A Happy Home for Monday

Did you have a good weekend? Hope so. We started Sunday morning off with an early morning call from my sister. She told us a couple of very silly people tossed a brick through the window of our restaurant, and helped themselves to a few bottles of liquor. We have cameras, and these guys provided some fun images! If they weren't ballsy enough, a passerby, noticing the window had been smashed out, waltzed in and helped himself to a few treats. Guess he thought, "why not"? Not the end of the world, only a little irritating. ;)

To kickstart the week, I'm sharing the home of Shereen, Wilf and Silas. I shot their pretty home last summer, for Style At Home, and it's featured in the June issue. Designed with the help of Shereen's good friend, Nancy Riesco. Between the two of them, they've created a home full of personality. I've mentioned Shereen before, and her beautiful line of jewelry - click here for a refresher.

Silas hanging out with Leo, on the settee that Shereen found on Craigslist. Nancy had it reupholstered. Love that orange mirror. 

Red and blue is a great combo. 

Knowing this family, their home suits them perfectly. I love coming across that, as it doesn't happen all the time. If you'd like to see Shereen's home office, I posted pics a few weeks ago. Click here for a look. 

Pretty Friday

Hello weekend! I'm wrapping up the week with some shots from a shoot I did for Barefoot Contessa, a women's clothing store, a few weeks ago. It's the perfect place to shop for all things pretty and lady-like. I'm hoping that these springy pics will trigger spring to commence, here in Vancouver ;)

Model: Olivia Renshaw

Back soon!

janis

Colours,Patterns and Wallpaper

I'd like to introduce you to interior designer, Lael O'Brien. I shot her home last summer, for House and Home, and it's just out now in the June issue. 

Lael is a huge fan of wallpaper, and has used it throughout the house, along with pops of colour and fun patterns. Here's a little peek....

You can also watch an interview with Lael, and get a tour of her home, at H&H online. Click here to watch.

Have a great day! Back soon.

janis

Weekend Observations

I hope you had a great weekend! What did you get up to?

Most of my "observations" for this weekend involved invoices, bank statements and receipts. In Canada, today is the deadline to get your tax statement in for 2011. Yikes. Nothing like the last minute. My apologies to my accountant. I promise to do better next year. Seriously.

In between ripping apart my office, searching for receipts, I also observed a little prettiness....

Cathy Terepocki ceramics are sold at Walrus.

For more info on VanDusen Gardens, click here.

That's it for today!

NYC for Friday

I'm back. Actually, I got back the other day at 2am but have been in a shoot frenzy. How has your week been?

I've got a little more of my NYC trip to share with you. It's a kind of long...hope you don't mind! Such a fantastic city.

We stayed at the Marcel at the Gramercy. The view from the lounge deck, on the 10th floor, was beautiful.  

A little peek at the High Line. You can't miss this if you visit NYC!  It starts in the Meat Packing district (by the Standard hotel) and ends at West 34th. There were birds nesting in those fantastic bird houses, top left. I know of a certain viaduct, here in Vancouver, that should be transformed into a beautiful park space too. One can dream. 

We popped over to Brooklyn for a few hours too. Checked out  Mast Brothers Chocolate, to stock up on some of our favourite chocolate and to see where all the magic happened.  Incredible flavour. This place is so worth seeing.

This city, truly, never sleeps. I love that you can buy papaya and limes late at night, right on the street. 

Fishs Eddy is a shop filled with vintage dish ware and heaps of new and used bits. We picked up some vintage Pan Am airlines knives. 99 cents each. Had to. ;)

Another shop we came across, is Kiosk. Located in Soho, it sells "things from places", and displays these "things" gallery style. Love this place so much. You can happily shop online too!

Happy bikes chained up everywhere. 

Beauty and Essex had been recommended to us by a few people. The food was incredible. You enter through a "pawn shop" and find yourself in a rather glamorous space. Since we're not overly glamorous, we enjoyed looking at all the glamorous guests. ;) The lobster tacos and molten chocolate bread pudding were especially amazing. 

A very early morning walk through the flower district. It's mostly wholesale only, but it was fun to stroll through. Busy place!

Whew. That's it. Do you have favourite places that you go to each time you're in NYC? Please share! 

Have a great weekend everyone. Got any plans? Back soon!

Janis

Weekend Observations of NYC

Did you have a nice weekend? Hope so. We're still in NYC, so I thought I'd share some NY observations with you. I love it here. Even the "nor'easter" isn't bothering us. ;)

All shades of chairs in the Raw department of ABC Carpet and Home. One of my favourite stores, ever. 

Love this view from the top of the ramp in the Guggenheim. 

Los Feliz is a great little restaurant, in the East Village area on Ludlow Street. So worth checking out. The tacos and burritos are perfect, and inexpensive.

Another restaurant we love is Cafe Select, in the NoLita area. The lobster salad was so good. We sat in the cozy back corner and people watched for a bit. 

My husband is patiently waiting for me, so I have to fly. Back soon with a peek at my shoot with Jen of Made By Girl and more bits of NYC!

Have a great day! 

janis

Hello Weekend

Day one has been so much fun, despite not having slept for 36 hours. Have lots to cram in this weekend, including my shoot with Jen, of Made By Girl, tomorrow. Will be back on Monday with some NYC observations. Have a great weekend everyone!

Janis