• 09
  Feb
• 6

• Bedside Bookcase Inspiration

• category: Décor, Ma vie

Since I found out I was pregnant, we knew that we had some major “shifting” to do in the house, as in who’s in what room. Our house has 2 bedrooms upstairs and 2 downstairs. Presently, we are in the master upstairs, but with bébé 2 coming in May we had to decide whether we would move downstairs, move Mavrick downstairs, or pair both kids in 1 room. We opted to move downstairs because #1 – Our furniture wouldn’t fit in Mavrick’s current room nor would we be able to put a crib and a bed. #2 – Seeing the two kiddos would be 22 months apart, I felt that Mavrick was too young to be in the basement alone. Even if he LOVES the basement, he’s too scared to go by himself…. so we decided to move downstairs and keep both kids on the same floor.

That being said, the bedroom downstairs is TINY!!!!! and well only our queen size bed and 2 night tables fit in there, so we decided it might be a good idea to add some storage on each side of our bedside. That way we can put store some books, additional decor and it adds a little oomph to the “plain” space.

Here are a few examples I liked…

These bedside bookcases are just a part of the room renos. We actually plan on tearing down walls (seeing there wasn’t a closet in the room prior to moving in it) removing the suspended ceiling and replacing it the real stuff, painting, adding ogees, decorating, builing the closet space… all in what, 3 weeks time.

I will show our progress shortly… with my wonderful iPhone cam pics. ha.

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Posted by: Kelly | Glamour This! with 6 comments

• 08
  Feb
• 0

• Washi Tape Wall Format

• category: Décor

When I started thinking about the nursery or even the toddler room, I kept telling myself how cool it would be to have the effects of washi tape up on the walls. I love the transparency of overlapping tapes but my google search didn’t give me any results. Luckily we have pinterest, and I follow some great designers so when I came across Sincol X MT I was all giddy. I mean who wouldn’t love wallpaper version of washi tape? Just look at the effect… it’s amazing!

MT partnered with Sincol to create these amazing large masking tapes to decorate interiors. Finding the tape might be a little hard in the US and Canada seeing it’s a fairly new Japanese product. Prices per roll vary depending on the width of the roll you choose. They have a 15 cm width roll and a 30 cm width roll. The 15cm one retails for about 42$ USD.

I’ve been looking online to see if I can find any place that ships the tape overseas… and the only place I found is Washi Matta. They only sell the 15 cm version one (for now) but at least you can get your hands on a roll.

 [ Images : Sincol X MT ]

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Posted by: Kelly | Glamour This! with No comments

• 06
  Feb
• 19

• WINNER : Glam Giveaway : La Gartier

• category: Glamour Giveaways

Thank you so much everyone for participating in the La Gartier Giveaway. Everyone seemed to love the garters (I mean who wouldn’t they are fabulous!) So without further ado…the winner of the giveaway is Danielle.

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This year, I know a few people who are taking the leap and saying ‘I do’. I can’t believe I got married 3.5 years ago and honestly sometimes I wish I could do it all over again. It seems like there are so many more great vendors out there that weren’t available when I got married. I abosultely fell in love with these beautiful garters by La Gartier. My personal favorite is the Pierce and I’m happy to announce that Sarah of La Gartier offered to give 1 person a garter of their choice. ( Isabella, Pierce, Leena, Virginia)

The Virginia actually has a real locket so you can store what ever your heart desires. Maybe a picture of a loved one who has passed but that you want present on your special day…

How to Enter

Simply follow the instructions provided by our friendly Rafflecopter widget below and up your chances to win with 5 additional entries. The chosen winner will win a garter (shown above) of their choice! Good luck!

(more…)

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Posted by: Kelly | Glamour This! with 19 comments

• 01
  Feb
• 2

• Le Wishlist : TOMS flats

• category: À la mode, Wishlist

Ever since I’ve been a mom, my style in the shoe area has gone down quite a bit. I opt for what is easy to put on, comfortable and still somewhat stylish (so I like to think). I’ve never been a lover of the classic Toms Cavas slip-ons, but when my friend Jen blogged about the new TOMS flats, I knew I had to add them to my wishlist.

Apart from the obvious “lack of fashion sense because I’m a mom and I don’t have time” I have issues finding flats. I have a wide foot and usually they either hurt my foot or simply don’t fit. It makes me sad because I’m a lover of flats… but I keep looking at these and I have high hopes. They seem as though they would fit.  Any one else have issues with flats?

If you are signed up to Ebates, then you get 5% cash back when you order these shoes (on the TOMS or Nordstorm websites). If you haven’t signed up, what are you waiting for?

[ Nordstorm ]

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Posted by: Kelly | Glamour This! with 2 comments

• 31
  Jan
• 2

• Nursery Inspiration : Vintage DIY

• category: Baby Love, Décor

I’ve always been a fan of vintage. There’s just something about it that makes me swoon. Maybe its the combination of old and new, knowing that something has a story behind it, a previous life makes it even more interesting. I love the textures and colors of vintage items and well clearly when I saw this nursery… I died a little. Still unsure what I will be doing for bébé girl’s nursery this definitely sparks some inspiration.

I will feature more lovely nurseries that are worth highlighting, and hopefully ours will be 1/10 as pretty as these!

[ Project Nursery ]

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Posted by: Kelly | Glamour This! with 2 comments

• 30
  Jan
• 4

• Stop the parenting comparisons

• category: Ma vie

Being a new parent is tough enough that receiving emails left and right from Baby sites telling you WHERE your child should be at a specific stage and if that isn’t the case then your child is behind on the development front, rubs me the wrong way. I’m fed up with that. Fed up of being told WHEN my baby should be sleeping more, when my baby should be eating solids, when my baby should be pooping… I mean seriously?! Every child is different which also means every parent is different.

I started feeding Mavrick solids at 3 months because he needed it. Sure I got crazy mommy looks but I didn’t care. He’s my child and I know best. I’m the mother so honestly you have no right to tell me I’m doing it wrong.  We are in a society that treats others so harshly when they tend to opt for a different route. Does that make it bad? No… not at all. Everyone is different and everyone opts to do it their own way. I mean, if it doesn’t hurt the baby/child/relationship then what’s the big deal. 

YES I stopped breastfeeding at 3.5 months… SO WHAT?! Yes, I let my son watch Television… SO WHAT?! There isn’t one way better than the other and I’m fed up of people comparing each other. Same goes for SAHM and Working Moms. Being a mom, I know parenting is tough and being a SAHM is a full time job. One I personally couldn’t do. I need to work and do my thing because it means I can live a life that includes other things that baby talk, potty training and elmo… but yes that also means I ship my son to daycare 50 hours a week.

Stop comparing your situation to other moms. Stop making them feel like they aren’t a good mother because of their choices. Their choices belong to them.

My name is Kelly, I am a working mom but  my situation makes me a better mom then the stay at home version of me. If you want to compare situation, compare with yourself. That’s the only comparison you should be allowed to do. Rant over.

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Posted by: Kelly | Glamour This! with 4 comments

• 27
  Jan
• 1

• Les Finances : Couponing

• category: Ma vie

I’m the type of person who understand the value of finished products. (Clothing, Decoration etc)  Maybe it’s because I worked for a wholesale company and I’ve seen the 3x, 4x markups or maybe it’s just because oh my “weird body shape” that I could never justify buying 100$ + pairs of jeans.

I remember when we were younger my mother gave both my sister and I 200$ for our back to school clothing. I came out with 2 bags, my sister 5. I think at the time I didn’t care because I had my first official pair of Levi’s flared black jeans, but when they got ruined 6 months later…I told myself no more. This slowly started my “understanding” the value of items and not wanting to be a brand lover. Sure it meant my friends might of looked at me weird, because I would find pieces of clothing is places they would never dare to step in, but when they would compliment me on what I was wearing, I was so ever proud to say the price I paid and where I got it. (I secretly wanted them to understand that spending $$$ on items wasn’t necessarily… but that never really got to them (hey a girl can try)

When it came time to be an adult. Purchased a car, got our first home then Mavrick came along… I was proud of my accomplishments and as soon as we decided to start our debt free mode, I went into intense saving mode. Which meant, I only purchased sale items, tried to find additional coupons codes or actual coupons. Same applied to food. Why pay regular price for an item when you can get anywhere from 1$-10$ off? I know in the past it made it seem as though, if you couponned, you didn’t have money. But honestly… who’s being stupid in the whole thing. At the end of the week I have an additional 10-15$ in my pockets because I couponed and that money I worked hard to get, so why pay something full price just to avoid getting “looks” or being “judge” I couldn’t care less and when I explain my whole process people are actually impressed.

I’m in no means a pro when it comes to couponning, but if I can find a coupon you bet I will use it. I’ve never paid full price for domain names & online purchases and I intend to keep it that way. I thought I would share my tips and sites I go to to help future Canadian couponners. Sure majority of these tips are online but hey it’s 2012… if you don’t shop online or use the internet (then I’m sure you aren’t reading this to begin with)

Saving money is all about making money or keeping money… so why not use it to your advantage when you buy online. Have you heard of EBATES? (I know majority of  US peeps LOVE ebates) but not too long ago they started adding some Canadian online sites for their friendly neighbors. Bascially, what it comes down to is instead of going to the site itself to purchase what you wanted to get, you go through the Ebates portal which allows you to get cash back on your order.

• Ebates

You can find cash back from the following Canadian sites. : Gap Canada, Old Navy, Children’s Place, Sears, Toys R Us / Babies R Us, Chapters, Garage, Addition elle, Apple, Victoria Secret, The Shopping Channel, Vista Print, Sephora, The Body Shop, Netflix Canada, iTunes Canada, Priceline, Expedia and more.

Please note that it doesn’t mean you can’t go on the US site and purchase from US shops (a lot more choice ) but if you aren’t one to buy from the states then yes the Canadian sites will be useful to you.

Honestly, if you don’t have account, I strongly suggest you sign up. If you click on this link you are using my referral code which gives me Cash back. Once you have your account you can do the same with your friends. So thank you in advance for signing up using my link.

• Retail Me Not

Sure there are other sites out there but Retail Me Not is my go-to site. I usually google “subject here coupon code” and I find results. It’s all trial and error and yes it takes a little time, but saving is what it’s all about so I don’t mind. Another tip is subscribing to the newsletters of stores you shop at. They send you updates and specials for “valued customers”. You can also interact with them on the facebook page and ask if they have any promos going on. I was able to save 15$ on an order because I wasn’t afraid to ask.

Now that majority of flyers have removed coupons you need to get your own. Sure they sometimes have in-store tear pads but I wouldn’t bet my savings on those. Here are a few sites I use to chose coupons (online) that are then mailed to me.

• Web Saver
• Save.ca
• PG Everyday
• Brand Saver
• Go Coupons

You can find many tips on savings and where to find coupons from forums but in Canada we don’t have many. Here are a few

• Canadian Free Stuff
• Smart Canucks 
• Frugal Shopper

Majority of the time there though there are savings in the rest of Canada but Quebec is excluded. Recently a Quebec Coupon Forum site was cre