holiday cheer! christmas shopping must-haves!

Posted by kait / October 31, 2012

It is not even quite November yet and I am already SO excited to embrace 2012’s holiday season. I’m not sure if you are anything like me, but year after year I have every good intention of getting my Christmas shopping done well in advance, yet somehow that plan always gets abandoned and I find myself frantically searching for those perfect gifts. This year will be different and I hope to help you (and myself!) find some extra special gifts for the amazing people in our lives.

This is the first installment of a little holiday shopping series I am working on with The CORE leading up to their incredible second annual Christmas shopping night event, T’was The Night. I was in attendance last year and let me tell you that there was every bit of glitz, glamour and music that you would expect from a sparkly holiday shopping party. There was so much charm to the evening, with the massive Christmas tree lighting to delicious treats and giftwrapping services – it almost felt like you were in one of those 1950s Christmas movies in the department stores of the past. I loved it.

Since it isn’t officially the holiday season until we say bye-bye to our carved pumpkins, today I am sharing my favourite things to gift yourself before you begin your Christmas shopping expedition. We all need those perfect items to keep us looking good, hydrated and within budget and I’ve got the perfect finds right here to get your started!

01. The perfect gift is only truly perfect if it is wrapped up beautifully as well. While you can always go with the classic brown paper packages tied up with string route, I am opting for something a bit more opulent. Papyrus, located on the main level of The CORE, has an absolutely incredible selection of wrapping papers for just about every occasion. Their holiday collection is stunning and comes in classic prints like a red tartan and Santa’s sleigh imagery. My fave of the bunch? The gorgeous and quirky Owls in Trees papers!

02. A unique Christmas card is honestly hard to come by which is why this hilarious card stopped me dead in my holiday shopping tracks. More than just books, Indigo has a great selection of holiday cards and gifts. This card will do any mantel proud this holiday season.

03. Avoid the last minute hustle and bustle (and dipping into your savings) by using this handy-dandy money and receipt tracker. Keep your shopping lists for all the special people in your life along with your spending budget, it really is the perfect solution to temptation of impulse buys and straying off budget.

04. I fell in love with this gorgeous red leather tote from the GAP on first look alone. Boxy and roomy, this tote will have the mileage and room to take you from one end of The Core and back. And hey, you might as well look real good while you find the perfect gifts for your loved ones.

05. Beyond your money & receipt holder, you’ll also need a secure and bigger than normal wallet to hold on to gift cards, gift receipts and coupons. This snakeskin zip wallet has enough glamour to it that you can take it out shopping and then out for a drink after.

06. Quite possibly the most important item on the list, you are gonna need something cute to tote around your caffeine while you peruse the shops. This to-go tumbler from Starbucks caught my eye with its lovely copper glint – who says you can’t have practicality and beauty rolled into one?

Check out The CORE Shopping Blog for more posts!

All gifts found at The CORE.

01. Wrapping Papers, , $8.95-$9.95 / 02. Ugly Sweaters Christmas Card, Indigo, $13.00 / 03. Money Receiptables Folder, Indigo, $15.99 / 04. Red Leather Tote, GAP, $125 / 05. Piper Wallet, Club Monaco, $98.50 / 06. Starbucks Anniversary Tumbler, $14.95

put a bird on it: last minute costume idea

Posted by kait / October 30, 2012

Looking for a last minute costume idea for tomorrow night? My super simple Put a Bird On It DIY over at Swerve Magazine is perfect for the last-minute ‘weener! All you need is a pair of shades, felt and glue!

Wrapped Books DIY

Posted by kait / October 25, 2012

I love the look of wrapped books. Do you remember wrapping your textbooks during grade school? I just loved the scent of the brown craft paper and creasing the folds just so. Here is a super fun way to dress up some of those books on your shelf that have seen better days. Just grab some pretty wrapping paper and you’ve got yourself a stack worth showing off. Check out the full tutorial over at Swerve Magazine.

Also, don’t you just loved those Andy Warhol soup cans from Target? My lovely friend Micaela in Texas managed to pick them up for me! What a girl….

Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Posted by kait / October 24, 2012

When in doubt make like Holly Golightly and have breakfast at Tiffany’s. Yes, Tiffany’s and yes breakfast – with diamonds. I attended their intimate Blogger Breakfast celebrating the 175th Anniversary of Tiffany & Co. and what a celebration it was. Each of our place settings came complete with one heck of a diamond ring. We didn’t get to take them home of course, but believe me that a room full of fashion lovers and bloggers didn’t try on every single ring. In fact, the ring placed in front of me had a lovely price tag of $73, 000 and believe me it was heavenly.

It was so lovely to drink coffee while listening to Tiffany’s Calgary Director, Elizabeth Hellebrand and her team tell us all about diamonds and what makes Tiffany’s diamonds so special. For one example, no one in the world will ever have the exact same ring as you from Tiffany’s. They never cut diamonds to fit a setting – they let the diamond lead the way. Could there be anything more fabulous than having a completely unique engagement ring?

I also decided that I am completely smitten with full circle diamond rings. They look amazing stacked with other rings or on their own. Super sparkly, this kind of Tiffany’s ring twinkles whether you are coming or going (diamonds on all sides!).

Did you know that the engagement ring was invented by Tiffany’s? Charles Lewis Tiffany, the founder, introduced the world famous Tiffany Setting in 1886. Our left hands might be slightly less blinged out if it weren’t for him! It certainly changed the importance of an engagement as well as the lust for a gorgeous high quality diamond ring.

I’m off to go listen to Moon River on repeat and daydream about the beautiful breakfast. Thanks Tiffany & Co.!

Some DIYs to Keep You Busy

Posted by kait / October 23, 2012

So excited to share these new DIY projects I have been working on over at Swerve Magazine. I think just about everyone is doing painted pumpkins this season – they are popping up on my instagram and Pinterest. And the felted wreath was SO fun to make – though I did burn my fingers a couple of times on the hot glue!

Here are the links! Enjoy!

DIY Felted Foilage

Glam-o’-lanterns DIY

saskatoon berry preserves!

Posted by kait / October 23, 2012

Remember back in the summer when I went and picked as many Saskatoon berries as I could? Well, I made them into delicious preserves just for you! Mixed up with some yummy BC blueberries, I have made a sweet and tangy Saskatoon Berry & Blueberry Preserves. Served up in a 250ml jar, this delicious spread is amazing on toast with butter or slightly heated up for dripping over vanilla ice cream.

I am selling these yummy little jars for $6 each.

If you are local in Calgary, I can do pick up/drop off or if you are based elsewhere in Canada, drop me a line at {} and we can chat about shipping costs.

Gonna go eat some toast now….. xo

DIY: Oh My Sign

Posted by kait / October 19, 2012

I am so excited to share with you one of my most favourite DIY projects I have ever done. I love the look of rusted metal lights that look like they fell off an old marquee sign or have aged beautifully in an abandoned carnival so I decided to create my own, complete with the vintage-look round bulbs! This project was done for Swerve Magazine and you can check out all of the steps to making your own here. It was so much fun, was super inexpensive and looks amazing on my office wall. Definitely what this room was missing!

Oh and did I mention that it is made of foam core?! Yes, it is a faux rust treatment I applied to the painted letters and I couldn’t be happier with the effect. I hope you enjoy this DIY and I would love to see some others take this idea and make it even bigger. I could picture it in a cute boutique or filling a whole wall!

Have fun crafting! x

listen here, andy shauf

Posted by kait / October 17, 2012

I have friends with incredible taste in music. I used to be able to say I had my hand on the pulse of the music scene here in Calgary back when I was running New Canadian Modern but to completely honest, the music I’ve been purchasing lately has been spur of the moment, can’t go wrong with your favourite bands kind of music. Which is no crime, I love to support my favourite Canadian artists time and time again by picking up their vinyl or iTunes. However, sometimes I do feel like I am missing out on some very talented artists. Thankfully, the aforementioned friends with incredible music tastes keep me up to speed on what is happening and who is coming to town.

I was so lucky to receive an advance copy of Andy Shauf’s new album, The Bearer of Bad News. The instrumentation and musicianship, alone, on this album speak volumes to Shauf’s vision and creativity as a songwriter. The smooth vocals meld with clarinet and piano, perfectly building up to the soundtrack of your autumn roadtrips. I already know this album will be on repeat for the next couple of weeks, for sure.

I can’t wait for his November 7th show at The Lantern (1401 10th Ave SE) in Calgary along with other hometown hero’s Reuben & The Dark. It is going to be a magical show and a wonderful excuse to get out on a Wednesday evening. This new album will be available as well.

And to leave you with a bit of beauty + sound, here is the tour video teaser filmed and produced by local filmmaker, featuring a snippet of the melodic dreams that Andy Shauf has to offer.

from on .

time to visualize!

Posted by kait / October 17, 2012

My husband and I are both visual learners – we learn by being shown how to do things. If something is not written down or right in front of my face – it doesn’t exist for me. Which can be detrimental since I am a big ideas person – I need to write or tack ideas up immediately or else they vanish into my forgetful black hole. We’ve been talking about it for awhile, how we need to visualize some of our plans and dreams – right now most of them are abstract fragments floating around each of our respective brains. Vision or inspiration boards are a great way for a couple to pull together their life list into a visually stimulating exercise. Now, I am sure some husbands would roll their eyes at the thought of getting out scissors and magazines with their wife – but it is actually FUN to tear out whatever catches your eye and pin it up. Think of the days before Pinterest – collages full of fashion inspiration and home ideas. If you need a visual reminder of where you want to be in life – this is an extremely effective way to do so!

Friday night, sushi (or pizza! Tough call), stacks of magazines, a good movie – and real thoughts about what we want our dream life to be. Travel more? Start a family? Build furniture? Create more? Makeover our style? Picture our dream house? The possibilities are endless and I can’t wait.

Photo via Johanna Vintage

Inspired: Intimate Apparel + Giveaway

Posted by kait / October 16, 2012

Last Thursday I attended Blogger Night at Alberta Theatre Projects. I was invited (along with Byron as my guest) to see the preview of Intimate Apparel, a heart-wrenching production about a young African-American seamstress (Esther) who whips up stunning pieces of intimate apparel for her clients: well-to-do white women. Her unique inner circle of “friends” includes the laidback piano-playing gal-about-town Mayme, the trying-to-be-upright Mrs. Van Buren, the adorably passionate Jewish fabric dealer, the loving and motherly Mrs. Dickson and the mysterious man, George, writing her letters from Panama. The way Esther interacts with each one of these characters and how she touches each of their lives expresses the power of love surpasses any issues of race, religion or class.

A truly inspiring play – with plenty of laughs and tears along the way.

I would love to give you the opportunity to see the play yourself and ATP has kindly passed along two tickets to the show on October 23, 2012 at 7:30pm.

Here are the details:

To be entered three times to win two tickets for Intimate Apparel is what to do! This giveaway is only open to residents of Alberta and who can attend the October 23, 2012 7:30pm production of Intimate Apparel at the Martha Cohen Theatre in downtown Calgary.

1) Leave a comment here telling me why you love live theatre!

Once you’ve done that, you can also gain a second entry by tweeting about the contest:

2) Send this tweet out to your followers, “Hey ! I love theatre and I would love two tickets for Intimate Apparel at on October 23! #yyc #giveaway”

Wait! You can get one additional entry by heading over to Facebook:

3) .

Good luck everyone! I will randomly draw the winner on October 22nd!

Thanks again to Alberta Theatre Projects for this great giveaway!