Laundry Injuries

Is it possible to pull a muscle while folding laundry?

Last night while folding the third of three baskets of laundry, something went awry and I'm having some rotator cuff issues today. This is pathetic!

Another question for my readers:  

It's probably not a good sign if I feel like I somewhat got an arm workout while unloading the dishwasher right? Time to up the intensity of my fitness routine ? :)

Shower Curtain Love

As a follow up to last week's post pleading for help in picking picture frames for my master bedroom, I would like to report that I think I found (bought) a solution on the weekend when I visited West Elm in Toronto for the first time. I really liked this store! 

Thank you to the many people that wrote me emails suggesting various options - they were all helpful and the end result will encompass many parts of your suggestions.

I am not going to reveal the picture frames hung and in place just yet (mainly because they are sitting in a heap on my bedroom floor and only white sheets of paper are hung in their place on the wall right now).

BUT, I wanted to report one other home purchase that I was really happy with.  

Before I went to West Elm, I hit up their website prior to arriving, and had my mind set on this shower curtain of all things:

Source

I have two bathrooms that require a shower curtain in my home and only one stylish curtain - the others are very dated, boring or juvenile. I loved this when I saw it and thought it would be perfect for my main/kids' bathroom. Goodbye juvenile, hello clean, modern and still fun.

This is how it looks:

(I was sure to crop the photo from the bottom
so you couldn't see the kids stools x2 plus potty
chair ... sort of changes the look if you know
what I mean).

I am really happy with the result. It is exactly what I was looking for.

I know I usually don't post much design stuff on this blog, but just for fun, shown below some before pictures of the same bathroom prior to the major reno my husband and I did a few years back. The shape is overall the same, but if you look close there are some really "special" parts that are now gone (hint: shower curtain, door with gold knob, carved out toilet paper holder and the linoleum flooring.

Bathroom at time of purchase

During Reno

This is where I was slightly freaking out and
hoping that one day I would have a bathroom again.

Post Reno 

Post Reno2

Post Reno3

Have a great weekend!  Maybe hit up West Elm if you are looking for a fun hour to yourself!

Picture Frames for the Master: Help Needed

So instead of committing to some colourful or crazy, super designerish decor for the master bedroom, my husband and I cleaned things up, went with white and neutrals and embraced the clean and simple look.  Overall, I'm happy with it.

However, the empty spaces on the walls throughout the bedroom, I am not so happy with.

These spaces are empty because, well, we're not sure what to fill them with.  I think we have decided on picture frames with our own black and white photographs (cheaper and more sweet and personal for a bedroom than art).

The spaces I am looking to fill are directly above the headboard (pictures #1 and 2 below) and to the left of the window (picture #3 below).  Now the question is:  how big are the picture frames, how numerous and what do they look like (colour, width, style).  So here are a few pics of the "empty spaces" in my bedroom .... would love to hear what you think I should do.

(Yes, my bedside table is the messy one!)

(The light fixture is next on the list)

Apologies on the pictures, it's really tough to get far enough back to get the whole room in (and I was too lazy to clean up the entire room so didn't want to show the whole thing :))

Whitney

Whitney Houston and her music provided the soundtrack to so many amazing memories for me.

In the eighties, my Mom and I cruised around in our brown Chevrolet Cavalier station wagon blaring Whitney's cassette tapes (me reading the lyrics on the insert - remember those?). We loved her and she was a part of every road trip.

As a part of a grade five class performance, we had to learn "The Greatest Love of All." Looking back I am quite confident we did not do it justice, but my obsession with Whitney was fuelled.

I remember going to see the BodyGuard with two of my good friends in grade eight and the domination of "I Will Always Love You" over the air waves.

Her duet "When You Believe" with Mariah Carey on her new album in late nineties - loved it too!

If you have never seen her sing her star spangled performance in 1991, it's worth the two+ minutes of your time... goosebumps.

I loved Whitney and her music. This week has been non-stop Whitney on the ipod. I don't think there will ever be a voice like hers - so effortless, so raw, so full of emotion with so little effort or "try."

Experiments with the Kids

My eldest son brought home a wonderful book last week from school that included all sorts of awesome experiments that can be done at home.

As you probably know first hand, usually such experiments or activities can require a lot of time, effort, ingredients and patience and they are tough for a wide range of ages. I was pleasantly surprised by this book and would recommend as a gift or library item in the future if you are looking for some fun and educational stuff to do (especially with March break coming).

Here is just a few of the things we did:

Change-A-Colour Celery

Simply add some celery to a glass of
water with some food colouring and wait for
it to change colour

Create-Your-Own Mould Ranch

Take some old, moist food and put it in a jar...

seal it up and wait for the mould to grow!

Green Goo

1 cup of corn starch and 1/2 cup of water
and a few drops of food colouring

Have fun!