Chris' birthday

Amanda, Chris' Birthday was a success. His family came over and I served cake and coffee. But it was really his birthday gift that was the best part. I had the kids photographed by a wonderful friend Jennifer Parsons and kept it a secret from Chris. The kids were kind of an embarrassment - not smiling or cooperating. In reality, just being themselves. Turns out that being themselves looks good on camera.... Jenn caught exactly who they are.

So I had a photo book made for daddy and he just loved it. How could he not?

The new ice cream cake recipe I tried was also quite yummy. Here it is:

Recipe from www.foodnetwork.com

Ice Cream Crunch Cake

Ingredients 2 1 1/2 -quart containers vanilla ice cream 1 9 -ounce package chocolate wafers (such as Nabisco Famous) 1 7 -to-8-ounce bottle chocolate shell ice cream topping 1 1 1/2 -quart container chocolate ice cream 5 cups whipped cream Rainbow sprinkles, for decorating (optional)

Directions Put a 9-inch springform pan in the freezer for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, let 1 container vanilla ice cream soften at room temperature.

Remove the pan from the freezer. Spread a 1/2-inch-thick layer of softened vanilla ice cream on the bottom and up the sides of the pan. (If the ice cream gets too soft, return to the freezer.) Freeze until firm, about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, pulse the chocolate wafers in a food processor to break into large crumbs. Add the chocolate shell topping and pulse until the crumbs are moist, about 5 pulses; set aside.

Let the chocolate ice cream soften at room temperature, about 15 minutes. Spread over the vanilla layer, firmly packing the ice cream into the pan. Spread the chocolate crumb mixture over the chocolate ice cream. Freeze until set, about 1 hour.

Remove the remaining container vanilla ice cream from the freezer 15 minutes before assembling the final layer. Spread the ice cream over the crumb layer, packing it tightly, then smooth the top with an offset spatula. Freeze until firm, about 2 hours.

To unmold, wipe the outside of the pan with a hot cloth, then run a hot knife around the inside; unlatch and remove the side. If the ice cream cake is too soft, refreeze 20 minutes.

Spread 3 cups whipped cream over the top and sides of the cake. Freeze until set, about 20 minutes. Put the remaining 2 cups whipped cream in a pastry bag fitted with a star tip; pipe along the top and bottom edges of the cake and decorate with sprinkles. Return to the freezer; remove 15 minutes before serving and slice with a hot knife.

-Kate

Kimye collaboration

Amanda, Breaking news! Kimye collaboration for Target coming this December. No preview yet but is supposed to be luxe and will include home goods. Interesting. Source: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/target-announces-next-collaboration-kimye-design-news-201807     -Kate

Fresh family room - Before pics

Amanda, It's funny how the sun starts shining and you feel like change. Change is good.

I looked into my family room a couple days ago and I hated my pillows, hated my curtains and the masculine feel to the room. It was warm and inviting in the winter but like shedding our coats and boots, I knew that it was time to shed my accessories. Maybe it was that Scandinavian blog that I posted about yesterday that was the final inspiration for fresh change. It's happening. The curtains are down, the pillows are put away and a fresh look is coming.

I'm posting before pictures. Stay tuned for afters...

-Kate

Scandinavian blog obsession

Amanda, Have you visited www.myscandinavianhome.com?

It's a beautiful blog by a London girl, living in Sweden who loves Scandinavian interiors. She features homes all over the world with that clean minimalist look. Very inspirational.

Here is a house on her blog owned by a Swedish stylist named Daniella Witte, first featured in www.skonahem.com.

I love love love the herringbone floors. The black and white scheme too. Even the stack of art leaning against the radiator.

Check it out when you get a chance.

-Kate

Change completed

Kate, Ta da!

I am sooooooooo happy with it.  Amazing what $60.00 from Ikea can do.  I love floating shelves and now want them all over the place but that may be overkill.  It was so fun taking my china out of their boxes.  They had been in boxes for 5 years!  I forgot what my wedding china even looked like.  My Grandma (Babcia) will be so pleased.

-Amanda

Project: Thompson Orchard

Michelle and Greg built their dream house in an idyllic west end neighbourhood. Hours were spent picking windows and doors, planning a layout and picking all the finishes of their dreams. Michelle approached us in January with her dilemma. She needed her house to become a home.

When we pulled up to Michelle and Greg's home to assess what needed to be done, without words, we looked at each other and smiled. What an honour to decorate such a breathtaking space.  From the ravine views to the cathedral ceilings, from the expansive windows to the perfect open concept layout, we were awestruck.

Michelle has a modern aesthetic and gravitates toward a "less is more" approach to decorating. With that in mind, we embarked on Project Thompson Orchard. We started by flipping their dining room around and got inspiration for a colour scheme with West Elm's coral pillows.

The rest fell in place. You can see for yourself below.

-Kate and Amanda

Friday Night Food

Kate, We are not having company over tonight so I just made a salad but it's a great salad.  It must seem like all I eat are salads from my two food posts this week but trust me this is not the case!  I needed something healthy to give me energy because this week has totally zonked me with Isla's teething and our lack of sleep.  I usually tend to get into a lot of easy, not so healthy options when I'm feeling this tired (pizza yesterday) but really what is needed is food that makes you feel energized and not like heavy hippo.

The salad was really easy because I made the brown rice in advance and just bought a rotisserie chicken.  On top of that it has feta cheese, grape tomato, chickpeas, spinach and avocado.  I made a honey mustard dressing and voila!  Super easy and very healthy. ( I know some of you may be thinking really!? Brown rice and salad but honestly it's delicious).

Enjoy your Friday night!

-Amanda

Madewell

Amanda, Have you ever bought anything from www.madewell.com?

Leah was telling me about her cute polka dot flats she bought from there and before I knew it I was planning an entire Spring wardrobe on their site.

Look!

I'm even a sucker for the name....I know it's a marketing ploy but I feel like they've convinced me that everything is good quality.

Heard anything?

-Kate

Online Shopping

Kate, One of the things I've noticed since starting this blog is that people love sharing their finds with me.  I've received texts and emails on a great food website (that will be in an upcoming post), a west coast furniture store (again another post) and some shopping sites...that's todays post.

Trish emailed me this site and girl, is it a find!  I love it.  It ranges in price and it is right on the mark for both trends and classics.  I pretty much want everything, not happening, but a girl can dream.  Here it is,

www.keep.com

The second one is www.mikkatmarket.com

I have purchased a few things from here and love it all.  Again, some classic pieces and some trendy.  Great pricing!  I'm currently coveting these pieces.

Now that I'm on a roll about what I'm wanting online I thought I would again share my love for Jenny Bird.  http://jenny-bird.com  Her new spring collection is out and there are two things I really really love.

Hope you enjoy the sites as much as I do.  Sometimes it's a form of torture though and in that case, I'm sorry!

-Amanda

Peek Inside: Peter's Room

Kate, You've seen Peter's room several times but it's not quite done yet.  We still have to hang the JOY sign.  Until then, here's a little peak at his room.

-Amanda

Pillow fancy

Amanda, I was online perusing throw pillows on etsy, finding all kinds of goodies and throwing things in my cart when Chris looked over my shoulder and said,"you aren't buying new pillows are you? Ours are like 5 minutes old!"

So here are some of my finds. Feeling guilty about making a purchase so will keep you posted...

All from www.etsy.com

I particularly love the Kilim pillows. Thinking on my bed.

-Kate

Dolly's Chicken

Amanda, The temperature is supposed to be above zero tomorrow and I got so excited at the prospect that I made a summer chicken recipe for dinner tonight. It's very easy and very tasty. I say that it's a summer dish because the lemon in the marinade makes the chicken light and fresh and it's meant to be cooked on the barbecue.

I got the recipe from my mom who obviously got it from her friend Dolly since she refers to it as Dolly's Chicken. I would love if someone referred to a dish with my name attached to it. Preferably something chocolate.

Dolly's Chicken

4-6 chicken breasts

3 tbsp Olive oil

1 Lemon - squeezed

1 tsp Montreal steak spice

1 tbsp fresh rosemary

1 clove garlic, crushed

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Add the chicken, turning to coat each piece completely. Place the chicken in refrigerator for 30-40 minutes.

Grill chicken, turning and basting occasionally until the chicken juice runs clear.

My mom gave me a loaf of her Soda bread today so it became a part of our dinner. It is also a great recipe so I will provide it below.

Soda Bread

5 c graham flour or whole wheat flour

2 c white flour

1/2 c wheat germ

3/4 c sugar

1 qt buttermilk or whole milk + 4 tbsp vinegar

41/4 tsp soda

3 tsp salt

Combine all dry ingredients and then add milk.

Divide into two greased pans and bake at 375 degrees for 50 mins.

-Kate

Daily Happenings

Kate, I finally went to a dance class last night. It was wonderful and painful!  Just like I remembered it to be.  Actually, truth be told, I kinda forgot the unforgiving ways of a ballet teacher and actually burst out in laughter because of the amount of pain I was in, which was met with a withering look. To say I am sore today is an understatement.  This left me with trying to come up with some calm activities to occupy the day.  So we painted!  Here are Peter's masterpieces.

I helped a bit and I did that black and white dotted piece.  Here's my mostly white piece.  I don't know why I do this so sparingly because it really was so much fun.  Especially for Peter.  His enthusiasm and pride made me so very happy.

I moved on to Ikea to get the floating shelves I need for my dining room and was tempted by this idea for my kitchen.

I finished off with dinner at my parents where my mom made this amazingly beautiful and delicious salad.  It's arugula, spinach, fennel, roasted golden beets, candied walnuts and feta with a balsamic vinaigrette.  It's key to have a high quality balsamic vinegar.

Overall it was a lovely day.  On to folding laundry this evening....waah waah.

-Amanda

Junction finds

Today Amanda and I were in the junction, drooling over Mjolk, the Scandinavian and Japanese store that makes you want to go home and strip your house of colour and accessory and attempt to create the clean and natural vibe that is their store. like this:

We also stumbled across a huge photograph of sky and sand and tiny little people... Must see to understand. Go to peterandrew.ca... The best part is that he is in Toronto. Love to support local artists.

Moving on, we popped into Metropolis Living. Neither of us had ever been in there but we were instantly drawn to the awesome motel sign hanging on the wall:

But it gets better because that sign can be made to order. Make it whatever you want: my husband would have some great suggestions;)

Then we moved to the other side of the street to see what Smash had to offer and what a lovely surprise that was... Turns out they had recently unloaded a wallpaper warehouse and had more wallpaper options than we could ever imagine - beautiful vintage options even. Each roll $10. I bought a cool floral roll that I might use in a frame.

This wasn't even half of it. And lucky for Smash, our toddlers took to rearranging their inventory. Sweet children of ours...

-Kate and Amanda

Dipped

Kate, I've liked this look for at least a year and I'm still digging it.

The basket is already mine but I'm really considering buying planters that I saw at Homsense yesterday that were concrete and spray painting them white and gold.  It's a pretty easy project to add some fun to the deck.

What do you think?

-Amanda

Kate, We had a busy weekend.  My favourite kind of weekend!  Full of family, good friends and good food.  Unfortunately, that meant that house improvements were pushed to the back burner.  The mantel is still not installed but I did buy some paint and a few canvases for Peter and I to attempt some art to be hung next to it.  This may or may not turn out well but the process of painting with Pete will surely be worth it!  I'm pretty confident in his ability to come up with some abstract brilliance. (If only to his mothers eye).

I also ended up making that quinoa recipe from food52 that I blogged about a few weeks back.  It was great the first day but ho hum the second day.  I usually like to make a quinoa that lasts 2 or 3 days in the fridge.  It's still something I will definitely make again though, just in a smaller quantity.

I also filled my pretty new pale pink vase from peaks & rafters with yellow tulips.  Ahhhh, the power of flowers to brighten a home and my mood!

-Amanda

Task lamp

Amanda, While shopping for a task lamp I realized that their are sooo many options out there. It's really a style that has stood the test of time. Moreover, it has evolved into a household staple because it used to be regarded solely as a lamp for a desk/office and now it is being seen on bedside tables and credenzas.... Totally versatile.

Here are some gorgeous examples that can be found around the city:

You posted about this one before: ikea.com and cheap! What you can't see very well is the striping in the cord. A lovely detail.

The above three are westelm.com. I really like the first of them - I think it's the marble base. Unique.

These two are from structube.com. By far Chris' favourite.

This one wouldn't work anywhere because of the teal rope but in the right place could be phenomenal. Crateandbarrel.com

Ahhh elte.com, you never cease to impress.

-Kate

Outdoor Moodboard

Amanda, I'm trying to think warm thoughts despite the sub zero weather. I've been perusing the new outdoor inventory available to us. Some sunny options have come up:

Images via westelm.com, potterybarn.com, cb2.com

-Kate

Little Library

Amanda, I've been so excited about the latest addition to our home: not a baby, not a puppy, but a library! Well, that might be a bit of a stretch.... its a wall to wall bookshelf that is the closest thing I'm going to get to a library.

Remember a while back I talked about a house not being a home until pictures are hung? Well, I'm adding books to the list. There is a quote by Plato that reads: "A house that has a library has a soul." I concur.

I've always admired those gorgeous pinterest libraries - rooms of books and only books. Like this:

Mine isn't quite the same but I'm excited nonetheless.

Here it is freshly installed:

Now my hope is to fill this bookshelf so full of books that I am prying to add one to the mix. To my dismay, I realized that my collection has become quite limited with the age of Kobo and my latest purge when we moved last spring. I'm cursing myself for donating so many books!

Chris suggested, after surveying our empty library, that we go and buy a box of books from The Goodwill.  BUT I firmly believe that our little library should only consist of the books that we've amassed on our own, with the intention of each being read and remembered or already read and enjoyed.

So we settled on adding plants and artwork to fill some of the void.

I think my post on 'pops of colour' somewhat influenced the groupings of this library.

Please buy me a book for my birthday.

-Kate

Pop of colour

Amanda, I'm piggybacking on your comment about how you love a pop of colour in a white room. It's trending right now and I love it too. I've already proclaimed my love of white and my house is proof of that but what makes white so amazing is the backdrop or canvas that it provides for colour....be it art or furniture or a statement piece.

Here are some examples:

Courtesy of: apunchofcolordesign.com, myscandinavianhome.blogspot.ca, Mikeyestrada.vsco.co, stamped.blogspot.com

The possibilities are endless when your walls are white. A colourful painting, some flowers, some books, a vase... They all work. It's such a simple design!

-Kate