Posted by Cobi on Monday June 28, 2010 at 06:00 AM
Comments (2)
"School's out - lets hit the road!" ~ what great words!!
I'm one of those crazy fools who loves road trips.
And I even loved them before Thelma & Louise - one of my favourite movies (and not because I look like Thelma).
Why do I (and thousands like me) love road trips?
Here are 8 good reasons....
1. There's something about the preparation for a road trip I love. It brings out the Girl Scout in me. I love packing the car - making sure we have snacks, drinks, sunglasses, maps, tunes, pillows, and that feeling when we finally drive out of the driveway - "did you remember to shut the garage door?- Yeehah! Lets blow this Popsicle stand!"
2. Road trips are a wonderful excuse to do nothing. For hours. When else does a working mom get to sit on her ___ for hours? Strapped in no less!! Unable to do anything for anyone, short of handing out the odd piece of licorice or a Kleenex. Absolute heaven.
3. Speaking of which - Licorice. Licorice is another reason I love road trips.
4. And how about the 'talk time' - I guess we can't exactly say 'face time' (that could be dangerous) - but 'talk time' with hubby or girlfriend or whomever I'm encapsulated with. It's pretty nice to actually be able to have a conversation longer than a minute that isn't interrupted by the phone, blackberry, kids or whatever. Sometimes I even save up topics that I want to talk to Bob about in the car. Is that pathetic? No, I think that's just life in the fast lane.
5. Looking at maps. I seldom take the time to look at maps but I enjoy them when I do. My natural sense of geography is somewhat challenged and so my family is used to hearing me call out with utter shock and amazement "so that's where that is!" - even with a map of Ontario on my lap. Of course Bob and I have our moments with 'directions', as any well-married couple has. In fact, we had the worst fight of our marriage on a road trip through Scotland. But that's old news. The only reason we argue still is because he still doesn't understand how incredibly great I am at navigation (hey - it's my blog).
6. Time to think. Driving by other people's lives and homes, gives me pause to think about my own. I enjoy the voyeurism of seeing how others live and imagining what it would be like to live in situations other than my own. I also love to see how others have lived in the past and wonder about the circumstances that made them move on.
7. There's something romantic about road trips. Waiting in line at the airport just isn't the same. Hittin' the wide open road, without a care in the world, now that's livin' (ok, maybe I am sounding a bit like Thelma...). I guess we all remember the road trips we took as kids and how exciting they were - at least for the first half hour. We certainly do all seem to remember them!
8. Timmy stops. The more Timmy tea... the more Timmy stops... We have lots and lots of Timmy stops.
If you can't get out on a road trip yourself this summer, at least watch one of the many great road trip movies.
Here's a list of favourites:
Little Miss Sunshine
It Happened One Night
The Darjeeling Limited
Rain Man
Sideways
Into the Wild
The Motorcycle Diaries
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
And of course...
Posted by Cobi on Monday June 21, 2010 at 06:00 AM
Comments (3)
I love to accessorize myself and my rooms with the colour turquoise in the summer months.
Here's my little 'ode to summer' in our porch....
Check out this turquoise 'accessory' in this great cottage...
That takes some serious commitment to turquoise, but here is a version of just two pieces that bring a room to life:
Turquoise is a natural choice in rooms where water and cleanliness are key - like bathrooms...
And kitchens...
Did you know there's an entire website devoted to decorating with the colour turquoise? Check out House of Turquoise for wonderful inspiration. She has rooms shots divided into categories (ie. 260 turquoise bedrooms) - amazing!
You can also shop for anything turquoise, including jewellery, clothes, accessories, on a site called: decorbycolour.com . Just move your mouse over the squares of colour on the home page and you'll find on block called "everything turquoise" featuring things like these great towels:
Turquoise looks great mixed with other colours - like Green...
Even Olive Green works with turquoise...
Or Orange!
And of course Red looks amazing with turquoise.
Tiffany blue is super hot right now in the colour world.
It's a fun colour to use in an unexpected place.
I'm always attracted to turquoise coloured Glass. Either refined, like this...
Or casual/country, like this...
Or just bloody gorgeous, like this...
Or this...
Wouldn't it be great if we could all enjoy this kind of turquoise this summer...
Or this?
Our water may be dark blue in Canada, but in the summertime, turquoise is a state of mind ; ) .
Posted by Cobi on Monday June 14, 2010 at 06:00 AM
Comments (1)
I love weddings, and we've been lucky enough to be invited to a few this year.
I'm always interested to see how the bride makes the event 'her own'. The little personal touches that you know were discussed, rehearsed, researched and no doubt worried about ad nauseum.
When I appeared on the Steven & Chris show this past spring, I brought with me a little memento of my parents wedding.
At their 50th Wedding Anniversary party a few years ago, we opened my mother's wedding gown that had been stored in a brown box with green garbage bags covering it for 50 years. It had been moved from house to house and was covered in dust and so we were interested to get it out and see what shape it was in. I decided to make 'the opening' a part of the party and so with all of her bridesmaids around we opened the box.... And guess what? It was perfect! Makes you wonder about all of those expensive 'preserving boxes' doesn't it? And it was so wonderful to see the women plumping and primping it just like they would have 50 years earlier.
Anyway, when we got the dress out a few other things fell out of the box that I found fascinating...have a look....
There was a miniature version of the wedding party (unfortunately one man is missing) that an older woman my mother knew, had carefully made out of scraps of the wedding party dresses. What a beautiful memento and really something special to see 50 years later. I am so glad I have them and keep them in a box in my dining room.
I know that kind of creative work is time consuming and intricate for today's busy life, but it got me thinking how lovely the idea, if you are closely involved in a wedding, to do something with the extra material of the girl's dresses. Even something very simple. No doubt the dresses will make their way to the recycling over time, but something small and sweet can be tucked in a box or drawer for years and years.
Maybe a little sachet....
Or a pretty drawstring purse. If you aren't a sewer yourself, this would be an easy job to pay someone to make up.
These eye pillows would be a fun gift for each bridesmaid...
As would a jewellery pouch ...
Or cosmetic bag...
It's just one of those little personal ideas that makes a wedding meaningful. And how many things can you do nowadays that will be even more precious 50 years later? Think of a new generation - daughters, granddaughters - many years down the road, finding your little surprise and imagining a special day that happened 50 years ago...
Posted by Cobi on Monday June 07, 2010 at 06:00 AM
Comments (1)
I was in PEI recently, opening our summer cottage for the season, and it occurred to me how much I used coat hooks to decorate the walls.
Coat hooks, and versions of, are a practical substitute for art, particularly at a cottage or country home.
They fill the wall space nicely and can be both decorative and useful.
I snapped a few pictures of mine to show you.
This is a piece in our master bedroom...
It's made of reclaimed wood and vintage door knobs. So smart.
Here's another version of it I found on the internet - a great DIY project.
On another wall in the same room I just used hardware store peg boards to fill a blank space...
Pretty cheap wall art.
Downstairs we have a lavender coloured room and I found this old piece of cottage green wood someone had used for coat hooks, the colours look great together. It's been hung a few times as you can see by the holes but it's got a lot of character and holds pjs, bathing suits and t-shirts with ease...
And in another bedroom we hung a traditional accordion coat hook contraption, which does the job...
Behind the front door of our place is a cool project from a few years ago when we took a canoe paddle and screwed drawer pulls into it. I forgot to take a picture of it but you can see a bit of it here....
Here's another great front door shot I found...such an affordable solution and I love the look...
And how cool is this random idea...
Here's a more controlled, modern look...
At a second entryway in PEI, we hung this vintage French piece. It's an amazing colour and really handy for catching caps, keys and the dinner bell...
And check out this magazine article for a fun cottage idea....
No matter what you do, be proud of your hang ups. We all have them!!
