As part of the Chick Advisor Product Review Club, I recently tried out two products from Garnier – Garnier SkinActive Miracle Anti-Fatigue Wake-up Hydra Gel Moisturizer and Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water.
Check out my review below, and if you’ve tried either of these products let me know what you thought in the comments!
Sweater – Du North | Leggings – Du North {similar} | Boots – Call it Spring | Bag – Louis Vuitton
This past week was absolutely freezing, and so keeping warm has been a top priority when I’ve been heading out the door lately. Sometimes it’s difficult to look great while avoiding frostbite! I love the way this Du North Hot Pink Selfie Cardigan looks, feels, and they way it drapes! It’s perfect to wear with leggings because it covers everything that needs to be covered (because contrary to popular opinion, I believe that leggings are not pants!), and I love the print! The bonus was that it was very warm to wear on an extremely cold weekend.
The leggings I’m wearing are also from Du North, and I really liked the faux leather patch above the knees to makes these leggings a bit more interesting.
Du North Designs is based out of Alberta, and they have clothing that is both affordable and stylish. My favourite combination! They have a huge selection of leggings in all kinds of patterns, and they also have a selection of tops, sweaters, accessories, maternity and plus size clothing, and a range of children’s clothing.
I paired the outfit with my new ankle booties from Call it Spring, and one of my classic Louis Vuitton Speedy bags to complete the look.
The only thing missing? Milder temperatures! This sweater really was keeping me warm in those negative temperatures luckily, but I think I’m ready for the temperatures to get slightly warmer!
Have a great week everyone!
The look on my son’s face was priceless when I told him Sago mini was coming out with a new app called Sago Mini Trucks and Diggers.
It was like I told him the best news he had ever heard in his relatively young life. He wanted to play it immediately, and the lucky kid got to test it out last week just before the launch. Who’s the coolest mom ever? Me thank you! Ok, I relished in my coolness for a moment before he was completely submerged in playing with the new app.
My son is almost 4 years old, so he is the perfect age for this app which is geared towards 2 – 5 year olds.
There is a new character in this app called Rosie the hamster, and Rosie overseas all of the work done with the trucks and diggers.
All of the regular characters from the Sago Mini apps also pop up along the way which my son was very happy about because he wondered right away where his favourite character Jinja the cat was.
Kids load trucks with dirt, push dirt around on the construction site, and even use a crane and a spinner to work on building a home in the game. Once they finish building they can go ahead and decorate the home as well which was a really fun aspect of the game for my son.
The best part about this and the rest of the Sago Mini apps? My son never needs to ask for help while he’s playing – every move in the app is almost natural and makes sense to him. He doesn’t become frustrated or upset because he can handle any of the challenges that he comes across. It’s a relief to both of us that he can just enjoy himself and he doesn’t feel like he can’t do something in the app. The fact that there are no in-app purchases or advertisements in this or any of the other released apps keeps me committed to Sago Mini!
Both my son and I love this new app from Sago Mini. They are completely in touch with what kids love, and there isn’t a Sago Mini app we’ve tried that we didn’t like!
You can find the app in the iTunes Store here!
My husband and I can’t agree on anything easily when it comes to home décor. We haven’t actually decorated our whole house yet, and we have lived there for almost 5 years. We have actually redecorated some rooms more than once, and some we just can’t agree on so absolutely nothing has happened in them décor-wise.
I think that because it takes us so long to make decisions, we end up redecorating in the meantime! Our front foyer was decorated once when we moved in, then we were selected to be in a makeover feature in Style at Home Magazine where they redecorated a few rooms in our home including our front foyer, and now our tastes have changed again and here we are again with a new room!
You can take a look at our old front foyer in these photos below!
We loved the way our old foyer looked, but decided we needed a change so we collaborated on ideas for what to do. Collaboration is actually code for “it took us many months to agree on everything”, but the good news is we are still happily married and our foyer is complete!
The old foyer had a light blue paint, so we decided to lighten it up with a grey called The Plaza by CIL (50GY 72/012). Not only did it have the perfect name (we decided to paint around the time I was heading to New York and I had The Plaza Hotel on my mind!), but I really liked how it brightened up the hallway.
Thank goodness my husband is a handy guy! He is great at taking antique pieces and refinishing them into something fresh and new. We picked up the hall table at a barn and were told it was made in the 1920’s. I loved the detail on it, so I asked my hubby to sand it and paint it black with CIL’s Smart3 for Furniture and Cabinets.
Next up we needed a sturdy bench for our toddler to get his shoes on in the morning before we head out the door, so we picked up this great bench at Bouclair. It fit the wall we placed it on perfectly, and it’s a solid bench that doesn’t move or shake at all.
I LOVE Homesense as you will clearly be able to see once I tell you where the rest of the foyer’s look came from! It didn’t take one trip to Homesense – probably 7 or 8 before I put together everything else I was looking for.
We picked up this rug at Homesense and I LOVE it! If they had two I would of bought it in case this one gets destroyed as this is a high-traffic area. The pattern is really fun and different. The frames on the table, the faux antler, and the tray are all from Homesense.
I picked up these great mirrors from Homesense for only $39.99 each which was great deal because mirrors can be so expensive! The pillow on the bench was also from – you guessed it! – Homesense for only $29.99.
These stools are my favourite part of the room. I saw them at Homesense, went home to think about them, then ran back to the store around 8:30pm where I found another couple sitting on them! Luckily there were four in total, so I politely waited until they decided which two they would take. I gently suggested the other two I didn’t want, and I went home a happy girl.
The heads on the wall were all purchased from Homesense, but a couple had hooks on them, and they were all different colours of silver or brass. My husband cut off the hooks and painted them all silver except one that he painted in an aqua colour. Every room in our house has one piece that is aqua, so we decided to choose one of the heads to be that colour.
Existing items in the room included the light fixture (from – you guessed it – Homesense) and the windowpane which was brought in by the Style at Home team which we love as a divider between the foyer and the living room.
I truly didn’t realize how much Homesense was actually in this room until I started writing. I thought I had curated everything from different stores, but the majority ended up being from Saturday morning trips to Homesense with the family in tow, and a Starbucks in hand. Actually I would be a pretty easy person to stalk because I’ve just realized this is my Saturday morning routine, so if you are looking for me because I borrowed a sweater from you or something you can catch up with me there.
What do you think of our foyer makeover? Do I need more to fill the room up, or have I decorated it with just enough pieces? Let me know in the comments – suggestions are welcomed!
This weekend I had a Valentine’s Day themed party for my toddler’s group of friends that I called a Sweetheart Soirée. I gave the party the title of Soirée because I added some special touches to the party for both the toddlers and their mothers that I thought warranted a special name!
Little Monkey Designs created a custom design for the party’s theme, and all I need to do was give an idea of what I was looking for, and they created stylish design fit for my Soirée. I used this theme for all elements of the party including the invitations and much of the dessert table.
I wanted the toddlers to have their own table set for a craft, and for lunch. We actually had 10 toddlers in total (and 8 adults – it was a big party), but I wanted the toddler table to have a grown up look.
The settings included each child’s name written on a chalk board for their seating, along with a heart-shaped place setting and heart shaped plate (all found at Dollarama).
The craft for the day was painting a birdhouse (sourced from Michaels), and I placed the thank you note on each of the birdhouses so I could later write their names on each so they could be identified when the paint dried.
Because I wanted the adults to have something special at the party as well, I created a little champagne bar.
I added fresh fruit and juices for mimosas, and I was totally in love with these straws created by Dixie + Twine. They said “and we sip champagne when we thirsty”, and they were the most fabulous part of my champagne bar. The Dixie + Twine Etsy shop has some of cutest party supplies I’ve ever seen!
Obviously my table needed a little glitter, so I painted my own individual champagne bottles with it! I did one coat of gold paint, and then a layer of Mod Podge, and I coated the bottle in glitter. How great do these bottles look?
For the main dessert table I repurposed the table cloth I used from this party last year, and I made the backdrop with burlap from Fabricland and hearts from Dollarama. I had a small disaster with the “LOVE” balloons which I received from an Etsy shop since they sent me “LCVE”, so I picked up a heart shaped balloon as my “O”.
I picked up a dozen cupcakes from Cupcake Junkie in Whitby as a treat, and I added some cinnamon hearts, popcorn, and alphabet-shaped pretzels as snacks scattered around the table.
Cocoa Lane Sweeterie provided the most gorgeous cookies ever! The sweet little envelope cookies included gold etching in an “XO” or kisses on the cookies. The also created some of the best macarons I’ve ever had! If you read the blog you may have an idea of my macaron obsession, so you know I’m a good judge of taste. They were huge and flavourful – I’m addicted! The vanilla bean macarons had adorable mini hearts, and the pomegranate ones had mini roses and some were also heart shaped. Perfect for indulging!
Finally, the food! Farm Boy Whitby provided some amazing sandwiches, wraps and an antipasto platter that was more than enough for this large crew! It was so easy to schedule an order with them, and when I went to pick up all of this incredible food they even brought it straight to my car. It was a good healthy choice for lunch for both the toddlers and the adults, and they are definitely at the top of my list for catering parties in the future. We love shopping at Farm Boy for our groceries already, and I love that this store makes it easy for me to make healthy choices.
Overall everything turned out amazing, and both the kids and adults had a great time!
Let me know what you thought of my little Sweetheart Soirée! If you have seen any great Pinterest posts or ideas online with Valentine’s Day craft or party ideas please send them to me for next year!