Stylish Blogger Award: For me? Why thank you!

Thank you so much to Jenn of the Blush and Bees Vancouver Island gardening blog for honouring me! I have known Jenn since we were seven years old. Many Easters were spent decorating eggs while listening to Paula Abdul, and during the summers we could be found in our Bocas and Vuarnets on the corner by the nearby beach selling fruit from the trees in our backyards. Ahhhh, early 90s....I will always remember you with fondness ;)

Acceptance of the Stylish Blogger Award requires me to list seven things about myself that most people don't know. Here goes:

1. I am a germaphobe. No part of my body ever comes into direct contact with any part of a public washroom. I can hardly handle it if my husband wipes any hard surface with anything other than a paper towel/clean dish cloth and disenfectant. I do not like sharing drinks.

2. My closest friends are my oldest friends. They are the girls I grew up with all throughout high school and, in some cases, even elementary school. As an only child myself, they are as close to being my family as friends can get. I'm referring to about a dozen people. At one point in our lives, we all wanted to be the same person. Same hair, same clothes, same taste in music, same everything. I love to look at everyone now and realize how different we've all become....and yet how close we still remain.

3. I love eavesdropping on lunch-hour business meetings at restaurants or coffee shops. I try to discern what profession or industry is the basis of the discussion. Who is the client, what is the product, how much money is involved, what kind of software is needed. Weird, I know.

4. In another life, one in which I was born with any kind of culinary skill, I might have been a pastry chef in New York City. Or maybe Paris.

5. I used to dream about having a pet pig. I must admit I'm very glad it never came true.

They are cute though.

6. If we're going to play a boardgame, you really want me on your team. We'll win.

7. I HATE listening to or reading instructions. I don't think I've ever read a manual in my life - especially one without pictures. I simply glaze over and become semi-catatonic. I will do it my way, thank you, and learn by trial and error.

And that is that!

So now I will pass this award on to 13 worthy recipients. I'd like to give mention to these people who are not only stylish, but also wonderful writers, artists, parents or friends.

In no order whatsoever...

1. To Beatriz of Lucky14Handmade - Knitter extraordinaire! No shortage of style here.

2. To Carine of Smallest Things - A stylish life in Paris with her wee bubs.

3. To Deborah of The Simonster - Not only a great friend and fellow mom, but Sadie's "second mommy" too! aka "Debwaa".

4. To Beth of Beth Campbell Creative - Beth is a multi-talented local designer with a blog that features the best in architecture, art and cuisine.

5. To Danielle of Momsicle Vibe - My Rocaine dealer and good friend, this girl will have you in stitches. Her writing is nothing short of AMAZING.

6. To Sarah of Sparked Philosophy - Mom to sweet Ember, Sarah is a fantastic writer and friend of Koo & Poppet.

7. To Andrea of Mama in the City - my bloggy friend across the strait, Andrea writes with a voice that is honest and captivating.

8. To Jennifer of A Merry Mishap - a mom with impeccable taste in fashion and interiors.

9. To Dionne of City of Dionne - her blog is a visual feast. Her illustrations are exquisite.

10. To Ivan of Meade Design Group - a great friend and colleague with an un-rivaled eye for the best in design.

11. To Margot of Margot Austin Blog - Senior Design Editor at Style at Home Magazine.

12. Nadine of Walter Helena Photography - a beautiful person inside and out, her writing and photography will leave you entirely inspired.

13. Michelle of Michelle Loewen Photography - I don't know what I'm more envious of - her photographic skills or her culinary skills :)

In other news, you may be seeing a lot more of me here in the months ahead. I've been put off work and on bedrest for the rest of my pregnancy (I'm only 20 weeks as it is!!) More on that one to come....

Home Reno - halfway point...

When we moved into our house in October of 2009, we knew we had our work cut out for us. At first glance, it was difficult to see past the rustic wood siding, stained carpet and marbleized seashell sinks. The house was built in 1979 and it's not hard to tell.

Still, it had a comfortable layout and a great yard and Scott and I saw some potential in this split-level country house. We could picture ourselves living here and we could also imagine digging into some home improvements. We're about halfway there, and have been in construction mode for more than a year now. A lot of the work to date has been mainly cosmetic updates, but a few walls have been built or demolished here and there. We probably have another 2 years to go! But it's been a lot of fun to see the transformation this house is going through.

Most of you have seen the results of "Phase One", my Koo & Poppet World Headquarters ;-),

The office before:

and after:

Split stair before:

Stair after (not quite done yet):

Living room before (yikes!):

Living room after (what to do to add some more interest around the fireplace? any ideas?):

Living room and entry on the day we moved in:

and after:

Dining room before:

Dining room after - just needs some new chairs and a little more colour:

Now we are diving in to the family room downstairs. This room is in dire need of a makeover! The plan is to have this room ready by the time the baby is born this summer. I'll post photos of the finished result soon....

After this room is finished, it's on to the bedrooms upstairs.....I'm dreaming up a nursery design right now....details to follow!

And finally.....the big ticket items: KITCHEN AND BATHROOMS. And we have big 'ol plans for the kitchen. It's preeeetty bad right now. But fully functional, so one can't complain too much :) Sometimes I remind my self that there's no rush for all of this....we have walls, heat and a roof over our heads and really, I'm just grateful for that. And then I re-acquaint myself with those seashell sinks and I'm all OKAY SLEDGEHAMMER NOW, RETRO CHARM MY A$$.

and did I mention that Scott and my Dad have done all this work by themselves? They are superstars.

It's Fabric Selection Time again...

And I'd love your input!

Which prints do you think I should order for a new kollection of koos?

#1: "I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike"

#2: Now this is happiness!

#3: Candy dots

#4: Snowy blooms

#5: Classic black and white gingham

#6: Woodlands and fancy free

#7: Deer and doilies

#8: pink and orange sakura

Let's put it to a vote!

we whistle while we work

Some freshly made bunnies, bears and Pig 2.0.

This crew is now en route to my new friends at Kennedy Crawford Design in North Vancouver.

My littlest helper is never far....

Off she goes, onto the next adventure

Beautiful objects for sunny days ahead

Once again, I find myself browsing the web for beautiful novelties....I invite you to gaze upon these lovelies and become smitten....


handmade map letters found here



Adorable Fabric buttons found here



Orla Kiely Radio: yes yes yes!




Danish Vases from Urban Butik

Virginia Johnson baby quilts

Retro Orla teapot

Chalkboard globe spotted on DesignSponge

TGIF! Have a great weekend :-)

Clearance Sale in the Shop

Little Toffee Bear "Jessie" is on sale in my etsy shop:



$14

click here to view the listing

Later that day.....

The light snow brings

HELLO Snow Day!

We attempted to drive down to Victoria at the usual time this morning, only to find once we reached the highway that traffic was at a standstill and winter is in fact still here. So we turned back for home but not before stopping at a bakery for croissants and lattes :)

Our house normally doesn't get a huge amount of natural light suitable for interior photos, but I couldn't miss this opportunity today.....the white stuff outside brings all the light in!

So Scott is getting some work done at our dining table and I have changed out of my work clothes and into some lulus and I'm just generally enjoying the cozy factor. Sadie and I had some eggs and toast for lunch and now she's toting her doll stroller up and down the stairs. I love how she always picks the safest of activities. Time to sew up some bunnies....and then play in the snow!

(p.s. our coffee table is an old 70s relic that we found abandoned out in our shed when we moved into our house. Resurrection!!! I think it has a Danish mod vibe, but maybe it's actually just hideous.)

Sunday night

Been a really busy week....wishing I had more time to spend here lately...

But I found this on Pinterest and reminded myself to slow down a bit....

Have a great week everyone.

Love is in the air

A few pretty pictures to put you in the mood...


Strawberry heart marshmallows by OhYum



Watermelon hearts seen on Pinterest


Pepperoni heart pizza seen on Pinterest


I also love these EmersonMade signature Ts! If I knew I was having another girl you can bet I'd be ordering all three for next year.

Mama size.......

Toddler size......

Infant size.......

cute, cuter, cutest!!

Part 2: Doula Danger continues

Let's pick up where I left off in the previous post, shall we?

Right. Jan was rubbing my back as I leaned over the hospital bed, resting on my forearms. Scott was on the other side of the bed, holding my hands and encouraging me through each contraction. "You're doing great, just breathe, 10....9.....8.....7....6......5.....4......3......2......1......BReeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaathhhhhhhheeeee....."

Unfortunately his face was a little too close to mine at this time and I had no patience for his not-so-fresh breath. I couldn't hold it in any longer. I hissed through clenched teeth: "YOU NEED A MINT." These are the only words I remember uttering to my husband during the entire labour and birth. HAHA! How messed up is that?! Luckily, I must have put the fear of God in him because he wasted no time tending to his case of halitosis.

At this point I am now on the laughing gas and thinking, okay, screw what I said about a drug free birth - I am seriously reconsidering the Epidural, like NOW. But before it got to that point I was whisked into the operating room for a C-Section. Background: At some point during my labour I announced to the nurses and Jan that "I think my water just broke." At which point they got all excited and had a look and their pleased expressions quickly turned to grave concern. I had, what was later revealed to be, a placental abruption (read: copious amounts of the red stuff). Those of you who have been pregnant before and read anything about major complications, you know this is one of them. Long story short though, everyone ended up happy and healthy. Back to the crazy doula.....

So, C-Section. So, bye-bye doula. I mean, obviously these things can't be predicted, but of course a doula is not even present for the birth if you're having a section. I think she stuck around in the waiting room until Sadie was born, then wished us all well and v a n i s h e d .

Now, based on the obsessive attention she had been giving me up until our baby was born, I truly expected a call from her the next morning to check in. But the next morning came and went, and the next day, and the day after that. (We are still in the hospital at this point, and Sadie and I are having difficulties figuring out the whole feeding thing.) WE NEEDED HELP. Jan had promised us breast-feeding support and yada yada yada. SHE WAS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND. Our ticket out of the hospital was dependent on my ability to successfully feed Sadie, or the proof that we had someone who could offer help when needed, ie. the person we had hired to do this very thing. So I was calling her over and over and leaving desperate messages on her answering machine to just show her face to the nurses and pledge that she would be there to help us once we were home. Finally I got in touch. She reluctantly agreed to come visit us at the hospital. Sorry for the inconvenience Jan.

She shows up looking rather disheveled and spacy. She is limping and says she is having hip troubles because of her car accident and will require another stint in the hospital herself. I told her I was not having much success breast-feeding and that my precious newborn was hungry. Her attempts to help me get Sadie "on the boob" were down right ridiculous. I wanted to swat her away like fly. It was really like she had never even seen anyone breastfeed before let alone assisted in the process. I was going MENTAL. The nurses had a baby scale in our room because we would often weigh Sadie to see if she had in fact gotten any milk. At one point it was only Scott, Jan, myself and Sadie in the room and Scott suggested we put her on the scale - an instrument we figured someone who had claimed to have worked in a Mother-Babe ward for 15 years would know how to operate. Too bad, so sad. She had no idea how to work it and Scott ended up figuring it out.

At this point, I am thinking "Jan, your work here is done. Be on your way. The nurses have seen you and are under the impression that you will be there for us, but really - you are no longer of any use to us. GET OUT." Only my problem is I can't actually say things like this out loud to people. I know, I KNOW! I must become more assertive.
Unfortunately, Jan decides to stick around afterall and begins chattering inanely. Scott takes this as his cue to turn on an episode of Deadliest Catch on the portable DVD player and tune out. At which point Jan begins telling me how her daughter was at a Christian youth group the night before and the leader asked if anyone knew of someone they could pray for and sing a song about. Jan's daughter, whom we've never met, apparently says that a little baby girl named Sadie has just been born and could everyone pray for her and dedicate a song about Jesus to her. Jan then proceeds to sing a few verses of the song to me and demonstrate how everyone held up their hands and danced.

Um.

So here I am in my hospital room invisioning a possibly evangelical group of strangers singing a song in honour of my 4-day old child. Sure, some would call it a thoughtful gesture, I mean, I know she meant well. But at the time, in my particular state, I called it wackadoo. Now - before you start thinking I am anti-religion or anything - please don't. I absolutely appreciate and respect a person's right to his or her own belief system. It's simply that religion is not something I grew up with myself. So I can't really say that faith plays a large role in my life. Faith in a higher power, yes. Faith in specific stories about specific religious figures, not so much. What my children decide to put their faith in when they're grown is for them to decide. BUT FOR NOW, at a few days old, I just wasn't comfortable with ANY religion being associated with my daughter. Call me hormonal, or whatever. I don't know. How would you react?
I am trying to get Scott's attention and somehow make it clear to Jan that she may be excused and that I need to rest. Eventually, after what seemed like hours, she was gone.

We never heard from her again, and her doula website has been shut down and her name removed from all of the local doula directories. I really have no idea what happened or what was up with her. A part of me suspects she was a faker and a nutjob, and that she had no real training and thought that this might be a good way to make some money. But another part of me thinks she actually was a certified doula, but that our paths crossed at a time when she was facing some seriously difficult issues in her life that she just couldn't prevent from ultimately invading her professional life as well. If that's the case, then of course I do feel sympathy for her.....but at the same time, I didn't really sign up for that kind of doula baggage. I would have much rather she was honest with us and when the going was getting tough simply explained that due to personal issues she couldn't carry out her committment to us and if we could kindly find another doula that would be appreciated. Hey, NO PROBLEM.

But instead, this is our doula story.
Disclaimer: I still think doulas are a wonderful resource for women who want a little extra support during childbirth. And like any profession, there are good ones and there are not so good ones. Hiring a doula could be the best decision you ever make surrounding your labour and delivery experience.....or it could be, as in our case, one of the worst. Do you have any doula tales to share with me? I would love to hear them! And what is your conclusion? Was Jan a phony?