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It's official.

I have a closing date for my condo and it's January 14th! So in lieu of "occupancy fees" I'll be making mortgage payments! Yay!!

Seriously though. This is me, all grown up. For reals. Yikes!

Weekend Update

wL called yesterday afternoon to say it only just occurred to him that it's the last weekend before Christmas and he hadn't bought any of his gifts, so would I mind going shopping with him. So off to the Eaton Centre we went to battle the hordes.

I bought my gifts at Roots and spent the rest of the afternoon playing personal stylist to wL, a surprise treat. He's lost a lot of weight in the last 6 months and I have to say that I much prefer him with a more weight on - not to say he was overweight - since he looks manorexic.

Anyway, we left the mall around 7:30 and made our way through Chinatown to pick up a few groceries to make dinner together back at my place. It was all so easy, comfortable and domestic that it made me a bit sad that things didn't work out between us earlier this year. I wonder if he thought the same? Que sera sera.

Today was a bummy day. I managed to sleep in until 10:30 despite the bright sun and puttered around at home before heading out for my massage in the afternoon. A hot bath awaits...not a bad way to spend one of the last weekends of the year.

Paint!

I went to the nearby Colo(u)r Your World this afternoon to pick up my paint for the living/dining/kitchen/study today. The specs on the label aren't quite dry yet so the colours will be deeper once they're on my walls. Since it's already mid-afternoon and I have plans for dinner and a movie with wL tonight, there will be no painting today. But at least I'm prepared now for when I am

Button-tufted AND Purple?!

I've always had a thing for button-tufted detailing in upholstered furniture - and early in my search, I was focused mainly on sofas with this detail. Crate and Barrel's Petrie Sofa is a recent obsession of mine, although I'm more than happy with the sofa I ended up getting for my space. But an email from Urban Barn was waiting for me in my inbox announcing the arrival of their new Moma Sofa and I had to gasp: I know purple isn't for everyone - it's one of those colours that you either love or hate. But I LOVE purple, and this sofa is my idea of gorgeous. I love the clean lines, the bolsters, the button tufting, the cozy velvet and the colour! Ohh!! The colour!

I can't help myself...

Because I'm a geek and can be somewhat obsessive about making lists and using Excel to organize things, I created a painting schedule for myself to track what rooms/walls need to be painted in what colour, what furniture needs to be moved to where in order for there to be space for painting and a column for notes to remind myself for example that I can't paint my bedroom walls until I've borrowed my mom's ladder because the ceiling's 10'.

Yes.

I'm THAT big of a geek.

And yes, I need help.

If you asked my cousin A though, she'd say that I was just being true to my Virgo self. Whatever. I've got a problem. And admitting it is the first step, right?

Busy Saturday

I went to Direct Interiors yesterday and bought my dining chairs! So, you know how I said I was going with Nuevo Living's Rudi Chair for my dining room? Well, in the last few days, I'd changed my mind a number of times and was most recently considering Calligaris' Ice Chair - look how gorgeous it is below in the way it catches the light:

Like diamonds, non? They're not super-duper comfortable though...so I went back to an earlier choice - Sunpan Imports' Vintage Linen Dining Chair. See:

Vintage Dining by phoenixc

I also bought Nuevo's version of Eames' Moulded Plastic Armchair for my study, and am awaiting pricing for the gorgeous Dahlia light, which I'm considering for my bedroom, if the price is right:


Here're some other things that caught my eye:

Chrome Bamboo Table by Drexel - so brilliant - like jewellery for the living room

A sparkly accent pillow that can only be purchased as part of the bed-in-a-bag set

A luxe blue, button-tufted ottoman paired with a nail-trimmed couch

And a zebra bench which I love love love

AL came along with me and bought a sofa and after 3 hours at Direct Interiors and a late lunch at Dirty Bird, aka, Swiss Chalet, we stopped at Rona where I picked up painting supplies. And because there was a Winners across the street, I, of course, could not resist and went in to browse and left with a lovely mirror with bevelled-edge detailing for my hall.

Pictures to come as soon as the walls are painted....Everything hinges on the painting of my walls now. :)

11 days and counting....

...to Christmas! It only just occurred to me on Friday when I was peeling back the tab of the day on my advent calendar. Where did the year go???

The Eaton Centre's lit up and decked out for the holidays with its Swarovski Christmas tree:

And here's my humble little 2', blinged-up wonder:

Finally...

...finished laminating Piglet's ABCs by Lindsay Brackeen:

I just have to package them up now to send out West...I'm a bad aunt, but better late than never, right?

Blue Moon

This print by Bon A Tirer Fine Art was waiting for me when I got home from work today and it is even more beautiful in person than it is online! Can't wait to frame it!

Pam and John, the couple behind Bon A Tirer are super-nice and responsive about the queries I had and they've got other gorgeous prints available for sale in their Etsy shop, including Moon Rocks below:

Mission: Execute Dining

I had some friends over a couple weeks ago for a holiday brunch/housewarming and received a copy of Apartment Therapy Presents as a gift. I read it in a week and was taken by this image from Marilyn and Peter's Home Studio:

It's Ikea's Docksta with a glass top and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. I'm pretty much over the fact that it's a cheap knock-off. What's been holding me back is that it's only 41" in diameter compared to the 48" unlicensed version of the Saarinen Tulip I've been eyeing and tight for 6.

But A brought up a good point over lunch today: how often will I really seat 6 at my table? So here's my brainstorm: The Docksta with a tempered glass top with 4 of Nuevo Living's Rudi, a play on Bertoia's side chair, but without the wire:


They're light and airy and don't take up much visual space since they're clear. And for when I have a couple more guests, the Lucid Crystal folding chair from Urban Barn, which can be tucked away in my study for all the times they're not needed:


The best part of this solution is that the entire set as I've envisioned it is well less then what it would have cost me just for the marble-topped Tulip! Fantastic!

Now I just need to execute!

Happy Birthday, Piglet!

My niece, E, is 1 year old today! Happy Birthday, dear Piglet. :)

Because I'm a geek...

I taped the footprint of the tables I've been vacillating between on my floor: the 48" round Tulip and a rectangular table that I'll call Ikea's Melltorp as a proxy - this would be my super-cheap alternative:
And I keep coming back to the Tulip because I have enough long rectangles as it is with my island in the kitchen, the 3 Malms and bookcases I've got flanking either side of the table, and the rectangular coffee table I plan to put in the living area....so, round it is.

Which got me thinking about cheaper alternatives for the round table. While there are many glass top options out there, I'm against seeing people's feet when I eat so that's out. Ikea's knock-off Docksta would have been ideal, except at 41", it's not big enough to seat 6, and I really want to seat 6. Plus I'm rather partial to a white table top...so should I pull the trigger on the marble top???? UGH. Why does it have to be so expensive?

I want...

...this extendable bookcase by Reinier de Jong:

via Apartment Therapy

Like, wow.

Sick day

I woke up feeling fine but started feeling nauseous and it has persisted. So I'm home sick. Blah.

Pookie for Piglet

I stopped by Pages on my way home tonight and found this cute book which I thought would be perfect for my niece, Piglet, particularly as she's taken to dancing herself! :)