Captain Hook and Some Extras

Before I had even moved in, I wanted to put hooks on the wall behind my front door.  Call me lazy, but having to hang my coat up on a hanger in a closet, every time I came in when I KNEW I was going to be going out again in a few hours, drove me crazy.  So I usually just threw my coat on my living room chair until I needed it again. A year later, and I have my hooks!

1 piece of pre-cut and pre-primed moulding from Home Depot (it might even have been a scrap piece, I'm not sure...it was about $7.00)

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3 coats of white paint, measuring, and pre-drilling screw holes

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4 hooks from Home Depot

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The best place to hang your coats and bags!

I didn't get a picture of the board before we hung it on the wall and I don't want to give too much away just yet! You'll have to stay tuned in the next few days for a much better glimpse!  Promise! (Click here for the front entry reveal which features the wall hooks!)

In other news I just got back from a nice week-long vacation.  I went up to my parents' trailer near Chaffey's Locks.  It was so hot outside, but definitely the best summer weather we've had so far!  The highlight (or lowlight...) was this giant black rat snake.  The thing was 5 feet long and had slithered right under my lounge chair while I was reading!  I hate snakes and was terrified...ewww...

We had a bit of wild weather while we were there but nothing compared to what the condo faced at home.  I came home to this picture a colleague of mine posted on Facebook.  This is only a few streets over from my little home!  

Thank goodness it never turned into a real tornado and there was no damage.  My plants all blew over on my patio which required a good clean up on my arrival home, but luckily everything is still living.

PS.  Just wanted to remind you that you can still  follow my blog with Bloglovin so you don't miss any posts! 

Exploring the Cemetery

The day I left Toronto we had one last adventure!  Sarah and I explored Mount Pleasant Cemetery which is right across the street from her house.  I can’t say I have ever explored a cemetery before, but this one is HUGE and is set up with many paths, gardens, and water fountains within a cemetery.  It was a gorgeous, hot and sunny day in May and all the trees were coming out in bloom.  (This shot is currently my desktop background on my computer…isn't it pretty?)

Mount Pleasant is the burial place for many famous individuals.  Foster Hewitt (of Hockey Night in Canada fame) is buried there, along with Robertson Davies (Canadian author) and Northrop Frye (Canadian literary critic) just to name a few.  Sarah and I wanted to go and find all the graves of the famous Canadians buried there but Hewitt, Davies, and Frye were rather tricky to find, so I’m saving them for my next visit ;)

We did manage to find the plot of Glenn Gould (Canadian pianist).  This was the highlight since we are both musicians!  I liked how his gravestone was in the shape of a piano.

Here are Sir Frederick Banting and Dr. Charles Best, the discoverers of insulin (their names are always said together, so I was half expecting them to be buried beside each other…disappointingly they weren't).

William Lyon Mackenzie King, Canada’s 10^th and longest serving Prime Minister!

It really is a lovely location, even if the normal circumstances for visiting are rather somber.

I’ll be back in the next few days with my tutorial on how to make a fake, no maintenance terrarium and some more house updates!

Target Adventure!

The beginning of May, when I was visiting my friend Sarah, one of the things we HAD to do was go to Target. That may sound silly to some of my United States readers, but we have never had Target in Canada.  Stores are starting to pop up around the country, but they have yet to arrive in Ottawa.  A bunch are in Toronto, so I knew we had to visit.  I wanted to see what all the hype was about and I wasn't disappointed!

Love Nate Berkus!  And if that tortoise shell had been in a different colour I would have been all over it.  (I totally thought it was ceramic...but it was plastic!)

How cute is this little green footstool?  And Sarah was smitten by these necklace holders.

And because I'm a super nerd, and had never seen it before, THEY HAVE A SEPARATE  ESCALATOR FOR YOUR SHOPPING CART!

I did make some purchases while I was there.  I got my mom some earrings for her birthday, a new t-shirt, and this cute glass bell jar from the clearance section.  It has a little glass dragon fly on top.  When I got it home, I made a fake terrarium to put inside it (thanks for the idea Sarah!).  I'll be doing a post on how to make your own terrarium in the next few days.  I love it up on my ladder shelf.

Such a fun little trip and I can't wait until Target is in Ottawa.  They have just enough different merchandise than other large box stores to make them stand out.  And their Dollar Section had some pretty good stuff in it too! One is opening up about 15 minutes away from me so it could be dangerous! 

 

A Little Mini Vacay

The last three weeks have been completely insane for me, so I apologize for not posting more regularly.  I was lucky enough to snag a full-time teaching job for 3 weeks, and I've been asked to perform with the Ottawa Wind Ensemble for an upcoming concert.  Plus it was my mom's birthday, and Mother's Day, so things have been a little hairy!

The first weekend in May, however, I got out of the city and took the train to Toronto to visit my friend Sarah and her husband Aaron.  It was soooo awesome to not have any work responsibilities and to just enjoy the gorgeous weather with friends!

I got in late Saturday night, so Sunday morning we headed out for brunch and some exploring.  We had a lovely brunch at Chai on Bayview.  The food was delish and so fresh!

Photo courtesy of blog.to.com

We checked out some of the shops on the main street.  My favourite was The Elegant Garage Sale.  It's a consignment shop full of modern and antique pieces.  I totally felt like I was on an episode of Sarah Richardson's while inside!

Photo courtesy of stylenorth.ca

We also checked out Epi Breads.  BEST SMELLING SHOP EVER.  Not to mention the free sample of the cranberry loaf was to die for.

 

Photo courtesy of blogto.com

Sarah just moved there a few months ago so it was nice to see their new place and check out the new neighbourhood.  It's super cute, and I'm jealous of their gorgeous tree lined streets with old houses.

I left on Monday afternoon, but not after a few more adventures!  I'm still working on getting the pictures uploaded so I'll get to posting those in the next few days!  It was a great, little, mini vacation.  Thanks for having me guys!

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N!

Yep, can't get this song out of my head. 

Or rather, I can't get the chorus out of my head.  I have no idea what the rest of the words are.

I just got back Saturday night from 5 days of camping at Bon Echo Provincial Park.  I've been there every summer since I was 3.  I know the park like the back of my hand, and I'm pretty sure I could walk it in the dark.  It was a great five days filled with camp fires, beach-ing, swimming, kayaking, biking, walking, reading, sleeping, and board game-ing.  I joined my parents who were already there and my sister came up for a few days as well, so it was a whole family affair!  It's my all time favourite place to be in the summer - getting away from the hustle of daily life and enjoying nature.  I wish I could have stayed longer (minus the two days of rain...I could have done without those)!

I came across a really awesome discovery while in the park this year, and I'm hoping to create some art as a result.  I'll keep you posted!

I'm super excited because this coming weekend I'm having my first out of town visitors staying over (my gal pals from university), so I'm busy trying to get some of the little things done around here before their arrival.  I can't wait!!!