the heart of the home

There's something about rustic kitchens and dining rooms i am currently going crazy about. And by rustic i don't mean swiss alpine chalet style furnitures or checkered curtains. Think reclaimed wood dining tables or kitchen cabinets, granite countertops, brick or cobblestoned walls type of rustic. With a little french shabby chic thrown in. Plenty of greens, open top shelves, quirky antique tin signs or posters and copper pots hung along a wall or over the kitchen island.

the dining rooms:

oh the acres and acres of lovely wood

loving the mismatched chairs and the statement gigantic mirror

the kitchens:

note the granite sink (love)

open shelves

Photos sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Calgary, Alberta

The scenes:

downtown calgary

university of calgary

banff

banff

bow river

The kids (and grown up :) )

The grub:

a very very lovely restaurant in canmore

LunaBlue

oyster burger at a local seafood shop

gorgeous brunch at Big Fish

the best salad I've ever had (really) LunaBlue

cheeseburger with all the works, at home

sweet potato pie, at home

We

Waiting (im)patiently for my Pembrook booties, Steve Madden's homage to the coveted Isabel Marant's Dickers (swoonsome), to arrive. Just because at $600ish per pair, I simply cannot afford the latter!

Kate Bosworth, a Dickers devout

As usual, starting to get bored while growing my hair out. Loving both these looks:

Rachel Bilson's ombre hair:

or Posh's new lob is quite funky too:

But Posh's style means I have to (gasp) cut my hair, which I don't think I'm ready to as it takes ages to grow it out. So I'm tempted to DIY bleach ombre-style like Miss Bilson (have been studying a few ombre hair DIYs on youtube). Do I dare to? Not sure...still contemplating. Risky business, this, but being a hijabi, I don't really mind if I screw up hehe. The boyfriend will just have to bear it for a while if my hair turns into something out of Lady Gaga's music videos.....also i could always chop off the lightened ends and get Posh's lob! Brilliant.

paris 2 years ago....my third time to one of my favourite cities, but the boyfriend(husband, actually, but that sounds so blah) was not impressed. the haughty, nonchalant parisians are part of what's interesting about the city, but nope, doesn't work with the boyfriend.

7 months pregnant with my little bear