Tag! You're it

Oh, tag. I wish we still had recess. I wish I still thought running and chasing people was a fun idea.  I wish my day was as simple as deciding whether to play tag or double dutch at recess.

HOWEVER...we're not talking playground running games, we're talking blogger games!

The lovely Tess over at Tea Time with Tess (have you read her blog yet? Pop on over!) tagged me with this game...essentially a blogger version of notes you passed around to friends in grade 7. Enjoy reading a bit more about me, and check out the list of blogs I have tagged at the bottom of the post to see if you're it!

Oh yah - here are the rules:
**You must post the rules
**Answer the 11 questions that the tagger posted for you & then create 11 questions to ask the people you've tagged
**Tag 11 people and link them in your post
**Let them know you have tagged them

Respond to these questions:
1. What is your profession? I do HR (a bit of everything HR related) for a national engineering firm, and recently obtained my CHRP (Certified Human Resrouces Professional) designation.

2. How would you describe your style? Updated traditional - which means mainly classic inspiration, with some twists to bring it all up to date.

3. What one make-up product can you not live without? Blush (MAC). It gives my pale cheeks life! I had a number of runners up though, including: Moisturizer (Marcelle Oil Free Multi Defense Lotion),  eylash curler, Mascara (I always wish that I had naturally dark lashes...I guess blondes get blonde lashes, so I use Marcelle Lash Extreme .I have sensitive eyes and this stuff does the trick, but can be removed easily with warm water)

4. If you could be besties with one celebrity, who would it be? Gwyneth Paltrow. I know a lot of people think she's just too much but seriously...she can cook, she's hot, she's got classic style, she travels, and she is married to a freaking rock star (oh, and if I was her BFF I probably would have gently suggested other creative kids' names. Just sayin...). Oh yah, and Sliding Doors is one of my favourite movies.

via GOOP - doesn't this look like a snapshot I took from across the table? I wish...

5. What is your dream vacation? Hmm...I have been fortunate enough to travel a fair bit, so any vacation that includes airport lounges, 1st class flights, and an opportunity to get to know local people once I'm there is totally up my alley (I don't always travel this way, but I can wish). I went travelling for 5 months after Uni, and SE Asia was a huge highlight - would love to go back to Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia. A few places that are on my list that I have not yet been to include: Morocco, Croatia, Czech Republic, and Portugal. Hawaii (Kauai) has a special place in my heart as the perfect summer vacation.

6. What magazines do you subscribe to? Style at Home, Canadian Living (that's a new one this Christmas!), MoneySense (that's the Mr's new one but I'll definitely read it).

7. If you could have a special talent {that you don't currently have}, what would it be? Drawing. I was always way better at colouring than drawing...wish I had some sort of artsy talent! I always marvel at people who have a way with art, graphics, drawing, etc.

8. What is your favorite breakfast food? I'd have to say the good old standby of bacon and eggs. Oh, and mimosas!



via Martha Stewart

9. If you could do anything, what is your dream job? See travelling - above. My dream job would be a travel editor / writer / insider, where I would get shuttled off, first class treatment, and the opportunity to do a lot of fun things for a tv show and/or magazine (for pay). Since this is a dream job, I would be able to take my time and enjoy the places I visit, not have deadlines, and be able to plan some of it myself.

10. What is your guilty pleasure? Savoury foods - I will always be the one snacking on a leftover, piece of toast, or for a 3pm snack: cheese sticks (the bread ones with crusty baked cheese on them...love).

11. What is the best piece of advice you've ever received, and who gave it to you? Ok this is likely (hopefully) not the best piece of advice I've EVER received , but it's the first one that comes to mind: You never wake up the next morning wishing you had one more drink (think about it. I have no idea where I got it from but my husband thinks it's my mantra when I go out - haha. I don't think that I can apply this to champagne though...if good bubbly is flowing, let it be).

Now to tag the next 11 bloggers:

1. RowHouseNest
2. LGRecreated
3. Dans Le Townhouse
4. Walks with Bella
5. The Design Pages
6. Calmly Chaotic
7. The236
8. First Time Fancy
9. View Along the Way
10. Oh It's Just Perfect
11. This Dusty House

Here are my 11 questions for you:
1. What is your profession?
2. How would you describe your style?
3. Salty or sweet?
4. How would you describe your ideal Sunday morning?
5. Which celeb would you want to have as a bestie?
6. What's the best book you read last year?
7. What is your dream vacation?
8. What's your guilty pleasure?
9. What are your top 3 must have make-up items?
10. What is your dream job?
11. What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?

Kitchen loot

Happy Monday all! This weekend the Mr. and I picked up our faucet and soap dispenser (wooooo)! Now just to schedule a time for measurements with the granite installers, and then finally an install date...can't wait!

Here's a peak at the goodies we picked up this weekend:

(sorry for the odd angle - also, the pull out part isn't on this yet...will do that when we officially unpack it to install it)

Breakfast

This was my breakfast today. I highly recommend it for your Sunday :)

Prosciutto, spinach, egg. Yumm. {click here for recipe}

I got a surprise in the mail today....

...it starts with an "S" and ends with an "INK" - YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS our sink arrived!

This puppy was litterally just WAITING for me when I got home after meeting friends for dinner. I lugged it into the kitchen and tore it open!  Here's a sneak peak:

I was honestly a little bit worried that we may have found something that was just too good to be true when we ordered this - couldn't wait to actually get my hands on it! Sometimes you just find something that's a really good deal, that has the measurements you need, that just seems perfect...and it makes you wonder a bit whether it's going to happen or not. But I should come to the realization that I research the hell out of pretty much everything, so it IS possible to actually just "find" a good deal.

It's ours, it's here, it will fit in our existing cabinets. Can I get a "woot-woot"?

{can you tell I'm a wee bit excited about this sink? Beyond expanding our sink capacity by a LOT, it's also the green light for getting the granite guys in to template and then install the counters}

As for the faucet - thank you ALL for your comments! You added such context to how to choose a properly sized faucet, which was exactly what I needed. It sounds like everyone's on board with the tall faucet, and we are too - time to search for the best deal around and get it ordered! The Mr. says that all he wants is a something that dispenses water, something else that dispenses soap, and beyond that it's up to me (he's the best, eh? No argument over stainless steel vs. chrome :) ).

How tall is too tall?

We ordered our sink last week (hoorah! and for a deal too...let's hope the deal wasn't too good to be true and the sink shows up at some point this week...), so now it's faucet time.

I saw this faucet at IDS and fell in love:

Moen Level faucet

-oooh, ahhh-

It comes in brushed stainless steel, but I love it in chrome. The only thing is that this little faucet measures 15 1/2" in height. That's more than a foot tall...which means the top of it will be above our window sill (beware: BEFORE picture following...ewwwww)

I'm just wondering whether the high faucet will look OK or just funny. The sink will be a 1 + 1/2 bowl, so the faucet will actually be more centred on the window than it is now (and those lovely oak cabinets are already dealt with...can't wait to share them with you!).

What do you think? Is a faucet that comes up above the windo sill too tall for the window placement?

Here's some more faucet love to get you into my brain space...

via House Beautiful - this is a nice low faucet, but I really don't want to deal with two water knobs in the kitchen.

via Houzz - just drool with me...this is proof for me that a faucet can be higher than a window and look spectacular!

via Inspiration for Decoration via Houzz - I know that this is a laundry room, but do you see how the faucet comes just under the window? 

 via House Beautiful - a faucet on heels, extra tall!

 This is not in front of a window, nor is it chrome...but man is it sexy! Traditional Home via DecorPad

IDS 2012 - Recap

This has been a busy few days for me! Thursday night was my introduction to the Interior Design Show (IDS) here in Toronto. Attending BlogPodium on Friday (read my post about that here) meant that I was invited to attend the IDS opening gala and trade day.  Had I been free on Saturday, I would have had another opportunity to meet up with bloggers at the Canadian Design Bloggers meet-up, but I had a wedding to attend.  Needless to say, I am more than happy to litterally put my feet up today and give them a break from the heels I've been wearing non-stop since Thursday! I wear heels often, but I guess I don't walk around / stand in them as much, and last night I danced the night away at the wedding and the heels stayed on all night!

The IDS gala started off with one of my all time, world wide favourite things - just standing waiting for me in the media lounge upon check in on Thursday night:

 

I love me some bubbly...who doesn't? And Veuve is the queen of the bubbles...we made sure to enjoy it!

Here are some of my favourite displays at IDS - enjoy! (The photography / lighting isn't the best...but you'll get to see a bit of what I saw):

IDS 2012 Gala

Elte:

 

 

 

This tray would be a great DIY, non?

Pallafray:

Beautiful wall art

Living Lighting (King St location):

 This light fixture was ridiculous - strand upon strand of metal chain, and I loved how they styled the room (give me tulips any day...)

Canadiana at its best (curling rock pillows!) at Identity Apparrel:

Cherish auction in support of ONE X ONE:

Joe Fresh room:

 

One of my absolute favourite installations -Lissoni Lounge:

 

Walking through IDS was a lot of fun, getting peeks of design inspiration, and seeing design celebs like Sarah Richardson and Brian Gluckstein! I didn't get a pic of Brian, but here's Sarah in her cute patterned dress:

Even the chairs for the speaker sessions were ultra stylish:

There you have my little IDS 2012 recap - if you liked it you should try your best to attend next year! There really is so much inspiration, and something for everyone.