A while ago I did a Q & A post, and every few weeks I’m answering some of the questions you guys asked :)

Now that its been a year, how are your wallpapered cupboards holding up? Do the wash well? Any tips or tircks? I love the idea for my own kitchen, which has the same fugly melamine cabinets. from Paige

Back story: Last year I did a fast, cheap & pretty little makeover on my kitchen cabinets that was featured on Design*Sponge, and part of it involved wallpapering over our basic melamine cabinets (see it here).

One year later it’s holding up up great, but I do have a couple of tips. I waited a long time to seal them, and in that time a couple started to peel back at the corners. I re-did those panels, and when they dried I mod podged them, and since then they’ve been perfect. They wash well & while it means I’ve committed us to them, it’s such a cute feature of the kitchen that I can’t imagine them another way.

Cheesy maybe, but, what’s your favorite movie? from Lisa

Hands down, the original Grey Gardens documentary. It’s such a beautiful portrait of not just Big Edie & Little Edie, but also of aging women and those weird and fantastic family relationships. I love Little Edie’s fashion sense (big surprise!) and her spirit. It’s all so delicately handled and crazy, if you haven’t seen it I would really recommend it.

What are your quirkiest habits and how do they mesh with your husband’s? from Her New Deal

My quirkiest habits all come from how right brained I am. I’m awesome at spatial things, going by instinct & inventing solutions to problems, but I lose my car in a parking lot & have trouble remembering things without writing them down. And I’m thoroughly silly. I’m always coming up with word games and rhyming things, and bouncing crazy ideas off of Mister.

Mister is my polar opposite in terms of how I approach things. He’s playful and relaxed, but he’s still very black and white, logical, and linear. He’s good at things that require lots of math or memory, and that get done fast. It makes us a great team, we balance out :)

I love how open and honest you are in your posts, but do you ever struggle with how much to share on your blog? How do you decide what to share? Any advice for how to be open without feeling like you’re sharing too much? from Caiti

I think the line is different for everyone, but for me it comes down to walking the line between what’s personal versus what’s private. For me, personal things are what I’m doing, my reactions to things in my life, my plans, projects & inspiration. Anything that I get a “Oh I have to tell this to a friend!” feeling about. Private things are the intricacies of my marriage & family, and my friendships.

Mostly, I decide what to share based on what story I’m telling. If I have a post written but have a ”Hm, I don’t know…” or “I hope _____ doesn’t read this” feeling, to me that’s a marker of a weak story or something that would be better for an e-mail to a friend. I want this to be a space that’s fun, inspiring & that draws people in – anything that doesn’t hit that mark doesn’t get published, because it’s probably not that interesting in the grand scheme of things! :)

Even though your hair is super cute short do you ever think about growing it out and wearing it long? from Iris Ashley

Actually, I’m currently growing it out! I’m posting a picture a week here & I’m aiming for a sleek (much less thick) bob. As for growing it out really long, I feel like it makes me look really young. Maybe in a while, but for now I’m sticking with shoulder length & above.

Need more answers? Find volume one here

It’s dress sharing time again- and I can’t believe I only have two months left! Is the summer that far along already? Maybe this winter I’ll have to do Six Months + Six Parkas… though, somehow the appeal just isn’t the same.

Dress number four isn’t just thrifted, it’s also a walk on the wild side for me. I’m not much of a prints person, I tend to stick to layers of light solid colours instead, but just for fun I tried stepping out of my comfort zone a little.

Also, I swear the lighting here is a little weird, and that I’m not one of the Cullen’s.

Dress – thrifted for $7

Switching to thrift shopping for my dresses has been such a relief, I’m getting to the point in summer where travel plans and major purchases have been made so I’m light on spending money for fun “just for me” things. But $7 I can definitely do!

The girls who have been playing along with me are just too cute for words, so I thought I’d show you some of my favourite pictures of theirs so far – click on their pictures to visit them.

Alarmingly cute, no? Told ya so! :)

Wondering what Six Months + Six Dresses is? I’m revamping my summer closet by buying & showing a new dress for six months. If you like you can moonlight for a month or play for the whole meme – grab a badge from my sidebar & play along!

Tape strips: Pugly Pixel

And then I started to shriek like a little girl, because I literally couldn’t contain my excitement for my hedgehog meeting.

He was delightful! He was literally quite prickly at first, but his owners had spent a lot of time socializing him and when he got used to the new person smell he was very curious and cuddly. He was surprisingly quick on the ground and  was very adamant about not having his things taken away from him- and when he was upset he curled up tightly and huffed!

It was all far too cute for me to handle.

So he may be a little moody, but it’s pretty much decided that we’re running away together. Have you seen his button nose? How could I resist!

I wanted to make sure that when I  picked July to master sangria, I did it thoroughly. There were different batches drawn up, dutiful sampling done, and I can verify that both this and the white wine sangria from last week are delicious! This has been a lot of fun, and this post marks a month where I’ve followed through with all of my goals, from learning to crochet to mastering sangria.

It’s wonderful how mastering something so small can make you feel so accomplished.

This recipe comes from my good friend Lisa at Lisa’s Yarns who is training to run a marathon & knows how to mix a mean drink! For a more traditional take on sangria, this is where you want to be.

{download a printable copy of Lisa’s Red Wine Sangria here}

or copy & paste below the jump :)

One more thing!

I love writing up recipes and I’ve been considering posting a few more summer appetizer & snack recipes, but I would love to know what you think. Would you like a new recipe every couple of weeks, or is this a nice every now and then thing? Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

.

Lisa’s Red Wine Sangria

Grab…

Okay!

There’s nothing more addictive for me than learning a new skill, for me the hardest thing is choosing what I’m going to learn! I love knitting, but over the past year I’ve kept thinking “I should learn to crochet”, so I do the smart thing:

1. Buy a crochet hook when I’m wandering the craft store and feeling ambitious.

2. Put it away when I get home.

3. Repeat four months later.

As a result I have a small pile of crochet hooks, and all I could use them for was eating sushi.

Thankfully a friend showed me some great online tutorials for two different styles of granny squares (purl bee + attic24), and I figured it out! I’m a crochet machine now, and I think I’m going to make a giant granny square blanket to celebrate. My success got me really excited, and I finished a new hot pink scarflette for the fall, and placed a new wool order with my favourite shop. I’ve got it bad, guys. Again. This fall will be very soft & very wooly!

On Saturday Mister bribed me away from crocheting long enough for us to get to mini-farmers market. We brought home armfuls of artisan bread, stinky french cheese, blackberries, jellies & new potatoes for $30 and promptly dove into it as soon as we could. After a deliciously carb-y lunch we made our way to see Inception-  which was fun, but much more straight forward than what I was expecting after all the hype about how complicated it is. I really enjoyed it, it is dark and lovely Joseph Gordon Levitt filled escapism, but Shutter Island still holds it’s place as my favourite movie this year. Have you not seen it? You need to go rent it tonight. It’s a beautifully crafted, complete mystery & gets even better after you watch it a second time.

Work on redecorating the house is starting to pick up, and next weekend we’ll (hopefully) be repainting the whole main floor & my craft room. It’s going to be a busy week of working ahead, but I can’t wait to have that next big project finished. I swear, we’re going to move the house into shabby chic territory this summer no matter what.

After a week of paperwork, meetings and running around from place to place, the weekend is my carefully guarded quiet space where I can recharge. I don’t think there’s anything better. More, please? :)

ps – This Thursday I’m posting my next dress for six months six dresses & will be featuring pictures of girls who are playing along. If you want to join in for a month or for the whole challenge grab the badge & details here :)

I’m a little obsessed with photography. I can’t really talk tech with you, but I learned on film and while I love my digital camera, I’m too used to the squeaky clean digital look and instant results. When I see posts & pictures with lots of texture or a pretty vintage frame I go weak in the knees.

I got my Diana a little while ago and I still have to post my first pictures here, but I’ve recently become fixated with the idea of getting an instant photo back for it. And I want to an old fashioned SLR to play with when I’m in the mood!

I tell you, when I become independently wealthy, it’s on. For now I’ll just treat myself to Starbucks and dream… :)

Diana F+ – $99 CAD*

Lomo Smena Symbol – $99 CAD

Lomo Lubitel 166+ – $365 CAD

Fuji Instax Mini 7S – $104 CAD

*I got locked in the Canadian side of the shop & it wouldn’t let me out! These will probably be cheaper for  you :)

I love the etiquette notes and vintage ads the best.

Relationship Advice from the 1930s:

“Above all, do not run off and tell anyone about a difference of opinion between you and your husband – do not take it seriously. Don’t forget to smile. Kindness, patience, good temper, and good sense will always win and they build that trust and love that endures when everything else passes away. Avoid the first quarrel. Don’t have it. Do not quarrel. Stay away from it, he means well and so do you.”

It’s packed full of recipes for drinks, doughnuts and five course meals. There’s a guide on how to tell what kind of man your husband is, instructions on how to manage your household budget, and charts on how much sunshine your baby should get in a day.

I love flipping through it, but all I can say is thank goodness for the internet age. I don’t think I’d last an afternoon in this world ;)

For the past two months I’ve been swearing that I’ll master sangria, and while it took me a while to get around to it, last week I finally made good! I’ve had friends in from out of town and thought that it was the perfect chance to try my first of two recipes – one red wine based (coming next week), and one with white wine.

When I first blogged about wanting to step up my mixing skills my friend Ashley immediately offered a white wine sangria recipe that she was sure I had to try. And it came with a warning: this is boozy AND delicious. And she’s not joking. This is one of the most delicious things in my fridge right now, and it’s going to be a new summer staple.

One note: I made it without any soda, and have been adding club soda to taste in each glass (about 3/4 sangria, 1/4 club soda). It’s the perfect ratio for me & it doesn’t go flat- not that it stays in the fridge that long :)

{download a print ready version of Ashley’s Sangria here}

or copy & paste below the jump :)

Ashley’s White Wine Sangria

Grab
- 1 bottle of cheap white wine
- 1/2 cup light rum
- 1/2 cup triple sec
- 1 can frozen lemonade
- 1 cup lemon lime soda
- assorted unripe fruits (limes, oranges, strawberries, grapes – whatever you like!)

Okay!
1. Add fruit to pitcher, followed by triple sec and rum. Let sit for minimum of 15 minutes.
2. Add wine to fruit and alcohol mixture. Let sit for as long as possible so flavours can mix, 8 hours is recommended
3. Add lemonade and soda last, to taste.

Lately I’ve been noticing that little voice coming back. If I get a haircut and it doesn’t turn out right I can’t shake the idea that “I don’t look feminine enough anymore”, or I’ll put my goals and dreams on the back burner in favour of catching up with everyone I can because I hear that little voice telling me that “good friends never say no”.

I’ve always tried to choose which kinds of thoughts I pay attention to. In my experience if you feed the good ones and ignore the bad ones, you can be in for a quality of life shift but lately my ability to ignore the bad ones and focus on the good has been slipping.

So I’m making a change.

This week I’m starting a big effort to be extra positive and stop buying into what that little voice has to say. If I’m awkward at times, I want to love that part of me as much as I love the witty and cute parts. If things are hard, why do I think it’s more valid to beat myself up than it is to be encouraging? I need to be my biggest cheerleader, because if I won’t get behind me, who will?

Sometimes I wonder what our lives would look like if we changed the stories we tell ourselves about who we are.

Are there any stories you tell yourself  that aren’t helping you be who you want to be?

ps – The lovely Amy from Just a Titch interviewed me today about leaving the entertainment industry last year, being confident & how to start over, you can find it here!

There’s something about the summer that just bubbles over, and when festival season starts you know that sweet time you’ve waited for all year is finally here. From folk music to theatre, food, and culture July and August can leave you breathless in the best way.

This past week was crazy- I almost finished a new hot pink cowl with the help of my new friends at knitting night, Mister was away on business which made for an interesting juggling of chores and puppies and work, and all of my friends who moved away in the past few years were back in town and catching up over wine on my deck. It was one of those weeks where by the start of the weekend I was ready to curl up and sleep for days… only who can sleep when there’s a theatre festival on??

I collected Mister from the airport and we headed downtown to wander through the endless pop-up shops while bumping into old theatre friends, and eating the most delicious cake (called cakettes) that I’ve ever had in my life from a shop called Cakeology. The graffiti outside the shop doesn’t do it justice at all – it needs at least a hundred more yum’s.

This weekend was a reminder of what makes life really delicious: old and new friends, cheap & tasty Indian food, and reuniting with the people who know you best.

Oh, and cake for breakfast when you need it :)