New Year's Eve Eve

I totally planned on posting a quick post on Boxing Day, but it just didn't happen.

What can I say? Work has been SO BUSY this week. Damn Boxing Week sales. Makes people crazy...

Anyway...I've been enjoying my evenings on the couch in my pj's under a blanket watching bad TV.

Tonight I just happen to be watching good TV. Breakfast at Tiffany's is on TCM. I've never seen it before!! I'm pretty excited to watch it!

I'm also making cinnamon buns. I know, it looks adventurous, but they're a bread machine recipe. I've also never made these before. My Mom has made them and they're delicious! I just hope mine taste as good.

Here's the recipe if you're wondering:

Dough
1 cup Milk
1 Egg
1/4 cup oil
3 1/2 cup Flour
1/4 cup Sugar
3/4 teaspoon Salt
1 3/4 teaspoon Bread Machine Yeast

Filling
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon Sugar
1/4 cup Butter or Margarine
1 cup Chopped Pecans (optional. I didn't add them)

Combine dough ingredients into bread machine. Set to "Dough" setting. When dough is finished roll into 10" x 15" rectangle. Spread filling onto dough and roll. Cut into 12 buns. Put buns onto 9" x 10" pan or a baking sheet.
Put buns into a warm oven (set oven to 90F,  then turn off) for 45 minutes.
Bake at 375F for 20-30 minutes.

Here's how they looked after baking:

Next time I'm going to try baking them in a deeper pan for taller more bun-like cinnamon buns. These ones taste pretty good regardless!!

Happy New Year!

Lisa.xo

Merry Christmas!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas today!

Lisa.xo

Living Room Update! The New Coffee Table!

It's here!!!

I mentioned a few days ago that The Boy and I had ordered this coffee table from work a few weeks ago.

Last night it finally arrived! :)

Just so you can appreciate the full effect (thus far). Here is our living room right after we moved in (during paint prep. Wish I had a real "before" pic. This is all I've got):

Here is our living room 6 months ago, post painting:

And after we ordered our furniture and after I spent two weeks sewing drapes and pillows:

And Voila! With our gorgeous new table! (please also note our new lamps!)

I just love it! I really like how it's sparkle and clean lines work with our oversized, slightly rustic sectional. It also has a mid-century modern feel that I really dig. I can't wait to find the perfect area rug to showcase underneath this beauty. This is one coffee table we'll have for many years to come.

btw. This was my christmas present from The Boy. I'm a very lucky and spoiled girl! (and very happy!)

I hope everyone has a lovely Christmas! Tonight we're off to The Boy's parents place, tomorrow we're having brunch at my Mom's, then we're off for dinner with The Boy's family. I thankfully have Boxing Day off, so I'll post some Christmas pictures then.

Lisa.xo

Wishlist: Structured Purse

With Christmas approaching you'd think I'd be doing more wishlist posts, but I honestly don't really need much. I feel pretty lucky about that.
Don't get me wrong, I do have a big list of things I would buy myself and things we need for the house (a new rug for the living room for example), but it's just not things I would ask my family to buy for me. I know you know what I'm talking about.

Anyway, I am currently obssessed with structured purses. Vintage and non-vintage alike. I will be buying myself one of these in the new year for sure. I just have to find the right one.

These are all in the right ballpark:

This is a Jessica Simpson purse. There is one in brown at a Winners here in the city I've been lusting over. I'm just not quite sure if I want it in brown. This red would be much better. I really like the long strap. I'm really loving shoulder bags these days. Nothing like have both hands free while I'm out and about.

This one is Marc by Marc Jacobs (I do seem to love all things Marc Jacobs these days, so this is no surprise). Again, it has a long strap, freeing up limbs to do things like shop and text! The only thing I'm not sure about is the flap front. I would prefer a closure on top of the bag.

I love the fall/winter 2010 Louis Vuitton bags. Just stunning.

I found this photo a while ago and (as usual) can't remember where it's from. It's by far my favorite purse here though. Classic.

And for good measure, a stunning vintage alligator purse. For sale at a pretty penny here! I'll pass.

On a totally different note, as I browsing Google Images for structured purses for some odd reason this guy appeared. Wierd. But now I want one!!

Sadly it's sold, but I love it! Maybe that's because I have a soft spot for cute boxers.

Wouldn't you if you had this cute guy looking at you everyday?!

Hope everyone had a good weekend. One week to Christmas!

Lisa.xo

Holiday Overload!

Hello friends!

There are several very good reasons for the lack of posts here on BDV (in no particular order):

1. It is getting dark very early here. Starting around 4pm. In fact it's dark out right now. It's 5:00pm. Darkness outside makes for crappy blog pictures. And I don't always have time to take photos before work.

Night Sky borrowed from here. Haha! I just read this is Madagascar. There's no snow...but it's sure pretty!

2. I cannot stop thinking about decorating my living room. The Boy and I bought the Thilde Coffee Table  from my work last week and it should arrive next week! Eeee! So excited!

Good-bye crappy hand-me-down table! Hello pretty Glass table!!



Now all we're missing is a side table. I want this one:

Gotta print photos and hang pictures.

That's not my baby!!

Also want bamboo blinds. Like this house:

3. Obssessed with two blogs right now. Young House Love (photo above is from YHL). Young family of bloggers from Virginia re-decorating thier home with DIY skills and a budget (sensing a theme here?!). They just bought a new house and I'm dying to see what they do to it!

AND The Art of Doing Stuff. Television host from Ontario with a wicked sense of humour and her own awesome DIY skills.

4. Not only is it dark, but it's freakin' cold in Winnipeg!! I'm feeling hibernation setting in for the winter. I can't even bring myself to clean my house or make dinner these days...

This is a female black bear hibernating. Awww!



5. I'm super busy trying to get Christmas presents bought and wrapped after work. Almost done this one though, so that's good.

Well...maybe that was just a bunch of excuses, maybe I'm just not a super blogger like some of those other bloggers out there. But it is what it is...I do my best.
What's keeping you busy this holiday season?

Lisa.xo

Sinking In

This is how I know The Boy understands me completely.

Because he knows how much I love old stuff and yesterday he brought me home this:

Do you like my poinsetta? The Boy didn't bring me that. Just trying to keep it Christmas-y!

Yes I know. It appears to be a sink. Well that's because it is...and it's not so much the sink itself, but where it came from that is so cool.

The Boy happens to be working at this building right now:

This photo borrowed from here.

The Union Bank Tower (later the Royal Bank of Canada) on Main and William here in Winnipeg. It has been sitting empty since the early 90's and is now being repurposed into the culinary arts facility for Red River College. 
What is so cool about this building (aside from it being obviously old) you ask?

Well.
 The Union Bank is believed to be the country’s oldest surviving steel frame and reinforced concrete “skyscraper”. Located next to City Hall, the tower has experienced high volumes of traffic, both through and outside its prominent location on Main.

Quote pulled from the Virtual Heritage Winnipeg website.

1903.

Isn't that cool? The building was built in 1903 and we're pretty sure this sink was installed when the building was built. That's my story at least and I'm sticking to it.

We're pretty stoked to put it to work in our ensuite on top of a repurposed piece of furniture when we get around to renovating it.

Let's look at it again shall we?

 

So I hope you enjoyed my sink and my little history lesson. Have a great weekend!

Lisa.xo

Outfits: Pink Dress, Winter Coat, Sparkly Hat

I wore this to work today.

This is one of my three winter coats (not including my snowmobile jacket). What can I say? When you live in a place where it's winter 4-5 months out of the year you've got to have some options. I'd get so bored wearing the same coat for that long.

It's turning out (so far at least!) to be a mildish winter. The temperature is holding strong at around -25. That sounds so crazy doesn't it?!  haha!

This is actually a summer dress, but the jersey is a good weight and with a slip underneath, a cardigan and some tights it's perfect for cooler weather! And it injects some much needed colour!

Black Beret with Rhinestones: Laura

Pink Scarf: Jacob

Herringbone Coat with Hood: Ricki's

Black Shearling lined Suede Gloves: Danier Leather

Houndstooth Purse: Aldo

Pink Jersey Dress: Ricki's

Black Cardigan: Ricki's

White Flower Brooch: Ricki's

Black Patent Belt: Laura

Plaid tights: Ricki's (holy Ricki's! can you tell I worked for them? haha!)

Black Satin Ankle Boots: The Bay

Phew! Everytime I do an outfit post in the winter and look at the list of things I've got on my body (not including underwear of course!) it makes me long for the simplicity of summer dressing. Best not think about it too much...we've still got 3 1/2 months of winter left.

Lisa.xo

Dressing up the House

Decorating your house is like dressing your body. And I am as obssessed with decorating as I am with fashion.
There are days where I just can't think about fashion because all I can think about is my house.

Right now I'm in house mode.

So I'd like to share with you a few of the small subtle ways I've infused some Christmas spirit into our living room and dining room.

This is our drop zone at the front door (you can see the horrible colour of the walls here. Actually, this photo makes it look ok, but it is horrible, trust me. We have yet to paint this wall. The Boy calls this colour "dirty old bra"! haha! It's a pinky, grey, yucky colour.) The tree was from the dollar store, I added the sliver bow to tie it into my decor and the reindeer was under $15 at Canadian Tire.

This is what's living on our dining room table. (Literally!) The Boy bought me some fish and we put them in one of my large vases instead of a regular fishbowl. I quite like it! Especially with the turquoise beads as gravel which co-ordinate with my colour scheme. Oh yeah, and you can see the smaller cylinder vases with faux greenery and tiny ornaments in them. The table runner is a pashmina I had in my closet.

I made this wreath last week for less than $10! It's some faux garland I wrapped into a wreath shape, then all I did was attach the "Noel" ornament with some wire! Add ribbon to hang: Voila!

I've also started wrapping presents. I found this awesome metallic wrapping paper, ribbon and bows at the dollar store. I think it looks quite chic! And a little retro! And it reflects the light from the tree in a really nice way.

As you can see I'm all about decorations that are simple, easy, on a budget and don't scream "cheesy Christmas" too much. How about you? What is your holiday style? Chic? Or do you love the cheesy Christmas stuff?

Lisa.xo

Outfits: Wearing Trousers

Another wintry outift. I wore this to work yesterday. Skirts and dresses, in my opinion, just can't happen every day in the winter here. The wind was really chilly today, so pants were in order and I wasn't in the mood for jeans (which are my usual go-to pant). So I wore these great cotton sateen trousers from Jacob.

I'm trying to keep my outfits simple these days. I'm really loving and feeling inspired by more classic looks right now, so my outfits are feeling more pared down than usual. I'm trying to keep it simple with touches of my vintage pieces.

I don't know why I look so serious in these photos. It finally stopped snowing and was sunny and bright out!

Black Faux Pearl Necklace: Ragpickers

40's Blue Blazer: Hoopers

Cream T-shirt with Tulle Rosettes: Joe

Grey Skinny Belt: Joe

Grey Cotton Sateen Pants: Jacob

Black Satin Ankle Boots: The Bay

Lisa.xo

Insert Witty Tree Pun Here

I'm not usually one to put my tree up before December (I've had it up for a week already!!), but this year I was particularly excited because The Boy bought me a tree with lights attached last weekend! I just couldn't wait to put it up and decorate it!!

As I was decorating it became quite obvious that I did not have enough ornaments to cover my new tree. My old tree, which I plan on keeping, is much smaller. My grandparents bought it in the 60's. It was the tree my Mom grew up with and was the tree I grew up with as a kid! Vintage!! :)

Anyway...the ol' tree (and by 'ol tree, I mean the new tree) was needing some more ornaments and some pizzaz! I was on the hunt for something green or turquoise (I'm one of those nuts who loves to have their tree co-ordinate with their decor.)

I made these ornaments with some chandelier crystals and some vintage ribbon.

But the best part of my new tree are these:

Aren't they just gorgeous??!! I bought them at Pier 1. I saw them on the website and just had to have them.

I also bought some green ball ornaments at Canadian Tire for some green colour.

I bought some of the other blue and silver ornaments at Kmart last year on clearance after Christmas.

I have one vintage ornament. Just one. I would love some more, but they're so trendy right now I'm just too cheap to buy them. Maybe a trip out of town to a rural thrift store would be the trick...

Here's my tree in all it's pretty glory!!

Anyone else crazy like me and had their tree up early?

Lisa.xo