Lately up north... it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

This weekend I went into the woods to collect pine boughs and pinecones in order to start decorating for the holidays. This will be our first Christmas up north, and our first Christmas away from our families ever.

One of the down sides of working in a remote rural hospital is that you can't always get time off when you want it. A hospital always has to stay open.

But I'm trying to stay cheerful and be my usual festive self.

So I've started decorating....

I made little candle wreaths by tying sprigs of pine together.

Don't they look adorable?!

There's a type of shrub up here that grows these adorable mini pinecones. They make for a lovely little winter bouquet.

And in keeping with December traditions, I have lots of clementines around for healthy holiday snacking.

This weekend I think we might venture into the woods and cut down one of those scraggly northern Christmas trees : )

The Cutest Little Christmas Tree Ornaments

Felt ball ornaments (Indigo)

I love collecting unique Christmas tree ornaments. I've been doing it since I was a teenager. Here are a few of my favourites this year...

Newsprint birdies (tuckandbonte)

little terrarium ornament (TheSilentOwl)

Felted peas in a pod (Fairyfolk)

I love DIY ornaments like these funny little painted peanuts (RawBoneStudio) 

Moustache ornament (amazon)

Tree bark tree (Indigo)

Rustic fabric ornaments (paperjar)

Twine candy canes (PurdyCreations)

Little birch bark canoes (naturesdesigns2010)

And last but not least, because I'm such a coffee lover...

mini Starbucks cups (JegasCreations)

Lately up north... it's full-on winter

 We've been living up north for almost 5 months now. But those were the easy months. Next comes 6 months of winter!

We are ready for it, though. At least I think we are.

We have our Canada Goose jackets, a carton full of hand and toe warmers, and a cupboard full of David's Teas. I think we're set.

Oh but it is really, really cold up here. You can actually see the wind in this photo. Brrrrrrrrr!

In other news, we have 3 orchids in our apartment and they suddenly all started flowering again... all at the same time! I guess orchids like to be ignored. I only seem to remember to water them every other week or so. But apparently they like that.

We went back to the beach to see what it looks like in the winter... 

And as expected, it's pretty icy there too.

Luckily all of us northerners have warm, cozy apartments to have pot-luck dinners in.

On Saturday night we tried moose stew, made by a girl I work with who shot the moose herself (and she's 5 months pregnant!). Such is life up north... the women are very tough!

(I clearly have some toughening up to do)

I stayed true to my girly self and made my blueberry-lemon shortbread tart using the wild blueberries we picked in September (it's such a yummy recipe!).

On Sunday, despite the blustery weather, we went out into the woods to collect evergreen boughs and pine cones.

And I started to decorate the apartment for Christmas... I'll show you the finished product later : )

I hope you had a lovely weekend.

oxo

Have a great weekend, here's some great new music...

The ground is all frozen over up north (this is what it looks like from the plane), and I'm getting used to my icy new reality. It's kind of calming.

I'm so happy it's the weekend. I've had a really crazy week.

I hope you have some time to relax and decompress this weekend... I know that's what I need.

And to start you off, here's some great new music....

My favourite indie folk artist, Shawn Clarke, just released a beautiful new EP. 

I love his voice, and the vibe of his music, and the good mood it puts me.

Have a listen below...

Have a wonderful weekend.

oxo

Vanessa.

Fashion Inspiration: Vintage Vogue Covers

(Vogue, 1929)

Vogue: The Covers features 300 of Vogue Magazine's most memorable covers from the last 120 years.

The illustrated covers from the early 1900's are particularly beautiful.

(1902)

(1911)

 (1930)

Magazine covers used to be so much more artistic than they are today!
I wish they would still feature original artwork once in a while, instead of always showing some close-up shot of the celebrity-du-jour.

Even the photographic covers of the past seem more artistic than todays covers.

But maybe I'm just romanticizing the past....

Anyway this book looks lovely. You can see more vintage Vogue covers here.

All images via Vogue Daily

Curried Apple & Acorn Squash Soup

As the weather gets colder all I seem to want to eat is soup.

 And I love inventing soups with whatever I happen to have on hand. It's one of the easiest meals in the world. Almost anything goes.

 Tonights little creation turned out amazingly well. It has that perfect balance of sweet, spicy and tangy.... great for those cold winter nights like tonight.

read on for the details...

Have a cozy weekend!

So this is what I'm going to look like for the next 6 months! 

At least it's mighty warm in there : )

Hope you have a cozy weekend!

oxo

Well isn't that clever!

A cutting board fitted over a composting bin... It's brilliant!

I really love this idea.

 If I ever design my own kitchen I'm definitely going to incorporate something like this.

via The Farm chicks

Lately up north... Searching for beauty in the bleakness

Let's face it, November is kind of a dreary month no matter where you are in the world... but it feels especially so up here.

I've been told that the skies will be grey and overcast until the bay freezes around mid-December. But I'm having a hard time with that... I already really miss the sun!

I just finished a 24hour shift at the hospital, and to my delight it was beautiful out. Light snow falling, cracks of bright blue sky visible between the clouds... no direct sunshine but I'll take it!  I've been so deprived that I'm rather easily pleased these days.

So I walked around town in my dreamy, sleep-deprived state and for the first time in weeks things started to look beautiful to me again.

Photos from a lazy weekend

It's not even officially winter yet, and I already feel like hibernating!

So that's pretty much what we did all weekend, and it was fabulous.

All the snow we've been getting lately is certainly beautiful, and although I do appreciate it (it makes the town look a lot cleaner), I definitely don't love it as much as everyone else does up here. These northerners LOVE their snow. It puts them all in an instant good mood.

One of the nurses even made me a beaded snowflake ring... isn't it cute?!

But at least I'm not the only one who feels like hibernating...  our supposedly winter-loving husky friend has also been hiding out in his respective little home lately.

So anyway, we were a little lazy this weekend and mostly stayed indoors.

 We drank good wine and made healthy dinners. 

And sometimes, that's all you need. 

And I spent Sunday afternoon on the couch with my beloved hubby, watching football and drinking baileys coffees. A little indulgent, yes, but totally worthwhile.

I hope your weekend was relaxing too.

oxo

How to dress this holiday season...

No one knows winter layering like J. Crew. And these holiday outfits have me very inspired. 

Pops of colour, bright red shoes and lips, and of course lots of sparkle....

 

All images via jcrew.com