Friday, July 30, 2010

Still here!!

Hello my friends,
Just thought I would check in and say I am still without an internet connection at home until August 4th (almost there!!) I really miss looking at all your blogs and hope you still are comig to see me (even though I have nothing posted!) I will be back and can't wait!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! And to my fellow B.C.ers.... HAPPY BC DAY LONG WEEKEND!

xo n huggs,

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Monday, July 26, 2010

Award pour moi? Merci!!!

A huge Thank You to dear Jessica over at The Sea to my Heart for gifting me the Sunshine Award!







How thoughful and generous!

Here is what to do with this award as you pay it forward:
Thank the Blogger who awarded you!
List 7 things people may not know about you!
Pass the Love to three other bloggers you have just recently discovered!
Let the recipients know you gifted them!

Now...Seven things you may not know about me:

1) I have been with Mr Cupcake for 14 years and we were just married last June! We both finished our schooling before we tied the knot!
2) I auditioned for The Lion King in 1997...made it to second round...It would have been such a different life!
3) So excited to get new windows in my house!
4) Have a baking company called Tasty Little Confections -check us out!
5) I am a Registerd Nurse and I love my job :)
6) Could possibly eat sushi every day
7) I have a massive Wizard of Oz collection-best movie of all time

I would love to award these lovely blogs The coveted Sunshine Award!

Dawn at Love Balance Peace
Sandy at Paint Me White
Deb at Cappuccino Cottage

Jump on over and peek into these lovely blogs! J'adore!

Huggs n stuff,

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Fireplace Facelift Part 2

Hi all! Sorry I have been away for a bit...I have had no internet for the last week! The horror! It has been tough!! I have been working around the house a lot! Little things here and there. I finally have the new and improved fireplace sans brass trim!



What do you think? I like it...I am hoping it looks even better with a new built up mantle when Mr C gets the chance to do it! I used High Heat paint in flat black adn it was a dream to use. It went on in one coat with great coverage. SO relived it worked so well! Here is a little close up:



The top of the fireplace is not red at all (it's just the iPhone picture I took). It looks sort of antiqued in person, which I love so I think that will remain as is. Have you ever painted out your fireplace trim? Do you have a fireplace makeover to share?

Stay tuned for Part 3...

Huggs,

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Sunday, July 18, 2010

Fireplace Facelift Part 1

At last I got up the courage to paint my fireplace! As I was sitting watching Mr C cut wood planks for our new patio, I was suddenly overcome with the 'burning' desire to paint the dreary red brick surround. I had all the supplies I needed so I just jumped right in! Turned on my 50's tunes and painted til my heart was content (well, til the fireplace was painted). So without further ado, here is some iPhone pics documenting the event ;)



First vacuumed the surface and wiped it with a damp cloth to get all the dust off.
Next, I used 1 coat of KILZ primer to seal the entire surface.



2 coats of a General Paint dreamy white and it is perfect!
I used a paint brush for the entire job. No roller was harmed in the painting of my fireplace ;)



What do you think so far? So this was the first part of my transformation. Yet to happen is painting out the brass on the black gas fireplace. As you can see, I left the slate (or whatever the black stone work is on the base) for now. Mr. Cupcake and I will also change the mantle in the near future.



Wanting some before shots? Remember this post? I still have to change out the light fixture for a mirror or something pretty. What an odd place for a light! I cant wait to see this through. Stay tuned for Part 2 and 3 in the weeks to come :)

I am on 'hot coals' here waiting for what you think! Any experiences with high heat paint? Any tips? Have you transformed your fireplace from drab to shab (or fab!?) Tell me all about it! I would love to hear from you!

xoxo
huggs n loves,

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Saturday, July 17, 2010

Cat Tree Tutorial

A couple days ago, Mr Cupcake and I decided to spend a hot afternoon outside making Charlie a cat tree from 'scratch' haha! pun intended ;) Here is the finished cat tree/scratch post! Turned out pretty good! We are pretty happy with it and so it Charlie!!



Here is a super fast tutorial of how we did it!

Materials you will need: plywood to cut 2 rectangle shapes
4x4 cut to 30"
carpet remnants
sisal rope 1/4" (we used 50 feet)
staple gun and longer staples
utility knife
Drill
wood screws (3")

Step 1: Cut wood to sizes desired. We cut the base larger than the top and the 4x4 post was 30" high.

Step 2: Cover base carpet and secure with staples



Step 3: Wrap the sisal rope tightly around desired of 4x4. We chose the top so Charlie could reach and stretch. Secure with staples at each end. Next take the carpet and wrap around the post. We actually wrapped the sisal around the top if the carpet to finish it neatly and so Charlie wouldn't just fray the carpet edge.



Step 4: Attach the post to the bottom carpeted base.

Step 5: Cut a piece of carpet, center and secure with staples onto underside of top platform. Attach the top piece of plywood to the top of the post. Measure to ensure proper placement. Now cover the top of the platform with carpet. Be sure to pull carpet tight around edges and staple in place on underside :) You are done! Just vacuum and trim any stray carpet hairs (pun intended again!)



Charlie loves it!



I am pleased to say Charlie, our newly adopted feline, is settling in nicely. Mr Cupcake and I are so happy he is here with us...part of our lil family. Charlie seems to be quite nocturnal and lazy in the day. He is on 2 medications and we are having a hard time getting him to take it. We have tried mixing it in his food (wet) but he is new to wet food and doesn't seem to be a fan!
le sigh...any tips animal lovers??

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Huggs,

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Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Lovely List returns


le sigh, oh to be walking the streets of Paris on my way to sample multiple flavors of these beauties! I think they are so beautiful and cannot wait to try to make them with my partner in crime Rocketgirl. With a cup of your favorite tea or coffee...


photo: daemonsfood

Look at the punchy color! j'adore!


photo: chicline

And now look at Laduree's list de selection:


photo: simplesong

Which would you choose to try first?

If you would like to play the lovely list with me...let me know and I will link to your blog each week on Wednesday! What do you think is Lovely?? It can be absolutely anything!

have a lovely Wednesday indeed!

Huggs,

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Tuesday, July 13, 2010

New Addition-Charlie's Story

I have some lovely news to share with you all! Mr Cupcake and I adopted a fur-baby! We have been looking on the SPCA's website at kittens & cats for a long time now. Sunday night we decided the time was right and we could go meet the cats we saw online. When we walked in we could hear meowing from each of the four rooms. There were 6-8 cats in each room. We met a few little characters but one really 'spoke' to us.



Charlie is a beautiful adult (approx 3 years old) grey tabby cat. A mackerel tabby by proper name. His coat is shiny and soft with bracelets of color around his tail and legs. He has the most beautiful green eyes that looked to be rimmed with black eyeliner-so striking. Charlie came to the SPCA on June 11 and we picked him up and took him home with us on July 12. He was at the shelter for 1 month and a day. He was so sweet and cuddly we knew he would love to come home with us! So we filled out the paper work and the rest is history!










His first night went well. He seemed to keep checking that we were still here! It was as if he was unsure if this was all a dream. But it's real Charlie-you are our lil fur baby now-and we are totally smitten with you! Look at our handsome guy!

I must give a shout out to the Maple Ridge SPCA-what a wonderful crew. They are obviously so in love with all the animals. They are all so well taken care of! If you are considering a new pet please think about adopting one from the SPCA. These animals all deserve a second chance! So glad Charlie has his!

Have a purrrrr-fific day!

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Sunday, July 11, 2010

There's No Place Like Home

Ahhhhh we are home. As much as I love holidays, I love coming home. Soooooo comfortable. We were gone for 10 days and it was so relaxing. I thought I would share a few pics from my vaycay I captured on my lil iPhone.

When we arrive last Friday in Oliver we got our room and headed down to the RV sites to meet up with my family. It was at a perfect spot as all of us were just steps away from each other. Mr. Cupcake and I were greeted outside our hotel room by this little gent:



for those of you who know me I am pretty much terrified by moths...I was frozen so Mr C took this pic!!

My Dad's parents had a massive willow tree in their backyard when I was growing up. They have both passed away and were TERRIBLY missed at our family reunion. I was so comforted by this LARGE willow tree we gathered under for most of our weekend. It was as though they were both there with us. The huge tree hanging around hugging us all with its long willowy branches. At one moment I became a bit tearful and smiled to myself, Grandma and Grandpa "in the blue house" were with us all.



One of the days we were at Lolas house her and her wonderful hubby made us Fish Tacos. Mr C and I had never had them before. Well lemme tell ya, they are delish! So good! I helped Lola make homemade tartar sauce, guacamole and salsa! Sooo fresh and yummo!
PSA: if you have not had a fish taco before....try them!



Well that is just a few snippits from the wonderful relaxing vaycay...So glad to be back in touch with you all...Hope you have a wonderful fantastic week!

Heaps of Love,

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Friday, July 9, 2010

Long Distance shout out!

Holla to all my lovely blog friends! I miss you loads! BUT! I am having a blast up here in wine country :) The weather is sooo hot and the water is f.i.n.e. fine. I of course have a burn in a few areas (nose and shoulders)...So a quick recap goes a lil something like this: Last Friday we arrived in Oliver for my family reunion. Simply stated it was memorable and epic. I LOVE my family so much...even the crazies (we all have em' common!) So many memories. Moday we headed to Beaverdell....my Grandparents owned the Beaverdell hotel in the 1950's so pretty awesome to visit. We were gonna see Nazereth at the hotel (had tickets) but alas, the town was a ghost town...and there was NO food to be had...we hadnt eaten. So we moved on to Kelowna...and we have been and my lovely nursing school kindreds houose ever since. Sunny dayz...lovely. Met up Tuesday nite witha great highschool buddy who is a local radio celeb here -tooo funny! Then we went for dinner at my second cousins house...lovely. Just lovely. Last night we saw ECLIPSE...wow. It was most enjoyable. $40 at the consession later... heehee! So we are just back from the beach again...floaties were enjoyed by all of us for a few hours...so relaxing...I honestly feel more relaxed than I have in over a year. We are boating all day tomorrow and will come home Sunday. I promise to update with a few pics when I arrive back home. Miss you all alot...I have no computer and my iPhone is just not cuttin it. I hijacked my dear friends laptop for this update...

xoxo Have a great weekend...talk to you all soon!! h ya! Wear your SUNSCREEN!!

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Friday, July 2, 2010

The real Friday Post

Well, Happy Summer! I am FINALLY on holidays. Thank you very much! We have a BIG family reunion on Saturday and I cannot wait! You see, my family excels at having a big ole honky tonk whenever we are all together...so hold on to your hats people, let the sing song begin!



Have a wonderful Friday...and Saturday! xoxo

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Thursday, July 1, 2010

Fresh Coat Fridays! (on Thursday)

Once again, the Lovely Holly is holding a painting party! Check out her amazing blog In the Fun Lane here. Her blog is one of my ALL TIME faves! She is so inspiring and very talented :)

I found this little side table at Value Village (a second hand store) for a pretty decent deal. It was $16 if I remember correctly. I really liked it, it came with a glass top insert and I figured I could change the fabric or paper underneath to change with decor. Cute. Here is a before and after!!



I sanded it, primed with KILLZ and the gave it a nice coat (or 2) of white paint!



I distressed the edges that would naturally recieve the most wear...
And here it is accessorized in my living room:



Hope you like it! Have a wonderful Friday!

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