Sweater Season

As soon as the temperatures begins to dip in mid-September, I get excited to pull out my sweaters and begin layering them to stay cozy on those cool early fall nights. As we are now in mid-December, most days I’m rotating between chunky knits, oversized cardigans and soft turtle necks.

So when UNIQLO reached out to share their new collection of sweaters I jumped at the opportunity to try them on and style them for the season. Although this post is sponsored by UNIQLO all opinions are 100% my own.

What I look for in my knitwear is very specific and I always gravitate to whites and cream knits, (I have around 10 white[ish] sweaters that I love). It’s likely because they are so easy to style with any print, pattern and colour. I’m obsessed with the texture and cut of this 3D Lambswool sweater, that has the perfect V-neck in the front and a mini one in the back and cocoons out in shape allowing it to be ideal for layering.

 

For the past few years, I’ve lived in turtle necks. Tight and tucked-in or oversized and chunky; turtle necks are one of the ideal cuts for sweaters. And it was love at first sight when I tried on this fine Merino wool turtle neck. The fabric is super soft, fine and fitted but not too tight.

After wearing it twice, I downloaded the new UNIQLO CA App, picked it up in two more colours and had them shipped directly to my door. I’ve worn it tucked into jeans and track pants, under overalls and dresses and layered with a chunky cardigan for a sweater on sweater look. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve seen me in them via my stories and feed for the last month or so.

 

 

With the holiday season officially starting, a great way to take knitwear into a more formal setting is with a sweater dress. Because knitwear could add a little bulk, I like to keep things more fitted when it comes to dresses allowing the material to hug your curves. This Extra Fine Merino Wool dress is a great fit and flare cut, making it super flattering. I added simple statement earrings to help highlight the mock turtle neck, adding a touch of glam to the look.

Having cozy and effortless basics to turn to makes getting dressed in the dark easier and the luxurious knits at UNIQLO are going to continue to be the go-to piece for the upcoming winter season.

SweaterTurtle neck and dressUNIQLO Canada, Glasses: Clearly.ca
Jacket & Pants: Banana Republic, Boots: Zara, Jeans: Target, Shawl (actually a blanket): Vintage, Shoes: Nicholas Kirkwood for Erdem

Nursery Reveal


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When purchasing our new home years ago, we decided on a 3 bedroom, with a master bedroom,  a home studio and the third to be a man-cave, that would turn into a nursery once the time came. Well, I got pregnant a few months after moving in making Trevor’s dream man-cave unfulfilled.

For our nursery, we wanted our small space to feel clean, bright and yet invoke a magical feeling, but as we didn’t know our baby’s gender it was important to keep the space as neutral as possible.  Our goal for the room was to give Sterling a room that he would love to grow up in.

We started with the search for white furniture that would provide as much storage as possible (small space problems). When I came across the Baby Knightly Wyatt 3-in-1 convertible crib at West Coast Kids, I knew I had struck gold. I loved the simple and smart design of the solid wood crib, the brass metal accents and of course the storage trundle. It also has the ability to convert into a toddler day-bed and a full size bed, meaning we’d only be investing in one piece of furniture that would last for a longer period of time.

Our nursery has two large windows and gets tons of natural light and we knew we wanted our only real wall to be an accent wall, but were unsure if we wanted to paint or wallpaper. We came across Rocky Mountain Decals on Instagram, a Canadian company that specializes in easy to install and removable wallpaper. Trevor and I fell in love with the Misty Mountain wall mural and thought it would be the perfect neutral backdrop for our little explorer. The installation of the mural was easy, a simple peel and stick application and took Trevor a few hours to put up. The fact that its effortless to remove is also amazing, as when Sterling grows we can update his accent wall to a different one of their fantastic murals or papers. Check out this video of the install of the mural.

Once we had our accent wall picked, I began to look for accessories and decor that fit the mountain theme. When I found The Butter Flying (again on Instagram), a Montreal-based brand, I loved the idea that the mobile would be the clouds. These hand-made mobiles were so delicate and beautiful, adding the perfect amount of special charm.  The Butter Flying and I have teamed up to offer you 10% off The Butter Flying’s Etsy shop by using the coupon code 10HAPPY. 

When it came to planning Sterling’s linens we wanted to make sure that the pattern or print would make sense against our Rocky Mountain Decal mural. We soon fell in love with the playful Bison pattern from Little Unicorn. We picked out the Brushed Crib Sheet and Brushed Muslin Cotton Quilt and a bunch of their swaddle blankets (Tropical Leaf, Lemon and Bike Family seen here) to wrap him in while he sleeps.

Flooring was one of the final details for the room to help ground the space and add an element of warmth. We have hardwood floors throughout our home and I wanted to have a plush rug for Sterling to play on. Lorena Canals available at West Coast Kids is an amazing line of machine washable rugs that specialize in creative and fun prints and spaces meant for nurseries. We never know what will end up on our rugs with a cat, dog and baby so it’s important for this to be durable and easily machine washable.

Sterling’s room is small, so we needed to make sure that we picked things that complimented the space. The Keekaroo Peanut Changer has been the ideal for us, sitting perfectly on top of his dresser, thus taking up no real estate on our floor. Our Peanut is slip resistant and made of a material that won’t allow fluids to penetrate. I also love how easy it is to wipe clean (because accidents happen), without adding any laundry. 


Parasol Diaper in Dream

Around the room the decor that can be found are wooden toys, classic books and his future accessories (shoes and hats) that give the room that fashionisto feel.

Plan Toys Lacing Sheep


Playforever Midi Race Car Bonnie


Cloud B Sleep Sheep Smart Sensor

A Little Lovely Company Light Box

Converse Infant Chuck Taylors, Everything is Mama by Jimmy Fallon, Your Baby’s First Word will be Dada by Jimmy Fallon


Shoes: Mally Designs, Dino: DIY

I am absolutely in love with our nursery and I hope Sterling will love it too. Check out the other room reveals in our home: Kitchen & Living Room.

I received products compliments of and/or in collaboration with West Coast Kids, Rocky Mountain Decals, The Butter Flying, but all opinions are 100% my own. If you are interested in working together in please contact me (barbara.ann.solomon@gmail.com) or Krista at Shine Influencers (krista@shineinfluencers.com).

Year in Review: 2017

2017 was a year that had its ups and downs, but overall I’m happy with the outcome. They say that everything happens for a reason and over the year I feel like I’ve learned so much about myself, my family, health and wellness and am excited for the adventures that 2018 will bring with #babyNegin joining us.

Some of my favourite fashion moments and memories from 2017:

My Focus on Mental Health
2016 was a difficult year for me personally, so when this past year rolled around, I made it a goal to focus on mental health and wellness, ensuring I spent time outside, reflecting and finding mindfulness while living in the moment.

Coach_Rexy2

T-Rex Love

on-a-winter-walk3

Winter Walks

walk-this-way

New Year, New Glasses

time-for-change

Time For Change

tacopoms

Life Happens

Our New Home
After a long delay, we finally moved into our first home back in late February and were able to share our first two room reveals. Up next, once it’s finished, will be the nursery which we have been putting together for a few weeks now.

barbara-kitchen

Our Kitchen Reveal

prego-belly_living room

Living The Dream

Styling The Bump
Trevor and I planned to start a family in early 2018 and were fortunate to get pregnant right away. Since then, my pregnancy has not been so easy as I’ve struggled with morning sickness, carpal tunnel and lots of hip and joint pain. We are now reaching the end (37 weeks currently) and could not be more excited to welcome our baby into our family.

GANNI

Summer Vibes, At Last

stella mccartney

Wedding, Set, Go

holding on

Holding On

onawalkwith-a-taco

Maxi Momma

ASOS blue-baby-1

Baby Blue

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Little Black Maternity Dress

Pink-Blush

Floral Wrap

little-taco-face

Overall Obsession

ripe-maternity

Holiday Sparkle

Shop-Tobi

Leopard and Layers

2018 will be an exciting year filled with more changes than ever before, and cannot wait to share all of details with you. I also wanted to shout out to some of the amazing brands I partnered with this year; Delta Faucet Canada, Clearly, Tobi, Carry Maternity, Pink Blush, Daniel Wellington, Coach, One of a Kind Show, and Westowne Mazda. If you are interested in working together in 2018 please contact me (barbara.ann.solomon@gmail.com) or Lindsay @ Shine Influencers (lindsay@shineinfluencers.com).

Sew-Trendy-Accessories_Final2_alt

Can’t wait to meet you in 2018.