Bedroom Reveal!

Here's the moment you've all been waiting for! (At least I hope so! lol!) I finally got around to taking some photos of our newly painted bedroom yesterday. Yay!

Here it is: Ta Da!

Ok. Here's the part where I confess. That navy blob hanging over our window is not the drapery panels which I told you we would be hanging this past Monday. It's a sheet we've pinned to the window. The panels we have are lined, but we feel that we also need something else to block the light at night. And of course, The Boy and I cannot agree on what to put up yet. So we haven't hung up the drapes I have for this room. 

So the window is the last thing to be finished in here. 

My goal is to have something picked and in place by mid February. We'll see how that goes...

Anyway, it's really amazing what a coat of paint can do for a room. Nothing has really changed in here except the paint, the new art above the bed (and soon the window treatment). Somehow this blue has made our cedar wall seem a lot cooler and I don't even mind the furniture as much with this wonderful colour around it either.

The chair in the shot above was bought at an antique store I lived beside in Osborne Village when I was in University. I bought it in that cream colour. It was my desk chair for a long time.

I bought these lovely vanity items at Good will for $5 (for both!) and have been saving them for my end table.

And finally, a shot into the hallway. I love the way the blue and green look together. With the winter months being so long here in Manitoba, The Boy and I consciously picked a palette of blues, greens and browns for our house to remind us of summer. It does the trick I think!
 And you also may notice the art which formerly hung above our bed has migrated to the hall where the proportion is much better. And it echoes the blue back in which I like.

And as always, here's what the room looked like (unmade bed and all!) at the end of 2011.

And what it looked like when we moved in. Please take note of the horrid pink overhead light (all of our bedroom lights are positioned in the corner of the room), and the random glass shelf hanging above the end table (there were random small shelves hanging everywhere in this house when we moved in! Weird).

And for those of you wondering what my drapes look like. Here they are:

photo borrowed from Amazon.com

They're Umbra Concerto Panels in Pewter (which I have discovered are discontinued, but you can still buy them on Amazon.com).

So as usual, I will take some more photos once we've got this window thing figured out and do some more show and tell.

Lisa.xo

New Old 50's Cardigan

Shopping for vintage is defiantly my vice in life. I got paid yesterday and in order to "reward" myself for my new job I bought myself a new dress and cardigan from Ragpickers yesterday.
I probably could have bought myself a new pair of boots with the money I spent on the clothes. Oh well...

I stand by my choices...
There will be time for new boots later...

Anyway, enough of that. Here's my pretty new cardigan:

Vintage Drop Earrings: Thrifted

50's Beaded Cardigan: Ragpickers

Polka Dot Tee: Thrifted

Black Skinny Jeans: Forever 21

Brogues: Aldo

For those of you waiting for pictures of our bedroom. You'll have to wait a few more days. It's dark when I get home from work and there has been no time or light for pictures. I'm hoping to take them tomorrow and post early next week.

Other than that, work has been great this week. Rehearsals start on Monday. It's always an exciting day. I can't wait!

Have a good weekend!

Lisa.xo

A Little Mid Week Update

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Ok, it's Thursday and technically Wednesday is usually considered mid-week. Let's pretend it's Wednesday then...

I thought I should drop in and say "hi" to you -my blog friends- and let you know where I've been and what's up.

Having December off was great for the 'ole blog. I managed to post 5 days a week! Yay me! And now that I'm back to work you've probably noticed a sudden drop off in the frequency of my posts.

While working my goal is to post at least 3 times a week. I honestly can't manage much more than that. Work is too demanding. I know you understand. We can't all be professional bloggers! lol!

I wouldn't want to be a professional blogger anyway. I love my job! It's great to be back at work. I've never worked at Manitoba Theatre Centre (MTC) before and I'm already learning more about how a large regional theatre operates.
This prep week has been a little different than my usual gigs in smaller theatres. I've had to go to the theatre and do all of my prep in the stage management office instead of sitting on my couch working on my computer and drinking copious amounts of coffee.
In addition to that I'm really anticipating moving into the theatre (it'll be in about 2 1/2 weeks). Our set will be a motorized 4 sided revolving set with each scene on a different side. So Cool! I also found out this week that I'll be in costume (the play is set in the 1910's). The Assistant Stage Manager and I will be moving small pieces of furniture on and off the set during the show and the director (or maybe it's the designer...I actually don't know) wants us to blend in. I'm excited about the costume. I'm not looking forward to doing my job in the costume...it might be a little difficult. We'll see.

So that's the most recent news! I'll be back before the end of the week! As promised!

Lisa.xo

True Blue

It's Sunday night as I type this. I am laying on my freshly made bed in our freshly painted room.

In total, from beginning to end, prep and painting took me from Thursday afternoon till Sunday afternoon. My arms hurt, I stubbed my toe really badly in our dark basement while getting something I'd forgotten down there (expletives ensued!), there may or may not have been a fight or two over the mess in the house, I may or may not have accidentally got paint on the carpet (The Boy may or may not have got upset and had to clean it...),
and I still have paint in my hair.

But it was all worth it! Our bedroom looks amazing! We still have to hang our drapery rod and drapes today, but everything else is finished.

By the end of the day it was too dark to take good photos once we finished putting everything back together, so I snapped this one quick for you!

I start work (it's Prep Week) at Manitoba Theatre Centre today for their next production at 10am. I'll do my best to snap some photos of the bedroom and post before the end of the week.

Lisa.xo

Starting the Year off Right

It's been a while since we've tackled a large decorating project around the house.

I figured it was about time we take on painting another room.

So today I started prepping our bedroom for painting. Most people leave their bedroom until the very last when decorating. My habit has always been to paint my living room, then the bedroom.
It's a very important room! It's where you start and end all of your days. It's important for it to be soothing and pretty.

I obviously don't have any "after" photos yet as I haven't even picked up a paint brush at this point, but I thought it might be fun to tease you a little with the "befores".

Here's what our bedroom looked like right after we moved in (it's got extra furniture in it at this point because we were painting the living room).

Here's what it looked like this morning before I ripped it all apart.

The bedding, lamps and furniture will stay. I don't love this furniture. It was The Boys before we moved in together. He loves it. I've made many concessions with him in this room. Gotta make 'em somewhere!
I have new art and drapes waiting in storage. No headboard. The Boy doesn't want one. Another concession.

The door on the right is the entrance to our half bath ensuite. I won't be painting it. We will gut it and do a complete reno on it sometime this year.

The Boy calls this colour "Dirty Old Bra". Our entire house is painted this colour. We hate it with a passion. I can't believe we haven't painted more rooms yet. 

The closet and the door into the hallway.

This is what it looks like right now pre-paint. Dresser and end tables under the tarp.

The cedar wall will stay. The Boy loved it when we moved in and it has grown on me. I feel a lot better about it since rough hewn walls in bedrooms are so trendy right now.

All of the trim and the ceiling will be white.

We'll be paining the remaining walls Harbor Blue from CIL. (would be Harbour here in Canada. The "u" makes it look better I think...). As usual this is looking a little washed out. In person it's a little deeper. I'm trying to tie the colours in the living room and dining room into this room a little. More blue, more white, less green in this room.

The plan is to be finished everything by Saturday night/Sunday morning. Wish me luck! And stay tuned for the official "after" photos!

Lisa.xo

Wishlist: Luxurious Luggage

I have some exciting news on the work-front friends.

Remember last spring when I went to Ottawa with Winnipeg Jewish Theatre to present Talk?


Well, Talk has been invited to a small theatre festival in...wait for it...Jerusalem, Israel! And we're going in April this year!!!


Isn't that crazy? I just got the news and I'm still spinning. I have so many things to research and figure out before we go. I've never been overseas. I have no idea what to expect!

So, onto the Wishlist. Taking a trip has got me thinking about luggage.

And if I were to have any kind this would be it: Steamline Luggage

The stylist series is my favourite. 

I don't think this is going to happen before my trip at $280US for the Carry-on and $320US for the Stowaway, but it sure would be nice! Although, truly, these prices are not completely out of reach.

All of the convenience of modern luggage with all of the beauty of vintage.

Lisa.xo

2011 A Year in Review

Last week on the 31st I did a little outfit roundup for your viewing pleasure. I thought it might be nice to take one more look back on the events of 2011.

  January 2011 found me working my last month at Urban Barn (unknown to my bosses and co-workers). I was eagerly anticipating quitting my job and getting back to stage managing again.

   …Well, actually the beginning of 2011 found us in a ditch on the side of the highway on the way to the lake, but that’s details really…

As far as the blog was concerned, the year was off to a good start with quite a few posts.

I did a little dressing room organizing that month,

did some thrift shopping,


talked a lot about snow (we had so much more this time last year!)!
 

  In February I publicly revealed that I was going back to work in theatre. I was so excited! 

The prior 7 months were difficult to get through. I had decided upon leaving Ricki’s that I was returning to theatre, but had to wait as there were no available jobs at that time. Working at Urban Barn was fun. I made some great friends and bought some beautiful furniture, but I was ready to start my career.

   

 I took a few weeks off in February in order to get ready for my career switch before apprentice stage managing for Theatre Projects Manitoba on the premier of Armin Wiebe’s play TheMoonlight Sonata of Beethoven Blatz.


 The cold winter months drove me to do some more thrifting

 

and more tweaking around the house.

Oh yeah, and my Step-Dad turned 60 (60's themed of course!).

  In March  I officially started work on “Blatz”. Life really kept my away from the blog that month. Getting back into the swing of stage managing was an adjustment, but my grandfather ended up in the hospital as well that month.  

 April found me working two jobs at once for a little while. During performances for “Blatz” I also started rehearsals for Talk with Winnipeg Jewish Theatre. Those were some long days! Rehearsal all day and performances at night. But after all I’d been through to get there I would have it no other way. 
 When "Blatz" closed I headed to Ottawa for the PrairieScene Festival for Talk performances. 

It was my very first business trip! Unfortunately I was hit with a nasty bought of food poisoning while there, but managed to have a great time regardless.


 At home we finally bought a chandelier with a mid-century modern touch for our dining room.

  By May my stage managing jobs had ran out and I was forced to look for regular work. As luck would have it my former employers at Harlequin Costume and Dance were looking for someone to work over the summer, so I worked for them until until September.

  On the stage managing front I did manage to get an assistant job for the Fringe Festival for a prominent independent musical theatre company in the city. I kept busy at rehearsals every Monday and Wednesday nights.

 I also did a tribute to Mom,

and did some more decorating.

 June was an exciting month in the ol’ blogospere for me. With my less than stellar post schedule in May I challenged myself to post an outfit every of June regardless of what I wore. Despite one little glitch, it was a huge success! And I have been posting fairly regularly ever since!

 June also found me using some of my free time to start hemming some of my dresses.

 

And more shopping.

  July was Fringe time! As always. It was just too bad that the company I was working for had a less than stellar year for attendance and I walked away from this job in the hole. Those are the breaks in independent theatre. After this I vowed never to work for a company who was paying me out of profits again. Stage managing is just too much work for that!


On the bright side, July is also my birth month! I treated myself to some vintage hats!

I also shared some tips on getting that pesky smell of mothballs out of vintage clothing.

  August found us at the lake almost every weekend. 

Posts slowed down as we packed up the truck and headed out to enjoy the amazing weather with The Boy’s family. I even managed to get a little bit of a tan!


Around the 'ol blog I showed you some more dressing room/clothing storage ideas.

And shared my favourite blogs with you.

 In September I bid Harlequin adieu for probably the last time as I headed back to work for Winnipeg Jewish Theatre again. This time for the Canadian premier of Juan Mayorga’s "Way to Heaven". It was good to get back to work after the break for the summer.

I also reviewed my Begonia Dress from Banana Republic's Mad Men line, which ended up being too big.(It's being altered right now! I'll be sure to let you know how it turns out!)

 October was a continuation of rehearsal, tech and performances. I was working and life was good! 


This month I also revealed my new old Schwinn bike

And for Halloween this year The Boy and I dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood and TheBig Bad Wolf. We went to a few parties that weekend and our costumes were a big hit!

 I finished working for WJT in early November and my next job with Manitoba Opera fell through due to scheduling conflicts. So I was looking for work again until the new year. Thankfully The Boy’s Mom came through and saved me from a job in the mall. She got me a job doing some faxing and filing in her office for the remaining weeks of the year.

 Being off work allowed me to get some unfinished projects around our house finished. Mainly painting and wallpapering our dining room shelves.

 December was more of the same. Working in the office and getting some more projects finished around the house. 
I whittled down my mending pile 

and did some DIY projects for the holiday season.

 

 Naturally Christmas came and went with too much food and a lot of family time.

 Then we headed off to the lake again for the New Year like we have for the past couple of years.

It was a good year. As always, I learned a lot about my work, myself and my relationships. I’m so excited about 2012. There are so many opportunities on the horizon. I’m looking forward to gaining some balance in life, getting into some healthy eating and exercising habits, advancing my career and doing some more renos on our house.
And as always, I can't wait to share it all with you!
Thank you so much again for visiting my little corner of the internet. I can't say it enough! You guys are awesome!

Lisa.xo

New Year's Weekend 2012

 We headed out to the lake again for the New Year’s weekend. Only this year we managed to make it out before the New Year and we also managed to stay out of the ditch! Lol!

We got out on Friday night. Had dinner with The Boy’s parents and relaxed at our rented cabin that evening.

New Year’s Eve day found us out at D. and K.’s, skating on their rink on the lake right off their dock. The weather was beautiful! We had a great time!

On New Year’s Eve we had an amazing dinner of seafood, salad, potato wedges and homemade buns! For desert we had icewine and cheesecake. It was amazing!!!! YUM! I could eat it all again right now…

After dinner we headed out for a bonfire at a friend’s house to ring in the New Year.

New Year’s Day began with a pancake breakfast and some lounging on the couch watching Barret-Jackson auction re-runs. 

On Monday we packed up early, headed out to visit some friends before we headed home. 

All in all we had a relaxing weekend. And once again, it's as if I don't exist...there is not one picture of me from this weekend! lol!

Did you do anything special to ring in the New Year?

Lisa.xo

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012!!

CHEERS!

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I hope you all are having a wonderful day! (and hopefully not nursing a bad hangover!) Today is The Boy's and  my 5 year anniversary. Yes, our anniversary is the first of January! We'll be spending the day doing winter activities with family and friends. 

I'll be back in a day or two! 

Lisa.xo