a peony princess: April 2011

Friday, April 29

Friday finds from Etsy

Happy Friday everyone! There's wedding fever all around the world! I can't imagine the frenzy in London, it just must have been sheer and wonderful madness, no? And Kate's dress! Loved.her.dress. Wasn't it beautiful? And Pippa's too! Stunning!
Wishing you and yours a lovely weekend!

an exquisite custom headpiece ~

portobello

'just a girl' 8x10 print ~
alicewphotography

a dreamy confection of tulle, silk, and lace ~
clairelafaye

pretty fabric and pearl bridal necklace ~

florabond

vintage paper 'love birds' cake topper ~

tuckandbonte

a place for rings and things ~

palomasnest

jeweled cream and ivory keepsake bouquet ~

EmiciBridal

Are you feeling the love? ♥

xoxo for now!

Tuesday, April 26

Miss Kate Middleton

I must confess, I have fallen for the new soon-to-be princess, like so many others, and I am very much looking forward to the upcoming wedding. I think Kate is just beautiful and I cannot wait to see the wedding dress she will wear. She will be stunning! I remember watching Princess Diana get married when I was just a small girl. I can recall sitting in front of the TV with my sister, both of us in complete awe over her wedding dress with the seemingly neverending train. I wanted so badly to be one of the flower girls!

I wish that I had a fabulous hat to wear to the royal wedding, even if I will just be watching from my living room. There will be so many great hats in the crowd, I'm sure! I wouldn't mind wearing this gorgeous one for the big day...

In anticipation of the wedding, Butter London has released a lovely limited edition nail polish, cheekily named 'No More Waity, Katie'. It's a pretty greige shade with lilac glitter. It looks fun!

I'm curious, will you be watching on Friday? Are you too smitten with Miss Kate? xo

Wednesday, April 20

spring means salads...

Always around this time of year I start thinking of good, crisp salads with homemade dressings. With the days getting longer and warmer, albeit a tad slowly, I like the ease of salads for supper. Gone (okay, going) are the one-pot dinners, the casseroles, and the hearty, stick-to-your-ribs soups. For supper tonight I'm having a bowl filled with tender baby spinach leaves, sliced avocado, chopped almonds and crumbled goat cheese, all topped with grilled chicken and finally, drizzled with this simple homemade vinaigrette. This is one of my faves ~ it's sweet, it's tangy, and it reminds me of a dressing that Pagliacci's makes, a really great local restaurant here in Victoria.

Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette

3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp pure maple syrup

1 tsp dijon

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tsp each salt & pepper

2/3 cup good extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup apple juice

Whisk together first 5 ingredients. Gradually add oil, whisking until well blended. Thin the consistency with apple juice until desired texture is achieved. Enjoy!

Friday, April 15

Friday finds from Etsy

I am really liking this gray and yellow colour combination that I have been eyeing up in magazines lately. I might try to incorporate these colors into my bedroom. At the moment, I have warm gray walls with pink accents but I think I would like to switch up the pink for hits of yellow this year...just to freshen up the space for spring and summer. Happy Friday!

'hello spring' the pillow said ~
bestillshop

the perfect little gray dress ~
Lirola

where would you like me to sit? ~
MamaTita

pretty up those heels for spring ~
LindenLovebirds

soft leather bag with a bow ~

arebycdesign

suzy homemaker never looked so good ~

CreativeChics

love this fun, whimsical print ~

LoveSugar

a fabulous wool fedora for the breezy days ~

Zenithats

Anything you are liking today?

xoxo for now!

Tuesday, April 12

a dreamy garden....

Country Living

On the topic of gardening, isn't this a gem? It's rustic, it's homegrown, it has al fresco dining, and I am loving all of it! My husband and I dream of someday owning beautiful property complete with a pretty farmhouse. Well, okay so the pretty farmhouse is my dream but we both share the 'living in the country' dream. Someday, I hope. *sigh*.

While I was growing up, my parents had a wonderful piece of property out in the country, we lived about 20 minutes from town. We had three acres that were filled with beautiful flower beds and vegetable gardens, a pond, ducks and a great big deck. Many nights we were surrounded by our family and friends. It's funny, back then I never had any appreciation for the property or the gardens, or all of the space we had. I can actually remember being embarrassed at times, feeling like a little country bumpkin and longing to live in town, in a new home in a new subdivision, like all my friends did. Gosh, I just shake my head at that now. My parents no longer live in that house, it was sold years ago, but when my siblings and I drive back to the area we all have confessed to driving by 'our old home'. I suppose we all can appreciate now having land like that.

Hope you enjoyed this garden too!

Friday, April 8

Friday finds from Etsy

Happy Friday to you and yours! Any fun plans for the weekend? Weather permitting, I am hoping to get out in the garden. There is some much needed work to be done! Admittedly, I am not much of a gardener. I love to pour through gardening magazines in the spring, and I love to spend a morning at the nursery filling my cart with perennials, annuals and bulbs, and I even love to dig in the dirt and plant my new pretties, but afterwards when it comes time for the work part of it all, I fall short. I wish there was a little garden fairy who would come and dead head, water and weed for me while I sat with a glass of white wine and watched. My garden looks so green and full of promise during the month of May, but come September it's a sad and tired, overgrown mess. My sister though is a fantastic gardener and her garden is always beautiful. We laugh that she got our Granny's green thumb while I inherited the baking bug. I suppose you can't have it all. Have a lovely weekend!

a bit of sparkle is always lovely ~

LaraLewis

ribbon and paper favor boxes that have me swooning ~

ImeonDesign

a sweet print for the kitchen ~

BluLima

a blue and breezy headband ~

Mandizzle

beautiful ceramic string lights for when

the garden party flows well into the evening ~

PigeonToeCeramics

romantic clutch for the summertime ~

RedRubyRose

another stunning fine art floral photograph ~

HilaryUpton

for a pretty pop of color near the face ~

EllaRainDesigns

Any lovelies caught your eye?

xoxo for now!

Wednesday, April 6

an act of kindness

What a delight it is to open the mailbox and see a little package waiting there for you! I was a lucky winner in a pay it forward giveaway draw over at Razmataz, and yesterday I received a package full of spring lovelies, for no reason but simply because she was forwarding on a little act of kindness. I love it!

3 pretty cards with a bright, glossy photo on the front, left blank for a personal message, and 3 adorable clay tags (one little bunny with a teal ribbon was broken on his journey, but he was quite lovely too!). When my husband walked into the room, saw the envelope, wrappings, and goodies, he rolled his eyes and asked me what I had ordered from Etsy now. Well, little does he know about random acts of kindness! Thanks ever so much Razmataz!

Here is a sweet bird tag doing a lovely job of dressing up a bottle of wine...she shall sit perched like this until I give her away at Easter time.

Tuesday, April 5

pretty darn good brownies

If you are in need of a really good brownie recipe, look no further! This is a keeper! I thought I had my faithful, go-to brownie recipe but I have to say she's been replaced.

You might recognize this recipe from the cover of February's Bon Appétit magazine where they are claimed to be 'best-ever brownies'. I hesitated at first when I read the recipe over because it doesn't call for any melted chocolate just cocoa powder and I wondered, could they possibly be chocolatey enough? They are indeed...they are fudgy, dense, with a deep chocolate flavor. The recipe also calls for the butter to be melted and browned which adds a subtle nuttiness.

These were absolutely someone-hide-these-from-me delicious. Got a hankering anyone?

Friday, April 1

Friday finds from Etsy

Well, here we are again with the weekend only a stone throws away...how nice for us! I am looking forward to a lovely weekend filled with friends and family. At one point, my sister and I will be joining a dear friend of ours as she goes wedding dress shopping. Fun, right? For me, there is just something wonderful about a shop that is filled to the brim with dresses made of satin, taffeta, lace, dupioni and tulle. And as I haven't had a reason to step into a bridal shop in almost 7 years now, I am quite delighted about it!

Wishing you all a fabulous weekend! Happy Friday to you!

fabric rosette beaded necklace in classic summer colours...

StudioElenus