Thank You!!

Just before the clock strikes midnight and a new year is ushered in, I want to thank everyone who reads my blog for the support you've shown this little writing endeavour of mine. I look forward to continuing to bring you interesting posts in 2011.

Tomorrow I plan to sit down and formulate some realistic, achievable goals for myself to accomplish over the next 365 days. But right now, I'd just like to wish you all a Happy New Year!!!

Image Courtesy of Martha Stewart

Merry Christmas, Readers

Merry Christmas!!!

I hope Santa is good to you this year ;-)

Lunar Eclipse in Toronto's Night Sky

The skies in Toronto were perfectly clear for viewing tonight's lunar eclipse, which just happened to coincide with the winter solstice. According to news sources, this hasn't happened for 372 years, and it will be another 84 years before it occurs again. I'm not an astronomy buff by any means, but I'm always interested in unusual and rare events. More than anything else, it was a chance to test my camera's zoom lens:

2:35 am

2:39 am

2:44 am

2:47 am

All photos by Pamela Graham for CherishToronto

Merry Christmas, Martha!

Martha Stewart knows how to do Christmas right. Although many of us can only aspire to achieve "Martha" style, we can still ooh and aah, and do our best to emulate her ideas. I've gathered a few of my favourite images from Martha's Christmas Workshop:

Asian Inpsired Tree

Tinsel Tree

Polish Tree

Silver Fir and Holly Wreath

Fir and Balsam Wreath

Gumdrop Wreath

Eucalyptus Garland

Enjoy the Christmas Workshop at www.MarthaStewart.com

Christmas Comes But Once A Year

With less than 2 weeks to go before Christmas, I knew that if I didn't get my decorating done today, it wasn't going to happen at all. So this evening, with a burst of energy, I set out to add a touch of holiday cheer to my home. The wreath hangs on the door, the tree is trimmed and the candles are lit. I'm ready for the festivities!

Sarah 101: Official Premiere Date

Hey everybody, I've got some great news for you. Sarah's coming back soon!!!!!!!!!!!

Sarah Richardson's new series, Sarah 101, will premiere on HGTV Canada on Tuesday, January 4th, 2011. The series will consist of 13 half hour episodes, and will feature "building blocks for design success in every room".

Be sure to set your PVR!!

Dear Santa

It's doubtful that one of these will fit down the chimney, but I'm still putting it on my Christmas list. Santa, I've been a good girl this year, please bring me an etagere.

Etagere: A piece of furniture consisting of a set of open shelves for displaying small objects and sometimes having an enclosed cabinet as a base. (via Mirriam-Webster)

Vintage Brass Etagere
Home of Eddie Ross & Jaithan Kochar
Image via EddieRoss

Black Metal Etageres
Home of Frank Muytjens
Image via LonnyMag

Custom Etagere
Designed by Jim Howard for House Beautiful
Image via HabituallyChic

My Favourite!!
Atlanta Christmas Showhouse

Image via Phoebe Howard

A Pair Creates Balance
Charlotte Showhouse
Image via Phoebe Howard

Asian Inspired Etagere
Room Design by Heather Clawson
Image via Rue Magazine

Porter Etagere
Room Design by Billy Baldwin
Image via Habitually Chic

Sweet Tile of Mine

The kitchen backsplash is done, and it looks fabulous!! It's amazing what a large impact such a small change can make. I love the combination of clear and frosted glass with natural stone. I also love the fact that this backsplash actually matches with the countertop, unlike the original yellow tiles. Yippee!!!

Wishes

Hey everyone!! Want to know what's on the top of my wish list this Christmas? Well, to make things easy for you, blogger Shannon over at What's Up Whimsy is writing a series: 12 Days of Holidays, a compilation of blogger wish lists. My wishes are featured today, so be sure to click through and check it out:

Holiday Wish List

Many thanks to Shannon for asking me to participate alongside so many other fabulous bloggers whom I admire!!

The Many Homes of Thomas Smythe

Over at Canadian House & Home, there's a great feature on Toronto designer Thomas (Tommy) Smythe. Most know Tommy from his television appearances alongside famed Canadian designer Sarah Richardson. It would seem that in his spare time, Tommy likes to relocate and redecorate. I find it interesting to see how each new space influences the design aesthetic, and how several of Tommy's key pieces of furniture and decor items are used in different ways in each new home.

Tommy's Kitchen Remodel
Featured in Canadian House & Home, 2004

Tommy's Victorian Semi
Featured in Canadian House & Home, 2006

Tommy's 180 Square Foot Rental

Featured in Canadian House & Home, 2007

Tommy's Current One Bedroom Rental
Featured in Canadian House & Home, 2009

To see the entire Canadian House & Home feature, click here.

All images courtesy of Canadian House & Home.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Despite the fact that my condo looks good and feels like home, I'm starting to go a little bit stir crazy. I have the urge to start redecorating from scratch, but my sensible side tells me that only a nut job or extremely rich person would redecorate every three years. So what to do, what to do...

...This is a rather ironic story. I wrote that first paragraph on Wednesday afternoon, and being unsure about what to do, I left the post unfinished. Then Thursday morning I received a text from my brother in law asking if I'd like him to replace my kitchen backsplash tile. It's as though he had read my thoughts!! Of course I replied "yes" before he could back out of the offer.

Back story: When I moved into my newly built condo back in 2007, the backsplash tiles were not what I was expecting. The pretty mosaic tiles I had seen in the model suite had been replaced with what the builder considered to be a "reasonable substitution". News flash: Golden yellow tiles do not coordinate with a mocha brown granite countertop. It might not be bad, but it sure ain't great:


I purchased these glass and stone beauties at The Tile Shoppe during the summer and have been waiting for the tile fairies to install them:


Yessir, I believe some change will do me good. Watch for the facelift photos next week!!

Thanksgiving Round 2

Please excuse my absence for the next few days. I'll be celebrating American Thanksgiving with family here:


See you when I get back!!

Redwash and Sparkle

The Bay has chosen a strong but uniform colour scheme for the flagship store windows this Christmas season, and the winning shade is RED. While the backdrops are ablaze with red props, the visual team has added sparkle to the windows with hits of metal and glass. These displays get my vote for most eye catching on Yonge Street. In fact, I think that one of those dresses is calling my name, which means the visual merchandisers have done a great job!!