Our Favourite Quotes Right Now..

It's the middle of the weekday, and if you are like us who are at work, you might need a little break, a tiny taste of words that will inspire you throughout the day.

Here are our favourite quotes right now:

"I have often wondered what was the source of her beauty, her radiance. It's not the size of one's nose, the colour of one's skin, the shape of one's lips or eyes that make one beautiful or ugly. So what is it? Can you, as a woman, tell me?
I shook my head.
I will tell you: It's love. Love makes us beautiful. Do you know a single person who loves and is loved, who is loved unconditionally and who, at the same time is ugly? There's no need to ponder the question. There is no such person." Jan-Philipp Sendker from the Art of Hearing Heartbeats

"Every child is an artist, the problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." Pablo Picasso

"The essence of a thing is invisible to the eye, U May said. Learn to perceive the essence of a thing. Eyes are more likely to hinder you in that regard. They distract us. We love to be dazzled." Jan-Philpp Sendker

"She wasn't doing anything that I could see, except standing there, leaning on the balcony railing, holding the universe together." J.D. Salinger

"I like nonsense. It wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living." Dr. Seuss

from our fave comic strip Calvin and Hobbes:

"Calvin: You can't just turn on creativity like a faucet. You have to be in the right mood.
Hobbes: What mood is that?
Calvin: Last- minute panic"

"Put on Christ!" in your life, and you will find a friend in whom you can always trust, "put on Christ"and you will see the wings of hope spreading and letting you journey with joy towards the future, "put on Christ" and your life will be full of his love; it will be a fruitful life." Pope Francis

"Don't ever think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding make even more art." Andy Warhol

"Sometimes your only available transportation is a leap of faith" Margaret Shepard

and another from our beloved Papa Francisco:

"Sing to the Lord a new song" (Psalm 95:1). What is this new song? It does not consist of words, it is not a melody, it is the song of your life, it is allowing our life to be identified with that of Jesus, it is sharing his sentiments, his thoughts, his actions. And the life of Jesus is a life for others. It is a life of service."  Pope Francis


Do you have a favourite quote right now? Share with us! : )

How to Conquer the Second Hand Shops

We love a bargain! Really who doesn't? While away we were able to visit a few second hand shops and flea markets. One of them is very popular in the area and you have to go early as there is quite the line. We went thirty minutes ahead and there was already people lined up. The anticipation and excitement gives our shopping hearts a real thrill! The competition! The adrenaline! The DEALS! Everything in these shops is between 10 cents and a couple of dollars.

A few of our triumphant purchases were: a pink J.Crew blouse, a turquoise apron from Belgium,  a  vintage polka dot skirt, a H&M blazer, a Calvin Klein t-shirt, a couple of men's flannel shirts, dozens of cut lace table runners, scarves, and our mama's big find: A china deviled egg plate. : )

Not all of us however get into this thrilling shopping escapade, Miss Leah is not a fan. She comes with us, helps us out, but really prefers to not touch everything that is a bit dirty, a bit smelly and of course there is all that Polish lady pushing. But bless her heart! This time Leah had a blast. After our thrift shopping adventure we came up with the following tips for all of you lovelies to go out there and conquer those deals! 

Helpful Strategies for Becoming the Conqueror of the Thrift Shops

1) Have a plan and a basic idea of what you would like to buy. Think game plan like in football. : ) Leah and I were designated to the Clothing section, with specific items we were looking for: scarves, denim anything, men's shirts, and of course whatever catches our eyes! Our mama and Charlotte went to the household items and were looking for wool blankets and anything linen and lace. Upon opening of the shop, our mama staked out her territory (three bins of cut lace work) and hurriedly claimed her deals. 

2) Know your labels. While digging through bins of clothes, before holding the item up and discerning whether or not it is worth it, we scan labels. They are the golden ticket. While shopping in the men's section I found a brand new Calvin Klein shirt( for our brother) for only a dollar, and it was just hanging on the wall for all the guys to see it. I didn't even register the pattern, just saw the label and tore it off it's hook. Leah discovered two cotton flannel men's shirts in mint condition! Sorry fellow shopping guys : ) Charlotte found a lovely pastel pink J. Crew blouse by digging into the bottom of the bin, and I discovered a classy H &M blazer in a sea of tacky coats.

3) Search, scan and then search some more! One of the best ways to uncover those hidden gems is to not be afraid to dig. Often times we find the best things underneath a huge pile, or in the midst of a big rack. After walking through the shop, Leah and I returned again to find Charlotte and found even more things that we missed the first time. Charlotte plunged almost half her body in a bin to uncover pretty blouses that fit her just right.






























4) Bring water and a snack to replenish after all that hard core shopping! : )

Have fun!

Do you have a shopping strategy? Share with us!

Our Lovely Charlotte..

Recently our third Daisy had a birthday, yes Miss Charlotte Anne Jacqueline is no longer a minor! : ) We thought to celebrate our dear sister, we would write a little list in praise of her:

Our Lovely Charlotte

We are grateful for her...

Deep love for God and her faith.

We are grateful for her: 

Love and great desire to create (her delicious popcorn recipe follows! yum yum!)

We are grateful for her: 

Courageous spirit and love of trying new things! Even gross gluten-free-dairy free food that we can't face..lol

We are grateful for her: 

Gift of joy and ability to make us all laugh, even as a baby she had us in stitches!

We are most grateful: 

That she was born into our family and is our beautiful sister!

Happy Birthday!  We love you!


And for you dear friends, a new twist on popcorn! Enjoy!


Charlotte's BBQ Popcorn































Ingredients:

1 tsp of dried parsley
1 1/2 tsp of smoked paprika
1/2 tsp of salt
1 tsp of onion powder
1/2 tsp of garlic powder
1/2 tsp of sugar

Popcorn of your choice

3 tbsp of melted margarine
nutritional yeast

Step 1: Mix together the first six ingredients in a small bowl, this is the BBQ seasoning : )
Step 2:  Add the melted margarine to your popcorn. Sprinkle with nutritional yeast.
Step 3: Add the BBQ seasoning and mix well.

This popcorn is the best afternoon, or lunch, or pre dinner snack!

Friday Ritual...

One photo without explanation. A moment captured- a time to be still, to breathe and remember.

Happy Friday!

Our Mama's secret trick for those nasty...

SUNBURNS!

We wore hats all week, lathered on sunscreen and some of us still managed to slightly burn our skin. Do you have a remedy for brutal sunburns that hurt, itch, peel and burn like crazy hot ants up your pants??
Well if you do please share with us in the comments below! We would love to hear from you.

In the mean time here is our Mama's trick for getting rid of that red painful burn:

Noxema!!





























Her mother used to use it on her and it worked so well she has used it on all of us. Noxema is not just a face wash, but a perfect soothing balm for sunburns.

The Secret Trick:
Apply lots of Noxema so thick that it takes awhile to absorb. You want a nice white creamy layer of Noxema on your skin. Wait a couple of hours until your skin is no longer white and then re apply another layer if your burn still hurts.

The Noxema might have a bit of a stinky smell, but it really truly works! The redness and uncomfortable pain will be gone before you know it. : )





























Do you have an opinion on sunscreen? Wear it? Yes? No? Go Organic? Let us know : )

Summer Reading

Reading is our number one activity while vacationing. Well it just might be tied with floating on the lake and eating huge s'mores. All of us brought our favourite novels and oh what a treat to finish a book in a day! :) Such a small but sweet success! The cottage we stayed at had a really cute sun porch that was screened in, so even during our no power day (a big thunderstorm knocked out the electricity) we could read all comfy and cozy.

 

Here's the titles we all perused last week:

The Search Angel by Trish Cohen: My mom and I read this one this past week and LOVED it! If you need a great summer read that is quick, insightful and pulls at your heartstrings then this is the one. It is the story of Eleanor Sweet, a woman about to adopt and in need of finding her own birth mother. It is full of relationships, people, babies and lots of love. 

The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Phillip Sendker. The title and the beautiful cover stole our reading hearts before we even cracked the pages. Charlotte is currently reading this fabulously written novel. It is a love story set in Burma, so think of fantasy escape novel-and also deals with father/daughter relationships. It is a gem and we will probably be quoting a few lines soon! 

Runaway Jury by John Grisham. We found this cheapie but classic oldie at Costco and Leah is reading it away. It is her first taste of John Grisham, and so far she is enjoying learning all about the law and the jury process. Our mom is a John Grisham fan and loves A Time to Kill-it is her number one fave. (and mine too:)

The House that Love Built by Beth Wiseman: Okay now this one is a super cheesy title, but actually a fun and enjoyable read. It is the story of a woman dealing with grief, of moving on and growing in faith. Add a mystery and romance and you have it all.

We also brought a few cookbooks:
We like to use a lot of vegan recipes as they are dairy free!

Vegan Cooking for Carnivores: by Roberto Martin.  Ellen and Portia's chef explains his secrets of how to make delicious vegan meals! He does use a lot of processed simulated meat products (which often contain wheat filler), so we haven't made tons of his reciepes yet..but Charlotte did make his Chocolate Chip Magic bars that are dairy and wheat free...and they were delicious! So yummy.

Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. This book is our number one fall back on vegan cookbook. These two chefs have created a huge plethora of vegan recipes that are hearty and actually taste really, really good.

our little brother was busy reading:

Eragon: A fantasy novel about dragon riders, elves and an evil king..not as good as Lord of the Rings, but still entertaining.




























Are you reading anything right now? Recommend it? Share with us! 
 

How to pull off the fishtail bun!

During our lazy daisy afternoons at the cottage, we perused all our favourite magazines and came across a picture of a runway model sporting a fishtail bun.

Leah being our resident Hair Queen, squinted at the photo and said Easy! Charlotte and myself sighed and said "hmm really? Show us. Prove it!"
And she did, in less then five minutes! If you need a quick hair fix for these sweaty summer days, try this fishtail bun. How do you fishtail? Check out our post Fishtail Braid and basically practice on anyone who will let you. : )

Now here is Leah's way to pull off that Runway looking Fishtail Updo

1. Starting at the nape of your neck, braid your hair into a fishtail.






























2. Twist up your awesome looking braid into a knot and secure with bobby pins.

3. Voila Finished! Easy right?





























Unwashed hair works the best!

Happy braiding! Is there are hairstyle you want to learn? Share with us and we will challenge the Hair Queen.

Splish Splish SPLASH!! Water Safety Rocks

Yay!! We are back home safe and sound. After a relaxing week of swimming, reading, resting by a very deep and beautiful lake,  we realized how important it is to be aware of water safety. Our parents put us in swimming lessons as children and always emphasized boat safety whenever we were canoeing. As teenagers they enrolled all five of us (our youngest bro is on the way) to be lifeguards and swimming instructors. Now as adults, we realize and are grateful for the safety education our parents have instilled in us, as so many drowning accidents occur that could be prevented. According to Canadian Red Cross, an average of 400 Canadians drown each year.

Yes water safety isn't exactly art, or creating art, but it is a skill and a topic that we love and feel needs to be shared. : )

So today being a gorgeous summer day, perfect for swimming, boating, playing at the beach etc. Here are a few helpful water safety tips from our hearts to yours : )

The Crazy Daisies 'Be Safe Not Sorry' Tips

1. Be aware that water is and can be dangerous, but shouldn't be feared. Our parents always would tell us that you can't control the lake, what's in it, the depth, the seaweed, the people around you, when you might be splashed, but you can be aware and be safe.

2. Know your limits. If you are a confident and capable swimmer and feel okay swimming across huge lakes, awesome-but not all of us are. Be aware of yourself and what you feel comfortable doing. It is not cool to dive in murky unknown water even if all the cool kids are doing it! You can definitely rock that PFD and lifejacket, as for us it is cooler to be safe.

 3.This tip fits in the above one, but if you aren't comfortable around the water, WEAR A PFD!! or LIFEJACKET! What's the difference? A PFD is a personal flotation device. If you jump in the water head first and are unconscious, the PFD will keep you floating, where as if you jump in head first and are unconscious with a Lifejacket, it will flip you over on your back. PFD's come in all colours and Lifejackets only come in red, yellow and orange. While we were on holidays, we took our dogs and yes they wore PFD's and Lifejackets too : ) Are we crazy? maybe, but our dogs are special to us and just because they can swim doesn't mean they are invincible. Plus they looked so cute and had so much fun!!























































4. If you are boating, make sure you always have a Boat Safety Bag and an extra Lifejacket. At the cottage we were at, the canoe had a major leak and we definitely needed that bailer!!!





























5. ALWAYS, ALWAYS KEEP YOUR KIDDIES WITHIN ARMS REACH!!!! This one we can't stress enough, because the ages of 1-4 are the highest at risk for drowning. When we were small and adventurous swimmers, we were never allowed to swim unattended. No matter how much your Little Awesome Olympic Swimmer can swim, don't take that risk. It's just not worth it. I (Renee) once was guarding a wading pool where the water was to your knees and no one was swimming because it was a crummy rainy day. One kid who was five, decided to go in unattended and slipped, starting to drown. Thankfully we pulled him out and he was okay. Unfortunately he wasn't afraid, even though he swallowed tons of water, and did this again. Where were his parents? Not around. Our mom always said to never assume that someone else is watching your kid. You just never know.

If you want more info check out: Canadian Red Cross

And if you want an awesome pool to learn how to swim check out: Dovercourt
It's warm, it's big, it's great for kids and adult learners!





























Be safe and have FUN! :)

Rest. Recharge. Recreate.

"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time"
 John Lubbock

"Wow, look at the grass stains on my skin. I say, if your knees aren't green by the end of the day, you ought to seriously re-examine your life." Calvin and Hobbes

"Christian recreation is truly re-creation, a renewal, a re-gathering, a re-collecting. Recreation is, above all, a change from the everyday routine. And it doesn't mean doing nothing, which is very boring. Recreation is to re-create, to make new. It is done with God, for God, for His honour and glory. Recreation includes self-expression, imagination, creativeness and leadership."  Catherine Doherty.

Have you caught our theme yet? It's vacation time! : )
We are going away this week, off the grid, off the map to get some rest so that we can recharge and recreate.
A few summers ago we started renting a cottage and have continued doing so ever since. A week away in the middle of summer  is the perfect time to just be still and rest. While we are at the lake we try not to fill our days with any priorities,  commitments or demands. The biggest thing we might do is go to daily mass in the morning and then cook dinner later.




























So what do we like to do on our holiday time?

1. Sit by the lake in Adirondack chairs and watch the water. We spend days in those chairs staring at loons, ducks, boys and dogs in canoes : )
2. Knit for longer then ten minutes! Sitting in those comfy chairs is such a great time to actually finish a project! Leah's sweater is almost there..
3. Read in the daylight and not just before falling asleep at bedtime! We have a bag full of novels and magazines to browse
4. Cook. After a few days of napping, knitting,  sitting in those comfy chairs, we find our cooking energy returns.
5. Brainstorm, dream and create new projects.

We will be back up here in a week, so please check in with us later. We hope to be chalk full of fresh ideas and brand new projects just for you. See you then!






























What do you like to do on your vacation time?

Friday Ritual...

One photo without explanation. A moment captured- a time to be still, to breathe and remember.

Happy Friday!

In our kitchen today...

There are plenty of strawberries!!
Strawberries in our salad, strawberries in our cereal, strawberries in our jam, strawberries in our shortcake, strawberries in our drinks : ) and the list goes on!


We are grateful that we live close by to a strawberry farm. Come strawberry season we are there a couple of times a week. : ) For as long as we can remember we have been eating/devouring strawberry shortcake for our dad's birthday. When our dairy and wheat sensitivities came into our lives, we decided we could let go of this delicious dessert. Thanks to our Mama and her Spelt loving baking skills, we have managed to convert our favourite cake to a wheat free version.

Here is the best Shortcake Recipe, adapted from our favourite Canadian Living version

Ingredients
2 eggs at room temperature
2/3 cup of sugar
1/4 warm water
1 1/2 tsp of vanilla
1 1/4 cup of spelt flour
2 tsp of baking powder
pinch of salt

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350'F.
Step 2: Line three 8' cake tins with parchment paper
Step 3: Using an electric mixer, beat eggs, sugar and warm water for ten minuets or until ribbons are left with beaters are lifted.
Step 4: Blend in vanilla
Step 5: In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt.
Step 6: Sift half of the dry mixture over the wet, and fold in. Repeat and fold again.
Step 7: Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until cake springs back when touched. Flip cakes and let them cool on a rack.

Filling:

5 cups of hulled strawberries
Your cream of choice. We like NutriWhip, but you can try Coconut Cream. For a great website to show how to make Coconut Cream click  here

To assemble:

Sometimes we like to make a three layered strawberry shortcake, and other times just one big one.
If you want to layer it place cake on a platter, layer with whipped cream, strawberries and repeat!





























What's your favourite strawberry creation? Share with us!

10 tips for those in a Wedding Party

We have been chatting about our wedding experience this weekend and all things that helped make the day go so smooth.
Here is what we learned:

Photo credit to our friend J.P.

10 tips for those in Wedding Parties

1. You can save major money and buy your bridesmaid/maid of honour dresses at other stores that aren't bridal. We bought our pink silk shifts last summer at Talbots and they were 80 % off. So were the grey belts : ) Fit our budgets nicely! Just be prepared to hunt, search and call all the stores in Canada. Totally worth it!

2. Make sure you have the proper undergarments for hot weddings. We wore silk. It was 40'C, but because of our slips etc. you couldn't tell we were sweating buckets. Which we were :)

3.  Emergency bridal kit was necessary and used all day. We brought it to the hair salon, to our grand mama's while getting ready, to the photos etc. Bobby pins, tissues, water, gum, etc all came in handy to make everything stress free.

4. Emergency basket in the Ladies bathroom also definitely a must! Our mama put that together and it was also used at the hall all night. Guests came and thanked our mama saying they used an elastic, deodorant, hairspray and even the sewing kit! One unfortunate dancer split his pants and thankfully the sewing kit came to the rescue! It is always better to be over prepared.

5. Play the Shoe Game! It is a hilarious way to make everyone at the reception laugh and get to know the bride and groom more. We had so much fun and so did our newlyweds.

6. If your wedding is in July, Updos are crucial to staying cool. Make sure though that they are high up on your head. I had a lower bun and it kept getting stuck in my collar.

7. Little personal touches make the mass and reception so special. All the tables were named after the bride and groom's favourite candy and the favours were that particular candy. For example, the Salt Water Taffy table, had lovely bunches of salt water taffy.

8. Have your DJ play the slide show with the music before everyone enters the hall..our slideshow worked, but without the music. Our great DJ improvised and it worked out in the end as we played it the next day at the gift opening. It was intimate and personal.

9. If you haven't been in a wedding party before, speak to someone who has or better yet Google role of bridesmaid/groomsman, best man, maid of honour : ) Both our bride and groom said having a wedding party that really took on their roles, helped with the overall stress less day.

10. Pray. We all prayed together throughout the week leading up to the wedding and so many friends offered their prayers and support too. In the van before mass we all prayed over Elese and it was so beautiful! At the Church the groom and his groomsmen all prayed together too. It was such a grace filled, no stress day!!  : )

Any tips from your own wedding experience? Share with us!

Wedding pew bows and DIY flowers

Are you sick of all the wedding talk yet? We understand if you might be, but hang in there with us, we have only a couple more wedding ideas to share :) For us we looked at a lot of blogs for inspiration and so want to share the DIY love.

Can you really do your own flowers and be stress free? YES!!!!!!

Originally our mama and Elese priced out flowers for the big wedding. It would have cost close to $3000.00 for centrepieces, bouquets, boutonnieres, corsages and flowers for the Church. We decided that we would search for an alternative and see what we could do ourselves. Turns out we could do everything and only spend $400.00 and that included flowers, tape, pins, ribbons and vases!! Major save and totally doable. We looked at pinterest, wedding blogs and loads of pictures to get ideas and see what Elese liked.

Our mama decided to go check at the Superstore and see how much it would cost to order the flowers. Smart move! :)
Elese wanted to have baby's breath as her main flower, so after chatting with the Superstore florist, we chose to order four bunches. This helpful Superstore florist also told us to come and buy the flowers on a Thursday, as that's when the delivery comes in and they have a large flower selection. If you ever do your own flowers, go on a Thursday! It was worth it. We bought beautiful bunches of roses, more baby's breath, carnations (which we didn't like at first, but bought as they were the right colour of pink)  and lots of white flowers for fillers.

On Friday we spent the day playing with baby's breath and plenty of ribbons. Leah and Charlotte put together Elese's bouquet, and it was stunning! Our mama wanted to decorate it with ribbons, and so wrapped it up with plenty of pretty satin ribbon from Fabricland.

Our bouquets were full bunches of baby's breath, and the flower girls were mini versions of Elese's.

For the centrepieces, the vases were an Ikea special, and we kept it simple with lots of baby's breath and a few tiny pink carnations. They were elegant, simple and brought a touch of colour to the table. We originally were going to raffle them off to guests, but forgot so gave them away at the end of the night. : )

To decorate the Church, we made three bouquets for the altar. One bunch was a half price Superstore special. The other two bouquets Leah put together with our leftover flowers. Charlotte with her artistic fingers, made a baby's breath crown for Our Lady's statue, and a bouquet for by her side.

Leah and I made the boutonnieres, and thanks to youtube, figured out how to pin them on the lapels. We taught John and he guided the other groomsmen in how to pin them to their lapels.

How do you put the flowers together??
Look at pictures, and mostly just play around with them until you get the look you like!
We bought extra baby's breath and did alot of versions of bouquets until we came up with something we liked. Praying before working together helps too : )


Pew bows that aren't doilies? Is that possible? YES! 

Charlotte found this idea online and we did our own version. Our mama found all the tulle in Toronto.






























Those pew bows definitely looked so lovely when we walked down the aisle and saw them billowing in the breeze. Lots of love and thanks to our dear brother John who stayed up late with us and helped cut ribbon, tulle and place the bows on the pews. We couldn't have done it without him!

Our cup overflows..

This Saturday our lovely sister was married to her love.
How do we sum up such a gorgeous and grace filled weekend?
with gratitude
with thankfulness
with joy.





























We are grateful for...

Our new brother! He fits right into our family, with his humor, easy going nature and of course GREAT love for Elese.

We are grateful for...

Our mama who thoughtfully booked Joseph's hair salon in the Rideau Center..if you are a huge wedding party (we were 12 altogether with mama's, grand mama's flower girls etc.) they are the ones to call. They took us all at 9 and we were done at 10:15!!

We are grateful for...

Family. On all levels: friend/family, church/family, work/family, school/family, Madonna House family. Community. So many came out to the Wedding mass on Saturday! We were overwhelmed with all the love and support.

We are grateful for...

Handsome groomsmen who all did their part! They decorated the Church, brought us ice cold water bottles, granola bars, helped us walk through rocky areas for photos, held doors, held our shoes, warned us about doggie doodooo..and of course made us laugh, smile, dance-our bros conquered that dance floor!! We are honoured to have met and get to know you all more this weekend.

We are grateful for...

Our grand mama's loan of her house this weekend, complete with A.C., stunning rose gardens and plenty of mirror space! Getting ready with our grand mama, great aunty, aunty, flower girls and of course our mama was such a celebration of girlhood! At one point we were six in the bathroom! :) There wasn't any stress though and everyone looked amazing!

We are grateful for...

The best photographer ever. Lauren was so incredibly flexible, fun to work with and just overall amazing! She traveled from Toronto with her lovely sister/partner and shot us all day.

We are grateful for...

Our cutie pie flower girls who were so good throughout the entire wedding day. The walked the aisle, posed, smiled for pics and made us want to hug them all night.

We are grateful for...

An awesome M.C. who made us all laugh throughout the entire evening. His thoughtful puns and jokes made the usually 'boring' part of the night so fantastic!

and of course..

We are grateful for...

Our gorgeous sister Elese, who was the best bride ever. She was so relaxed on the day, didn't have any freak outs, bridezilla moments etc. Elese gave us free reign to decorate the Church to our heart's content, let us do her makeup, trusted us with all her flowers (she didn't see her bouquet until it was time to carry it :), let us play the Shoe Game, and overall gave our little creative hearts free reign. We three were so proud and honoured to be standing by her side as she married her best friend.

Friday Ritual...

One photo without explanation. A moment captured- a time to be still, to breathe and remember.

Happy Friday!

what's in your purse?

It's rehearsal day! Our sister Elese will be getting married this weekend and so we are busy getting a few things ready. One of the items on the list of things to do is prepare an emergency kit ( more like a suitcase) for the vehicle of the bride/bridesmaids , and then a special emergency purse that the Maid of Honour carries at all times. The list of things to get is long..everything from safety pins, to chalk, to Tums, mini sewing kit.etc.
It led us to wonder as women we carry either monstrous huge bags, or teeny itsy bitsy clutches..what do we really keep inside? What are the essentials?

I asked Charlotte to empty out her satchel purse, and this is what we found inside:
Her wallet from Heavens to Betsy
Favourite EOS lip balm
Ipod
kleenex
back up earrings
and of course the odd receipt

In Leah's yellow purse:
Butterfly Kiss perfume oil
tiny wallet from Heavens to Betsy
bobby pins
hair elastic
sunglasses

In my tan summer purse ( it has three pockets) there is:
my trusty green Fossil wallet
sunglasses
Burt's Bee Lip Balm
Clinique Lipstick
Ipod nano
teeny pocket sized first aid kit
gum
keys
 hand sanitizer
sharpie
Chinese paper fan
Ginger gravel capsules
not to mention pay stubs, receipts etc. man time to clean it out!

Ladies what's in your purse? If you are a mama I'm sure you have much much more..our own Mama's purse sometimes weighs 10 lbs! : )

Some Quote Love

Since our sister Elese and our almost new brother in law Shaun are getting married THIS WEEKEND! We have love on the brain, and so thought today to share a few lovey dovey quotes. Let's be inspired and share the love friends!

"If there is no humility, love is blocked." Pope Francis

"Educating the mind without educating the heart, is no education at all." Aristotle

"Love does not exit in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction."
Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"Being loved deeply by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage."
Lao Tzu

"Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden where the flowers are dead." Oscar Wilde

"Let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the begining of love" Blessed Mother Theresa

"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams."
Dr. Seuss

"Sometimes love isn't fireworks, sometimes love just comes softly" Janette Oke

it's a bit long but we love our Anne of Green Gables!

“For a moment Anne's heart fluttered queerly and for the first time her eyes faltered under Gilbert's gaze and a rosy flush stained the paleness of her face. It was as if a veil that had hung before her inner consciousness had been lifted, giving to her view a revelation of unsuspected feelings and realities. Perhaps, after all, romance did not come into one's life with pomp and blare, like a gay knight riding down; perhaps it crept to one's side like an old friend through quiet ways; perhaps it revealed itself in seeming prose, until some sudden shaft of illumination flung athwart its pages betrayed the rhythm and the music, perhaps. . . perhaps. . .love unfolded naturally out of a beautiful friendship, as a golden-hearted rose slipping from its green sheath. ” 
― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Avonlea

Elese's Bachelorette Party!

This past weekend was Elese's last hurrah as a single lady. After a long engagement, we had some time to think about a creative way of throwing a bachelorette party. We decided since Elese was born in 1986, and loves the 80's, we would plan an 80's themed party. We asked all the guests to dress in their best 80's outfit and gave the winner a prize. It was so much fun and such a laugh to see us all with blue shadow, fanny packs, skipping ropes, leotards and plenty of neon!

We thought we would share a few of the sites and ideas that helped us throw a fun and creatively classy bachelorette party.

The blog linen, lace and love had so many creative and do it yourself ideas! For Elese's outfit we found a denim vest at Giant Tiger and fabric painted it like crazy. Charlotte sewed a tulle veil for her, complete with sparkly tiara.The bridal party wore neon tights with shirts that we fabric painted. We found 80's movies quotes and wrote them on the back. Dollaram and G.T. Boutique were perfect for finding hair scrunchies, tights, snap on bracelets and plenty of denim.

For her cake we wanted to do something funny and so was thrilled when we found the blog
Pretty/Hungry girl and her super easy man-popping- out of the cake idea!
We found a Ken doll that kind of looked like Shaun at Walmart and expertly stuck him in our favourite gluten and dairy free cake that we ordered from the Cake Shop.

The layout of the night was a few games, gifts, cake/champagne, pictures and then off to downtown for a scavenger hunt.

We had a photo booth station in our purple dining room with props that we made and found at Dollarama. Charlotte wrote out a few silly signs to hold and they were a perfect touch.

When all the girls arrived, we played a simple and thinking free game called: Who Has the Groom?

How to make:

We found a photo of a Moore's model and cut out twelve copies. We inserted our men pictures into white envelopes. To make the groom, we copied a picture of Shaun and stuck his head on the Moore's model. Sealed the envelopes and taped them to the seats of the guests.

How to play:
Whichever lady finds the groom wins a prize! The picture of Shaun actually worked out fabulous for later on the night, as my mom had the idea of pinning him to Elese's vest. With the help of a few glittery clips, Shaun was with us the entire night!






























Our other game of the night was How Well Does Elese Know Shaun?
Last week we asked Shaun a list of very specific questions and then at the party we asked them again to Elese. If she got a question wrong she had chew a piece of Hubba Bubba gum! By the end of the game she had a pack and half of bubble gum in her mouth!

After the gifts and lovely champagne toast by our mama, we girls headed downtown for a scavenger hunt. We had a list of silly and fun tasks for Elese to accomplish (with our help) by the end of the night. A few of things our lovely bride to be succeeded in doing:
Elese practiced her first dance with strangers, met another bride&bachelorette party, had a piggy back ride around Milestones, practiced walking down the aisle, was serenaded to by a six year old and a Korean guy, danced to Carly Rae Jepson (LIVE!), Announced: "I'm getting married!" on Parliment Hill, and  met many men who wished they were Shaun. : )






All in all we are still laughing and talking about all the fun we had that night, Elese's last night out as a single lady! Let the wedding week begin!



Happy Canada Day! EH!!

Canada Day in the Nation's Capital has been a celebration day in all of our lives. Our parents used to take us to Parliament Hill as little kids, we saw the Queen, Prime Ministers and lately Will and Kate. We love the red and white, the Canadian Trivia, the happy smiles and of course the fireworks.
We are grateful to grow up in Ottawa and of course most grateful to live in our gorgeous country.

A few other little things we love about Canada:

• Maple Syrup eh?

• The Group of Seven eh and Emily Carr

• Stomping Tom eh and his songs dedicated to potatoes, ketchup and hockey  

• Mr. Dress Up and his creative tickle trunk, it's a good one eh?

• All the trees, rivers, rocks, mountains and oceans all around us eh?

• Anne of Green Gables eh and Lucy Maud Montgomery for creating one of our favourite characters

• We grew up with our dad loving the Great Gretzky, so of course hockey! Go Sens Go eh!

• the band Great Big Sea and their upbeat music eh that makes our mama dance

• The happy and easy going Canadian Spirit!

Happy Canada Day eh!