Size Does Matter.

So we bought a new TV on Saturday. Not to brag (ok, totally bragging) but it's a Sony Bravia ....and it's 40 INCHES!!!!

Here's the conversation between the BF and I after he set up the TV:

BF: (Man Giggle). It's frakkin' HUGE.

Me: I know!

BF: (Man Giggle).

Me: Why are you giggling? I thought size didn't matter to you. I'm the one who pushed for a big TV.

BF: It's just so ridiculously HUGE. I can't frakkin' wait to play Wii on it.

Me: (roll eyes). I guess it's safe to say you like the TV? (The BF is already setting up the Wii).

Sigh.


Speaking of boys and their toys, have you seen this Heineken commercial? SO funny.

Chrissy and Andre's Old Hollywood Wedding: Part I

When I first saw Chrissy and Andre's 40's style wedding on Chrissy's blog, I was floored! What first caught my eye was how stunning the entire wedding party looked. Then it was sensory overload.....the girls' fascinators, the cigarette girls, the pin curls, the feathers in the decor...so much to take in!! Chrissy and Andre married this past May in Toronto. Chrissy was kind enough to let me share photo candy from their big day with you. If this wedding looks familiar, it's because Chrissy and Andrew were featured on one of my favourite blogs, Vintage Glam Weddings, earlier this month. Not only did Chrissy and Andre pull off their old Hollywood style wedding without a wedding planner/DOC, they DIYed many aspects of it!

Let's start from the beginning, shall we? I asked Chrissy how she came about choosing a retro theme to her wedding. Here's her response:

I've always loved the 40's, so i was just going to have my BM's dress up in 40's outfits....then we found our venue [The Eglinton Grand], and it was 1940's all the way! Since the venue was a theater and my husband is in the film biz, we decided our theme should be 1940's film.

How cool is this vintage movie poster with Chrissy and Andre in it?!!! I'll let Chrissy explain the inspiration behind it.

We were trying to come up with a 1940's movie title that would be appropriate for our wedding (for the marquee [at the venue]) and I came across His Girl Friday (starring Cary Grant) and thought how perfect it was since our wedding was on a Friday. So we tried to replicate it when we did our 1940's engagement shoot...it's pretty close to the original poster!

Chrissy wore Maggie Sottero's Sandrina gown and completed her retro look with a feathery fascinator and birdcage veil. I love her dramatic red lipstick and chandelier earrings.

The delicate lace cap sleeves add such a romantic feel to Chrissy's gown.

The bridesmaids donned black vintage cocktail dresses and red fascinators.

Funny tidbit: One bridesmaid's dress ripped as she was putting it on! She had to lie on the floor while being sewn into it. Crazy.

Chrissy looked absolutely beautiful, especially in these two below shots. Very vintage glam.

The first look.

This was Chrissy's favourite moment of the day...... it was a very intimate moment...Andre even teared up.

Chrissy's bouquet was made from white hydrangeas and white feathers.

Andre's orchid boutonniere.

Instead of bouquets, Chrissy's bridesmaids held black lace fans. As you can see each BM styled her hair apropos to the 40's, some wore pin curls, some wore victory rolls.
Even the flower girl and the ring bearer dressed the part!
In addition to their black suits, the Groom and his groomsmen donned fedoras
and black & white shoes. Smashing looking group of men non?

I love this group shot. Everyone looks so happy and sassy!

Hard to tell if this was taken this year or 60 years ago, non?

Come by tomorrow for more pictures from this retro wedding! Happy Monday.

Happy Weekend!

Hope you're having a fabulous weekend. A little sneak peek of what's in store for next week.

Frugal Friday: Deals from the Interwebs

Sign up to be on Aldo's mailing list and receive 10% off your next order!

A Partnership Made in Heaven

I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited. I just read on Sweet Spot that Jimmy Choo and H&M are partnering up! Click here for the press release. Will you be in line bright and early on November 14th??

Image via Sweet Spot

A Toast for the Musical Loving Bride

kgm weddings just posted the most creative toast I've EVER seen/heard. Don't want to give away too much but if you love A Chorus Line....click here.

Craigslist Virgin No More

The BF has been drooling over the Barcelona chair for a few weeks now. According to the trusted source Wikipedia, the 'original' Barcelona chair was exclusively designed by German designers Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich for the German Pavilion at the 1929 Expo in Barcelona. Today, Knoll owns the trademark to Mies van der Rohe's name as well as the trade dress right on the design of the chair. Unfortunately we couldn't afford the Barcelona chair (prices start at US$4300). Luckily for us (not so much for Knoll), there are plenty of Barcelona replicas. However, even the replicas are pretty expensive, ranging from $700-$1100. I know, crazy talk for a chair. So I decided to check out Craigslist. I've never bought anything from Craigslist and was a bit hesitant. For starters, and the BF will attest to this, I have an aversion to second-hand items. Can't explain it. Just do. As well, how was I going to get a chair into my tiny Civic coupe? Well, my friends, I found the chair at a steal of a price and couldn't resist seeing the chair in person. The BF and I went to see the chair and it was in excellent shape. We got the seller down to CDN $400 and went our merry way.

Introducing our Barcelona replica....


Oh, and our new lamp. The BF also picked that out at Urban Barn. Yes, he's more talented in the design department than I.

When I found out the chair was designed by his forefathers, the BF (he's first generation American) said, and I quote, "Germans build things to last (well, except for their empires)."

One more condo update. Below are our new kitchen cabinet handles. I only show you this because it took the BF and I literally 8 trips over the last 7 days to various home improvement stores to find the right screws. And finally today we were rewarded. Mazel Tov.

A Garden Wedding in Toronto

I'm a regular stalker of Toronto based events planner Cynthia Marytn's blog. Today she posted an amazing wedding at Toronto's Graydon Hall Manor. Couples looking for a garden party wedding with a European flair must check out Graydon Hall Manor. Built in 1936, Graydon Hall Manor exudes 'vintage glam.' For more information on Graydon Hall Manor, click here. To see more photo candy, click on the image below. Imagine getting married by the fountain?!

Images by Laura Jane Weddings via Cynthia Martyn Events

Colour Me Happy!

I would love to say that I have a series of 'recaps' lined up about purchasing a home for the first time, moving into said home and then decorating/arranging said home.....but I'm too frazzled for that!! That last few weeks have been like a roller coaster of emotions. Stressed, happy, tired, angry, frazzled, back to stressed. Lucky for me, the BF has been in town to freak out with me. :)

The funny thing is that the whole 'you're purchasing a condo' notion didn't quite hit me until I had to pick paint colours. Sounds ridiculous right? Well, in the past, I didn't choose to paint my rental places. I just accepted the neutral wall tones and adopted the notion that I wasn't going to spend too much money on improving someone else's place (yes, I'm frugal). So this was my first foray into paint samples and deciding how to colour my place happy! Exciting right? Totally. Except that it took me FOREVER to pick the colours. In my mind, whatever colours I chose were THE colours to live on my walls. PERMANENTLY (yes, I'm melodramatic). This is when I realized.......I was about to become a homeowner.....a homeowner picking out paint colours.

Can we discuss how there are 50,000 shades of white?!! How is one suppose to pick a shade of white when they're all so similar!!

Case in Point:

via Benajmin Moore

As soon as I noticed the infinite number of shades of white, I decided that it would be best to choose the other colours of my place first, that is, colours with hues.

The BF and I decided to paint the living room, which has a 16 ft ceiling, red. (Picture a two story loft with the bedroom on the second floor looking out onto the level below). I wanted a deep rich red while the BF was leaning to something more subtle, more burnt. We ended settling on 'Louisiana Hot Sauce' (second sample from the top).

via Benajmin Moore

Very inviting non? We painted the 16 ft wall and the adjacent walls to it red.

The next paint to choose was the colour for the bathrooms. We decided to give both bathrooms the same colour scheme - a warm, sage-like green for the walls with brown accents (towels, bath mats etc). In fact, we (well, I) was inspired by this shower curtain I saw at Target on my last trip to the OC. I actually made the BF go buy it a few weeks later.

Voilà Atmospheric.

Back to the white. So after presenting the BF with numerous options (and eventually they all blended into one another), we settled on 'Flurry' which is "creamy, warm, with a touch of green" (according to this Chatelaine article titled "The Right White"). Lucky for me, it complemented the 'Louisiana Hot Sauce' quite well. I am so proud of my 'white' decision that every once in awhile, I will turn to the BF and say, "Look how great my white turned out." (Yes, I'm a dork).


Did we paint ourselves, you ask? Hell no! A lot of people ask why I didn't (maybe because I'm frugal) decided to take on the DIY task. My friends, I know where my limited abilities lie, and they definitely do not lie in home improvement. I can't even imagine painting a 16 ft ceiling three times over. We hired a contractor who did a splendid job. Sure, it cost a lot more than doing it ourselves but I'd gladly pay for my sanity, the BF's sanity and the hours we'd never get back!!

Have any 'Colour Me Happy' stories to share?

p.s. I found the Benjamin Moore site quite helpful. The BF and I were able to look at colours while he was in LA and I was in Toronto. Note that some monitors are not calibrated properly so the colours you see on the screen may not be how they look in real life. Unless you know your monitor is calibrated properly (the BF says Photoshop has a calibration tool), do pick up real samples to confirm your choices. Or don't take it too personally when you send an online swatch to someone and they express their disgust. ;)

An Escape to Wine Country

Happy Monday! How are ya?! I've SO missed blogging. The BF and I have been buried in boxes, new and old, making endless trips to Ikea, Home Depot, Canadian Tire, West Elm and countless furniture stores on Queen Street West. Needless to say, it's been exhausting. I decided to take Friday and today off to get settled into the new place. I also thought it'd be great to take a break from the moving melee and escape to Ontario's wine country - which we did Friday!

1. East Dell Estates

While Niagara-on-the -Lake is the most popular destination in Ontario for winos, we decided to explore the wineries in the Grimsby and Beamsville area (about 42km east of Niagara-on-the-Lake). Our first stop was East Dell Estates. This is a favourite of ours as the vineyard also has a restaurant, The View, which has the best cheese and sausage platters. So yummy. The BF paired the platters with the 2007 Black Cab while I sipped their 2007 Reisling.

The View Restaurant (via East Dell)

2. Fielding Estate Winery

Our next stop was Fielding Estate Winery, operated by husband and wife team, Cutis and Heidi Fielding. This is a must-drink winery for those are you who favour white wines. Our faves are their 2007 Chardonnay Musque (pear, white peach, and mandarin orange integrated with floral and spice notes) and 2007 Gewürztraminer (spiced-filled nose of clove and nutmeg, fresh green apple, orange marmalade, honeysuckle, and green tea.) Check out Fielding's Wine Tasting Lodge - made from wood, stone and glass, it is reminiscent of a lake house.

via Fielding Estate Winery

3. The Organized Crime Winery

The BF noticed this sign while we were on our way to East Dell. Interesting no?


I'm so glad the BF noticed this sign because Organized Crime ended up being our favourite stop! The Organized Crime Winery was founded by Jan and Krystyna Tarasewicz (formerly an art director and veterinarian, respectively). Producing only 3000-4000 cases of wine each year, this boutique winery has quite a unique story behind its name. The story, according to the Organized Crime website, is that two quarreling Mennonite congregations in the 1900's came to blows when a pipe organ was acquired by one of the congregations. The other congregation, which was of the belief that music should only be sung, stole the organ and threw it down the embankment. Hence, the 'Organ'-ized' Crime name. Pretty clever! Each type of wine bears a label depicting the story. To see the labels, visit their site (click on image).


4. Malivoire Wine Company

Malivoire was established in the mid-90's by Martin Malivoire and Moira Saganski. This was our second visit to this organic vineyard. The very first thing that caught our eye on our first visit was their modern tasting room. Don't you love the funky chandelier?

via Malivoire

Malivoire has a great red wine - 2007 Gamay (ripe bramble fruits followed by cooked plum, sour cherry, vanilla, cinnamon and cigar box). One thing about Malivoire that makes it stand out from the other more well known wineries is they don't charge a tasting fee. Most wineries make it known upfront how much the tastings are, whether they're waived or not when you make a purchase. There's no talk about tasting fees at Malivoire.... just friendly discussions about their delicious wines!

I love going vineyard hopping! Especially with the BF. We always have such an amazing time and come home with way TOO much wine. Case in point.