It's that time of year again...

 That time when my parents head down south for some sunshine and relaxation... but before  I stuff my face with ice cream and chocolate because my mom has gone away for 5 months,  I wanted to share with you lovelies how we celebrated my mom before they headed out.

This year I hosted it at my house and made a feast with all the trimmings except for ice cream and chocolate because I will need those to drown my sorrows. We invited my mom and step dad's good friends to join us as well as my uncle. It was such a pleasure to have all these wonderful  people who I have known almost all my life together to celebrate my favourite person.

I found that even though my hubby, brother and I had to work our little butts off preparing for this get together it was so worth it. I loved sharing a meal with everyone and hearing all the different conversations and laughter.  I will definitely be opening my home up and having more gatherings perhaps more of a "potluck" style from now on.

The menu included:

Turkey roasted with a rub that included rosemary, salt,  pepper, garlic and  butter
Applewood smoked ham,
Nonni stuffing, with bacon, onion, celery and apples added
Sweet potatoes with a touch of syrup, garlic, salt and BUTTER
Mashed potatoes
and of course BIRTHDAY cake ( confetti Angel Food cake) YUM

My step dad doing the honours of carving the turkey

I am smiling here because the business of preparing the turkey is long behind me. I felt AWFUL pulling out that poor birds insides and neck. I kept apologizing to it as I was pulling each piece out. It gave new meaning to having your head up your butt...( sorry) but honestly what a terrible place to store everything!!!!  And don't even get me started on how awful it was to separate the skin on top of that poor bird and then stuff onions, bacon and apples into that space.
I feel like I need to apologize again to that Turkey. SSSOOOOORRRYYYY!
You were delicious though!

Lady of the day!! My amazing Mom

Check out the candles .. how cool is it that the flames are all sorts of pretty?!

Love you Mom

And now I am going to start making a dent into the chocolate....only 4 months and 1 week left to go...

XOXO

A

Here are the pretty Angel Flames!!

http://www.angelflames.com/candleinfo.htm

Look Up Gorgeous

LOOK UP GORGEOUS

You know that awesome feeling in the morning after you have had the best sleep ever and then you open your eyes to your depressing boring white stucco ceiling and than that happy feeling leaves because of that depressing first sight… or is that just me? Lately I am noticing how boring and awful these stucco ceilings in our house are! To me the ceiling is like the bow on top of a beautifully wrapped present it can be nice and modern with clean lines, or maybe a few ribbons running neatly across, or some crazy curly cue ones and then of course there are the beautiful textured bows… Really there are so many options for gift toppers as are there for ceilings. Here is what I am loving right 

Via the Glamorous Housewife

Ornate tin ceiling tiles … Helloooo gorgeous!

This beautiful herringbone design ceiling takes my breath away. The mixture of tones in the wood and that beautiful pendant light are absolutely gorgeous!

I love the grandeur that a Coffered ceiling brings to a space. One day I will have one in my dining room.

What do you think, would you top your space with a fabulous ceiling? 

XOXO

A

Date Night

Happy Friday Loves

I am so behind on my posts!

This one is from a few weeks ago but I need to share.

 The  hubby and I got to go on our first date in over a year!!

I have to say that at first I was a little annoyed that we weren't  going to see Pitch Perfect 2 because that's our thing...... we loved Pitch Perfect so obviously I thought "YAY, we get to go and see it!"

but Mr. M surprised me and told me we were going to a soccer game. I'm not gonna lie I pulled a bit of a pout fest because I really had no interest in seeing a soccer game.

Now this is where you guys are probably going to  roll your eyes and boo me a little bit because it wasn't just any soccer game it was a FIFA Woman's World Cup soccer game!!

Don't fear  I did change my tune as we were driving downtown I started to get excited and I realized this is a big deal.  We were going to a World Cup game!!! 

We got downtown and parked the car,  Mr M and I had a hankering for sushi ... now let me interject quickly into this post and share that it's been five years since Mr. M and I lived downtown.

  Do you think we could come up with a place to go????  For the first time I felt like a suburban mom  lost in the big city!!

but as we all know there are  sushi places everywhere downtown.  We settled on Sushi Library. I bet you can't guess where it is???  

 This place was amazing and the prices were really good too.
 so I'm just going to have to give a little shout out to Sushi Library and to their Agadashi bowl!!  it was absolutely DELISH!!

After the sushi we headed to BC Place to watch Japan versus Cameroon.

As we walked up to BC Place the atmosphere was incredible there were Cameroon fans playing steel drums, Japanese fans decked out in their jerseys; which by the way I loved them (navy with hot pink trim!! Hello gorgeous!)

 So after I tried finding  my own Japan or Cameroon jersey  we realize that the official FIFA stores only carried Canadian gear. I'm all for supporting our country but come on!!  It is the  "World" Cup!!! FIFA could've represented many other countries  at BC Place too!

So after no luck in finding a jersey we headed to our seats.   We were seated in the upper bowl behind one of the nets, a perfect view of the whole pitch! The game was very entertaining and  I have to say I was rooting for the underdogs Cameroon. I just wanted them to score one goal and finally in the last minute they did!!! Cameroon almost tied the game in the last 20 seconds but in the end Japan won.  I had an incredible date night and got to experience a once in a lifetime experience!!

It really was a great way to spend a summer date night!!!

Have a fabulous Friday loves!!

XOXO
A

It's All Beachy

Hello Loves

Happy Monday! We have been busy busy over here at Casa M!  I wanted to share a little living room love. I have been slowly piecing this room together. I am aiming for a beachy eclectic  modern cottage feel for this room. ( did I use enough descriptors ?) 

Above is the vignette I have been curating on our side board. It is a little bit of vintage and modern . I spray-painted our brass candlestick lamps a sea blue and found the  lampshades at Bouclair. The burlap on them gives that perfect beach look. I am really enjoying  the bell jars and all the objects that I can place underneath them.

Right now we have low profile furniture in this room. I am finding that is so inviting and adds a relaxed feeling; like you could just sit down  with your coffee and read a book or host book club meetings with you amazing GFs! 

Just added this beautiful piece of art that was made by one of the local moms in our area.  The colours and statement are perfect for this room. 

 The picture above is of the rocking chair I re-designed. I painted it a matte black and recovered it in a fabric by Dwell Studio.

Oh and how could I forget our beautiful sky lights! It's like we live in a whole new home full of light. 

That's it for now loves !! Happy Mondsy.

XOXO

A

Workout Wednesday - Be Healthy Project

Happy Hump Day Loves!! 

How is everyone feeling? I have been contemplating this post for awhile.. actually for 6 months. You see in July 2014 I decided it was time to get healthy.. I know, I Know, I have said this many times before like HERE and HERE. The difference this time is I have actually kept up with it.  Shocking right? 

I want to share this journey with all of you because quite honestly it is tough and I think we all need a team of cheerleaders to help us when the couch and crap food start to win us over.  

Right now I am in my 5th week of 10km training. I signed up for The Running Room's 

10km Program. I know a lot of people enjoy the freedom of training on their own with such apps as Couch to 5km but I have learned that I am one of those people that needs to be in a class or group in order to push myself and strengthen my abilities. The program calls for 4 runs a week 3 of them are offered at the store plus you receive weekly talks on a variety of running subjects. Which is fabulous! This past Wednesday was our first day of hill training ...sadly I missed it but don't worry about me folks tonight will be another on-slot of HILLS!!( cannot wait for this evening's hills said NO-ONE) 

This week's training for week 5: Wednesday 3X400m Hill =2.5km, Thursday Steady run for 6km, Friday Steady run for 5km and Sunday Long Slow run for 10Km 

I am also hiking the Coquitlam Crunch at least once a week. I was doing it on Saturday's with my lovely "Crayola Crunchers" but because of school...... Yes I said SCHOOL (I will explain later) I am unable to join them now.

 But as fate would have it, I have been invited to join another FABULOUS group of ladies to hike it Monday evenings. It really is impressive how the universe works at times!! 

And next up a group of us have started a series of circuit training that we found through an Instagram account: Kayla Itsines! Have you seen this girls IG feed? It is incredible. So incredible that we ordered her EBOOK. Everyone started it last week and regrettably I can not muster the motivation to start it yet. The sad thing is it only takes 28 mins to do.... But they are a sweaty crazy tough 28 mins.  

I really want to start this but I keep finding better things to do or I push it off the To Do list because I ran that day or hiked. 

I really need to just do it!! So I am asking all of you to be my cheerleaders and help me get over this MOTIVATIONAL HUMP! I will be there for you as well!! All you need to do is ask and I will make sure to check in with you and see how you are doing. Ok So That is it for now. I will keep you posted on the hills tonight and my KM mileage and times. I am hoping to start the circuit training tomorrow .... I will make sure to share and if I don;t can someone please check in with me and remind me that it is ONLY 28 mins and that I will look and feel FANTABULOUS!! 

Wishing you a Wonderful Wednesday LOVES!

XOXO

A

Mastering CALM

So a girlfriend of mine asked me in December what my goals were for 2015, project wise. She asked if there was any big home project that we wanted to finish at Casa M by the end of 2015. Well I thought to myself, what is it that we have been putting off and wanting to do around here,  nothing too major or time consuming. I truly am amazed how people with kids get stuff done. SERIOUSLY how do you do it?

So I came up with 2 projects that we will be finishing by the end of 2015

The first one is our "College Dorm" master bedroom! I am not kidding people, we are talking: a 42 inch flat screen on top of a highboy dresser with the cords streaming down the side of it, two cheap laundry baskets that my high school self would be proud of, over-flowing clutter, and clothes everywhere.

This is not my idea of a "Master Suite"  The pros of the room are: we finally obtained the Hemnes bedframe we have had on our MUST get list for the last 2 years... Thank you Bidding Wars!! The second is Mr. M was able to paint the room in "Decorators White" by Benjamin Moore.

The goal is to create a space that when entered, you immediately feel calm and relaxed.

Here are some pics of our Master bedroom inspiration!!! 

I am so excited to be working on this room FINALLY!!

These "Driftwood" colours are so soothing to me. I just wish the ocean came with them too. Oh to wake up to the sounds of the ocean hitting the shore.... but for now I will have to live with Miss E's sound lamby to create that ambiance.

The colour combo in this room is perfect- the white of the dresser combined with the rustic flooring and the sand walls with the stone coloured curtains is a perfect west coast colour palette!!

  

This bed makes me want to curl up inside it and have the best nap EVER!!!

For our room I will need to:  

• source out a large mirror for above my dresser, 
• sand my bedside table and decide if I should leave it neutral or paint it. 
• remove the 42 inch TV 
• create a focal point on the wall, possible family photos 
• find a rug to ground the entire space
• remove one of our dressers 
• organize our closet creating the best storage solution

And their you have it loves our first Project at Casa M for 2015!!

I am excited to share our progress with you. What about you? What is it about your Master Bedroom that makes you feel at peace?

Happy weekend Loves!!

XOXO

A

Good Bye Wallflower, Hello HAPPY

You know that saying... "Put out to the universe what you would like and the universe will answer"?

Well right now the universe is being awesome!!!!  I am not sure if you know this but I am a shy gal. I am one of those people who is fabulous one on one, but get me in a group and I do an excellent job of blending into the background. It used to really bother me that I couldn't just walk up to someone and say hi and start a conversation.

So you can imagine how  easy it is for me to do new things with people I don't know...

Well guess what? This is the year of YES and I am going to believe in myself, live in the moment, and not wait for the "RIGHT" moment. After two years I finally attended a mommy-group meet-up that I have been wanting to join... and I loved it!!! The kids loved it too and I am so excited to finally be a part of the FLOURISH moms group. 

These women were friendly and so welcoming. There is even a drop off area with supervision for the big kids!!!! Lil' J had a blast and Miss E even made a little friend as did her mommy.  

I can't believe I was too scared and shy to join this group, but I am so proud and happy with myself that I finally did.  We are only in January and I have attended and hosted more events and outings than I did in all of 2014 and I love not over thinking them and stressing myself out. Now don't get me wrong- I still run around like a bull in a china shop tidying up, BUT it only lasts for 10mins max now. 

I am even hosting "THE BACHELOR" night at our house every Monday!!! Can you believe it? So the moral of this post is that if you too are waiting for the perfect moment to start something or join something... STOP and just do it!  Join me in the year of YES!! I promise you will be 10x happier if you do.  

Happy Monday LOVES!!

XOXO

A

The Year of YES

Hi Loves,

Happy 2015!!

I love the fresh start of the New Year, there is truly something so motivating about it. This year is my YES year!  MY BELLA YEAR!!

SO here is what I have planned for this shiny brand new year!!

My resolutions for 2015 are to say "yes!" to my ideas... Like wanting to have people over but not over-planning it in my head, and then becoming overwhelmed and not inviting people over. Or waiting to have the perfect photos of my aprons before I list them in my ETSY shop and of course actually sharing with others that I have an ETSY shop. I guess my resolution is to trust myself and believe I can instead of can't.

 This past July I had an A-HA moment, you know OPRAH style.

I had this moment...I can no longer wait until:

• my body is skinnier = so I can start a class
• the sewing project, blog post, (...insert project here...) I am working on is perfect to share
• we have some extra money = so I can properly organize/setup/ style my sewing room so I can sew
• wait to have a gathering with ALL our friends... seriously I will be waiting forever for the date where everyone can make it.

You are catching my drift, right?

I am tired of waiting for the PERFECT moment to start or do something!

Life is moving too quickly my dears and it is freaking me out. I feel like I am just making it through days waiting for my "Perfect Life" but I realized that my absolutely amazing life, filled with love and adventure, is going on right now and I need to take advantage of it.

Now this is where I get all 'life really is short and I want to live my best' version on you but I digress.

I have been listening to podcasts lately and I am really connecting with Jess Lively's podcast "The Lively Show". If you haven't heard them, you must go to iTunes this very moment and start downloading them.

Anyhoo, I was listening to her podcast on Achieving full life integration with Kristoffer Carter:

In this podcast Kristoffer shares a quote by Brene Brown...this lady is seriously the bombdiggity.
Ok back to the quote, it goes something like this:

"Perfectionism is a ten tonne shield we think is protecting us, when really it just keeps us from being seen".

A-HA moment right there, did you feel it?

Such a simple observation but it hit home for me.

HASHTAG nomoreexcuses HASHTAG mybellalife HASHTAG dontforgettoliveinthemoment


2015 is ours LOVES!

XOXO
A