Oh if I had the time....

I'm completely in love with this patchwork painted wood piece from Pottery Barn. 

It's rustic, and folky, and very much my style.

But for upwards of $500, I just can't do it.... not for something that I could totally make myself.
(do you often say this to yourself? I always do, but I never actually make the stuff!).

Oh if I only had the time.....

!!!

New Music: Austra

I'm really loving the new album from Canadian electronic artist, Austra.

It makes for perfect loungy summer evening music.

Have a listen....

Weekend Moments... Settling into our new home

Well we did it. We survived moving day. And most of the unpacking too.

And even though we are far from finished, I feel so at home here. 

I love this neighbourhood!

I've been exploring all the little local shops, buying fresh seasonal produce, and spying people watching from our balcony.

And Zac has been busy exploring the new apartment, and finding all kinds of new ways to get into trouble.

And this is Sam, the squirrel... 

He hangs out on the vine outside my kitchen window. He's very tame, I think. 

Zac had his face pressed up against the glass and Sam did the same from outside. It was pretty cute :)

I'll share some pictures of the apartment once I get a bit more organized.

Happy Monday to you!

Happy Papa's Day to my wonderful husband!

 To my amazing husband,

thank you for being such a wonderful father to our boy.

I mean, I always knew you would be a great father, 

but I didn't know it would all come so naturally to you. 

I love seeing you two together. 

How much you love each other.... 

honestly, there's no better sight a mamma can see.

I love that you will be his role model.

I love that you would do anything for him.

And just when I thought I couldn't possibly love you more, 

as the father of our baby, somehow I do.

Thank you for being you : )

Happy first father's day!

Have a great weekend - it's moving time for us!

Tomorrow is moving day!

All the toys are packed (well almost - Zach keeps taking them out of the boxes), and I'm scrambling to get the last few odds & ends into boxes. 

You always have so much more stuff than you think you do!

And when all your crap is packed away, you realize how little you truly need to function. 

It's amazing actually.

So I'm signing off for the weekend. Wish us luck tomorrow with our big move ;)

Hopefully I'll be back online on Monday... but we'll see how it goes!

oxo

Vanessa.

Weekend Moments in Vancouver (the belated version)

We had a really great time in Vancouver these past few days. 

There were definitely stressful moments.... travelling with a 6 month old adds many new challenges... but overall it was definitely a success!

Whenever my husband and I travel out west, we always find ourselves asking, why don't we live here??? 

(Answer = distance from family) 

And then we find ourselves scheming, if we could only just convince everyone to move out here with us.....

It's just so unbelievably beautiful!

The mountains, the sea, the old growth forests... it's what I think of when I think of Canada.

^^ Zac takes in the breathtaking views of the city ^^

^^ 1. hiking with Zac, 2. enjoying a room service dinner in the hotel while Zac slept, 3.Tuna sushi cones - delish! 4. Zac trying to steal a bite of dad's burger, 5. Beauty, 6. watching the float planes take off and land on the water. ^^

We took Zac on a gorgeous 2 hour hike at Lynn Canyon. He was completely awestruck by the forest. He just sat quietly in the pack and looked around with his wide, blue eyes, taking everything in.

Imagine experiencing an old growth forest for the first time!

And we are back in Montreal now, and life is pretty chaotic to be honest.

We are moving on Friday and our apartment looks like a hurricane hit it - boxes everywhere, toys everywhere - eeek! It's stressful just writing about it!

Anyway I doubt I'll have time to write any more blog posts this week, so bear with me as we settle into our new home.

I wish you a wonderful week.

oxo

Vanessa.

Lately... we're in Vancouver and we're loving it!

Well we've jet-setted off to Vancouver for the weekend to go to a friend's wedding, and so far we've been having a wonderful time.

I had been really nervous about the 5 hour flight from Montreal, but Zac did really, really well. We sat in the last row, and Zac entertained everyone as they waited in line for the bathroom. I honestly had no idea he was such a social guy!

We are here with my in-laws (who have graciously accepted to babysit for us during the wedding), and are staying in a beautiful hotel with gorgeous views of the waterfront.

We requested a crib at the hotel in advance, which was such a great idea because when we checked into our room we were also provided a baby bath tub, a mini humidifier, a diaper pale and a set of baby toiletries all for Zac. Talk about service!

Tangent: I have a confession to make, we've never taken Zac out to a restaurant before. We've been way too scared. When he was younger he would just freak out inconsolably for no reason and I think we've been scarred for life! But we knew that during this trip we were going to have to face our fears and take the dining-in-public plunge.

So for our first dining experience avec bébé, we decided to eat at the hotel restaurant (even if it was a much fancier place than we otherwise would have chosen for such a terrifying event).... but at least we could easily escape to our room if things turned sour.

And, as seems to be the case more and more these days, Zac totally surprised us with incredibly calm and content behaviour. He was amazing!  

^^ we gave Zac a piece of steak to suck on (in one of those mesh bag feeders), which occupied him beautifully while we enjoyed our meals and drank glasses of local B.C. wine. And he didn't even have to be on our laps! I am still in shock at how good he was, and so late in the evening too. A whole new world of opportunity has now been opened up to us.

And I am a happy mamma!

~

Vancouver is such a beautiful city!

And Zac loves it too :)

I wish you a wonderful weekend.

oxo

Vanessa.

DIY Idea.... Paint an Ombre Wall

What do you think of this idea of painting an ombre wall in your home?

It looks absolutely gorgeous in these photos (from the West Elm June catalog), 

but I wonder if it would look dated rather quickly and then you'd be sick of it?

But still... how dreamy does that fading blue wall look against this dark charcoal sofa...