Tommy and Me....Canadian Bloggers Meetup!

I had so much fun at the Canadian Bloggers Meetup in Toronto yesterday. Met some ladies I knew from the last event in November and met a lot of new faces too.

I had been out "slingin' beers" the night before at an outdoor concert. My hubs volunteers his time with the local fire department and they provide bar services for an outdoor concert series through the summer. I wore my tank top. I made good tips. T.I.P.S. y'all....not..... you know. :) I left there and ended up having a rockin party with my sister and my girls. We played old 45s in the garage all night and ended up hot tubbing. We had one girl end up falling into a garden but most of us made it though the night fairly wound-free. Thankfully the laughs outweighed the first-aid.

So.....this all to say I didn't get the earliest start to Toronto! LOL I did leave shortly after lunch though, the traffic gods were smiling and I ended up with a little over an hour to kill in Kensington Market. Bought a vintage top from a cool place, the "Eye of Shiva".

Just enjoyed the cloudy, cool day. Walked around with my Starbucks latte. Peered into cool cafes, vendors and the Army Surplus. Who knew camoflauge pants came in pink?

The event started at 4pm so I made my way over to Brassaii. Of course, our Hostesses were there to greet me. Daniella of Dress, Design & Decor and Vitania of Verdigris Vie.

What talented and lovely ladies they are. They put so much work into these events and it shows. The sponsors, the speaker....everything down to the perfect colour of the swagbags :)

Brassaii was gorgeous. Lots of people in black and very trendy. Of course, I took pictures of the bathroom for you. I'm weird, but obsessed! Seriously a continuous concrete sink? Love~

The ladies (and a few gents) present were of course, very stylish indeed. Lots of maxi-dresses and black. Tons of wedge sandals and fabulous bags. I swear the people-watching at these events is worth the drive.

 I did manage to meet Lisa from Recaptured Charm and we had a great convo about what we do with vintage, old, broken-down pieces.

Lisa's a peach, go check her out! In a room full of interior designers and stylists, she and I were a minority but we did manage to locate Lindsey who blew our socks off when she told us she was an upholsterer! Lindsey has her own blog at Recreated. Lindsey took herself all the way to the UK to learn technique. WOW! She is a talented lady. I will be able to say I knew them when.

Our keynote speaker was Tommy Smythe (from Sarah 101 fame and before....). Tommy gave an interesting talk on inspiration through travel and he really showed me how talented he truly is. Some of the ideas he had that came out of simple travel pics were amazing. It taught me to look at my surroundings in a bit of a different way. Personally, I think he just wanted a captive audience. I'm surprised the photos weren't on slides...LOL!!! Remember when your family would do that? Invite you all over to look at their travel slides? Laugh!

Tommy is tiny but mighty. He held all the "bitches who blog"'s attention. His words not mine :)

Eventually, you know I was all over that man. He made a glib comment about constantly being in the company of and liking tall women.

I offered to make him feel more manly.

Our sponsors were very generous! IKEA gave a $1000 gift certificate. Which I did not win. Delta Faucets came loaded for bear with their Touch2O product line of sink jewellery and some showerheads.....I did not win any of those either. CIL Paint gave away an I-Pad. If I had won that this post would be prettier!!!! LOL - I did get a gorgeous swagbag from our event planners and their sponsors at House & Home Magazine, IKEA, CIL etc. Thanks to Leah at Forever Moments for all the gorgeous photos that obviously put mine to shame...

Overall a great day. Well worth the drive. Makes me wonder why I don't shop in the Big Smoke more often?

Someone kick my a$$!

Drapery Questions.....

So, after perusing for what seems to be hours on Tonic Living, I have come up with a few alternatives for drapery in my soon to be fresh and retro-mod space that is our family eat-in kitchen.

Remember this corner?

See that apple green? The glorious wallpaper lovingly applied by Maya and I in the cabinetry? Next to that gorgeous cabinet and over my kitchen window I have been looking for drapery fabric to continue the VIBE. I also want to paint out a set of tatty barstools and recover them in the same fabric. Here are our choices.....

Aromatherapy Seafoam

Aspen Celery

Blossom Buds Breeze.

Your thoughts? Hate? Love? Kinda lukewarm? Maya and I need to know. I am also perusing for fabric for this room, which I must report has had little to no freaking progress whatsoever. No, really, if this room was a boyfriend we would be 3 days past the awkward "we have to talk".



EEK!

Do you know this man?

That's right! It's Tommy! He, who will be the keynote speaker at the Canadian Design Bloggers meetup on June 25, 2011! I have loved his and Sarah Richardson's work forever on HGTV. Truly I think I saw every pair of shoes this man has owned for the last 10 years and I know I have gone through every baby-bump Sarah possessed through the same time period.

Per the CDB website:

Tommy Smythe has worked alongside Sarah Richardson as an integral member of her design team for over nine years, through several award-winning HGTV series including design inc, Sarah’s House and Cottage and Sarah 101. He has proven himself to be Sarah’s indispensable confidant, friend and design partner in crime and returns to HGTV Canada this fall with Sarah’s House 4.

Tommy’s passion for design extends to pulling back the curtain and letting the viewer get an inside peek at how it all comes together, from the early stages of planning through to executing and staging every room in the house. Born and raised in Toronto, has spent the past 12 years honing his appreciation of fine art and antiques, and managing numerous entire home renovations. With Sarah’s influence, he has come to appreciate the more contemporary approach to design and has even begun to embrace the notion of hunting for a bargain now and then! In addition to his off-camera decorating work in Canada, the US and the UK, Tommy is a regular contributor to both Canadian House and Home and Style At Home magazines and has been featured on numerous design blogs.

We are thrilled to have Tommy speak at our event, and can't wait for inspiration and lots of laughs to follow. See you all there! And thanks to IKEA for putting us in touch with Tommy!

also by

 

EEK!

How fun is that news?

You are the apple of my eye!

After much chatter and much more ado.....I introduce these gals back into the blogosphere! They got a few new coats of Rustoleum's "Heritage White" and a splash of apple green oddly named "Dill Pickle" from Benjamin Moore. The wallpaper was a special order from Benjamin Moore, it was a bit expensive ($30) and I have a lot left over so expect to see more of it :)

And here is the buffet in his new nook, finally the view to the familyroom is impeded a bit! Open concept is awesome when your kids are small but as they start to grow and blot out the light, well.......they lose their appeal....lol

Here is my niece and partner in this painting crime, Maya. She rocked this out with me. She dares to try....just like her Auntie. We're a good team.

What the corner looked like before. Don't hate me for my bad IKEA and my husband's "working outside flip flops".....

hey, we take care of the important things around here.......

The OWL is for all those bloggers addicted to them. I bought "Frederick" as Maya calls him for 50 cents at a yard sale this morning on the way back with the kids from a charity pancake breakfast. Spraypaint and away he goes.....right to centre stage. He is turquoise for Sunny at Life in Rehab and Pam at Becolorful....cause I promised some damn turquoise! Muah!

So what do you think?

BEFORE BUFFET:

and AFTER:

BEFORE CHINA CABINET:

AFTER....ma lovely.......who made it to the big time y'all!

I am registered!

The next Canadian Design Bloggers Meetup is on June 25, 2011. I am so excited to see and re-meet all those talented ladies again. I need a break, some wine spritzer (yes I'll spritz it so I don't run off at the mouth) and a looksey at what these amazing people are up to now. The event is being sponsored by IKEA and that four-letter word always makes me giddy :)

I am working hard on that buffet and cabinet and should have something to show for it here on the blog in a few days (GAWD willing).

I lost a friend over the weekend to cancer and it has been a busy time. Between work, just getting back from a week at University, Carolyn's passing and the regular day-to-day stuff.....it's been a bit of a whirlwind. Did I mention I have a term paper due in 30 days from today?

Send inspiration vibes for a 3500 word term paper on service amalgamation at the local government level. I know, exciting huh?

Mercy.

I can see clearly now......

Finally, the sun is shining in Ontario, Canada. Gawd, this has been a long winter. Due to space constraints and general lack of my regular joi de vivre.....I haven't done squat lately. Here, there or anywhere. But spring is finally in the air and that means PROJECTS my loves so meet the brothers Grimm that I will be making over soon :)

I'm thinking apple green with turquoise insides and a lovely lively paper along the back of the shelves. All of which of course is inspired by the lovely Pam at Becolorful! Her obelisk rocked my world, y'all! I know, I know.....I could paint it white and have it be all charming and stuff.......but we colorful chics, we don't roll that way do we?

Did I mention I found these guys on Kijiji for $75? I know. Hate me now.