Pixel Art

We have a nickname for the baby. It’s not your normal baby nickname of bean, or peanut, or little one etc. Nope… it’s Pixel. Yeah, I know. Totally a weird name. Why does the baby have such a strange nickname? Here’s how it came about:

We had a bunch of reason to worry about the baby when I was only a few weeks pregnant. Emergency ultrasound ensued, and when the ultrasound tech found the tiny, itty baby on the screen, it was nothing more than a tiny blob, with one, singular blinking pixel in the middle. The ultrasound tech, turned to tell us that not only was the baby okay, but that single pixel was in fact it’s heartbeat. Continue reading “Pixel Art”

DIY Outdoor Bar – Merry Mag

This is a very exciting day! The Summer 2015 edition of Merry Mag is out! Head over to MerryMag.com to check it out in all its glory! From handmade decor, DIYs and everything you could possibly need to entertain this summer. You won’t want to miss out!

Continue reading “DIY Outdoor Bar – Merry Mag”

Herb Centerpiece – Merry Mag Sneak Peek

This is a sneak peek at a project you’ll see in the awesome summer edition of Merry Mag! Make sure you head over to MerryMag.com on June 8th for a huge helping of summer inspiration. Believe me, you wont want to miss out!

Continue reading “Herb Centerpiece – Merry Mag Sneak Peek”

Easy Outdoor Pillows

May rolled in like a hero and brought some fantastic weather. Off went the pants and on went the shorts! The city was flooded last weekend with legs and arms and all sorts of skin that had not seen the light of day since September.

Not to be outdone by the short wearing masses, I dragged out our daybed mattress and headed outside. Two minutes into my afternoon book and a cocktail on the daybed, I remembered the promise I made to myself to sew some new outdoor cushions. The ones I currently had were either too stuffed and hard or too empty and flat. I was Goldilocks in a house full of uncomfortable cushions. Continue reading “Easy Outdoor Pillows”

Kitchen Faucet

When we updated our kitchen waaaay back over a year ago, we had big intentions to upgrade everything. Pantry, faucet, lighting, storage. However…by the time we finished the projects we did take on, we had run out of time and money. Womp womp. Those last few little projects got put in the “next time” category, and we told ourselves that they would be the next things to be tackled. A year plus passes, and it’s a sad day when you look at your beautiful counters, sink and backsplash, and shake your head at your old kitchen faucet marring the beautiful otherwise finished space. (OH, or caulking the back of the sink, totally failed to complete that one too!)

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Kitchen faucets are a big decision. It’s the most used item in the kitchen. From cooking and cleaning, to filling the dogs water bowl. That sink and faucet get used all day long. I wanted to make the right decision on our kitchen faucet.

We had several considerations when faucet shopping. Firstly, we have a cabinet right above our sink (that could not be raised, as it sits asymmetrical to the sink). That cabinet severely limited our faucet height, and we needed to choose a faucet that was not too tall. Secondly, the white farmhouse sink is a bit high maintenance when it comes to cleaning. Its got a nice flat bottom, but food tends to hang about, not making its way to the drain. Our current pull out faucet is incredibly helpful for giving the sink a quick rinse, and keeping everything clean.

With that in mind, our faucet options were now limited to shorter faucets with pull out sprayers. This takes probably 75% of kitchen faucets out of the running!

After some pretty big deliberations, and weeks of himming and hawing, we had narrowed it down to two Riobel faucets.

The modern but classic FE101, with sleek pull out sprayer, single temperature and water lever, swivelling spout and two spray settings.

Riobel FE101C
Riobel FE101C

 

OR the BR400x classic yet refined bridge faucet with flat cross handles and side sprayer.

Riobel BR400XC
Riobel BR400XC

I loved loved loved the bridge faucet, but El Granto wasn’t a fan of the dual temperature adjustments and I was worried about drilling so many holes into my ceramic sink, and about how in style they would be in a few years. Bridge faucets are a big fad right now, and I was worried they would be the next mason jar or chevron.

After several restless nights sleep, I finally pulled the trigger, and ordered the FE101. We installed it in less than 15 minutes (it had a magical wrench free installation), and for the last month we have been putting it to the test.

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All of its mechanisms are smooth and responsive. The temperature and water control handle move with the slightest touch, and water can be easily adjusted for filling up things (like water bottles) where I tend to make a huge mess if the water is on full blast.

The swivel is smooth and the faucet stays where its placed, even when it is off to one side.

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The pull out sprayer is easy to use, and the end has a ball bearing, so the directional control is incredible. The sprayer also has a magnet so it pops itself back in place when the sprayer is retracted. To change between sprayer settings, there is a hidden switch on the sprayer. When activated the stream of water turns to a nice spray that is perfect for washing vegetables.

Kitchen2web

The faucet itself is chrome, which adds a lot of sparkle to the kitchen. We have under cabinet lighting, and the faucet catches the light and just glows. The chrome does easily show fingerprints, but a quick wipe with a tea towel and its spotless. Our last faucet had a lot more water spots on it, as the only way to turn it off was to reach your hand above the faucet. As your hands are wet, you were perpetually dipping onto the faucet. With our faucets controls on one side, any water drips fall to the sink deck, and not on the faucet. This has made keeping it looking good a lot easier.

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kitchen4web

We have really run the faucet through its paces. From washing the smoker grill, to filling up watering cans and buckets. The hose on the sprayer is long enough that I can set the dogs water bowl on the counter and fill it up without having to put it in the sink. It has performed very well. We only had to make one modification. The sprayer water line is quite long, and was getting caught on the bottom of the P trap. To fix it, we changed the position of the hose weight, and it hasn’t gotten stuck in the last few weeks.

Also, I only managed to spray water all over the kitchen ONCE by accident. When I placed the sprayer back in, I did it so the spray was facing to the side, not down. When I turned the sink on again, a jet of water shot everywhere. Lesson learned; don’t point your guns at things you don’t intent to shoot.

Kitchen3web

All in all we are very happy with our faucet choice. We are just wishing we made this decision when we renovated the kitchen. It also classes up the joint! Bye bye builder basic faucet, and hellllo pretty lady!

If you haven’t heard of Riobel, you should check them out. They are an awesome Canadian company producing some pretty fabulous faucets. You can check out their dealer locator.

What do you think of our new sink candy? Have you installed a kitchen faucet?

 

Disclosure: We partnered with Riobel on this project, but all opinions, typos and missing commas are of course our own.

 

 

Finding Time

Last night I got home from work, kissed my husband, fussed my dog, changed out of my work clothes and went to bed.

No, I wasn’t being lazy and going to bed at 6pm. I had stayed late at work, and by the time I got home I barely had time to relax for a few minutes before calling it a night. El Granto had foraged for dinner himself, and with the boxes on the counter I can see he relished on chicken fingers and tater tots.

I missed putting out the trash before the garbage pickup came. The dishes from last nights dinner (Portuguese BBQ which I picked up on the way home from work) still littered the counter. My tools and supplies from the weekends half finished projects covered the dining table. The floor had dog hair tumble weeds rolling past. The fridge contained only condiments and beer, and my thawing backyard is a minefield of a winters worth of melting dog turds. Tired, I walked past it all, changed into track pants, tossing my clothes on the ever growing laundry pile and headed for bed.

At the rate I’m going, we will be eating takeout and wearing mismatched socks for the foreseeable future.

As a thirty something couple in an fast paced urban environment, I can’t help but feel like we can’t be the only ones facing the same situation? How do successful women work long hours and maintain a home? Seriously? Because I would really like to know.

When both parts of the couple are working high demand jobs and putting in long hours, how does anyone find the time to mind the home? Put (homemade) food on the table?  I can’t even imagine adding kids to the equation. With relaxation and spending time with my loved ones a top priority for my free time (also, wine, hot baths and Netflix). Dusting has fallen to a pretty low priority.

odin and el granto
When it come to choosing between dusting and shenagans with these two weirdos, I am going to choose them every. single. time.

So you, my ingenious readers, can you offer me any advice on working hard, playing hard and still getting the laundry done? Because a girl can only wear mismatched socks for so long.

 

 

Wedding Shower Invites

I have the great honor of being a bridesmaid in my brother-in-laws upcoming wedding. He is marrying the most wonderful woman named Angela, who I cannot wait to have as part of my family! As the clock ticks down to the June wedding, we have ordered dresses, are thinking about hair and shoes, are planning the bachelorette party, and of course the wedding shower.

When my mother-in-law broached the subject of the wedding shower invites, I eagerly volunteered for invite duty. I absolutely adore stationary, and I even DIY’d my entire set of wedding invites.

DIY however was a bit out of the question for the shower invites. I just didn’t have the time.  DIYing invites is a HUGE commitment. I did however want something that was a bit more special than “could-have-been-done-on-my-home-printer” invites. I also wanted to make sure I stuck to a more casual invite, as the wedding is set in a vineyard barn. With rustic (yet polished) in mind, I set out shower invite sourcing. You can see some of my wedding shower ideas on my Bridal Shower Pinterest Board here.

 

Follow Kristen – Storefront Life’s board Bridal Shower on Pinterest.

 

After a ton of searching and waffling (too many good options!) I finally settled on the Delightful Bridal Shower invite from Minted, and it couldn’t be more perfect.

Minted Bridal Shower Invite

Minted Delightful Bridal Shower Invite

The invite is a lovely kraft cardstock front with a white backing. I upgraded for a few of the additional add-ons including die cut corners. I think they add a ton of interest to the invites, and up the custom factor.

Minted Bridal Shower Invite

I also opted for more information and a photo of the bride & groom printed on the back of the invite (it’s from their engagement session. Super cute.) We went with a light blue as the accent color, as it is the brides favorite color.

Minted Bridal Shower Invite

I fell in love with the kraft envelopes, and went for printed return addresses. I also used the new service from Minted for envelope addressing. Can I just say how much of a help it is to have envelopes addressed? I have terrible hand writing. It would have taken me ages to address all the envelopes, and they would have looked like rubbish. So glad I went for the addressing. You have several options for return and address designs and fonts. I wanted something a bit vintage/rustic to match the invites.

 

Minted Bridal Shower Invite envelope

Minted Bridal Shower envelope addressing

The addresses were easy to upload. I downloaded their excel template, filled in everyone’s addresses, and uploaded the spreadsheet. It also keeps the address info in your account, so for instance if you sent save the dates, it would already know your guest addresses for when you sent your wedding invites. I would have died for that when I was working on my own wedding invites. I actually laid out the type for every single envelope (inner and outer) and hand fed them through my inkjet printer.

In the end it took me about a week to decide on a design, get the addresses, input my info, and place my order. It only took a few days for the order to ship, and arrive at my house. The whole suite came together beautifully.

Minted Bridal Shower Invite

I hope the bride likes them! Cant wait for the shower, and the lovely June wedding!

 

Disclosure: We worked with Minted for these absolutely awesome invites. As always, all opinions, typos and overuses of the word “awesome” are my own.