New Spring Art Work

Just when we thought Winter was over, Mother Nature dawns us with 15cm of snow.  I am too disgusted to even look out my window, so instead, for the past three workless days I decided to shut my curtains and paint flowers.  

Here are two projects I have completed so far this week:

(acrylic on cotton canvas)

I'm not sure how I feel about this one yet, and I'm not sure if I'm entirely finished.  I'll keep you posted.  Notice my artistic mess in the background!

(paper and fabric on cotton canvas)

I decided to try covering canvas for the first time.  I modpoged the fabric on to the canvas, and then modpoged paper onto the fabric.  I used to stencil from a magazine for the flowers.  The colour scheme was inspired by my new table runner, as you can see.  I think it turned out pretty well.  This is definitely something I'm going to do more often (I always like changing the wall decorations in my house).

Hope you enjoy, and I hope you have better weather wherever you're to!

Tara

St. John's Mini Shopping Spree

I'm just arriving home from a mini-vacation we took this weekend to St. John's.  We decided to go and visit our good friend Nathan one last time before he heads to New Brunswick for military training in May.       Nathan is the best male cook I know (In no way do I mean that stereotypically), and every time we visit I become his sous chef and we have at least one great meal at home.  Here we are preparing steak and burgers for supper:

So, as in any trip to a city, I had to do some shopping.  This time, I decided to save up all the money I made from teaching piano lessons since Christmas and treat my self to a guilt free shopping experience.  I figured, its my "extra" money that I give up my evenings after work for, so I'm going to spend it however I choose.

I bought enough Bath and Body Works product to last me a full year (I have no idea where life will bring me in the future, so I HAD to stock up).  I also compiled a little list (I love lists) for you of my favourite five purchases.  I really got prepared for spring during this excursion, as you'll discover below:

Here is my brand new Peter Rabbit from Pier 1.  I had said to Jonny before we left that I wanted to find a white bunny for my Easter display... and so I did!

My new colourful table runner.  I got this for a steal of a deal ($10.00) at Winners.  It matches the colours in my house perfectly.

I'v been dying to get a pair of loafers for spring, and I found the prefect pair at Aldo!  This creamy off-white colour will match everything.

For when the weather warms up enough that I will not have to wear a coat anymore, I bought this bright, cheerful blazer.  It will be best friends with the loafers above!

I love bangle sets!  Especially colourful bangle sets (if you haven't noticed, I love everything colourful) These are also from Aldo.

Here's to weekends filled with great friends, excitement and shopping- just in time for the warm weather!!  I hope you are all having a happy Spring!

Tara

Newfoundlanders Love St. Patrick's Day

I always wondered if the rest of North America celebrates St. Paddy's day like we do here.  I also wondered how they celebrate it in Ireland, as here in Newfoundland we dig deep down to our Irish roots and bring them to our surface.  We get lost in a sea of green, we drink way too many beverages, we gather with friends whom we haven't gathered with since last St. Patrick's Day, and it's the only night out besides Halloween that it is legal to wear wigs, tremendously tall hats and things that flash and glitter.  

Since I have moved back to the West Coast Paddy's day has become very special.  Every year my best friend Antoine travels the whole way across the country (literally) and we get to celebrate at our local "Irish" pub, as a Pogues tribute band belts out some Irish tunes for our entertainment.  Antoine is the king of Paddy's day.  The theme of his upcoming wedding is even shamrocks.  I see a shamrock, or a leprechaun and I think "Antoine" (though is he, in fact, pretty tall).  Here are pictures of us from the last three years:

2010

2011

2012

Notice how the shamrock antennae were broke out two consecutive years.

Now the festivities are over, and Antoine has gone back to the Yukon :(

Bucket List:  Spend St. Paddy's day in an Irish pub ( a real one)

Tara

London Love

I can go out on my patio today with just a sweater.  I am officially changing my favourite season from fall to spring.  I feel as though the whole world is waking up from a deep dark sleep.

Oh, and I love this girl with my whole heart.

Here is to your own sunny setter days.  

Tara

The Top Ten Shops I Couldn't Live Without {In no particular order}

I figured this was suiting as I will be going on a shopping expedition in ONE WEEK.  I love shopping, and there are certain stores that I start dreaming about when the time comes for me to actually get to visit them. 

Living on the West Coast of Newfoundland, there isn't much readily available to you in the form of prime shopping locations.  The closest I have to a decent clothing selection is an eight hour (or a click) away.  Once a year I am usually lucky enough to travel to somewhere on the mainland and become over whelmed in the aisles of H&M or F21.  I guess online shopping has its perks, but there is a certain lazy bone in me that constantly reminds me I'll never return anything that doesn't fit, and Canadian shipping rates have a lot to be desired.

So, between all the jigs and reals, here are the stores that I can't live without- though I am most likely forced to do so for most of the year.

1.  Pier1 Imports

     If someone were to take my decorating style, and all the household things that make me happy, and   create a store out of it, it would be Pier 1.  I can afford hardly anything in the store... but I am a smart shopper.  I check their clearance section online almost daily... and save my money for their irresistible cushions that have ran out of room in my house.  There happens to be a Pier1 in St. John's... so to make up for the lack of one in CLOSE proximity I take full advantage of their Pier1-to-go service and just about anybody travelling to and from the St. John's area.

London Loves Pier1 cushions as much as her mom.

2.  Bath and Body Works

I used to have to stock up on BBW body wash whenever I went to Ontario, and then a very exciting thing happened- they came to Newfoundland!!!  It's the first place I'm heading to next week when I get to St. John's.  I love their body wash, their cute little hand sanitizers, their wallflowers and refills and their candles.  I will be buying some of each.  I think my entire piano lesson earnings will be blown at this store.

3.  Ruche

I have only ever purchased one thing from this store... which is this skirt (picture taken from here):

However,  I ordered the wrong size (I'm pretty sure it was meant for a child) and they were SOOOO accommodating.  The company is very small and personable, the clothes are beautiful and affordable and the shipping to Canada is AWESOME!!  If you love the bigger Modcloth, check out this beautiful online store! 

4.  Chapters

To me, Chapters is not just a store.  Chapters was how Jonny and I spent lazy Sunday afternoons in the city; he would sip on Starbucks and study and I would spend my time browsing through the books.  My favourite Chapters memory is the final Harry Potter book release, during which we spent the night drinking butter bear and attending "Hogwarts" classes (even if I was placed in Slytherin).  Chapters is a place where my nerdy self has finally made it home, and is allowed to prop it's shoes up on the coffee table.  

5.  Winners

Winners is misunderstood by a lot of people.  The thing is, you can not enter the store looking for something specific, or even something you may have randomly caught sight of the day before- because it won't be there.  Winners is the store you enter, knowing that somewhere there is the perfect item for the perfect price waiting for you.  The trick is, there are only a select few that has the patient to find it.  I have bought everything from a poodle purse to a blue shelf from Winners, and I'm sure next time I go there I'll add another random thing to that list.

6.  Bootlegger

Bootlegger offers average clothes during an average shopping experience, but the reason why I have to love it is because it is actually HERE... I could get in my car and drive there in 15 minutes.  I also love it because they always have a very awesome "extra 50% off" sale on their already reduced inventory.  For example:

this sweater was 8 dollars.

7.  H&M

The only bad thing about H&M is that you can't buy it online in Canada.  It's always the first store I go to when I make it to a shopping mall that has it.  

8.  Michaels

Many wonderful things that I have made have started at Michaels, including many things from my wedding- such as these handmade programs:

Make sure you never go here without a "50% off one item" coupon (available on the iPhone app)

9.  Etsy

I guess Etsy isn't technically a shop, but more a collection of little independent shops.  Etsy is pretty much filled with everything I loved, made or collected by people who love to do the same things I do.  I've often thought of starting my own Etsy shop for my art but the Canadian shipping rates would kill me.  Etsy is the perfect place to find something vintage and fabulous, to find the perfect gift for someone or even to find crafty inspiration.  Etsy is where I found these beautiful dresses, for three beautiful girls:

10.  Last but not least:  Jimmy White's.

Jimmy White's? you may ask.  Is that some swanky (I love that word) shop in some urban downtown that sells designer clothing?  NO

Jimmy White's is the convenience store located in the town of 800 that I grew up in.  They sell everything you need living 45 minutes away from the nearest grocery store- sugar, flour, Sunday dinner vegetables, salt beef and butter.  They also sell candy and ice cream... which is awesome when you're 8.  We used to have a tab at Jimmy's.  What was awesome about that is when I was 10, and could walk to the store by myself, I could just take whatever I wanted and say "put that on Dad's tab".  When I was 18 and took the car, I could fill it up at Jimmy's and say "put it on Dad's tab".  It was a perfect arrangement.  

Just to clarify... Jimmy White's is the store in my wedding photos:

And it's also where I got these hand-knitted bad boys for 8 dollars:

I hope you enjoyed!!!  From one shopper to another,

Tara

    

Babies, Brides and Birthdays

Doesn't alliteration make everything sound witty?

That is what I have been doing lately.... celebrating weddings, births and getting a year older.  

Showers... I just love showers.  Presents and food and prizes... what's not to love?  In the last week I have been to both a baby shower and a bridal shower.  it turns out that I am completely baby illiterate (not that I didn't already know this).  I find the baby things cute, but that is basically as far as my baby experience goes.  Of course, now that I'm married I get the "baby question" all the time, but the truth is, I am completely afraid of babies.  I think I may have changed a diaper once in my life, and held a new born maybe twice.  I was really on foreign ground at the baby shower, but it was, however, extremely fun!

Bridal showers I can do!  Having two of my own last year I am a bridal pro!  Here are a couple pictures from my own celebration last year:

Shower number 1 (pink and orange) was hosted by my mom-in-law in St. Georges.  

She had so many little details... she is a master planner.

Shower number 2 (pink and green) was hosted by my mom in Cox's Cove.  The tissue puff flowers and the cake were two of my favourite things (besides the company)

My sister and I enjoying the event.

So, my friend Patti's bridal shower was this passed weekend.  It was really cool as we had a local bar rented for a couple hours on Sunday afternoon.  It was very intimate and casual.  I am going to be Patti's "Groom's Woman" this July (Antoine is my best friend and I'm standing on his side).  It is so much fun to be involved in everything now without the stress (though, surprisingly, I didn't stress about my wedding very much) and Antoine and Patti are one of my favourite couples in the world.

I had to take a picture of the prizes because they included a lot of things from bath and Body Works, which is one of my top ten shops (future blog post?)

The shamrocks, though suiting for the upcoming St. Patrick's day, were to represent the wedding theme.  Patti is having real shamrocks and kelly green for the wedding.

Here I am with all the Cox's Cove ladies, including my dear mom and dear friend Joan.

And here I am with the bride.

Most of the birthdays are yet to come.  My sister and her boyfriend actually share a birthday and we are travelling to St. John's to celebrate in the city!!  I'll keep you posted!!

Tara

Oh yeah... by the way... I got into Law School

It's a big deal... I know that.  How could I wait so long to write about it?  I am trying not to think about it really, but maybe I should.

I have been accepted into the faculty of Law at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton.  That means...

a)  I will be a student again

b) Jonny REALLY needs to find a new job

c) we will have to move to New Brunswick

or I could stay here and

a) Keep substituting maybe forever

b) Keep bringing London to visit her grandparents

c) Stay here

So I go, become a lawyer... lead a completely different life and wear pant suits for a living

or

Stay a teacher and continue to wear ridiculous brightly coloured clothing during every special occasion

But, on a lighter note, who knew I was this smart? lol.  

Somehow this situation just leaves me thinking about Robert Frost and how making decisions are so very stressful.

To go or not to go?  Isn't life just one big adventure?  Just thought I'd share my success.

I'm excited for new adventures... I'm excited to be a student again and to start a new (awesome) career... but I'll admit, I'm also very scared.

Thanks for reading,

Tara

Spring has Sprung {NOT}

 We had a few sunny days last week, which instantly made me want to believe that the days of patio bar-b-qs and "light spring jacket" weather was just around the corner.  Unfortunately as I write this reality has made itself ever so present as 10 cm of snow is falling outside my window, my bar-b-q is buried and to go outside right now I'd not only have to wear a heavy winter jacket, but hat, mittens, scarf, boots and maybe some snow pants for good measure.

Only three more weeks until hopefully April showers start bringing on the May flowers.  

On the inside of the house, I've been trying to hurry things along a bit.  I've done some spring paintings in the last couple of weeks.  

First of all the dandelions.  Wouldn't I love to see those seeds blowing in the wind right about now.

Second, I got inspiration from Pinterest for this one.  See the original here

Fortunately, I have some celebrations coming up as well.  Birthdays, bridal and baby showers- the whole works.  Last year this time it was my showers, which I'm going to post about in the future- now I get to do the relaxing- and the gift wrapping.

I've recently discovered how to make these awesome paper bows for gifts so:

I went a little crazy with it.

Jonny and I hosted my friend Andrew's birthday supper yesterday (his family is out of town until Wednesday)  So we dressed it up with some bright colours (not that there is any shortage of colour in our house as it is)

Here are the birthday cupcakes- made from scratch by the kind folks in Dominion, haha

These little card holders were our decorations.

And here is the birthday boy, looking very amused about it all.

I seriously don't think I could live without my art or my colour.  I know it isn't for everyone but I just cannot imagine neutrals and monotones surrounding me everyday.  Days when it's cold outside and I find myself wishing for bbq and sunglasses, all I have to do is paint or create to feel warm.

Tara