Mushing in Whitehorse

I'm back from a great trip to Whitehorse, Yukon and had to tell you about our mushing/dog sledding adventure.

I must admit, I was nervous. We pulled up to the ranch and the sound of 150 dogs howling was deafening, exciting, and... intimidating. Eeek. What if I fall, what if I crash, what if the dogs eat me!?

Luckily, the dogs were full (phew!), pretty cute and rearing to go for a run. And I mean rearing to go... I have never seen such excitable doggies in my life! These dogs live for this. They were looking at us while we were getting geared up like "let's go, let's go, let's GO!".

And ohmygosh, was it amazing. It is like sailing on snow. Smooth, quiet and peaceful. I thought I would have to do more work, but the dogs just follow the trail/guide and basically I just had to hang on and be ready to brake. I started off with a white knuckle grip but, once I realized I wasn't going to die, relaxed and just enjoyed the ride, the incredible weather and the amazing views.






And they had a cabin just for me! yay.



You have to try it.

If you're ever in Whitehorse I highly recommend the Sky High Wilderness Ranch. It's an incredible experience.
Just don't be afraid when you pull up to this:

Due North

image and pillow via Nicole Tarasick on Etsy

Yep, I'm heading "due North" for the weekend.  Like way north... to Whitehorse, Yukon.   The company I work for worked on a Yukon co-production of a children's Aboriginal TV show.  The screening is happening this weekend for all the Yukon folk and we're going down for some northern fun!

I'd ask you to send me warm thoughts but the weather is actually not too bad... instead I'll ask for some snow making thoughts so we can go dog-sledding!  Who would have thought we'd have more snow in Edmonton than in the Yukon?!

Happy Weekend!
Christine

p.s. isn't that pillow cute!? Check out the Toronto Etsy shop here.

"Men Do Not Wear Bathrobes" (apparently)

Michael and I have been together for just over 5 years and, already, I find it a struggle at times to come up with something "creative" when it comes to gift giving. Well, apparently "creative" is not necessary.

I came across this blog post at "Honey We're Home" where Megan's husband, Jimmy provides some hilarious insight into 'what to give' and 'what NOT to give' the guys on your holiday list. I just love his hilarious, straight forward, no bathrobes attitude.  Now, these may not be applicable to every guy out there, but there were some things I could definitely relate to and a number of items I know are on my husband's wish list. 

Number one tip in my books "get him something that HE wants, not something that you want him to have." huh.  Makes sense.

Check out the Holiday Gift Guide {For Him} right here.

Thanks Megan and Jimmy for the hilarious inspiration. Happy shopping, ladies!!

p.s. and while you're over there be sure to check out Megan's closet. Seriously, people, this is what dreams are made of....

image from Honey We're Home

Any other great guy gifts to add?

Penguin Classics for Children

I love books. I love reading them and I love them even more when they look as pretty as these. Yep, I judged these by their cover as soon as I saw them *swoon*

Available from Anthropologie, I will most definitley be adding these to my wish list this year, especially The Secret Garden. Aside from a hefty collection of Babysitters Club books, The Secret Garden was one of my favourite books as kid.  It was a gift from my Great Uncle Kevin and I just loved it. It was hardcover, it was fancy and it was an incredible read.

The Babysitters Club books didn't stand the test of time, but my Secret Garden still sits on my shelf today... and I think these beauties would be the same.

all images via Anthropologie

p.s. My mom might argue the Babysitters Club point - apparently they're standing the test of time in her storage room and just waiting for me to lug a box or two home. Sorry mom!

Did you have any favourite books as a kid?

Happy Friday

A few (random) things that make me happy today...

J.Crew Finally Comes to Canada!!
It's still may be across the country... but at least it's my country. Baby steps, people, baby steps.

image via j.crew

The cactus my gma gave me bloomed! Yes, real flowers!! I've had a similar cactus for almost five years and it's only ever seen ONE flower.  This is kind of a big deal.

Snow.  Ok, this doesn't actually make me smile.  10 degrees to -20 degrees is kind of a shocker, but I'm trying the reverse psychology thing so I can actually get my butt out of bed in this weather.

Emma Watson's adorable new haircut - maybe that's old news now, but the new Harry Potter opens this weekend so it's relevant AND it makes me happy!

image via posh24.com

My office doggy, Tilly.

Happy Weekend!
Christine

Hip Hip Holiday CB2

Hehe, these Christmas ornaments from CB2 make me giggle.

Nothing says Christmas like a cow.  Right??

Check out the rest of their Christmas goodies here.  It's official, I'm excited for Christmas!!

Have you heard CB2 now ships to Canada and their first Canadian store opens in Toronto in the spring? You Torontonians get all the good stuff, pfft ;)

My House: Guest Room, progress...

It's not finished but there is definitely progress...

After two coats of not one, but TWO different paint colours I'm loving the final colour. Our first coat was Martha Stewart's 'Heavy Goose'. The more we painted the more I felt like we were turning the room into a baby boy's nursery. A lovely and modern nursery, but still it was just a bit too blue for my liking.

Luckily, we ran out of paint (woops) so off to the Home Depot where I picked up a new colour - Martha Stewart's 'Nimbus Cloud' for the second coat. It's nearly identical but more gray than blue, which is exactly what I was going for.

First Coat, Colour 1:


Final Coat, Colour 2:


Colour me happy :) And yes, I realize you are probably scrolling back and forth right now trying to actually spot the difference between those two colours... just trust me on this one, k?

I think the paint swatches show the difference a bit better. What do you think, do you like?

Click here for a reminder of the before.

Pigeon Post Holiday Series

Okay, I'll admit I haven't sent a Christmas card in a number of years (email card, *guilty*) but, amongst the bills and junk, nothing beats getting a card in the mail. Trust me, I get super excited for "fun mail" and quite often there is a squeal and happy dance involved ;)

I'm a just loving these Pigeon Post Holiday cards created by Keith and Judi of Vanguard Works. I love these guys and their talent never ceases to amaze me.

They also did an amazing line in collaboration with the Art Gallery of Alberta and my favourite, the Valentine's Day Series.  I just love the sweet and whimsical designs.

Aren't they sweet? Check them out here and their etsy store here. Send someone some "fun mail", you'll make their day :)

Happy Weekend!

My House: Guest Room Part 1

We had an unfortunate water leakage incident in our basement this summer. It involved water leaking in through the guestroom window, surrounding water damage, and inevitably me freaking out - "who do we call", "what do we do", "we're all going to die". Okay, maybe that was a bit melodramatic...

Lucky for me, my husband is quite handy and I can't explain exactly what he did but after some diligent research and a few days/weeks of labour he fixed it - go Mike! (love you). It's a good thing one of us has our head on straight.

We (and by 'we' I mean Mike) had to rip up the window and wall a little bit during the fix so repainting was definitely in order. So after thinking we have to tear the whole room down I finally perked up by the thought of re-decorating. Or in this room's case, actually decorating.

So far we've got the paint colour picked and two beautiful prints from Madebygirl.



I'm hoping we can make some progress this weekend. Here's a lovely 'before' pic:



Wish us luck! Did I mention there is little to NO budget for this room... wish me luck on that part as well ;)

Anthropologie: Collected Memories Mirror

I spent Saturday afternoon at Anthropologie with my friend, Dajana. And when I say afternoon, I'm not exaggerating.... After a chat at Starbucks with some deee-licious croissants from Duchess Bake Shop we then spent 2+ HOURS in Anthropologie. Yikes.

I think it's safe to say we were both very into "dress up" as kids, haha. After trying on nearly the whole store, I came out with an amazing silk tunic (in khaki) and (because I have bills to pay and need to eat and such) added a number of items to my wishlist.  Cross your fingers some of these items go on SALE.

On our way out we came across this mirror:

At the time, I had actually thought it was just a display item but I found it today on their website. Wouldn't this be a great DIY project?  Literally, all it is is some reclaimed frames/mirrors on a piece of plywood.

images via anthropologie.com

For those of you DIY'ers (I'm still not sure if I fit into this category) this could be easy peasy! And most definitely cheaper than the $698USD price tag this one comes with...yes, $698, eeeee.

What do you think, would any of you tackle this?

Happy Monday, hope you have a great week!
: ) Christine

Me and Dajana working it in Anthro

Puffed Wheat Squares

What do you do when you're craving some sweet baking and have NO FLOUR?
Three words: puffed wheat squares.

I whipped these up at about 9:00pm last night and they most definitely hit the spot. I forgot how easy and delicious these are! Throw some puffed wheat in a bowl, heat your choco mixture on the stove, mix it up and eat! If you're patient you can let them set in the fridge for awhile but, take it from me, they are still tasty all warm and crumbly!

Chocolatey, wheaty goodness. The perfect late night snack. Okay and I might have had them for breakfast today too... puffed wheat is sort of cereal, right?

And courtesy of the bag of Safeway Puffed Wheat here's the recipe:
INGREDIENTS:
8 cups puffed wheat
1/3 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla

1) Measure puffed wheat into large bowl.
2) Combine remaining ingredients into saucepan. Stir continuously over medium heat until mixture boils.
Boil 1 minute and remove from heat.
3) Pour mixture over puffed wheat and mix well.
4) Pour and press into a greased 9x9 pan.

EAT and ENJOY!

New Neighbour, Restoration Hardware

Welcome to Edmonton Restoration Hardware! My fab friend, Dajana just sent me the news they will be opening November 20 in Southgate Centre. I've yet to actually buy anything at Restoration Hardware, but definitely good for some inspiration, right?

Now, if they could just send a nice note to their friends West Elm and Crate & Barrel letting them know how lovely Edmonton is? That'd be great, thanks :)

images via Restoration Hardware

Thanks for the tip, D!!

Do you have a Restoration Hardware near you? Do you like?