designing in order to check the alignment of a road that will soon be constructed, and to find a place to install a bridge to cross this stream... 

When I left the city it was sunny and mild, but the Annapolis Valley was a winter wonderland. I've been feeling a bit jaded lately with working in a high-pressure firm, but days like this make me appreciate what a great profession I'm in.

This site will soon be a camp for sick kids, and I intend to make sure the camp rests lightly on this forest and keeps all of the magic that drew us in the first place. 

I hope you're having a magical pre-holiday weekend! xo

leg warmers

I have always loved leg warmers, a kick-back from growing up in the 80's I guess. So I've been quick to embrace the warmer-over-tights/ leggings comeback. I especially like the thigh-high variety. I picked up a pair yesterday, and am wearing them as we speak (see bottom pic).

(photo by Michelle Doucette )

(via Grijs )

cardboard vaulting

I have spent the last couple of weeks working on very technical grading plans and feeling like an engineer- this is incredibly inspiring! This guest bedroom is carved out of the side of a mountain in Vals, Switzerland and the vaulting represents the contours of the mountain. The 400 mm cardboard was computer cut but begs for a little diy re-interpretation. Check out more of Studio JVM here . (via Apartment Therapy )

happy monday

Happy Monday! I hope you've had a great weekend. I've been happily nesting and being quite anti-social.  We had our first real snow yesterday in Halifax, and although it was just a wee bit, it drove me further into my lady cave. I just don't enjoy winter, hence the gorgeous spring pic. I know it's not even officially winter, but I'm dreaming of budding leaves, and crocuses and ...    

(Photo via what possessed me )

healthy glow?

I've previously mentioned that I am following the Spent program for modern exhaustion. It's 6 weeks long and I am finished this weekend! One of my tasks this week was to check all of my body care/ cosmetics for unsafe ingredients. I typed all of my products into Cosmetics Database and was appalled at what I was rubbing on my body and am now faced with the sad task of throwing out some of my favorite beauty products. The good thing about this website is you can type in a product (ie. mascara) and it rates pretty much all of the products on the market from 1 to 10 so you can find safer alternatives.

Warning! Don't try this unless you are prepared to do some major house-cleaning!

(photo via j. crew )

penguin invite

Since we seem to be on the topic of weddings today. The perfect invite for bookish types from Greenwich Letterpress .

(via a cup of jo )

rock solid

As much as I love the beach, I could never quite see myself getting married on one. This wedding on a rock outcropping on the other hand is perfectly sweet and simple. My perfect wedding would still be under big trees in a beautiful garden, preferably my to-be garden. 

(via a cup of jo )

tree prints

I absolutely adore these tree relief prints by Brian Nash Gill . He rolls the ink right on the trunk, overlays this with paper and then rubs to create the print with his own hands. The print below is hemlock.

(via antler magazine )

take me out to dinner dress

Who could refuse you in this? {via modcloth}

life envy

Oh my, where to begin, this is so much more than a girl crush. Artist Bobbie Burgers has what I concede to be the perfect life. I saw her featured in Canadian House and Home a couple of years back and have carried those torn-out pages with me. Here is this young, beautiful artist living in a colorful modern house in Vancouver with gorgeous blond children and a furniture designer husband. I've often thought of her as a role model for where I'd like to be. Painting at home, hanging out with the kids in the garden. Maybe her idealic family even won me over to the idea of children...

Just this week I stumble upon an article about her Okanagon summer home and new love of farming on the properties orchards, gardens and vineyard. Her perfect existence just became more perfect. *sigh*

{images via bobbie burgers and house and home }