winter wishing

It’s the perfect time to start thinking of the holidays, and here are a few things I think would make the season cheerier!

1. The Countdown Glasses from chapters.indigo.ca - perfect for a party of 10, or for counting down to a special occasion.

2. Fox Ring from aubinandwillis.com - the sweetest jewellery seems to feature animals, and foxes are always adorable!

3. Cherry Lush lipstick from tomford.com - a matte red to get you through the shorter days this season.

4. Silver Hammered Bowl from chapters.indigo.ca - I’d fill it with candy, or just use it to hold jewellery.

5. Woolly Blanket from toast.co.uk - for snuggling by candlelight, with a husband, a book, and two kittens. Or for winter picnics.

6. Tin Mug from chapters.indigo.ca - a retro inspired stoneware mug, for sipping hot drinks.

7. Merino Legwarmers from toast.co.uk - luxuriously cosy, in a variety of colours.

I love shopping for holiday gifts… there’s always so many perfect things that the hard part is narrowing them down to just the few perfect items! I haven’t actually started shopping yet, but definitely have been browsing. Today was American Thanksgiving, which means the black Friday/cyber Monday crazy sales will start up soon… I don’t mind shopping when it’s busy, but I prefer the less hectic crowds. Best of luck to anyone venturing out for the holiday deals this week!

 

serendipity

Sometimes things are just meant to work out. Like today, I decided to go to Value Village and check out the book selection. I was actually hoping to find the last book in the Gemma Doyle trilogy since it’s out from the library, and I saw it there last month (of course, at that time I wasn’t aware that I’d end up loving the series so I left it there) . But instead, today I found a mint condition copy of the book I’m currently reading (also from the library), The Shadow of The Wind.

Woohoo! It was a recommendation from a Goodreads friend, and let me tell you, it’s delightful so far! If I hadn’t found it today for $5.00 (yes!), I’d have probably ended up buying it full price after I finished the library book, because it’s just that good. So, yay! I love fortuitous finds like that.

Aside from the book, I brought home a few great clothing finds, so it was a worthwhile expedition.

What do you like thrift-shopping for? I’m an all-round thrifter. I can spend equal time mulling around books and clothing. The only section I try to skip at thrift stores is the electronics. Because usually those are just crappy old VCRs from like 1997, and I honestly don’t need any. Haha. Other than that, everything is fair game!

thrift-mania!

Hi!!! My weekend plans switched up a bit from wedding shoe shopping to a visit to my favourite secondhand store (Value Village, woo!). We don’t have one here, but the 40 minute drive was certainly worth it. I had such a successful trip, I wanted to show off some of my fab finds.

Firstly, I did find shoes: not wedding ones (I still have my mind on peep toes) but super-awesome yellow heels.

I’ve been thinking about yellow shoes for a while now… I think they’ll look sooo great with skinny, dark jeans. The best news is that they’re Nine West shoes ($$$) and they were only $10 and a perfect fit!!

Love them!! Okay, the next things I found were like a million milk glass vases (… okay, thirteen. I only bought thirteen, haha.)

They were 99 cents each! And… they’re for… guess what: the Wedding! Yay! Actually I love them, so I’ll be happy to keep them after, but I was envisioning these as centerpieces, with bright blossoms in them, something like this:

{photo by Marion Brenner for House & Garden July 2004, found via London Calling}

I bought all the same kind of vase, because I like symmetry, but I may add a few other pieces along the way as I come across them.

Another wedding idea I’ve been seeing a lot of is handmade bunting (like the ones seen at this lovely wedding, or this pretty wedding, or this amazing wedding… or like a thousand other weddings I’ve looked at online.) My mind has been obsessed by the idea of making bunting. Even though I don’t have (or know how to use) a sewing machine, I have this vision of me cutting out triangles of fabric and… sort of… attaching them to string somehow.

Okay, so the idea hasn’t been fully fleshed out, but I’ve got some time. Anyway, I bought some pillowcases and a bedsheet:

I can do this, right? (Any encouragement is appreciated). Also- if anyone actually knows something about making bunting, please do tell. Otherwise I’ll be figuring it out as I go along. Trial and error, people!

Aaaand, I also found this lovely thing (not wedding-related):

A cool retro plaid thermos! I’m feeling fall quickly approaching, and I feel like I want to take soup to work for lunch some days. What better way to cheer yourself up at lunch than with something so cute? I’m very excited. Now to get some soup. (Or make some? I’m not sure if I’m brave enough. I realize it’s just basically putting things in a pot with some broth, but… I just don’t know about the seasoning and the different flavour mixtures! Haha. Maybe this fall I’ll learn how to make soup).

I also found a dress in a lovely purple pattern (which I think might just be freaking amazing with those yellow shoes), and a cool dress-shirt for himself. All in all, such a great trip! And thrift-store spending is much much easier on the pocketbook. xox

shop therapy

Oh shopping, how I love you. Even a quick trip to Shoppers can cheer me right up, despite the fact that I’ve been blowing my nose non-stop for the past 24 hrs. Seriously, how can this be? Anyways, I’ve had my heart set on a good Shoppers trip for a while, and since I’ve been feeling icky this week I thought a treat might help.

Also, two more things happened to spur me on: 1. I received coupons along with a  magazine in the mail for Nivea products… they also came with samples, which I loooove, and samples work like a charm on me as I ended up buying two out of the three things they sent me. 2. I had earned enough points to get $10 off my purchase, which is always a good reason to shop!

Nivea is already my favourite brand for body products, so I didn’t need my arm twisted, and truth be told I probably didn’t even need the samples in order to want to buy more. I ended up with some bath cream & moisturizer:

I’m also a huge fan of light kiss, this lip balm:

I love a good gloss as much as the next girl, but for times when you’re not looking for shine & residue, this is the perfect lip product. It also mixes really well with lipstick to make a sheer stain. And it is sooo moisturizing for lips. Love.

Also I got a coupon for this dry shampoo by Tresemme, so I thought I’d give it a try (I’m not in love with washing my hair every day, but I do find that it gets greasy/limp pretty quickly. I hope this works as well as it says!) It was on sale already, plus I saved a dollar. Smart shopping!

Oh, and speaking of shopping, here is my spring wishlist, courtesy of Polyvore:

spring wishlist by leannab featuring Aerie

Yep, I think I am definitely starting to feel better! (haha) Tomorrow’s my visit to the hair salon… I can’t wait to see what happens! ♥

treats

I went shopping this morning at my favourite stationery store, and two lovely things came home with me:

Super, no? Both things were on sale, so I totally snagged them. I almost bought a journal with two pink owls on it (!!) but it had lines (I prefer blank pages) and it was not on sale.

The faux-wood sketchbook has lovely textured blank paper for writing and sketching. And the “weekly organizer” opens up in the middle to hold

1. an address book
2. a notepad
3. a pad of weekly calendars with Monday- Sunday, but no numbers. So you can use it any year, you just fill in your own days. I’m trying to keep track of my daily exercise, and a cute weekly planner seems just the trick!

Hope you’re having a lovely Saturday! x