It's the pretty things in life…

all me a shopaholic, but when I see something that's so pretty and at a good price, I just can't pass up on it. I was out running errands this afternoon- picking up a birthday gift for my girl friend and my twin sister and as always, I got distracted by all the pretty things I saw. First stop- Chapters/Indigo. I swear, that place is dangerous for me. Especially when they are having a sale.

Here's what I got at Chapters/Indigo:

I saw this pretty notebook (left) with gold foil embossing. They are really promoting all things
Canadiana with their stationery supplies right now. The pink thing to the right is a sticky
note set.

Here's a close-up of the cover. This was $6.50CAD.

The pages are lined inside and there are 3 sections divided by craft paper (you can see
it on the left of the lined page). I'm planning to use this notebook when I go back to work.

This is the Canada Owls Sticky Note Set. Isn't the cover pretty?
Chapters/Indigo also had a blue version of a sticky note set with a different graphic,
but I liked this one better.

Here's the inside with all the different-sized sticky notes. I love the owl-print lining.

Here's a close-up. I'm also planning on using this when I go back to work.
This was $10CAD.

I love love love Voluspa candles. They smell amazing and the packaging is just to die for.
However, it is expensive. That's why I always wait until they go on sale at Chapters/Indigo
before I purchase these.

I got Eden & Pear (my favourite scent out of the 2) and Crème de Pêche. 

They were originally $12CAD, but I got them on sale for $6CAD each.
The great thing about these candles are that I can use the jars after I'm finished with
the candle to store stuff in.

I picked up votive candles to put inside my next purchase. This was $4.75CAD, down from
$9.50CAD. There's no scent to these, but I wasn't sure if my regular tealights
would fit in my next purchase.

I got 2 of these beautiful, mercury glass votives. It's just stunning in person.

The insides are gold and they glimmer in the light.

These were $4.50CAD each.
I'm even thinking of storing some of my jewelry inside the votive. It looks so pretty with
my Voluspa candle.

So this is what I actually went into Chapters/Indigo for- a gift for my girl friend.
I'm going out tomorrow night for my friend's birthday and I wanted to pick up
something for her. I don't really like buying clothes and shoes for friends because
I never know what size they are and I don't know if they will really like what I get.
To be safe, I always get home goods.
I got this initial mug with her first name initial (it was $8CAD or 2 for $12) and an
organic green tea canister from Harney & Sons. This was originally $10CAD, but I got
it on sale for $5CAD. Score!

I then went to the mall to see if I could find something for my twin sister. Our birthday is coming up- August 12 and I noticed she was walking around with flats that were almost threadbare. She is pregnant with her second child right now so I want to make sure she has good flats to walk on. 

From J Crew Factory:

I wish they had the nude colour ones still available, but I still like this persimmon-coloured
ones. I hope she likes them too. I'm more daring when it comes to dressing so I know
I would rock these, but I'm not sure if she would… I think they are so pretty!
These were originally $115CAD, but they were super marked down. I got them for just
under $40CAD with tax. I wish they had it in my size…

As always, I can't help myself from going to HR2. Their stock is always changing so I like going there to see if there's anything new and if things I liked in the past are further marked down. Lo and behold it was! Remember the Echo scarf I talked about earlier here? Well, they were on sale for $39CAD.

I wanted to take better photos, but the scarf is super long. Maybe I'll do an OOTD
photo in a future post.

Polka dot perfection

olka dots make anything whimsical and fun, don't you think?

I happened to be at Indigo today to buy gifts for my son's former daycare teachers as he moved to a different class last week. I can never leave that store without buying something for myself. That place is dangerous! They had all their Mother's Day stuff out and I wanted every single thing. I would have taken pictures of some of the stuff to post on Instagram, but I left my phone at home.
They had great vases, Voluspa candles in the prettiest packaging and so many stationery items. I may have to ask my husband to buy me something from there for Mother's Day ;-) Meanwhile, I picked up one thing for myself- the cutest clutch that I've ever seen! Doesn't it remind you a little of Kate Spade?

The zipper area has a hot pink accent. The piping on the sides are also hot pink.
They also had smaller sizes with different colours and patterns, but I ended up getting
the largest size- the clutch. I also wanted a smaller pouch with lime green accents.
It would have been great to have that in my purse…

The lining is hot pink as well. This was only $16CAD. You can find it here.

Rilakkuma key caps

ver since I got my Louis Vuitton Key Pouch I've wanted to get cute key caps for my keys. I'm constantly trying to prettify things in my life. Do you guys do that too? I was looking at my local Asian mall to see if there were any cute key caps, but I didn't find any. I also checked Chapters/Indigo to see if they had any nice key caps as I always find cute knick knacks there. I did see these owl ones, but they weren't to my taste. I decided to check out eBay instead. At first I was looking at Hello Kitty key caps, but they were super expensive- I think around $6 each or even higher. Then I came across these Rilakkuma key caps. I'm in love with Rilakkuma as I have several of their pens and I just think the bear is adorable. They were a great deal too- 4 for $5.49USD + free shipping. I bought these on March 23 and they arrived yesterday.

Here are my keys before I put on the key caps. So plain and so boring *yawn*

The key caps came packaged like this (sans the plastic cover that I threw out before I
took these photos). The key caps were a lot bigger than I imagined them to be, but still
über cute. My younger sister saw these today and she fell in love with them.

Here's the back. It's all in Japanese.

The key caps on my keys. I didn't end up using the duck one because my car key
doesn't fit inside of it. I'm just keeping that one as a spare.

In other news, I went to Target today and bought a few things. I'll show you guys what I bought in my next post. Stay tuned!

More Indigo finds

y iPhone is a lifesaver when I got out with my preschooler.
He tends to get restless when we go out to restaurants so having my smart phone with me and being able to access children's shows (via YouTube) is great. I really don't know how our parent's generation survived without smart phones! I guess they either didn't eat out or had to deal with cranky kids in public :-S

Well, I've been looking for a stand for my iPhone ever since I started showing videos to my son. I would use the condiment stand to prop my phone up or even my water cup. It was pretty annoying. I saw an iPhone stand last time I was at Indigo, but I didn't get it. It was in the shape of a mini toilet plunger and so cute. I kept on thinking about it so I went back today to pick it up. Of course while I was there I couldn't help but to look around… and that never ends well…

Here's the Homade Sucker Stand. It was $6.

Unfortunately unlike the picture here I can only use this when the iPhone is up
horizontally. It doesn't really work when it's vertically propped up. It's ok though.
Most videos are formatted for a horizontal screen so I don't really mind.

The other side of the box.

Here is my phone propped up.

I also picked up a lovely crackled vase while I was there. I couldn't pass on it.
It wasn't on sale, but it was still affordable at $15 a pop.

Here is the price tag. I chose the vase with the least amount of crackle as some other
vases were very crackled. I have an idea on where to put this vase as you will see
later on in this post.

I seem to have a weird infatuation with owls. I picked up this owl pencil holder for 50%
off. I plan on putting this in my husband's office.

The regular price was $24.50, but I got it for 50% off.

For the pencil cup I picked up a pack of Kikkerland pens. Call me a stickler, but I won't
use things unless they look good. My husband was going to get random pens to put
in his pencil cup, but I wouldn't let him. I told him I would go out and get pens for him
that were to my liking. 

They were $7. I love Kikkerland products because they are all so well-designed.

Here are the pens in the pencil cup.

Another view.

So back to the vase… I still have to pick up fresh flowers to put in this vase, but I
bought this to put in my spare bedroom in the basement. We didn't have anything
on the night table beside the bed so I stacked a few books and put the vase on top.
I then put a pretty candle in front of the books. I believe the candle is also from Indigo.
God, I love that place…

Here's a close-up.

What flower do you think will look good in the vase? I'm thinking peonies or hydrangeas?

And here it is from afar.
I still have so much to do for this room- hang some art up, maybe get a headboard and
put a vanity or dresser on the opposite wall of the bed, but that will come later.

Another view.
I didn't put a table lamp on the night table because I have a floor lamp on the other
side. The floor lamp was something I had in another room, but wasn't being used
so that's why I moved it here. However, I'm not sure if I love it there…

I moved the pencil cup to my husband's office. I still have to get a mouse pad for him.
I can't seem to find anything I like so far. I also want to get him some knick knacks to put
on his desk. BTW, my husband just ordered a laptop so when it comes I will style it
on the desk :-)

Here's a close-up.

Mr Clock

ur house is slowly coming together. There's still so much we need to do, but I like taking my time. That way I can find that perfect something for the space instead of rushing to put it all together. 

I've been looking for a wall clock for my husband's office for some time now. I almost bought a wall clock at HomeSense, but I decided at the last minute not to get it. I'm glad I did because I found the perfect clock last week at Chapters Indigo. Best of all, it was on sale for 50% off for $39.75. Plus, I found a coupon code online for an extra $5 off. I always make sure to google coupon codes when I'm ordering things online because you never know how much you can save ;-)

I felt that we needed something on the wall of my husband's office, right behind his desk because that wall was bare and I kept looking at it when I was sitting in the basement family room. We already have a wall of frames in his office so I didn't want to hang another picture or art on that wall. I decided that I wanted a clock. Something substantial, not so tiny. The wall clock at HomeSense was huge though and more rustic looking. The clock at Chapters Indigo was the perfect size at 15" and I liked the modern look of it. It would go well with the office décor I currently had going on.

The clock arrived yesterday- super fast delivery. I think I ordered it on January 4 (a
Friday) and it came on the following Monday.

The clock came in a huge box filled with these air pillows.

And here is the box for the clock. It's the Mr White Numbers Wall Clock by Karlsson.

The clock came bubble wrapped and secured with styrofoam on the sides.

My beauty. I love the white numbers. Some people complained about the numbers
being hard to see because they are white, but I love them.

Here is the clock hung on the wall. I made sure to hang it so that you can see the
whole clock when you are in the next room. We have French doors separating the office
from the basement family room so I wanted to make sure you can see the time.

As you can see the numbers are a bit hard to see.

And here is the clock from far away. For some reason the clock looks pretty small, but
it actually isn't in person. I wouldn't want it to be any bigger or it would overwhelm the
room.

My husband is in the process of getting a new laptop so once he gets that his desk
will be much more full.

You can still see the clock with the French doors closed.

A closer view.

You can see the numbers better at this angle.