N'S OBSESSIONS ... TAKE 4 (ALL THINGS LONDON)

in a few weeks time i am packing up a portion of my belongings into a few suitcases, taking j with me and heading across the ocean to begin my adventures as a graduate student in london, england :) ... i am so excited to start my master's ... so this edition of n's obsessions is dedicated to all things london ... aka the waterproof, warm and of course stylish :) i am a bit of a nerd for supplies and i seriously cannot wait to get a chance to use these

1. flowered waterproof laptop bag ... i found this bag at my local indigo bookstore of all places and immediately fell in love ... i am not naive and i know that it is going to rain and rain and rain whilst i am there so this is the perfectly stylish solution to protecting my laptop and books

seriously how cute is this bag?!?!

2. houndstooth rubber booties ... my mom is well aware of my obsession with all things black and white and she found these super cute booties last spring for me to wear when i was outdoors on recess supervision in the puddles ... they remind me of a certain girl who is also in love with houndstooth and that makes me smile when i wear them

these are like shoes and probably won't be the best for those super rainy days ... but i will wait to buy a pair of unique rain boots until i get to london

3. a hoodie built for the elements of england ... this jacket is a waterproof wind resistant fuzzy lined comfort ... perfect for those crisp days to come and it was found at costco so you know the price is always right :)

4. my plaid fulton umbrella ... one cannot take a trip to london without an umbrella ... i came across this one at a small luggage and travel shop and i was immediately sold ... i mean it's a london based company that solely makes umbrellas and it is commissioned by appointment to her majesty queen elizabeth 2 ... could it get more british than that?

5. coach purse ... so this summer n's sister little j started working at a local coach store and little j one day came to the house very excited and said that she found the perfect london purse for me ... it's waterproof, mostly black and came with a ridiculously low price tag ... so this purse is now in my possession and is used on rainy days here and can't wait to travel to london with me

cheers ~n

IT'S NICE TO COME HOME TO THIS ...

in real life j gets props for being such an amazing, helpful husband ... in the blogger world not so much because he wants to be a silent invisible entity on this blog but today he can't get away with that ... while n is going through the year in busy teacher land j always steps up offers a helping hand wherever possible ... he cooks breakfast and dinners for n, if he has spare time he gets the groceries, he drives n to her workouts (because parking is scarce) and he always goes above and beyond and does the little extras ... case in point j loves to go golfing and this week he was going twice and j and n were so super busy that they wouldn't get to hang out for very long ...

so n came home to relaxing on the deck with these ...

homemade strawberry lemonade

and having the most delicious salad ready to mix ...

mmm spinach salad with pecans, dried cranberries and goat chevre cheese all with a homemade honey mustard white wine vinaigrette dressing

and dinner to reheat whenever n was ready to eat ... n's fav homemade pita pizzas ...

on the left grilled chicken with spinach, red bell peppers, grape tomatoes, mozzarella and goat chevre cheese and on the right tomato based with ham, red bell pepper, mushrooms, mozzarella and goat chevre cheese and of course secret spices all on a whole wheat pita ... don't they look yummy ... well they sure were :)

n has said it many times in real life and n will say it in blogger world ... she is taken care of by the bestest boy ever ... love you j xoxo

cheers ~n

IN MY HOUSE IT'S BLACK AND WHITE

anyone who knows n knows that she has a love to the point of obsession with black and white photographs, paintings, posters of buildings, cityscapes and landscapes and any other decorating ... now don't get me wrong i love an amazingly beautiful colored painting ... in someone else's house ... in my house it is black and white ... i actually had a really hard time debating with j about letting these into the house ... my reasoning to allow them was 1 - they were paris and london, 2 - they were a very dark brown and black with highlights of white and 3 - they were actual paintings instead of just a picture ... you may be laughing right now at how ridiculous that sounds but just ask j and little j (my youngest sis) ... we spent a good hour talking about these points in the store and now i am so glad that i caved and allowed a slight variation of color into our house

now just because i gave in once doesn't mean i'm willing to continue to do this ... i see lots of great colorful pieces but they still don't belong in my house ... i know putting this out in the internet world will bring criticism about how plain and boring my house is ... i know it will come ... i follow apartment therapy ... people's comments can be cruel

but i don't care i like my boring black and white obsession and here is the proof:

cheers ~n

WHERE OH WHERE HAS THE MONTH OF MAY GONE?

as i type this i can't believe that the month of may is almost over ... it flew by in a flash ... i can't believe that there are about 5ish weeks left of work ... the last batch of progress reports to be completed ... the last few lessons to teach ... soon packing up the classroom before leaving for london ... it feels surreal that i won't be starting with a class again in september and won't be back to work until january ... but of course the adventure to come will be amazing and i can't wait

cheers ~n

HAPPY VICTORIA DAY

yesterday in canada we had the day off courtesy of a certain queen of england and being a part of a commonwealth country ... to celebrate the day off ... "the young victoria" was rented, thoroughly enjoyed and made me wish that i lived in a palace

happy victoria day canada

cheers ~n

IS THIS TOO MUCH?!?!

when your pile of junk pulled out of the house is higher than the fence ... is that a sign that there are too many renos going on?

this is probably about the sixth or seventh time in the last 4 years that this has happened to us ... time to call the junk removal truck yet again before the pile pushes the fence over

cheers ~n

THEY'VE ARRIVED!!!!

finally got around to ordering j's birthday prints for the house ... here's a peak at the potential layout for the wall ... so exciting to have my own pictures become part of the artwork in the house ...

now just to head to a certain blue and yellow mega-store to buy some affordable picture frames ... that's for another day

cheers ~n

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

so this was last week ...

this is it now ...

seriously?!?!?! what the what i thought it was supposed to be spring

cheers~n

SPRING CLEANING ...

happy spring to all ...

... this weekend as the sun shone brightly and the temperatures rose we cracked open the windows in the house to let the fresh air in and spent time outside racking up the remnants of fall and winter and of course time planning, planning, planning for the finishing of our backyard ... things like measuring for our lower deck, figuring out the stone patio for the fire pit area, the new fence, railing for the upper deck and stairs, and the lighting options for the covered deck ...

... of course with project 109 there is always a ton of projects to complete and they seem to be happening simultaneously and we are happy to say that as of this year the multitude of projects is dwindling and we are actually checking off a lot of big things on our list

cheers ~ from a cheery n

KICKING MY BLOGGING BUTT

long time no writing ... let me explain

working between 2 schools this year has been tonnes of fun because i get to teach the littlest ones all day long ... but oh my oh my ... i have been so super busy this last month and a bit because each school has its own projects, events, open houses, parent teacher conferences, staff meetings and when you work at 2 schools it is automatically doubled ... even j mentioned that he hasn't had an evening wife much this last little while

... i will be returning soon with more posts once i get a second to breath, catch up on some sleep and feel rested

cheers ~n

SPRING IS HERE ...

so today was my littlest sis' b-day and is there a better way to spend the day than not being at work and having lattes and pedicures ... didn't think so ... happy birthday little j

cheers ~n

BLOG SLACKER

so instead of spending time posting pictures of the bathroom ensuite dormer n decided to go out shopping and spend some money at a much loved store ... ah sephora ... what a beautiful place with so many lovely things in such pretty packaging ... how can a girl resist?

nothing better than a little bag filled with all kinds of awesomeness

behold all the bright and shiny things

sometimes it's nice to take a break from all the dust and dirt and do something girly

cheers ~n

p.s. the pictures will be coming very soon

N'S OBSESSIONS ... TAKE 3

this post has taken me a few months to put together because exciting progress on the house conveniently got in the way :)

here is a list of n's current obsessions again in no particular order:

1. dior rain sunglasses ... last christmas n went to hawaii and had saved up her money and wanted to get some sparkly designer sunglasses ... n got a super sweet deal on some beautiful diors

aren't they pretty?

2. dior show blackout mascara ... j'adore dior ... the sunglasses n recently bought definitely biased the purchase of this mascara ... but it is something amazing ... thick black luscious lashes ... tinted with kohl pigments ... so super black ... what more could a girl want?

3. coach nikole winter boots ... christmas in hawaii had been kind ... another fabulous purchase ... my beautiful sparkly silver and black coach boots at 50% off... being surrounded by snow for so long it is crucial to have the feet warm and toasty and of course looking beautiful and fashionable ... and how many people can say that they bought winter boots in hawaii to bring home?

4. glee ... yes n knows that glee is on a hiatus because of a certain other singing show but n was able to catch up and has officially become a gleek ... the breaking out into song and choreographed dance, the high school drama, sue silvester (need i say more) and the cuteness between mr. schuester and emma keeps me watching and wanting more ... can't wait until april!!!

5. sherlock holmes ... yes the movie came out at christmas and n thought it was great but n's current obsession is with the sherlock holmes stories ... a fun who-dun-it mystery before bed is awesome

6. bosu class ... yes it is the blue half exercise ball and n absolutely loves taking the class ... a great cardio workout plus strength training, push ups and ab work ... a fun way to pass 50 minutes of working out and burn a lot of calories

cheers ~n

FEBRUARY ... HOW I LOVE THEE ... LET ME COUNT THE WAYS

february you are one of my favorite winter months ... let me tell you why:

1. your days are numbered ... i know that you are only shorter by 2 or 3 days but there is something optimistic about having a month that is exactly 4 weeks long

2. you bring a change in the weather ... whether the groundhog is right or not about an early spring or extra winter ... living in canada the winter season drags out for 6-7 months and usually by the end there is a hope of warmer spring days to come

3. you brighten my day ... nothing makes my day better than going to work and the sun is coming up and leaving work at 4:30 and the sun is still shining

4. 100 days of fun ... as a teacher of the littlest ones i get to acknowledge all our hard work and celebrate the 100th day of school and spend the entire day having fun doing things the hundred way

5. family comes first ... you break up this month by providing us with a day off to spend with our families

6. you are all about the love ... kisses, hugs, flowers, chocolate, cards ... a day to tell someone you care is pretty sweet

7. you let me learn some more ... teacher's convention ... 2 days for myself to be a student again and take in a whole bunch of learning and professional development is priceless

8. you lighten the load ... because of all these wonderful things, you allow me to work a shortened work week of 3 and 4 days which is rejuvenating

cheers ~n

BRIGHT SHINY THINGS

so this past weekend j and n decided after french class to venture over to the west end of the city and look around at a specialty lighting store ... we had scoured every inch of the home depot, rona and totem hardware stores and a few smaller specialty lighting stores but nothing really inspired us for the basement ... well after french class we took a trip to park lighting ... outside it didn't seem overly big but inside the store went on forever and as soon as we walked in it was magic ... so many lights to choose from and so many that fit the square modern design we were looking for

of course we also had some very specific obstacles to overcome ...

the lights for the bathroom couldn't be taller than 3 1/2" from the top of the box to the ceiling because all the furnace ducting jogged down right at the spot where the vanity would go

the lights for the stairwell, gym and living room could go up to 9" high in the living room but in the hallway it couldn't be higher than 5" again because of the furnace ducting ... and of course it is such a small space n didn't want different lights in the hallway and the rest of the basement

walking around was reminiscent of picking out an engagement ring or a wedding dress or i guess even finding the one ... sure you see lots of ones that are nice and they would do but then there is that moment where you turn the corner and instantly you just know that this is the one ... well we had that moment on saturday when we were picking out lights ... in one short trip we found all the lights for the entire basement and i must say they are perfect for the design look that we want to achieve (and they came in under the price we set for our lighting budget and we even added in 3 lights for the dining room upstairs ... score!) ... and anyone who knows n knows that she loves anything that has a hint of sparkle and shine to it and she also got that

so enjoy a peak at these beautiful shiny things ... sadly the only ones to not show off yet are the living room, gym and hallway lights because they are special order and we will be seeing them in 2-4 weeks

here's what we had to work with in the bathroom for space

here's what we found

good things really do come in small packages

also totally love that the light shines both up and down through the glass

we bought 3 of these beauties to hang over top of the new dining room table

time for a close up

just the right amount of sparkle

cheers ~n

p.s. cannot wait to show off the rest of the lights for downstairs

JUST FOR FUN

so very recently n was sent on a little adventure of finding a new haircut courtesy of j ... well here's a peak at the new do

flashback to a few weeks ago:

here's the inspiration:

here's the new do:

(why so serious n?

well it's because she is just trying to concentrate while taking a picture of herself in the mirror)

a smile just for j :)

cheers ~n