New Year's Eve

What are your plans for the big night?  { You know:  December 31st?  Last day of the year??} Hopefully they involve sparkly clothes & sparkly drinks & sparkly company. 

{ inspirational photos courtesy of Once Wed blog }

For the last few years I've copied my friend Rebecca's "to do... to be... to have" format for my new year's resolutions.  So here goes.  Hold me accountable, blogworld!

To do:
* travel to Europe *.  This plan has been in the works for a while & I've gotta get on booking our hols.  Can't wait!

{ vintage posters found here have me a-dreamin' }

To be:

* more organized*  I feel so much lighter & on top of things when everything is in it's place.  I've got a month-by-month plan to sort through each area in the house but I may ramp it up a bit and do a few per month.  

{ gorgeous art supplies all tickety-boo }

To have: 

*enjoyment in the moment*  Why do I find this so hard?  I am a planner.  I'm always thinking what next, what next, what next.  It's good to plan but I can miss out on the "moments that make up my life" {listen here: "Getting Late" & you'll see what I mean }

{ pure joy, in the moment }

Happy New Year, blogland.  Review your joys of 2011 & may you continue to be blessed in 2012.

Old Faithful

I stumbled upon the Old Faithful Shop today after hearing about it from my gal pals in the know.

{ Old Faithful Shop in Gastown }

The shop is awesome for 'just browsing', but I bet you won't be able to get out of there without purchasing something!  Especially at Christmastime, it is a must go-to for those hard to buy gents on your list.  They stock this book which is written by GQ's The Style Guy:

{ sartorial fears relieved }

They sell Mast Brothers chocolate (direct from Brooklyn):

{ dried Cranberry looks yumm-oh }

And a cool assortment of lighting fixtures & old school lightbulbs to go with:

{ brass cage pendant }

Long story short, get your sweet little self down there.  You won't be disappointed.

Pinterest Obsessed

I've been using Pinterest for almost a year now & still find it as addictive as ever.

{ Pinterest Home Screen }

My Christmas Board is a bit sparse but my Stylish Kiddies Spaces Board is brimming with ideas for me to try at my place or for clients.

What about you?  Are you a Pinterest user & if so, can you get lost in the boards for.like.ever {as my daughter says}?

Advent Calendars

This post is a bit belated.  It's December 5th & five of the advent calendar windows have been eagerly opened at our house.  But, I'm finding so many lovely advent calendars online that I simply must share.

I bought a 'fill your own' advent calendar from Ikea that is festive & sweet.  I'm finding that Ikea has a lot of goodies in their Christmas department this year:

{ Swedish Santa delivers pint size goodies each day }

I found this image on a blog by Stephanie Lynn that I just discovered.  The image is from Pottery Barn but Stephanie give instructions HERE to make your own.  I love the idea of adding a decoration to your tree each day:

   { countdown to Christmas }

Because my five sisters & families are scattered across North & South America I sent them a virtual calendar this year.  It is by Jacquie Lawson & while is a teeny bit twee the kids are LOVING it.  There is also a free advent calendar by Norad Tracks Santa {click here to view}. 

This is a practical advent calendar idea for the chilluns in the house.  The domestic goddess Martha has come up with a sock advent calendar.  Get 12 pairs of socks in festive colours  and string them up for a useful way to count down to Christmas:

{ stocking countdown }

And for some sweetly simple, neutral advent calendars that you can fill with any goodies you please check out these which I found at French By Design's blog:

 { simple & sweet }

{sweet & simple }

What about you?  Are you opening an advent calendar in your house & counting down the days 'til Christmas? 

Festive Children's Rooms

Do you decorate your kids' rooms for the holidays?  Sebastian & Paulina each have an itsy bitsy tree for their bedrooms that they decorate with wee ornaments.  We'll have to get one for Hugo this year.

Scouring the web, I came across these fun ideas for kids rooms....

I love this old schoolhouse light & the mitten/hat garland hung between the bookshelves:

{ Scrooge's baaa humbug bedding from Garnet Hill }

Speaking of nasty-turned-nice-in-the-end Christmas story characters, the Grinch is a favourite of mine.  This bedding from Pottery Barn Kids is hilarious:

{ trim up the tree with Christmas stuff 

like dingle balls & who-who fluff }

How cozy does this look??:

{ hoho bedding from Pottery Barn Kids }

I like the fact that this next photo from the UK website House to Home isn't too over the top Christmassy.  Stars & candlelight & a garland on the bedposts are the perfect touches:

{ lovely cozy spot to lay one's head }

 I love these garlands from Land of Nod.   {And free shipping is always good!}.  The ornament, mitten & tree garlands are the perfect addition to a kids' bedroom or perhaps a playroom?

{ garlands galore } 

This decorated tree branch featured on Oh Dee Doh would be sweet year 'round.  No need to take it down!

 { falling asleep would be a dream under that tree }

And more from Garnet Hill for shared spaces:

{ Garnet Hill's Snow Day bedding sets }

What do you think?  Do you decorate all the rooms in your house or is it the most you can do to get a tree up before December 25th?

Either way, Happy December 1st & best of the season to you & yours...

Christmas is coming

Has it really been 2 weeks since my last post?  Yep.  Is it really the night before December 1st?  Yuppers. Is life really hurtling along at warp speed?  DEFINITELY.

Big kids are watching Polar Express & H is tucked into bed with a belly full of milk.  So I have a window of opportunity to blog.

{we always watch this at Christmastime }

I have been thinking about some decorating ideas for Christmas.  I bought a few of these star pendant decorations at Ikea in silver:

I'm inspired by the folks at Terrain and their beautiful paper stars:

{ star light star bright... }

I found a bunch of naturally-inspired decor ideas on my sister Leah's Pinterest site {you can click through to the actual website here}:

{ danish delights } 

I am officially infected with the Christmas spirit.  In a good way.

Merry Merry!

xx Julia oo  

No Wall Flowers Here

Gabrielle Blair's blog post on Babble today got me mulling over wallpaper in kids' rooms.  Check out the offerings from Paper Boy.  Love love love the "ere be dragons" line:

{suitable for dragon trainers & knights-in-training alike }

I've always had a soft spot for Paddington Bear which is available through Jane Churchill:

{ very London with the double-decker }

And this hot air balloon paper from Schumacher used here by Miles Redd:

{ love the striped ceiling/wallpapered walls combo }

Hugo's room is bare bones right now and these vision of wallpapers dancing in my head gives me loads of inspiration.

Bocci Lighting's Warehouse Sale

One of my favourite Vancouver design success stories.... Bocci Lighting... is having a warehouse sale.  Their glass orbs have been seen in spaces, design publications & won awards the world over.

Bocci Chandelier

Check out their Facebook page for more info on their sale next week (Nov 17-18, 2011).  

Happy weekend!

LEGO Land

If our LEGO-fanatical son, Sebastian, could have his way our home would look like this:

{ LEGO island featured on Oh Dee Doh }

I think I would be driven crazy with all that colour & how about the crumbs in the cracks?  No gracias.  Nothing a good shellacking wouldn't take care of I guess...  I think I'd prefer these storage LEGO boxes:

{ cool enough for the living room }

{ stack-able & under-bed-store-able }

Apparently these can be ordered through Amazon but I didn't see them there.  They are for sale here but don't ship to the States or Canada.  These would be great for Sebastian's room or our playroom so I'm going to do some more sleuthing & I'll let you know what I find.

Somewhere over the rainbow

I've never been a big 'rainbow' fan.  But this one caught my eye as soon as I saw it:

{ feature rainbow wall }

I discovered it this morning on one of my favourite blogs'  Modern Parents Messy Kids on their Weekend Look Book. I was up bright & early with our youngest, Hugo at 5:45am.  Thanks Oh Dee Doh who posted it originally} & Lovelace & Co. for designing the beautiful space in the first place.

We DO have a good life.  Let's not forget.  OK, back to sleep.....ZZZZZzzzzz

Top Kitchen Picks

I subscribe to Martha Stewart Living Online & today there was a "Kitchens We Love" feature {click HERE}.  My faves in that article were this barn kitchen:

{rustic meets stainless}

and this organizers' dream:

{ love these latte bowls sorted by colour }

The post got me thinking of my own favourite kitchen spaces.  I love Erika Powell's style & her Urban Grace kitchens are heavenly.  

{ see what I mean? }

I love this vintage-inspired kitchen from Country Living & have saved the image onto Pinterest as inspiration for when/if we re-do our west coast cabin:

Well, it's off to clean up the dishes in my own kitchen... 'Til next time, lovelies!

Entertaining Made Simple

Love this post by one of my fave bloggers, The Sleepytime Gal.  She {Nicole Shiffler} is inspiring, fun & R.E.A.L. I never come away from her blog feeling inadequate but always encouraged to see beauty in the everyday life.

She recently blogged about entertaining simply, outside.  Doesn't this look lovely?

{ beef pot pies en plein air }

I'd be thrilled to partake in a meal like this.  You?

design*sponge encounter

Not last weekend but the one before I was at the design*sponge event at Anthropologie on Granville here in Vancouver. As usual, Hugo was my date for the evening.

{ dapper Mr. H }

I was thrilled to meet Grace Bonney, inspiration to many. She was sweet, down to earth & as gorgeous in real life as she looks here.

{ H & me & Grace }

I was thrilled to get my DESIGN*SPONGE AT HOME book signed by Grace.

{ waiting in line for signing }

I was thrilled to be using my creative side in the craft event & thrilled to be at Anthropologie drinking champagne cocktails & eating cupcakes.

{ coconut cupcake & champers }

I blogged about anticipating it in late September {here}. Did I mention I was thrilled. Yup. I was.

Thanksgiving

Giving thanks... Thanksgiving. It's one of my favourite holidays because it involves family, friends & food without the pressure of gift giving.

Here are some photos from around the web to inspire my fall decor:

Sweet soft pumpkins I saw featured on House of Turquoise blog {photo courtesy of The Lettered Cottage}:

{ neutral plush pumpkins }

Loving the white pumpkins this year after seeing what Urban Grace's Erika Powell did with hers last year:

{ lacy loveliness }

Ethereal table setting seen on design*sponge last year:

{ Love & Fresh Floral's styling }

And more design*sponge inspiration:

{ styling by quince }

My sister, Leah, always has wonderful inspiration on her blog Tiddly Bits:

{ pumpkins & birdies & linen - oh my! }

My friends at Spread Love Events have a number of white pumpkins on their Pinterest boards:

{ cream & rusticated silver }

And you can't go wrong with a bit of orange & green thrown in the mix:

Last year I blogged about all I am grateful for. This year it is much the same. In the words of Raffi, all I really need is a "song in my heart, food in my belly & love in my family".