Last year, I created a 20-song playlist for every long weekend throughout the summer and into the fall. I received some amazing feedback and I was inspired to continue the tradition into 2013. [You can find last year's soundtracks here].

Whatever fills your long weekend - be it yard work, patio relaxation, or travel - I hope these beats keep your head bopping and help you enjoy it. Cheers. 

1. That's What's Up - Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
2. All 'Cause of You - The 88
3. Camera Talk - Local Natives
4. The First Single (You Know Me) - The Format
5. Money Grabber - Fitz + The Tantrums
6. How You Like Me Now - The Heavy
7. Two Weeks - Grizzley Bear
8. Black Sheep - Gin Wigmore
9. Entertainment - Phoenix
10. Get Lucky - Daft Punk feat. Pharrell Williams
11. Paddling Out - Mike Snow
12. The Start of Something - Voxtrot
13. Always Like This - Bombay Bicycle Club
14. Anything Could Happen - Ellie Goulding
15. Young Blood - The Naked and Famous
16. I Will Always Love You - Tidewater
17. Don't Leave Me - Regina Spektor
18. We Come Running - Youngblood Hawke
19. Merry Happy - Kate Nash
20. Blurred Lines - Robin Thicke (feat TI & Pharrell)

Happy Weekending, Party People. 

Scott + Jeanie's Kelowna Wedding

My love for the Adrians is no secret. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Jon + Jenny and watch their photography style evolve since meeting them in 2009. We always have a great time working together so when the opportunity to help execute the wedding of Jenny’s brother Scott and his beautiful bride-to-be Jeanie arose I jumped at the chance. 

Jeanie, a natural event planner and stylist, pulled together a lovely collection of hand-assembled projects. The overall aesthetic was tailored + pretty with the perfect amount of vintage appeal.

Here are a few sneak peak, behind-the-scenes shots of the ceremony at Benvoulin Church and reception at Hotel Eldorado.

Congratulations, Scott + Jeanie! What an honour it was to share in your special day. 

 

At the end of the night, the bride threw her bouquet off the balcony which was an awesome idea in theory; however, none of the single ladies so much as flinched when the beautiful bouquet came tumbling down making the entire ordeal rather anti-climatic (and altogether hilarious). 

(Vintage rentals by Vintage Origami, Florals by Classic Creations Floral Design).

Featured on Style Me Pretty

Our wedding was featured on Style Me Pretty Canada yesterday, which – to someone who has followed the blog since 2008 – is a big deal. I’m basking in the glow that is C Star Events’ first official “feature” and the memories that these happy photos bring me. Our vendors collectively facilitated the most perfect day.  Thanks, team. 

Under Construction...

Please excuse me while I shake the dust out of my hair. For the last three months our home has been flipped upside down and we have had limited access to and use of our kitchen. All in the name of renovations!

Since moving in (almost 4 years ago), B and I have discussed taking on a kitchen renovation but it's always been a pain point for us. Unfortunately, this isn't our "forever" home; as a result we've been hesitant to gut and remodel the space and have made due with minor aesthetic updates. Due to the nature of our awkwardly small and poorly designed cooking space we finally decided that enough was enough. A renovation would be required prior to us selling this house; we might as well complete it now so we can spend as much time as possible enjoying it.

The kitchen will be completely finished today (hallelujah). This weekend I will be reorganizing drawers, shelves, and cupboards to maximize functionality, which satisfies my inner Monika Gellar. Once everything is back to as close a state of normalcy it may ever get around here, I will post a full before and after tour. I am so happy with how everything turned out and I can't wait to share every detail with you.

It would be remiss of me not to officially acknowledge our contractors and everyone who helped us along the way (thanks, dad). The best projects are always group collaborations, aren't they?

Happy Weekending, friends.

C.

DIY cake toppers

I plan on doing some baking (of the cake variety) for a special birthday and a wedding shower in the next few months and I wanted a fun way to jazz them up a bit. I love the idea of reusable cake toppers paired with or in lieu of traditional candles; however, every option I found came with a price tag. In the interest of keeping it simple (& cheap), I printed out two of my favourite words in Arial Bold font on regular computer paper, cut them out with scissors and used the cutouts as tracers on the back of some sparkle cardstock I had left over from this project.

Once the letters were cut out (I found an exacto knife worked best to cut through the cardstock) I attached baking dowels to the backs with a hot glue gun.

That’s it. A simple + fun Saturday project in preparation for birthday and wedding season!

happy love. the best kind.

wedding project [eight]: gilded place card holders

I'm in still in catch up mode so please bear with me as I feature the remaining details from our wedding. 

The collection of gilded animal place card holders on our head table was the smallest element of our wedding decor and one of my favourite details. I wanted the head table to feature a few unique details and decided that gold would be the perfect accent to our palette of coral + neutrals. I love the look of the bold chevron on the traditional white and gold tablescape. 

The gold chargers were a great addition but they needed something to tie them in. Enter: gilded animals. 

I purchased a tube of safari animals from Michaels and spray painted them gold. To hold the place cards, Ben sawed a small indent with an old steak knife. The plastic was quite hard to saw into and the cards didn't sit quite right. To keep them in place I added a drop of glue from my hot glue gun to affix the place card which worked quite well. Since the glue chipped off easily they can be used again. TIP: If I were to make these again I would saw the notches into the figurines prior to spraying them as the pain chipped off a bit. 

These are way too fun; I can't wait for the opportunity to use them again. Two of my bridesmaids have theirs in their homes and they look awesome just sitting on a shelf or dresser.

Top photo by Adrian Photography.

Time Capsules

I have always loved the idea of time capsules. Storing newspapers, favourite items, and letters away to be discovered by your future self or – even beter – a future family member gives me goose bumps just thinking about it. Quite often pigeonholed as an analogue girl in a digital world, preserving tangible things versus MP3’s, PDF’s, and digital photographs is right up my alley.

When I stumbled upon Time Capsules my heart skipped a beat.

Created by a team of creative geniuses, Time Capsules are the perfect way of marking a significant time in life: a birth, a wedding, or a graduation to name a few. I also love the capability of a Capsule to capture the every-day pieces of life. For approximately $55.00 Canadian, you’ll receive the plastic time capsule, a manual, stickers, wrapping paper, notebook, and other embellishments to use as you wish. You also receive a seal to enclose everything in the capsule and write the current date and the date in the future after which it can be opened. So cool.

I am currently engrossed in documenting our story through Project Life* and appreciate all methods of memory keeping. This is officially on my wish list. Visit the website for product and ordering information and their Pinterest page to get ideas for assembling your own. 

*In case you’re interested, I’ll be posting about Project Life next week.

(Images courtesy of Time Capsules). 

Mile a Day Challenge: January 2013

This goal needed its own post. 

Anyone following my Instagram needs a "thank you" for their encouragement (and understanding as I flooded their feeds with running shoes). 

One month after my last #mileaday I struggle with the motivation, confidence, and time to throw my shoes on every day and run; however, in January I proved to myself that it’s possible.  In January I became a runner.  That’s a pretty awesome statement to make.

I was inspired to challenge myself by Elise  (she has a very informative section of her blog devoted to running).  My sister, the marathon running extraordinaire, also inspired me, who kicked me in the butt to start running. That’s the key: just start. (Thanks, J).

Thoughts on Mile a Day...

Pros

• I got outdoors with Bauer almost every day - even the cold ones
• I enjoyed (almost) every run
• I ran more than a mile quite regularly because I wanted to
•  I experimented with running on an indoor track/ treadmill/ and snowy sidewalks to keep it interesting and less stale (I bore easily)
• I accomplished my first health and fitness goal of the year
•  I was in a cardio slump so I lost some weight
• Some days my runs energized me 
• I slept well and went to bed earlier (if you know me you understand how significant this bullet is)

Cons

• Scheduling: working 40 + hours a week at my 9-5, meal planning and cleaning at home, and travelling between Kamloops and Vancouver several times made it difficult to fit runs in some days
•  Some days my runs absolutely drained my energy
• It was difficult to fit extra curricular activities (i.e. blogging) in

As you see, the pros outweigh the cons. At times I loved to hate this challenge but in the end I loved it. I plan on incorporating another month or two of “Mile A Day” in 2013’s fitness goals and I’d love you to join me if you’re interested.

Cheers to Jen + Kelsie, my Kamloops pals who also completed Mile a Day in January. (I can’t wait to run outside without the snow).

Do you have any fitness goals/ ambitions/ resolutions that you’re working on, currently? Are you a runner?