Feelng all xmassy!

Lately I've been feeling all xmassy! I love xmas and this year I've wasted no time getting into the spirit and prepping the house since we'll be away most of December. We purchased a smaller tree last weekend, put our wreath on our door, decorated with some wooden ornaments and I also bought some cabin socks just cause it's cold outside.

Happy almost Wednesday :) 

We're Married!!

Hey, I'm back and I'm married!  

I know this isn't the best photo but it really shows how excited we were to get married. I think I was beaming the whole time during the ceremony. I got emotional when writing my vows the day before but happiness and excitement were the main feelings that took over on our wedding day. I was also super calm which I did not expect. When I became aware of any hiccups I just didn't let anything bother me.

I can't believe that almost a week has passed since our big day. We've been reflecting on it a lot with friends, family, colleagues and have been trying to relive it as much as possible. If only we could turn back time!

We both agree that it was our best day ever. We were so happy to have 39 of our closest family and friends share such a joyous occasion with us. I really look it all in, looking around the room at all our peeps eating the delicious food and enjoying themselves. My bridemaids and both our mothers looked stunning. The jazz quartet was fantastic and really added to the occasion. It was the cozy fall wedding I had always imagined. It rained on our wedding day but this didn't stop us from doing outdoor photos. We had a lot of fun using umbrellas as props. It was actually better that it rained because it added to the cozy ambiance of the candles and the fireplace. I wouldn't change a thing. 

Favourite moments

seeing my groom for the first time

hearing him say his vows

first dance twirls and dip

listening to speeches

taking my first peak at the room setup and decor and being beyond excited

rolls royce send off on the venue's front steps and reflecting on the day as we drove away
getting ready with my girls

Words we've used to describe our wedding

intimate

cozy

magical

classy

surreal 

Thanks to all those that made our wedding really special and to my cousins from overseas who sent me well wishes on the days leading to the wedding. We are both so glad we didn't do city hall. All the hard work was totally worth it. It was magical!

~B

Wedding Planning: First Look

I absolutely love first look photos! While it may be more traditional for the groom to see the bride for the first time at the ceremony it seems like many couples are choosing to do a first look nowadays. The fiancé and I aren't the most traditional couple and while our wedding will have some traditional elements that will not be one of them. We will be seeing each other for the first time around 9am on our wedding day which works best for us for several reasons. We are both looking forward to a private moment where we will see each other for the first time. Obviously the photographer will be there so it's not completely private. However, this is much more private than being in front of a whole room of people. I know that the counter argument is that he won't be as surprised to see me when I'm walking down the aisle. I really don't think it matters whether that "surprised look" occurs in front of all of our guests or not. Also I don't think that seeing me prior to the ceremony will take away the significance of me walking down the aisle to become his wife. Another big factor for us is that we will both feel more comfortable having seen each other before the ceremony. It'll be nice to take in what we are about to do together and we will also be able to go see the venue set up, greet our parents and the wedding party as a couple prior to the ceremony. Doing a first look also works for us because we will be doing all of our bride/groom photos in the hour or so prior to the wedding. This is important time wise since our ceremony and reception are back to back. We will be doing family and wedding party photos during the cocktails so we will need this time for the two of us. 

Doing a first look was a super easy decision for both of us and I'm so excited for this moment!

Did you have a first look? What are your thoughts? 

~B

Wedding Planning: Rain or Shine

This past Saturday it rained for the WHOLE day! It didn't let up and we had no sunshine at all. I didn't mind it too much but can you imagine if Saturday was your wedding day? Well ... I'm going to have to imagine that and mentally prepare myself since it's always a possibility. I'm getting married the first week of November and it tends to rain a lot in October and November in Toronto. When we were picking our date I may or may not have checked the average rainfall in Toronto per month and was surprised to see that it really is more or less the same every month. I think every bride needs to be prepared so I'm going to have my rain boots ready and some umbrellas for us and the wedding party. I've got lots of real nice spots to take photos at our venue that work well even if it does rain. Nothing is going to ruin my day and to top is off I met with our florist yesterday and she thinks that less sun in our venue will actually work better with the décor and flowers. So here's to a somewhat sunny/overcast but DRY wedding day. Wish me luck! Let's see what happens but either way I can't wait. The big day is now less than 6 weeks away!!

~B

One Pic

Loving this week's flowers: purple dahlias and yellow spray roses. Just beautiful!

~B

Kale, Black Bean and Sweet Potato Tortilla Casserole

I love sweet potato and mexican food. I also love it when friends pass along yummy recipes. My friend Annie sent me the link to this recipe because know knew I'd love it! I has just about everything I love to eat (kale, beans, corn, sweet potato). It's easy to make which also makes it a big winner. I've made it three times now and can't wait to eat it again. The only change I've made is that I don't use enchilada sauce. I just don't like that stuff so I used salsa instead. Give it a go and let me know how it goes.

Get the recipe here.

~B

Christian Louboutin at the Design Exchange Toronto

Hello? Anyone out there?! I know ... my bad! I haven't checked in here in over a month. Life has gotten pretty busy with the wedding creeping up and also summer coming to an end. I think we are at just over seven weeks now! I'm super excited and am no longer feeling nervous or stressed about anything. Things are coming together since all we have are some loose ends to tie like finalizing our day of schedule. I have my makeup trial, second fitting and a meeting with our photographer all next week. My bridesmaids planned an awesome fun bachelorette weekend that I'll never forget (post coming up)! So ... here I am on a Friday night with my paper cutter and other craft supplies finishing things up. I'm proud to say that I'm doing all the decor for the wedding myself (aside from the flowers). Luckily the venue is beautiful on it's own and really doesn't require much. The card stock and signs was initially a challenge but with the fiance's awesome computer skills all is done now!!

Don't worry ... I've been pretty social and haven't let the wedding take over my life! I'll be getting out for a TIFF movie tomorrow with both our moms. I'm super excited for tomorrow night since I'm hosting a girls night at my place. One of my dearest friends and old roomies will be in town for the weekend! So happy I get to catch up with her before she come back for the wedding.

Anyways ... I checked out the Christian Louboutin exhibit at the Design Exchange this week. It was awesome and really changed how I see shoes. I'm really not a heels kinda girl but I still like shoes and now see them as art too (at least some of the Louboutin ones).

Happy Weekend!

~B 

Weekender: Cupcake Decor Class

This morning my friend Tamara and I took a cupcake decorating class at Bakersville. It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot. I can see myself decorating my next batch of cupcakes using some of the skills I learned today. My favourite are the snowman, Tiffany bow and the roses. 

What do you think? 

~B

Kate Spade Yorkville

Above are some pics of my visit to the "new" Kate Spade shop in Yorkville. Hana and I both loved the shop and wish we didn't have to leave empty handed! It's wonderful to see another store come to Canada and open up more shops (there's one at Yorkdale Mall). No need to shop online all the time now is there? I love the colourful world of Kate Spade especially the bangles and handbags. It was a fun experience checking out the shop. The store manager pictured with Hana above was more than welcoming and I'll definitely be popping in another time :) 

Banana Coconut Pancakes

I started off my Sunday with some banana coconut pancakes. I never make pancakes but just felt like it today. I used a basic recipe and added some diced banana and dried, sugarless coconut. Really yummy and the perfect way to start off the day.

Happy Sunday!

Weekender

Happy weekend! I started mine with flowers and yoga. We are having a couple of friends over for brunch tomorrow so I'm looking forward to waffles! Hope u have a good weekend.

~B

Signature Scent

I love perfume and wear it almost everyday and have been meaning to do this post for months! I have gone through many scents since my teen years. For a long time I wore Ralf by Ralf Lauren, then it was Adrienne Vittadini Capri which I absolutely loved. My brother gave it to me for Christmas one year and when I finished the bottle I couldn't find it anywhere in Toronto. I decided to buy it from Amazon earlier this year and was so disappointed. It smelled like crap on me and this is a perfume I used to get compliments on all the time!? Anyways, right now I have Flora by Gucci, Clinique Happy Heart and Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb sitting on my bathroom shelf. I really don't wear Flora that much. It's really strong and is for more formal outings. I wear Happy Heart almost everyday and would call this my signature scent. I love its light, floral, fresh scent which isn't overpowering. It has a hint of mandarin in it so if you like citrus scents you many like it. It's way lighter that the Clinique Happy in terms of citrus. I am also really liking Flowerbomb these days. I got a free sample at Sephora and am so happy it landed in my hands. I think I'll actually purchase a full size bottle one day. I find picking a perfume to be very difficult since there are so many on the market. I love Sephora since you can get good size samples in tiny spray bottles there. It's a great way to explore all the different scents.

What are you wearing/what's your signature scent?

Arts Exploration: Ceramics

You may or may not know that I'm one of those creative people who always has one (maybe two or three) creative projects going at one time! Right now it's three sigh :) I love arts and crafts and like to challenge myself creatively. Unfortunately I don't get to do that in my everyday job so one of my dreams would be to have some sort of artsy business on the side one day. For now I'm just checking things out to see what I like and what I'm good at. I'd love to find my creative passion and I know that when I do I'll definitely do something with it. So ... I made it a goal of mine about a year ago to dip into  as many creative arenas as possible over the next year or two. I've taken an art class, learned and tried knitting for a while and most recently a ceramics workshop at the Gardiner Museum. I haven't had as much time in the past few months to try different things because of my job, wedding planning and life in general. One plus with the wedding planning is that the wedding business is full of all sorts of creative ideas and people so that's been interesting too and has given me food for thought. I've met with photographers, makeup artists, designers and bakers which has been really educational and inspiring for me.

I loved the ceramics workshop at the Gardiner last Friday night! I was a bit hesitant about going but in the end decided to just give it a shot. I met some really interesting people that night and also made two pieces. What I love about working with clay is that you can make anything you want. I decided to make a bowl and a cup and will return in a few weeks to paint and glaze them. I might even try my hand at the wheel to see how that feels. I think that I'd love to make a cake stand one day. I'm thinking silversmithing next ... we'll see!

Happy Wednesday!

~B 

Weekend Exploration: Merchants of Green Coffee

This past Sunday the fiance and I were out exploring in Riverdale. We both love this neighbourhood for its diverse cafe's, boutiques and parks You can often find us in Riverdale on the weekend riding our bikes, sitting in a cafe or having brunch. This past Sunday was a rainy day but we still felt like getting out for a walk and exploring. We came across Merchants of Green Coffee and took a peak. I love this space for it's high ceilings and its laid back atmosphere. There is plenty of seating for reading and chatting. The cafe offers a great selection of certified green arabica coffees. I helped myself to some of the Papua New Guinuea beans, got caught in the rain on the way home (we forgot our umbrellas) and made a cup of jo asap. The coffee was really tasty and I'm looking forward to trying some of their other beans and of course another weekend of exploring my city. 

Happy Wednesday!

~B

Wedding Planning: Bridesmaid dress shopping

Hana all excited to shop 

sea of dresses 

Shan in our dress!!! 

In this lovely purple colour! I love purple and one shoulder dresses!!! PERFECT!

Yah! We're done!

Several weeks ago my bridesmaids and I went shopping for their dresses. Our first AND ONLY stop was Windsor Bridal. They have a large selection of dresses and my ladies tried on a few styles. I had never imagined that my bridesmaids would wear the exact same dress but they are and I love it! I like the look of the same dress in different styles but I love having just two bridesmaids by my side in the exact same dress. Both ladies look absolutely stunning in the dress and if you know me you know my fave is one shoulder so perfecto!

The shopping experience was fairly stress-free and a lot of fun! We were out of there by around 1pm and had the rest of the afternoon to lunch and hang out. I feel so blessed and excited to share my wedding experience with these two lovely ladies. I didn't even think I'd have bridesmaids ... for a long time the fiance and I decided we would do without a bridal party to keep things simple. I'm so glad that we have decided to involve a few of our friends to share this wonderful experience :)

~B