What I've been up to...

So time is ticking along here and it is now one week to my surgery. I have been busy trying to get everything organized at the gallery for my absence. Bookkeeping up to date...filing done...and a new and exciting venture (more on that at some point in the future) organized and running before I vacate for a while.

On the home front I am feeling a little lost without a project on the go, but am loving the revamped laundry and bathroom. If you missed the reveal you can see it here.

On the blog front I have discovered a few new blogs that I am crushing over. I happened upon Heather Bullard Lifestyle Blog I think while I was checking link backs on my pinterest. I fell head over heels for her beautiful photography, and was excited to learn of her new online magazine Souvenir going live next week.

One only has to look at some of the images on her blog to know that the magazine will be divine.

See for yourself;

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I then hopped over to the Souvenir Facebook page to check out some of the contributors and found a host of other bloggers sooo worthy of following...my blog roll is almost getting too much to manage but I cannot stop myself.

Happy Thursday all...and if I miss you tomorrow have a glorious weekend...supposed to be stunning up here in Muskoka...can't wait!

I won't bore you with the details...

So by now everyone has probably seen a recap of BlogPodium and IDS somewhere, so I will simply say I attended and here was my take...

My day Friday started at 5:30 am driving an hour (which actually ended up being an hour and a half with the weather) through awful conditions (snow/freezing rain) only to be late for the train...late as in just late, as in I pull into the station turn the car off reach for the door handle only to see the train pulling away from the platform. And that about sums up the days direction...just a little off track for me. I took the next train a half hour later and in another hour and a half I was in the heart of the city and hightailing to the convention centre and sneaking in the back just in time to hear the start of BlogPodium discussions. (Side Bar...Go Transit has some of the best customer service I have ever experienced!)

BlogPodium was a great event, well attended and with a great discussion on blogs and media, but I found it did not really apply to me; at this point in time, I do not consider myself a design blogger, rather a lifestyle blogger and so the discussion surrounding getting published and press coverage for your blog on Design TV or in Design Mags, was in the end a bit beyond the purview of my blog. No matter it was a great discussion with a wonderful panel of 'media mavens' and I enjoyed listening in and took away a few really great pointers. I look forward to the next discussion which is to be about monetizing your blog...something any blogger can relate to I suspect.

As far as IDS is concerned, while I may be the only designer to say this, I never fail to be a bit disappointed. Having been absent from this event for several years I guess I expected to be blown away by the new and exciting, and I was not. Don't get me wrong, I saw some great things, but nothing that knocked my socks off. What surprised me most was that I had no intention of wearing my 'Gallerist hat'.  I had intended on simply representing my blog and my newly conceived design business (Your Muskoka Design Assistant), but by far the best of the show for me was Studio North and Prototype where I met some wonderful product designers with...get this...wonderful product! (which I'm not gonna share at the moment until I can secure it in the gallery).  The best of the rest of the show for me personally was not the best because it was the most innovative, or groundbreaking, but the best because I just personally like the style.


I can so see myself soaking in this tub by Native Trails



Perfect winter cabin look from Up Country and the ode to the British would make my hubby feel at home.



This metal chest from Elte is an organizers dream.



These Vista Teak chairs in a bright apricot from Andrew Richard Designs brightened my whole day.



And because I'm a mom, I thought these indoor play gyms; Rhapsody by Cedarworks were to die for!

 I was supposed to meet my oldest daughter after the show for a bit of downtown shopping, but her bus from Kitchener was late and so I trekked to the Eaton Centre and back alone (and empty handed...my heart just wasn't in it). She made it just in time to catch our train north back to Barrie where she was going for the weekend to see friends. We had a wonderful visit on the train ride, but not what we had planned on.

I was back in the gallery Saturday for a quiet day as the weather was not good, and Sunday was spent trying to get the laundry room and bathroom closer to completion. The extent of the chaos from not having the laundry room functional is getting to me...an update on all that later in the week.

There you have it...my take on things, for what it's worth.

Happy Monday...or Tuesday as I've posted this a bit late.