Our best for our guests...

The Rambling Renovators recently blogged about a good experience they had with ordering fabric via Tonic Living and their recommendation led me to the Tonic Living site - not because I had any reason to visit, but I can't resist fabric browsing!

Seriously though, I had no intention of liking anything there but I did find a few swatches that had me thinking about how I might be able to incorporate some new fabric into my life :)

See we've got this little guest room that rarely sees much action, but when it does, we really want it to make a good impression and lately I've been thinking its a little lackluster.  Its got all the makings of a nice room, comfy bed, loungy-ish chair, nice big mirror, but its seriously wanting in style.  I'm thinking though that the fabric I found could make all the difference.

We've got some pretty simple solid, medium grey bedding in the room and I'd like to work with it.  This fabric, in the form of a throw pillow, may work nicely...

This zebra print would also need to make an appearance, do you think as a bolster pillow?

Finally, though we have blinds for the window, I'd like to find a way to hide them during the day (since they are a little ugly).  Jenny at Little Green Notebook posted plans for a pelmet box that might do the trick perfectly... what do you think of using the fabric below to upholster the box with?

The room would also need a new coat of paint (its currently lilac, but its been needing a refresh for quite some time), and maybe a bigger scaled lamp, but I think that less than $50 in fabric could go a long way - not too bad considering that Tonic Living is offering 10% off and free shipping in southern Ontario...

Should I go for it?

Happy Father's Day!!

I just recently shared some pics of my dad from his birthday party, but here's one of us together from a couple years ago that I happen to like a lot.

Have a great day Dad - We love you!!

The Birth House

I finished reading "The Birth House" by Ami McKay over a month ago now but didn't get the chance to blog about it, but please don't take that as a sign that the book wasn't very good.  Quite the opposite in fact, since "The Birth House" has been on my mind almost daily, it hasn't really seemed like a month since I read it.

Set during World War I, this book recounts the life of a girl who learns the skill of midwifery during a time when doctors preferred for women to be unconscious during birth - 'for the good of the mother and child.'  Living in an extremely small town on the coast of Nova Scotia, Dora opens her home as 'The Birth House' a place for women to come to prepare for imminent birth, labor and then recover with her newborn without the hassles of caring for other small children, a husband and a home.  Dora encounters many challenges along the way, not the least of which is being diagnosed with hysteria and being treated for it as was customary at that time - by a doctor on an operating table. 

I really enjoyed this book.  I feel like it gave me a flavor of what it was like to be a woman in a small Maritime village at a time when women were really just coming into their own.  Looks like another win for "Heather's Pick" at Chapters!

Beautiful...

We don't have sunsets like this in Ontario...

Will return soon to share more pictures from my recent road trip to Prince Edward Island!

Happy 50th Birthday Dad!!

Today is my father's 50th birthday!!  He's just a young chap isn't he? 

We celebrated a little early last weekend while I was in the Maritimes for a visit.  Dad had a great time with everyone at his birthday dinner (there were over 20 of us) and I had an awesome time visiting with all of my family. 

 We pulled off a few surprises - like my sister flying in from Toronto to join us and my mom's gift being tickets to Tennessee to watch a NASCAR race that he has been dying to see. 

It seemed that Kaylee (my niece) also had a good time.  She loves being the center of attention and she was lucky enough to be the center of virtually everyone's attention for the whole night!

She also loved hanging out with her little cousin, Layla.  Kaylee kept herself busy during dinner feeding Layla her dinner and reading her books :)

The night was really great - here's Mom and Dad right after he opened his surprise gift from her - he was super happy!

I also just found out that Dad pulled off a bit of a surprise of his own, he and Mom celebrated his actual birthday today picking up a new GMC Terrain... lets just say I'm counting the days til I turn 50, or at least til I can take it for a test drive :)

Happy Birthday Dad!  I hope you've had a great day!