California Dreamin'

For the past week my husband and I jetted off to California and we had such a wonderful and crazy busy time! Here are some photos from our trip.

We first flew into Palm Springs, shopped the outlet mall for a couple (ok, five) hours and then headed to Disneyland for two adventure-filled days.

These were taken on my iPhone so I apologize for the quality.

After 2 days in Disneyland, we rented a car and drove up to San Francisco. We were in cafe heaven. There were so many yummy and quaint places to go for lunch that we couldn't fit in all the places we wanted to go.

Here are our top 5:

1. Jane Cafe on Fillmore st.

2. The Mill on Divisadero

3. The Plant (a lot of locations to choose from - everything is organic)

4. La Boulange in Hayes Valley

4 1/2. Not a cafe but also in Hayes Valley --> Smitten Ice Cream. Oh. My. Yum.

 5. Blue Bottle - Mint Plaza

Their plethora of cute cafes has made me want to go cafe hunting around Vancouver.


Here are some other great shots of the city.

The Painted Ladies at Alamo Square

Lombard Street

View from the top of Lombard

After a few days in San Francisco, we headed off to Napa for the day before we caught our flight home.

Castello Di Amorosa - a beautiful and detailed replica of a Tuscan castle.

Mmmm…. wine.

V. Sattui Winery

Beringer Winery

Andretti Winery

Can't wait to go back one day!

Five Friday Favourites

Who doesn't love a post that begins with alliteration right? 

Here are five things that just make me happy.

#1 - Macarons

Lemon French Macarons - sweetandsavorybyshinee.com

And of course the most famous macarons, all the way from Paris…Laduree Macarons

#2 - Dainty gold necklaces

The one on the left is from glamourandglow.com and the one on the right is from LayeredandLong on Etsy.

#3 - Prints

I have been loving these bright and fresh prints lately from Chapters Indigo.

These are by Rifle Paper Co:

These are by SS Print Shop:

 
#4 - Decorative Tech Accessories

Love this smart phone dock by Jonathan Adler (wouldn't mind the other things on this tray as well)

post by stephaniesterjovski.com

I love gold polka dots

You can find this iPhone case from Nordstrom or Kate Spade.

#5 - All Things Leopard

This adorable leopard clutch can be found on Madewell.

These Steve Madden flats are from lulus.com and are only $79!

What's on your list of favourites?

Hats, Hats, Hats

I love the new summer hat trend, don't you? Here are some of my favs so far:

This floppy wool gray fedora by Rag & Bone is available at Here or Here.

This is a Panama hat and is similar to one by Kate Spade which can be found at Lord & Taylor.

We also love this large Roxy Shady Days beaded brown straw hat. Only $36!!

What hats have you been loving lately?

Inspiration for Blank Spaces

It's mid August, and it's that dreaded time when you can feel summer slipping away with each passing day (rhyme not intentional, just happy coincidence!). I love the warm weather, the days on the lake, the time with family, etc. However, with the knowledge that September will soon be upon us, along with all it's craziness and busyness, I need to get-er-done.

One of my projects was to give our bedroom a revamp. We live in a basement suite so there's not a lot of things I can do (besides looking forward to the future filled with a space flooded in natural light), but giving our room a paint job was one of them. It was brown before. Be glad there is no before photo. Rooms without natural light should never be painted a dark colour. So we got to work and painted the room the only colour our landlords would allow, and lucky for us it was a light grey that looks white to the naked eye. 

Now that we've painted our space though, the room is brighter, but I know have this obviously blank wall starting back at me. 

Obviously I want to put something there, but my house is already full of collages of pictures, so I wanted to do something creative and inspiring. I haven't decided what I want to do yet, but here are my sources of inspiration, each with a clickable link if you too are inspired. 

#1. Be Still and Know {lizmarieblog.com} - A beautiful reminder for when you lay your head to rest. 

#2. Sequinned Wall Art {blog.lulus.com} - Because who doesn't need more sequins in their life

PS Lulus.com also has amazing clothes. Great ideas for the home and cool clothes? Yes please!

#3. You & Me Wood Pallet Art {houseofhepworths.com} - If only I had a Silhouette machine!!

#4 String Art - Oh just imagine the possibilities!!

{honeyandfitz.com}

{vintagerevivals.com}

{existencereclaimed.wordpress.com} - Picture this filling your whole wall!

#5 Marquee Letters {evanandkatelyn.com} - Not at ALL practical for the bedroom, but still so cool.

#6 Funky Art 

{asubtlerevelry.com} - Sticked Star Wall Constellations

{abeautifulmess.com} - Gold Moon Wall… seriously awesome

{roundbarnpottingco.blogspot.ca} Clocks, clocks, clocks

Last one! #7 Really LARGE prints

{devonrachel.com}

{luellajune.com} …pretty flowers

{shop.vanillawood.com} 

So many options! What to do!