See you later!

Hey guys, so it's a dual sad/exciting day around here...

On the incredibly exciting side of things, my new job has been announced - I'm the Creative Director of Home Fashions for The Bay. And on the sad side, it's time to say buh-bye for now to the blog. It'll stay up, though I'll probably have to switch off all the comments (boy, those spam commenters are a giant pain!), but I just wanted to thank everyone for all their amazing support over the past few years of my online adventure. And stay tuned, since I'm sure I'll be back online soon with my new gig!

Thanks again, and I'm leaving you with a lovely print by illustrator Wayne Pate. Seeya!

{that one great thing} Marie-Eve's cabinet

I miss Montreal. In fact, I lived there for 3 crazy/fun years before moving to Toronto. Fellow blogger Marie-Eve Best of Lake Jane calls Montreal home, and I must admit to being more than a wee bit jealous, not to mention that I'm also a tad envious of the lovely little cabinet that Marie-Eve picked as that one great thing. Oh, and if you're planning on heading to MTL any time soon (and you REALLY should) be sure to check out Marie-Eve's Montreal Design Guide that she created for Grace at design*sponge.

Marie-Eve Best: My grandfather worked for the Post Office in High River Alberta for over 15 years. In the 1970's, the Post Office did some renovating and they discarded many of the old pieces of furniture that had been around for decades. My grandfather rescued this antique set of drawers used for storing stamps from being thrown into a garbage pile. He brought it home and it became my dad's bedside table/record stand. Later on, my dad added oak legs to the piece and it became a side table in my parent's living room.  As a child, I remember being so impressed with its automatic locking system. You have to open the bottom drawer in order to unlock the top ones - It still works today! 

When I moved out, I inherited it and used it in almost every room. It was an entryway catch-all, a bedside table, a TV stand, a tiny vanity… Now it sits in our living room and is mostly used as a catch-all for receipts and cables.  Although the piece is over 70 years old, the wood has just the right amount of wear and tear. It's a quirky little item filled with sentimental value.

Shoptastic and restotastic Istanbul

Here's a smidge more Istanbul info for you, though it's definitely not the last of it! The two main guides that we definitely wouldn't have survived without, and you should absolutely grab if you're going, are the Luxe City Guide Istanbul and Istanbul Eats. The Luxe Guide reads like it was written by a stylish insider who's downed a bottle of Veuve and then tells you you should see, here, here and definitely here! As you follow the directions you'll be laughing and spinning around to check street names, must-see shops and attractions. It's definitely fun. Istanbul Eats, on the other hand, was an incredible guide to the best places to chow down with the locals. Some spots were fancy, most were not, but honestly, this guide didn't steer us wrong once. It's based on a blog of the same name, which is also worth a look too - have a boo at it here. Oh, and for a more in-depth look at some of the delish places we hit - almost all from Istanbul Eats - check out my world-travelling other half's kid friendly blog here.

We used the Luxe City guide to traverse the higgeldy-piggeldy back streets in the neighbourhood around The House Hotel to shop vintage. And oh lawdy, is there lots and lots of choice. Basically it's an excuse to get semi-lost and have a poke through crammed-to-the-rafters shops that run the gamut from mid-century retro to grand baroque (we saw a stunning crystal hot air ballon chandelier, really!). I could've filled a tractor trailer, let alone a suitcase! Take a look below at a couple of snaps of what I found...

Love 'this'

I see lots of cool stuff in my travels, but occasionally I'm suprised by a sweet bit of a mash-up between something cool, something creative, and something witty. It's the this globe below, snapped by Aesthetic Outburst blogger Abbey Hendrickson in her own home, that happily caught me by surprise, though if you were to spin the globe it would read f this s, which just happens to be a fave epithet of mine when things are - ahem - not going as planned. Of course there is a story behind the f this s globe, which Abbey explains here as being in mourning for not being able to swear out loud now that she has a family. Be sure to check out the rest of Abbey's great blog, it's a lovely mix of inspiration, art, craft, kids and collecting.

Check, check, check it out

This morning is a busy one, calling a v. nice woman in Vienna on the hunt for a missing shot needed for Trendwatch for Canadian House & Home and rustling up contenders for the next Style Scout for the National Post newspaper's Posted Homes section. I was happily interrupted though, by a couple of mags thumping into the mailbox (thanks Postie!). It was the always anticipated arrival of June's House & Home and Bon Appetit.

Good news, since I was asked to hold off on telling you all about the posh and polished re-done House & Home website until the June issue reached subscribers. Okay, now I can let you in on the fact that it's v. cool, and jam-packed with tons of info (way more than before), videos, image galleries and Canadian resources. I do have a fave section though, and that's their brand new editor's blog. Click here to check it out. I'm loving, as usual, Stacey Smither's finds and will be avidly following Meg Crossley's basement reno adventures with The Sicilians (her trusty contractors). Have a poke around the site while you're there, you won't be disappointed, and check out the snaps below of the start of Meg's reno. That last image is Meg's current inspiration, an interior by Kay Douglass. [Image 3: Simon Upton]