MISSION IMPOSSIBLE THE FIRST

living in an old war time cookie cutter house built in 1960 has a certain element of charm to it ... the big trees, cute as a button houses, one of a kind local shops and stores, parks and pathways to run and bike in and n could go on and on

... although right now j seems to think that the only charm is in the neighborhood and it has nothing to do with this particular house :) and n truly believes the charm is in the house

anyways with this supposed charm also comes many impossible problems that j and n are trying to solve in a way that is functional and isn't just some slapped together solution it also needs to keep with the overall design plan and to quote n "look pretty"

this impossible problem aka mission storage has been plaguing both j and n for over 3 years! apparently people who lived back in 1960 didn't own any coats or shoes or had a need to store them anywhere. j and n scratch their head that for over 50 years no one has bothered to come up with any sort of coat closet in this house. typically this is our solution for the lack of a closet:

do you see j and n's lovely breakfast nook table?

didn't think so because it is now our back closet and part of n's classroom storage :)

this is what j and n have to work with in the front of the house and we have come up with a solution that is functional, pretty and fits our clean line design

side note - we still have a bit to go before this part of the house is done - window and door casings, baseboards, trim for the tile, door handles and another impossible mission (railing for the staircase) but with that said here are the before pictures:

and this is not an acceptable storage solution ... although functional it is definitely not pretty

and the happily ever after (where did it go?)

side note - well j and n had a date on friday night to go pick up the storage solution but n has gotten really sick and they will have to wait till n is better and in the mean time trudge on with function instead of the pretty and will re-post when the happily ever after of their storage fairytale arrives

cheers ~n

N'S OBSESSIONS ... TAKE 2

again in no particular order just some things that n is currently obsessed with

1. n's new sparkly puma ballerina slipper shoes from brown's ... for everyday and everywhere ... they are just so pretty and the most comfortable pair of shoes ... ever

side note - the people at brown's were the most fabulous n couldn't find her size in stock so they ordered her a pair in ... and she had 15 days to decide if she wanted to keep them :)

2. mad men ... both j and n's obsession ... can't get enough of the characters and all their problems, the swanky offices, american society and new york city in 1960

3. black and white coach purse ... n splurged and bought this last year in hawaii over christmas break and she still thinks it is so pretty and perfect and it totally goes with everything from jeans to dresses

4. london fog ... on perfectly rainy fall evening n and j stopped at a local coffee shop chain to purchase a drink to warm them up before heading to ikea to try and find a solution to their storage problem and voila a new fav drink was found ... steamed milk with earl gray tea and shots of vanilla ... mmm makes n want one right now

5. classic literature ... in a previous post n purchased 41 premier classic books from some literary greats for her birthday present ... she has since visited the time of little women, pride and prejudice, sense and sensibility, the awakening and is currently wrapped up in great expectations

6. photography ... since n started this blog it created a renewed passion for pictures and helped nudge her camera out of storage and start documenting life again

7. leggings and scarves ... with the cooler weather in the air both have been n's go to in her wardrobe to stay warm and stylish

... yes n is well aware that this is not her but this is the look that she loves so much

and is super glad that it's fall and she can wear lovely things like this

8. spin class ... the weather here is very unpredictable with snow one day, rain the next, gusting winds or gorgeous sunny days. sometimes that can all occur within the same day ... n had been riding her bike home but isn't equipped to try and make the trek through weather that isn't sunny and calm. so a much welcomed substitute ... spin class ... what a great way to burn tons of calories and keep conditioned through till spring

cheers ~n

CHANGE IS IN THE AIR

this weekend j and n spent the better part of it fall cleaning and organizing ... just like spring cleaning but instead of warmer weather to look forward to it was done with a big huge sigh because the snow is about to fly soon

well a few good things came out of the deep clean ... the most obvious being a cleaner, less cluttered, more organized house. BUT best of all was the change that happened in j's office as a result of rearranging our furniture in the house ...

... the reason behind moving all the furniture was because j and n were trying to solve an absolutely utterly impossible problem (more about that in a future post)

so without further adieu ...

the before ...

happily ever after ...

p.s. all the books that are stacked so lovely in the bookshelf are part of n's birthday present ...

a sweet deal from my local chapters store ... 41 books from premier classics publishing at 50% off for the whole collection ... my instant classic library

cheers ~n

IN A LONDON FOG

well as n types this the weather has started to improve but just this past week the uninvited white stuff began falling from the sky and made a very unwelcome home on the ground. living in canada and especially in alberta one never knows if this menace is just the first snowfall that's supposed to brighten and lengthen your commute to work and challenge your patience or sadly if it is the harsh reality that old man winter has made its home and is here to stay for a very, very long time. n however is happy to say that it is the first of the two and as she speaks n can see green blades of grass starting to peek through the white

big sigh of relief ... however short lived this hope of a true fall may be ... the white stuff is on its way and here to stay for quite some time and that makes this girl dream of a few nice things

like this

and this

and some more of this

oh yeah and this

and of course this

and finally this

cheers ~n

BIRTHDAY SURPRISE ... TAKE #1

n loves the fall because the leaves change color, pumpkin spice lattes are being made, the air gets crisper and that means layering clothes and wearing jackets (anyone who knows me knows that i love jackets). fall is also n's birthday and in both j and n's opinion it is the best time for a birthday

well n turned 29 this september and she wasn't sure what j's surprise was this year for her birthday even though for the whole year he'd been saying that he'd been waiting a whole year to give n her present. apparently j had this idea the day after n's birthday last year

well n was surprised with a hot air balloon ride over the city and she had to wait a month for the flight. so exciting and definitely one of the things on her life's list of things to do or accomplish

how sweet and thoughtful and so perfectly wonderful :)

so this morning we got the phone call at 6:40 am that we would be taking off from the ground for a bit at 8 am. we got ready and hurried ourselves to the meeting spot, were given our instructions and watched as they inflated the balloon in the field.

while they were inflating the balloon a few other couples were talking and asked us "so how many times have you tried to take your flight?" puzzled we replied "oh this is our first time" and much to our surprise they proceeded to tell us that for 4 of them this was their 8th attempt in 2 years and another couple this was their 15th attempt in 3 years! we looked at each other and both whispered to each other "i never really thought we wouldn't go today"

so not even 30 seconds after this conversation the guy in charge states "i regret to inform you that air traffic control just phoned and a low cloud cover is rolling in and planes flying in the area won't be able to see us so the flight is cancelled

well here is proof of our first attempt at a hot air balloon ride, we at least got to see it being inflated and then deflated and then we got to help put the balloon back and pack up the trailer

n hopes there aren't too many more times like this although it was super cool to see the balloon getting ready and j and n got a bottle of champagne ... so happy birthday and we can't wait to try again someday

so without further adieu some pics of our almost flight:

and so it began, i guess barely started and then went right back to packing up

so close

cheers ~n