Our bedroom reveal!

Redecorating-the-master-bed30 seconds within getting into bed, I’m in a deep slumber. I’m not sure if I’ve always been that way, but my Husband constantly lets me know how he too, wishes he could sleep as restful as I do. I blame the pillow top mattress he picked out for us a few years ago. It is SO comfortable. Unfortunately for him he doesn’t get much rest, and tosses and turns all night long waking up more tired than he was the night before. Half of the problem is probably because we have a double-sized bed. Despite our lean frames, I’m thinking we need to up size. Due to us being in California, I think a California King bed would be suitable, no? ;)

It was due time to have an adult bedroom and finally be matching and relaxing.

before-after-bedroomHere is the before and after photo of our bedroom.

And more…(click to enlarge the images)bedroom-before-and-after bedroom-1Quite the difference! For the longest time my night table was a rubbermaid bin that I still hadn’t unpacked since moving here in February.

That all changed when I went shopping.

I bought some bed linens from the Steven Alan collection at West Elm and our new headboard is the Safavieh Axel from All Modern (and now costs $50 more?).  His night stand (the glass top one) is from Ikea, ages ago. I’m talking circa 2006 when I moved up to Ontario, and lived with a room mate I found on the Guelph University website. She took me to Ikea and there I bought that $20 “night table”. It’s so tiny. The new one (on my side) is from Overstock.

night-standPretty, right?

I applied on Bloggers Required website, to have a chance to review the Buckwheat Pillow by Hullo. Primarily because it intrigued me, and one cannot have enough pillows. I like to sleep like Princess and The Pea. The run down: We used to sleep with two huge 20″ velvety grey pillows from Ikea that acted like a headboard, and then I use two very fluffy malleable pillows, while my husband prefers the more firm pillow that barely makes a dent where his head would go.

As funny as it sounds, there’s an adjustment period to getting used to this $79 pillow. I found it interesting that you can adjust the fill on the hulls in your pillow. And if you really hate it? There’s a money back guarantee option.

Hullo-pillowThinking the Buckwheat Pillow would dig into my face like other feather pillows do (then get passed off to the husband because I hate the pokeys), I was pleasantly surprised it didn’t sneak out of the layers of cotton and dig into my face in the middle of the night.

Hullo-hullsWhat else can you really say about a pillow? Reluctantly, I let my husband borrow it for a night and he decided to keep it. Fair enough, I wasn’t liking the “relaxing noise” of the pillow myself, and prefer my fluffy pillows. Not that it entirely matters to me with a pillow, but the Buckwheat Pillows are organic. Here’s a snippet from their site:

Natural Buckwheat Pillow Organic All-Natural Materials

From the 100% organic cotton twill case, to the carefully sourced and selected buckwheat hulls, we make our buckwheat pillows in the U.S.A. with the finest materials available. Our premium buckwheat hulls are grown and milled by American farmers. Buckwheat pillows contain no animal products for those interested in a vegan lifestyle.

My main issue with pillows I’ve had was freaking feathers sticking into my face and scaring the crap out of me. I’ve since forgo’ed buying feather pillows because of that.

I’ve been known to spend upwards of $60 for a single pillow, and I’ve since boycotted feather pillows because my main issue with them is that I woke up with feathers stuck into my face, arms and stomach. Painful.

Anyway, what do you think of our bedroom reveal?

alfie-on-bedAlfie seems to like it.

I have to say, the flowers were a complete prop and usually I keep them downstairs so I can smell them all day long. I thought they added to the photograph, so I added them in before I shot the after-photos.

How often do you wash your bed linens?

When is the last time you got a new pillow?

What are your favourite flowers?

Matching night stands, or no?

Do you like out bedroom setup now?

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The start to our wedding reception | Sponsored

I participated in an Ambassador Program on behalf of Millennial Central for MY M&M’S. I received product samples to facilitate my review and to thank me for my participation.

I mentioned in a previous post about how I’m a candy ambassador. So Sweet. Pun intended. When the doorbell rang I was expecting some household items The Guy ordered online the previous weekend. But there it was in all its glory. My dream come true: a huge bag of candy, delivered at my doorstep.  This is the beginning of planning our wedding reception back home in Newfoundland, towards the end of this summer. Since we planned our wedding in record time: 6 days, we didn’t really invite that many people to witness our vows and the beginning of our marriage.

Last weekend we finally ordered our wedding Thank You cards, all 100 of them for the 20-something people in attendance. Hey, they’re generic and don’t say the date of the wedding on them, so I’m sure we can use them in the future.

As for our wedding reception, The Guy needs to get his arse in gear and figure out if he’s going to do an Ironman this Fall. If he chooses to do so, we’ll have to push our reception to July. If not, back to a day in August/September. Starting to stress! Even though it’s not going to be a huge event, but simply a fun BBQ in my parents back yard with tons of loved one’s. It still gives me butterflies, as I have no idea where to even start.

my mmsHot diggity dang, that’s a huge 5lb bag of candy that we’re going to cart back home. The Guy asked me how I’m doing to do it, which I’m not sure yet. To which he replied “fuel for my biking?” That’s something a triathlete would say, don’t you think? No sir, this will not be wasted while you are on your bike. These candies will be appreciated!

You betcha bottom dollar I gave these M&M’S a taste test as soon as they arrived. No different than any other delicious M&M’S you’ve consumed.Wedding MMs

I ordered them in red, white and gold as those were the colours we had for our wedding decorations. I think those are some classy colours that I won’t get sick of. The yellow colour isn’t what I expected as I was trying to mimic the colours of our Christmas wedding. It wasn’t a pearled golden as shown online. It’s a pure mustard colour. But hey, I think it looks pretty decent.

I’ve come up with a plan on how I’d like these presented as wedding reception favours. Either in gold tins, or in small white patterned paper bags. I mentioned this in my previous M&M’S post but if you want to have them pre-packaged when you order them, you can do so in:

  • Silver Favor Tins
  • Elegant Lace Favor Bags
  • Party Favor Packs
  • Bulk Products

Of course, I chose the bulk order, to get more bang for my buck. MY M&M’S are perfect for all aspects of planning and celebrating a wedding reception. From personalized favours to bridesmaid gifts to using MY M&M’S in wedding decor, the options are nearly endless for adding a special unique touch to the special day. And they ship to CANADA!

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A few new beauty favourites

I feel as if I haven’t done a beauty favourites blog post in a long time. It’s time.

I thought I’d take a break from picking out some wedding Thank You cards which are also long overdue on mailing out to our friends and family. My birthday weekend, we ventured out to San Francisco, perched my husband’s camera on a sturdy tripod and sat on the edge of a wharf with a view of the Golden Gate bridge in the background. We got a few great shots of ourselves, which I’ll hold of on sharing until I’m done with the cards. You can have a sneak peek of what it might turn out like, due to the cell phone pic The Guy snagged of us. Poor Alfie looks uncomfortable.Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, Wharf in San Francisco, Golden GateAt times, I’m glad that we didn’t have to stress about minor things such as invitations, flowers, decorations and whatnot. But at the same time, I wish we had of done it that way. Then I think, who really remembers those details other than the bride?

At the end of this summer, we are heading back to Newfoundland to have a small wedding reception in my parents backyard. I’m not sure whether to e-mail out invites, or to order fancy designed invitations and send them via snail mail. Any thoughts?

Better get crackin’. I did end up ordering some personalized M&M’s to have at our reception, that went with the theme of our Christmas wedding: red, gold and white — simplistic. I’ll talk about that in another post soon.

. . . . .

fav-beauty-products

 All prices are shown in USD.

Dior DiorShow Mascara — $25
This mascara gives tons of volume without the clump. My only complaint with it is that it’s dry from the get-go and reminds me of a 2 month old Smoky Lash from MAKE UP FOR EVER. Mascara should be thrown out between the 3-4month mark as bacteria can build up but I don’t think my Dior mascara will last that long. However I do have a tip for you, if you’re willing to try. Put a 2-3 drops of contact lens solution into the mascara bottle to wet the formula and it’s good as new.

Dry Bar dry shampoo — $20
Amazing aerosol dry shampoo that works for brunettes. If you spray it too close to your hair it will create a blob of white. Obey the directions and you’ll be set. I love this so much I use it on the days I wash my hair, to give it more volume and texture.

Eau de Lacoste perfume — $65
As you know I’m a huge fan of Philosophy Living Grace perfume as it was my Wedding day fragrance. As much as I love that scent, I try not to wear it as an everyday perfume since I don’t wish to ever get sick of it, because it holds a special memory now. Lacoste perfume is a nice replacement for it, for now. I received this from the PR company and I picked it out of a list of perfumes to review as I gravitate towards anything labelled as a fresh, clean scent. The bottle is very modern yet classy, with the clear to gradient white bottle, shaped a little light a light bulb if you ask me. I’m terrible with describing scents, but if you know and like what sort of fragrance I go for, then you’d most likely enjoy it also.

Benefit Porefessional — $31
I’m finally using up my beauty samples from when I was subscribing to so many monthly beauty box subscriptions, and I’ve been leaving Porefessional in my make-up bag to use. I’m surprised at how amazing this is. As a face primer newbie, I’m hooked on it. I don’t use it every day because I think I’d like to reserve flawless skin for special occasions, I plan on getting the full sized once I run out.

Philosophy Miracle Worker with retinoid pads — $74
After washing my face at night, I use one of the pads all over my face and the back of my hands before moisturizing. Retinoid has many benefits as it boosts collagen to reduce fine lines, and most importantly (to me) a speed cell turnover to even out discolouration. I am on my 3rd tub (bought the last two, received the first one for review) and I don’t think I’ll stop buying it for a while. I’ve noticed a tremendous change in my skin since using this and I’m kicking myself for not taking before photos The redness on my cheeks have faded. I feel incredibly comfortable walking around without a stitch of makeup on my face (and not the “no make-up make-up look”) either.

Lacoste L.12.12 — $69
The Guy was lucky enough to get sent the men’s Limited Edition L.12.12 by Lacoste… and he smells incredible. Not that he didn’t before, he rarely wears cologne. This one reminds me so much of his Old Spice deodorant. Very manly but clean, super sexy. He could wear this product daily if he wanted to. It has a unique twist, there’s a hint of citrus and spice to it. The packaging mimics his old school days of when he used to play Tennis on the regular. The Blanc scent is not limited edition, but the bottle is. Getting a bit deeper here, the textured panel running down each side reminds me of the tennis raquet, and the neon yellow flacon is the colour of tennis balls. The L.12.12 bottle mimics the sport of tennis itself, with the textured panel running down each side, reminding us of a tennis raquets threads and the fantastically bright yellow flacon was designed that way as it draws on the tennis ball, which is Lacoste’s renowned heritage. Lacoste L1212

How often do you wear perfume/cologne?

Have you tried any new beauty products lately?

What is your favourite mascara (and why)?

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