it's my girls' world

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Come on in--- a little peek inside.

I've already done a couple house tours in the past few months so bear with me today.

First there was our sweet old house. The house I loved with all my heart that I brought my two babies home to.

Then there was a peek at our new home! It took something special to lure me away from the old house, let me tell you.... and we fell in love with this beauty.

And now here are a few pictures of what we've done so far in the main areas of our new home. I'll do the before and after for each.

First off, we painted the entire house. D says that I switched the colour of the house from white to white. And I kind of did. Off white to a grey toned white. And we also painted most of the trim white. This made a huge difference!

We painted the door, all the trim, the walls and took down the mirrored pieces in the shelving.

And then the living room

Before:

And after.... trim painted, walls and fireplace painted.

And the kitchen. The befores...

And the after:

We invested most of our spend here. We painted, switched the trim up and changed the counter tops, backsplash, sink, faucets, cook top and down-draft.

(Ignore the dishes in the dish drainer)

And the family room downstairs.

Before

After:

We just painted the orange wall but to me it's made the world of difference.

And there you go. We have so many plans for our home. Be sure to tune in to see what we do in years to come.

Linking up for Show and Tell Tuesday today with Andrea. I can't wait to check out the other houses. Sanctioned snooping is the best!

Monday, July 18, 2016

Weekending--- how is it mid July already?!

I totally blogger failed with my lack of picture taking this weekend but it was full of the aforementioned sunshine and smiles.

We:

+ said a fond farewell to Angel, Cassia's pony for the week, at horse back riding camp

+ had some of Cassia's old school friends and their parents over for a swim and dinner on Friday night

+ enjoyed a lazy Saturday at home during the day as C had the sniffles and wasn't up to much. I did manage to go for a midday walk and Starbucks run.

+ went to an evening get together by some family where we had yummy food, spherical ice cubes, and celebrated an eighth birthday with ice cream cake and Lego cupcakes and conversations that went way into mindnight.

+ slept in on Sunday and went for a late breakfast at a local diner

+ A was excited to have an olive tasting at a local grocery store

+ had burgers, corn on the cob (A had two!) and a playdate with friends on Sunday.

... and just like that it was Monday again.

Happy Monday, lovelies!

Friday, July 15, 2016

Friday Favourites

Summer is here, it's hot and we love it! Here are just a few of our favourites from this week.

1- Did anybody take advantage of Prime Day? I picked up several items.... like this packable coat that I've been eyeing for awhile now (it was 30% off) and just a few little items that caught my eye like a dry brush and microfiber hair towel.

It's wrong, just wrong, to be getting a winter coat in July.

I'm also getting prepped and ready for the best sale in town. Opening up to the masses on A's birthday-- but it might as well be my birthday, I'm so excited for it :-) So many goodies, so little money.

2- Does anyone love "find your iPhone" as much as I do. I swear I use it about twice a day sometimes. It's such a huge time saver with me constantly forgetting where my phone is.

3- My grandma and my aunts came to visit us and spend some time with us last weekend. It was awesome spending time with everyone.... and my grandma (master chef trinidad) cooked #winning. I was exhausted after they left and I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning chatting late into the night with my aunts and got up first thing in the am to spend time with Grandma. It was a wonderful weekend.

4- C has been at horse back riding camp this week- learning about horses, riding and playing games in the hottest week for the year so far. Girlfriend is exhausted on an evening!

5- Speaking of horses, here are mine.

Happy Friday. May your weekend be filled with sunshine and smiles.

Linking up with

Andrea, Erika and Narci for Favourites on Friday

Amy for Hey Friday

Amanda for Friday Favourites

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Healthy Food Swaps….

We try to eat pretty healthy around here. We feel better and have more energy (to chase little ones around) when we make better choices- though I want to bathe in milk chocolate somedays-- ~~maybe everyday~~. We have our treats and it's all about balance but if there are few swaps we can make, why not? Here are a few of my favourites.

Greek yogurt

…..instead of sour cream. You can't taste the difference but the greek yogurt is way more nutrient dense and lower in calories as well.

(Greek yogurt with frozen fruit and honey tastes just like ice-cream- seriously!)

Applesauce

instead of oil with baking. At least for your family… when I'm making brownies or muffins for company, for sure I will use the butter or oil but when it's just me and my kids, I've substituted with applesauce and though my baked goods are a bit drier, they are that much healthier.

Brown sugar

instead of white. All the time. All.the.time. And I cut down on the amount in baking.

Vegenaise

instead of mayonnaise. Half the calories, a fraction of the fat and I really can't taste the difference at all.

Flour

I either mix my whole wheat and white or my favourite to use is the "tastes like white" but is really whole wheat.

Cauliflower

Used in place of rice or potatoes…. I don't use this one nearly enough. Or even pizza crust, though I've never tried that. And speaking of pizza crust, have you ever tried portobello mushrooms instead of pizza crust--- so good!

"Smart" Pasta

instead of white pasta. I only cook this type at home and no one is the wiser. And of course there are zoodles or spaghetti squash for the grown-ups sometimes.

What are your favourite healthy swaps?

Linking up with Annie and Amanda.