Pretty Little Campers...

  

I recently stumbled upon these adorable little VW campers and just had to share. I know some of you are readers from the UK, and others travel there (lucky ducks!), so please take note of this wonderful company. 

 Snail Trail is the brainchild of Lucy and Steven Lord who rent out these travelling caravans of sweetness from their base, 35 miles north of London. Adding to the charm is their habit of dubbing these sweet treasures with suitably English names like Maud, Gracie, Daphne and Ruby, among others. Even smarter is that they offer the option of renting out the caravans for photo shoots! Can you even imagine? Bliss!

Just be sure, when I make my return journey/holiday to the UK, I will definitely be looking into these as a nostalgic way to explore the English countryside. Sadly, they currently don't allow renters to take trailers into my birthplace, Northern Ireland; but surely they will make an exception for me, especially when I remind them that N.Ireland and England shares our beloved flag, the Union Jack?! 

Either way, I'm coming, so hats off to the Lords and Snail Trail for offering this sweetly vintage nod as a way to tour their beautiful country!

A Holiday photo shoot...

How do you think you would prepare for a photo shoot? I am sure such you would want to put forth your best effort and dust every surface, polish wood floors, touch-up paint and make things sparkle, right? I think that is a good plan, too, but it just didn't happen that way for me when Matthew and Jenny Mead arrived to shoot a holiday feature at my home. With five stories due to Matthew (by noon on the day before he was to arrive) for the gardening magazine we are working on, I had been basically chained to my desk all week. My house in a relative shambles, I hit send - files attached - jumped from my chair (my daughter in tow), and raced to the grocery store for *luxuries* like bread, milk, and eggs. Back home, I gathered up a few pretties and headed out to the little cottage by the sea which Matthew and Jenny were renting for the upcoming week. There, I made up a bed with a pretty quilt and sheets, threw open some windows and stocked the fridge with some Canadian goodies like (real) Cadbury chocolate and Kraft peanut butter. You know, the basics. Once home, I began to declutter (not clean) the house while my husband set to cleaning out the garage to make room for the props...

**For the rest of the story, head here!**

The $65 bathroom make-over...

As I sit here amidst the prettiest piles of photo shoot chaos - admiring the lights of the Christmas (yes, Christmas!) tree that glows in my living room, the perfectly styled dining table and my new ginormous light fixture that hangs above it (I love IKEA!) - I am amazed how inspired one can become when you know someone as style savvy as Matthew Mead will be photographing your home. So inspired, in fact, that you just might wake at dawn on the day of his arrival and decide to begin a spontaneous bathroom make-over, even though the bathroom is not on the list of rooms to be photographed! It seemed not to matter to me that my floor had not been cleaned and no surfaces dusted in many days due to a five-story deadline the day before for another magazine. Sometimes a creative spark just overrides good, old-fashioned common sense!

(Before):

(After):

I had been mulling over a particular wallpaper and finally picked it up at Home Depot and decided it would look best as a feature wall of sorts (read: I am too lazy to paper more than one wall when matching is required) in our main bathroom. Then I swung by the paint department and selected a seriously sunny spray paint to revive my chandelier, toilet paper holder (whose finish was in critical condition) and a cheap little table I picked up at Wicker Emporium five years ago. 

(Light, before):

After:

The result? Well, a couple of hours of wallpapering, a quick spray painting job, and a new shower curtain (purchased at Cost Plus World Market in Phoenix, AZ.)  - in between many loads of laundry, dusting, sweeping and vacuuming - and I completed my poorly timed but ultimately rewarding bathroom make-over. 

How did I spend my money?

$40 = wallpaper (one double roll: Home Depot)

$10 =  spray paint for chandelier, small table, and toilet paper holder.

$15 = shower curtain 

What about you? 

What is the least you have spent on a room make-over?

Live...with Regis, Kelly and Me!

My big brush with celebrities occurred on Tuesday on Prince Edward Island where Regis and Kelly were on location filming their show. My amazing and generous brother-in-law, an important fellow at CTV in Toronto scored us tickets and I naturally took my celebrity seeking mum and gave the extra tickets to two friends who brought along their sisters. It was, in a word, a BLAST! Well-organized, exciting and the perfect way to spend a hot summer's day pretending you have no responsibilities in the real world...escapism at its best!

(Gelman) 

(Regis and Kelly: her dress was by Stella McCartney and it was stunning!)

(my friend, Debbie)

My mum has always wished to see a real live "star" and we joke that it is on her "bucket list." Well, she got her wish:

We saw ELEVEN!!

John Corbett (from Sex and the City and My Bog Fat Greek Wedding), Harry Hamlin and Lisa Rinna, Elisha Cuthbert (from 24 and who knows what else, but she has a hot hockey player boyfriend who was reportedly there but I missed seeing); Caroline Rhea (a comedian and very funny!); Bo Derek, who whizzed by us on a golf cart with John Corbett, her luvah; Ben Mulroney (he needs to ditch his creepy hair like his dad's) from e-Talk Canada; Regis; Kelly and their "side-kick" Gelman, who was looking kinda fine, I might add...who knew? Oh yeah, I almost forgot: I was thisclose to the lead singer of One Republic, Ryan Tedder, and they performed their hit song, All the Right Moves. It was sa-weet...!
 

And other band members (I won't pretend to know who they are...I'm a lead singer groupie):

 
How did we get so close? Well, because we couldn't bring ourselves to wait in the line-up for the next show (we had tickets),my mum and I acted like groupies and splayed ourselves against a back fence which, to our amazement, was the exact way the crew led the celebrities back to their trailers!

Would you want to get back into this line in blazing heat and humidity:

We didn't either.

In our new spot, the celebrities would drive by us on the golf carts and we would yell their name and I would get a dud photo of the back of them or (worse) a crew member, with my stupid camera like this:

(Kelly is the gorgeous blond with the perfectly tanned back. Her daughter was beside her)

Funny thing was, there were very few people who were clued into this location and we couldn't believe our luck!

Next up on the bucket list, apparently, is white water rafting. No matter that my mother cannot swim. I am so making one of my brothers take her on that adventure!

What's on your bucket list?!

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Sweet Trailers...

Enjoy Cupcakes. 

Well, that is a no-brainer, right? But serving cupcakes from an adorable vintage trailer? Well, that idea is the brainchild of Enjoy Cupcakes owners, Amber Joy and Kevin Vander Vlietwhere. Serving both the Santa Ynez and Santa Barbara Counties, the appeal of this business model is a sweet success!

And surely only Kansas can have a gem like this:

Fresher Than Fresh Sno Cones,  located in Kansas City, serves up 100% natural sno cones. So not only do they cool you off, but they are actually good for you, too! 

And one in my neck of the woods, sort of, is this veggie stand on Prince Edward Island. Step inside and select your favourite farm fresh veggies:

Doesn't food just taste better when it is served up with a dash of sweetness and charm?!

Have you any nostalgic travelling shops in your area? Does the ice cream man still coast down your street or pedal up with his cooler filled with icy treats?

Do tell...!

Wordless Wednesday...Wedding Ideas

(all images, Martha Stewart.com)

Playhouses are for sharing!

After sharing my daughter Sophie's playhouse that her father and I built (see this post) - and having it featured in the pages of Flea Market Style - I continue to receive many kind comments and letters from readers who have been inspired to create similar little houses for their children. In fact, in recent months, I have received letters and photos from three readers who did more than dream as they put their hammers to use to build, renovate and/or repurpose playhouses for their own children (and grandchildren!). I am pleased to share some photos of these sweet, little houses and perhaps you might catch "playhouse fever" and think about building one of your own for your children!

For those who might be new here, this is Sophie's playhouse:

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Now, first up is the charming playhouse Tammy R. and her husband "renovated" for their daughter, Riley.

Tammy writes:

"I found your site over a year ago and fell in love with Sophie's playhouse. It has been my inspiration to do something similar. When we bought our home, it had a little playhouse (that had seen better days). I hated it and wanted my husband to use it for firewood. Instead he stored firewood in it.  Once I saw Sophie's playhouse on your blog, however, my mind starting racing and thought about all the wonderful things I could do with this existing playhouse that I once wanted burned. I coaxed my husband into relocating this playhouse via tractor to a more desired location. Now, near completion, everyone that sees it absolutely loves it! I want to thank you for the inspiration and I know Riley will have so many great memories."

Next, Penny W. is happy to share images of the adorable playhouse she and her husband built for their three grandchildren. (I sure hope the handyman and I are as energetic when we have grandchildren some day!):

Penny's grandchildren:

Finally, Dorcy C. shared photos of the playhouse she and her husband repurposed for their daughters.

She writes:

My oldest daughter, Kenzie, and I were on our way to the arboretum for some one-on-one time when we passed a house under renovation with this beat-up shed on the property. The shed had a large window that would be perfect for the two girls' cottage. We jumped out of the car to look at it and proceeded to ask one of the workers if the shed was going to stay with the house. He informed me that the homeowner had just given orders to demo the old shed. STOP!!! I called a million places to get it moved from the ivy-covered hill it was sitting on to our back yard. My husband said to forget about it - it would never happen...We showed him! We worked through the winter to paint it (not an easy paint job) and to replace the window and door (salvaged historic door and crystal doorknob). We are still in the process of "yucking it up"...adding odds and ends - but I couldn't wait to share it! And my mom and I made the fireplace!

And Dorcy's lucky girls:

 

Thanks to Tammy, Penny and Dorcy for sharing their new playhouses!!

O Canada...Day!!

As a very proud Canadian, I am happy to report that we kicked off the day with some great fireworks last night (don't you just LOVE fireworks?!) and will spend the day putting tattoos on the girlie and having a fun barbecue and games with friends. And as someone who gets a lump in her throat every.single.time. our national anthem is played, I thought I would share a a funny little video I found which just inspires finger snapping instead. Enjoy, and think of us as we celebrate our beautiful country today!