My Favourite Gifts

This year I received some pretty awesome gifts from my family...thought I would share a few with you...

I was so hoping to get a fragrance lamp from "Lampe Berger Paris".  Me and my Mom were on the same page - I gave her one as a gift and she gave me one.  So many scents to choose from I picked up "Green Apple" it really does work - filled the house with the crisp, clean smell of fresh green apples in a matter of a few minutes.
Do you have a favourite scent?

Another wonderful surprise was the iPad I received from my Husband...too funny because it's what I also got for him.

I had seen Diane Keaton on Ellen DeGeneres a little while back and she was talking about her book "Then Again" it's an autobiography and a story about her Mother and the countless journals she wrote throughout her life.  Great gift from my Daughter Gina...can't wait to get into this book.

A little bit of old school...my Son Frankie hit a homerun with this retro rotary phone knowing I have wanted one for some time.



I have to say as amazing as all the gifts were, my greatest moment of the day was going down the street to my Daughters house in our pajamas - no hair - no makeup before my beautiful grandaughter Madison woke up so we could see her excitement Christmas morning.

xoxo

Happy Mother's Day

Here is my favourite photo from 1964.
 

It's of my Mom and Dad and me. 

Everything seemed so regal back then, everyone dressed so elegant for everyday.  My daughter looks at this picture and she can't get over how her Nana just had a baby and looked so slim and she gets a kick out of her wearing pearls...around the house!  She was only 19 in this picture.   Me - I think my Dad looks so handsome.  I love the hair flip.

Mother's Day next year, we will be celebrating with 4 generations in our family.

Happy Mother's Day!

   

Interview with the fabulous City.Cottage Store

:::
I'm so excited to feature and share with you all, the most gorgeous little shop about 10 minutes from my home and how it changed my life.  The awesome Jenny Smith, owner of City.Cottage was so kind to let me do a mini interview. 

I recently found her gorgeous store and fell in love with the charm and beauty of everything there. From the second I walked through the door something inside me changed.  You see, for some time I had been feeling a little blue.  Maybe it was the empty nest syndrome I had been so miserably dealing with...heck, maybe the 45 year old hormones were in overdrive, all I know is as much as I wanted to snap out of it a year and a half of feeling this way was starting to feel like this was the new me and trust me, I wasn't happy about it.

Like I said, from the moment I walked into the sun filled City.Cottage I have felt uplifted and inspired to revisit my love of all things white, casual, cottage and shabby.  I can't explain how inspired and purposeful I felt looking at every square inch of shabby chic goodness.  I finally did leave her store with a handful of adorable robins eggs.  What Jenny doesn't know - is on that day she not only handed me my perfectly wrapped little bag of goodies, she gave me inspiration, purpose and a happiness I hadn't felt in some time. It was that very same week I started my blog.  I'm so grateful...Thank you Jenny.

Ok I digress ;-) enough about me, here we go:

When and what inspired you to open your store?

Other lovely stores.  I fell in love along time ago with a beautiful shop called White On White and everything changed from that second on, I went home painted EVERYTHING white and have not looked back.  People used to come into my home and say you should do this for a living, interior design isn't really where my heart is, it's creating a shop that inspires others to fill there home with beautiful finds, and NOT breaking the bank.

Photo:  City.Cottage

What advice would you give to someone wanting to open a shop?

Do it, dont give up and be patient and if its in the stars for you, it will happen. Also I believe it is a wonderful thing to do something different, that no one has in your town or city, that is what sets you apart and keeps the people coming back.

What is your favourite room in your home?

Well, I just moved into a great loft, with exposed brick, high ceilings and wood floors. It has been super fun finding unique stuff for my own home, and it's a work in progress.  I plan to post it all when I'm done. Recently I found the shabby-est old cubby on Kijij for $60 - dragged it home,  took 5 hours peeling, scraping , cleaning and painting it. Now I am in love with her.  I think you should love every room in your home and make it a place to retreat to.  I think that's why I love Cottage/farmhouse style so much.

When not running your business how do you like to spend your time?

Running my business, lol
Its a labor of love, when you own your own anything in life, it makes it hard to put it on the back burner. But it's all worth it in the end. I do not order anything for the shop, I find it all , paint it all and pull it all together. Thats the fun part for me, seeing it all together at the end of the day, and then seeing someone love it as much as I do in there own home.

Photo: City.Cottage

 

Photo:  City.Cottage

Photo: By Me

44 King Street East, Bowmanville, Ontario

Paris Dresser Pull

It's Friday!   happy ~ happy ~ joy ~ joy

I've been outside painting a great little chair I picked up at the Courtice Flea Market last weekend. I was hoping to post the pics today, but I've run into a snag. The seat in this chair - while at first glance seemed like it would be as easy as 1 2 3 to pop off and recover, has turned out to be a nightmare. It has a spring underside which is great (nice and sturdy) the not so nice part is I'm not sure something didn't once live in it. (ok, maybe a slight exageration).

So, as much as I wanted to post before and afters today...it's just not happening.

I will however leave you with the cutest little dresser knob I picked up at a great little shop in Port Perry.

Have a beautiful, lovely weekend!

Vintage Subway Roll Sign?

11/29/10

2nd UPDATE:   The shop is set up and just about ready to add the first listings.    Drop by http://www.etsy.com/shop/wordology  for a visit.



5/12/10

UPDATE:  Custom Roll Signs will soon be available to purchase.  Feel free to contact me if you have requests before the store is open.

4/13/10

After yesterdays post, I was happy to hear from other "wordies" so I thought I'd share my recent project.  I've drooled for some time over vintage subway roll signs but couldn't bring myself to spend as much as $1,000 dollars (yes - you heard me right).  True to my frugal self, I decided it was the look I was after and not so much the fact that it was a great piece of history.  Why not make one? 

I was originally going to replicate famous Paris streets but decided to honour my husband who was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. 

The completed sign was made for a song which made me giddy.

Cost for design.......time at the computer designing
Cost for printing......fairly reasonable
Cost for ready-to-hang faming......well worth it
Cost to bring a little piece of childhood memories to my husband.......priceless!

Sign measures 4 1/2 feet by 1 1/2 feet.

Linking to

Shabby Whites New Blog

All things lovely coming soon.

Until then here is a list of 25 things about me or things that I love...

1. I was born in the 60's
2. I love my 2 kids...Gina & Frankie
3. My husband and I live in Toronto, Canada
4. Hydrangeas are my favourite flower
5. My first car was a 1969 Mustang
6. I'm going to be a grandmother
7. As a kid, one summer I found 9 four leaf clovers
8. I've been married twice. My husband now for 9 years
9. My husband is American...born in Brooklyn, NY
10. Shabby Chic makes me happy
11. Favourite scent is anything orange
12. On my daughters 20th birthday I had my nose pierced...a tiny little diamond and I still love it
13. Empty nesters and not happy about it
14. I love the sound of water
15. My favourite item in my home is a huge galvanized rooster
16. I've been a real estate agent, bartender, legal secretary and now a home stager
17. I love spring and summer
18. Travelled to Italy when I was 19 years old
19. I love old subway signs
20. I'm the oldest in my family
21. I have always made my kids birthday cakes
22. Sunshine makes me happy
23. I love anything with fonts or words on it
24. I married my husband in New Jersey and lived there for 5 years with my kids
25. I'm excited to post all things lovely, shabby and white. I hope you enjoy "Shabby Whites" and please comment - I would love to hear from you.

                                                                         ~Marina