Miss Angola's dress

I was gobsmacked when I saw Miss Angola's formalwear gown on the 2011 Miss Universe Pageant.

Image from International Business Times

Why balloons are AWESOME

You may not know this, but I like balloons.

I like small balloons. I like big balloons. I like metallic balloons. I like chains of balloons. I like balloons of all kinds, shapes and sizes.

Why are balloons so fabulous?

1. They come in all shapes and sizes.
2. People giggle at the sight of them.
3. They are unexpected.
4. They make a gathering a party!

Via Project Wedding

Via French by Design

Via Love and Lavender

Via Style Me Pretty

The striped skirt

A simple A-line skirt doesn't work on a curvy, petite girl like me. But these striped skirts by Anne M. Cramer would work on almost anyone! They come in five colours and are now available!

Nautical, $160

Moss, $160



Sunshine, $160

Skirts also come in ink (black) and cherry (red). Found via MSW.

Fabric and Handle

My blog reader has over 130 blogs right now, which makes for a lot of reading, but also a lot of great finds! I think I'll start posting the best of what I'm seeing. You're welcome, Lorraine!

Loving right now, and purchasing tonight, is this fab tote from Fabric and Handle. The straps are adjustable AND removable! The bags are machine-washable! The straps come in different colours and widths! Le sigh.

Delmare Tote Shopping Bag, $29



Claire Tote Shopping Bag, $29



Margo Tote Shopping Bag, $29

Found thanks to Simple Song

Love right now: chalkboard on my food storage bins!

Since opening bite-sized I have a lot of white powder in my house: all-purpose flour, cake flour, white sugar, castor sugar, iodized salt, sea salt, baking soda, baking powder... the list goes on! I have them all in air-tight containers, but how to tell them apart? How do you write on plastic? Chalkboard paint!

my blank "canvas".
I found these buckts (that stack when not in use) at the Great Canadian Superstore for $18.

block off the section with paint tape and prime.
I used CIL ANYWHERE primer from Home Depot

once primer has dried, put on the first coat of chalkboard paint.
I used Rust-Oleum Chalkboard from Home Depot

a side view after the second coat.



the final product, alongside my new Harrod's apron

And there you have it! You'll notice the top two containers are missing labels; that's because I pulled them off when i was removing the paint tape. Be careful! I should have sanded the plastic for a better stick, so I'll do that this time around. Can't wait to use my chalkboard paint again! I'm thinking on the freezer so we can mark what went in there and when ;)

Up-cycling burlap coffee bags? Yes, please!

I keep seeing up-cycled burlap coffee bags and can't help but sigh. Oh, how I want to make my very own burlap coffee bag pillow!

Via

Via

Loving today

burlap bunting, via

paper straws, via

sparkly clothespins, via

new uses for weather balloons, via

cupcakes in a jar, via

snazzy office supplies, via

Listening to La Roux

Heard this on the radio this morning and can't stop replaying it on youtube! So I'm sharing the love:

Memories of people stealing my food

I saw these fabulous anti-theft lunch bags and immediately replayed days I would go to the office fridge to retrieve my lunch only to find it had already been eaten.

Via

I replay that Friends episode when Ross's boss admits it was he who stole Ross's thanksgiving turkey sandwich and that he had --gasp!-- thrown out what was left. It's all too familiar, that pang in your stomach as you long for the lunch you spent 7 minutes preparing that morning and recall how you almost missed the bus because you too-lovingly packed your sandwich in a seperate container from your fruit and snack.

But no longer! At only $8 per 25 bags, gone are the days when you couldn't make your sandwich and eat it too!

Louboutin love

Discount Christian Louboutin? Tell me more!

Via

Sharpies included!

OMG -- just discovered that Sharpie custom orders their pens. Are you freaking kidding me?!?!?!?!

The facts:

1. I love Sharpies
2. I love anything that can be personalized
3. This is way cooler than putting stickies on my Sharpies that read "Hands off! These are not your Sharpie pens!"

You wish these were your Sharpies! Via

Apple Snapple

First, a totally random blip: Doesn't Apple Snapple sound like "Go faster!"? I think so. "Get this done! Apple Snapple!" or "It was over Apple Snapple!" Well, I think so, anyways.

On to the point of this entry: Oh, Snapple Iced Tea, how I love thee! I have one every day with breakfast and the bottles add up. I keep looking at them wondering how I can reuse them somehow. And it hit me, just reuse them as bottles! The embossed S is perfect for my one-day-would-be last name. I could print off my own labels for a special occassion. And I could pair it with a sweet paper straw. Maybe use as escort cards? Maybe just serve as is? Here is the before. I'll post an after once I make it happen!

The lot date scratches off with a little elbow grease, and the label just peels off.

Paper straws, via

Love right now: I like you (a poem by Sandol Stoddard Warburg)

[I did not write this poem, but I love it nonetheless]


I like you and I know why.
I like you because you are a good person to like.
I like you because when I tell you something special, you know it's special
And you remember it a long, long time.
You say, "Remember when you told me something special?"
And both of us remember

When I think something is important
you think it's important too
We have good ideas
When I say something funny, you laugh
I think I'm funny and you think I'm funny too
Hah-hah!

I like you because you know where I'm ticklish
And you don't tickle me there except just a little tiny bit sometimes
But if you do, then I know where to tickle you too

You know how to be silly
That's why I like you
Boy are you ever silly
I never met anybody sillier than me till I met you
I like you because you know when it's time to stop being silly
Maybe day after tomorrow
Maybe never
Too late, it's a quarter past silly!

Sometimes we don't say a word
We snurkle under fences
We spy secret places
If I am a goofus on the roofus hollering my head off
You are one too
If I pretend I am drowning, you pretend you are saving me
If I am getting ready to pop a paper bag,
then you are getting ready to jump
HOORAY!

That's because you really like me
You really like me, don't you?
And I really like you back
And you like me back and I like you back
And that's the way we keep on going every day

If you go away, then I go away too
or if I stay home, you send me a postcard
You don't just say "Well see you around sometime, bye"
I like you a lot because of that
If I go away, I send you a postcard too
And I like you because if we go away together
And if we are in Grand Central Station
And if I get lost
Then you are the one that is yelling for me

And I like you because when I am feeling sad
You don't always cheer me up right away
Sometimes it is better to be sad
You can't stand the others being so googly and gaggly every single minute
You want to think about things
It takes time
I like you because if I am mad at you
Then you are mad at me too
It's awful when the other person isn't
They are so nice and hoo-hoo you could just about punch them in the nose

I like you because if I think I am going to throw up
then you are really sorry
You don't just pretend you are busy looking at the birdies and all that
You say, maybe it was something you ate
You say, the same thing happened to me one time
And the same thing did

If you find two four-leaf clovers, you give me one
If I find four, I give you two
If we only find three, we keep on looking
Sometimes we have good luck, and sometimes we don't
If I break my arm, and if you break your arm too
Then it's fun to have a broken arm
I tell you about mine, you tell me about yours
We are both sorry
We write our names and draw pictures
We show everybody and they wish they had a broken arm too

I like you because I don't know why but
Everything that happens is nicer with you
I can't remember when I didn't like you
It must have been lonesome then
I like you because because because
I forget why I like you but I do

So many reasons
On the 4th of July I like you because it's the 4th of July
On the fifth of July, I like you too
If you and I had some drums and some horns and some horses
If we had some hats and some flags and some fire engines
We could be a HOLIDAY
We could be a CELEBRATION
We could be a WHOLE PARADE

See what I mean?
Even if it was the 999th of July
Even if it was August
Even if it was way down at the bottom of November
Even if it was no place particular in January
I would go on choosing you
And you would go on choosing me
Over and over again

That's how it would happen every time
I don't know why
I guess I don't know why I really like you
Why do I like you
I guess I just like you
I guess I just like you because I like you.

Love right now: Paper wreaths

I am kicking myself for having just painted my front door red. Totally clashes with this gorgeous wreath made of paper.

Via

How I love thee, autumn!

Was perusing etsy and stumbled across these fantabulous felted wool acorns and I WANT! But instead of just purchasing them, I want to learn to make them :) I'm thinking of making a hundred and filling a candy jar -- totally unexpected, right?

Simply gorgeous:

Via

Found a great variety of wool roving for less than I could find on etsy here.

Pendant lamps

The mister and I are looking at new lamps for the kitchen and dining room, and I may have just found a winner. Don't you just love it?

3 of the lights combined. Via

Runners-up include:

Via

Via

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Young blood sounds so A+

Loving this song. Their debut album is yet to be released, but I can't wait!

Sweden good for more than just IKEA: Polarn O. Pyret

Move over, Baby Gap, Polarn O. Pyret is my new fave for fab baby gear!

Clothes for Mama-to-be, newborns, babies, and kids. Everything's on sale right now, so check it out!

Gunila Axen Eco Bodysuit

POLKA DOT BLOUSE

MATERNITY ECO PAJAMA BOTTOMS

Gorgeous invite design

My Google Reader grows daily, and I just discovered Paper Crave. Loooooove!

Found these there. Aren't they simply TO DIE FOR gorgeous? Sigh.

The whole suite

The invite

Find more of this suite on Paper Crave here. Find more pics posted by the bride and groom on Flickr.

The Fake (but one-day-will-be-real) Wedding: father-daughter dance songs

Ok, so I am so loving some songs lately and they're all for the father-daughter dance.

Here they are in no particular order:

Daughter by Loudon Wainwright III (hear it) (lyrics)
My Girl by The Temptations (hear it) (lyrics)
There Goes My Life by Kenny Chesney (hear it) (lyrics)
Isn't She Lovely by Stevie Wonder (hear it) (lyrics)
Gracie by Ben Folds (hear it) (lyrics)
Then They Do by Trace Adkins (hear it) (lyrics) ...this one is perfect for my dad!
I Loved Her First by Heartland (hear it) (lyrics)

Check them with a box of Kleenex in hand. I promise you'll need them!