Statement Spring

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One of my favourite accessories to invest in are earrings. Timeless, elegant, and statement pieces that can stand alone to add detail and glam to any outfit. I often tag @tnegin in jewellery posts on Instagram to inspire him for my next anniversary/birthday/just cause present. My theories regarding gifting include to know your audience – so never be afraid to give people hints.

Earlier this year, Trevor and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary of being together, which is really surreal and definitely has been feeling all sorts of old. To celebrate this special moment, I was spoiled after pointing out earrings by Michelle Ross while shopping at the One of a Kind show. I loved the distressed aesthetic of antique hammered gold mixed with the fresh water pearls.

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Being my birthstone, pearls have always meant so much to me, and I have been collecting special pieces over the years. These reminded me of a pair of earrings that my mother used to wear of cluster drop-down pearls.This spring, statement earrings are all the rage and there are so many different versions, from natural stones like these, to colourful fringe to (my next purchase) gold hoops.

Dress: Ganni, Earrings: Francie by Michelle Ross Shoes: old (similar, similar, similar), Frames: Joseph Marc from Clearly.ca

Our Kitchen Reveal

They say “good things come to those who wait.” If that’s true, then I’m deserving of all of the good things.

A few years ago, my husband and I, as newlyweds, purchased our first home together. It was a pre-construction, and move in was set for summer 2015. Due to, literally every unforeseen circumstances, we have just moved into our new home this past February, that has three bedrooms and two-and-a-half baths. (Which has also been the reason for my recent disappearance.)

Due to the delays, there were a few things we’ve realized that we had the time to do, like save, plan and invest. Staying in our tiny apartment for those extra years, was definitely a strain to our lifestyle, but as time went on, both of us were able to continue to save money, as we tried to live with our new budget.

We spent a lot of time figuring out how we were going to use the space; today, a year from now, and five years from now. We bought a stacked town house, aka too many stairs – but it’s turning out to be a great workout. Our main floor is an open concept living space that hosts our living, dining, cooking and entertaining. This is my favourite space, probably because it’s the most complete, but also because I’ve been shopping for most of these pieces over the last few years, and at last I can see them.

Today I’m revealing kitchen to you, and over the next few months, stayed tuned as I complete each room and share with you our journey as we make this space our home.

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Trevor, and I are entertainers. We love to host, so creating a kitchen and dining area that made sense for group gatherings was really important to both of us. We started with keeping things open – which meant loosing our upper cabinets and allowing our beautiful collection of dinnerware and serving pieces to shine. We found sturdy and beautiful floating shelves from Silicate + Studio, a design studio and lab in Idaho, and fell in love with the perfect imperfections of their wood pieces.

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Next came to adding the show stopping piece. I was fortunate enough to have partnered with Delta Faucet Canada to upgrade my kitchen space. This Champagne Bronze beauty is not just about her looks, she’s also brilliant. With Touch2O Technology, a simple touch anywhere on the curved spout will turn the water on and off, and will automatically shut-off after four minutes to conserve water. I love the colour and how well it works with the mixed metals, whites and woods, blues and citrus theme I have.

 We still have a bit of work to to do in this space, like adding the rest of our door handles, figuring out storage solutions for our cabinets and adding flush under-mount lighting to the shelves. But overall I couldn’t be happier with this space, it’s exactly what I’ve pictured and had hoped for.
Photography by 2Boo Studio
Faucet: Delta Faucet Canada, Shelves: Silicate + Studio, Dinnerware: Villeroy and Boch, Cookware: Le Creuset, Cake stands, cheese boards, accessories: Hudson’s Bay & Home Outfitters, Cat ring tray: Kate Ubbi,
Barbara is wearing: Top and skirt: Who What Wear Collection, Glasses: Clearly.ca
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Thank you to Delta Faucet Canada for sponsoring this post, all opinions are my own. To inquire about sponsored posts and working together, please email amy@shineinfluencers.com

Netflix & Mom

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Life gets chaotic, busy and at times overwhelming.

As you can see if you follow me on Instagram, I’ve been around, just a lot less, and I haven’t been keeping this blog up-to-date over the last couple months (sorry). But I’m currently taking a moment to reflect, regrow and recharge (self-care will be a topic I focus on in the future). Now I can get back to the things that I love. Lately, I’ve been practicing yoga and meditation, reading, painting and naturally Netflix binging.

Growing up, my mom and I always watched “our shows” together. From American’s Next Top Model to Law and Order SVU, every genre was hit and this was the time we often talked about school and everything going on, in both of our busy lives. When we heard that Netflix was bringing back Gilmore Girls, the two of us began planning for our girls night to watch the series, as mother-daughter opportunities don’t come often enough.

As November 25 got closer, our date-night plans became larger-than-life when Netflix sent us everything we needed for the perfect Netflix and Mom date night to watch the highly anticipated revival of Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life (thanks Netflix). In the kit was everything to get us in the Gilmore mood, from the girl’s favourite snacks Pop-Tarts, Red Vines and buttery popcorn, to trivia games, a Dragonfly Inn scented candle and of course, a giant mug for all of the coffee we’d consume binging the series, plus so much more.

My mom and I spent last Friday night cuddled-up on the couch watching Winter, the first episode of the four-part revival, that had just started streaming on Netflix. Exhausted, we promised to wait to watch the next three parts together, over the course of the next few weeks to ensure we make the most out of this mother and daughter bonding-time.

Have you watched the revival yet? If so, no spoilers!

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This post is in partnership with Netflix.