MAPLE SYRUP SALAD SENSATIONS!

Hello lovelies!! It's been a little while and good to be back! At the end of February our baby girl broke her leg tobogganing. It was awful. Her femur. Brutal. But, she's amazing AND we just got back from an awesome family vacation in Mexico. Yesterday, I spent the entire day doing laundry and my kiddies woke up at 10:30am! They were zonked from arriving back in Ottawa so late. In any event, I totally indulged on vacation. TOTALLY! It's the sign of a good vacation, however when I got on the scale and saw that the numbers were up by 9 pounds. YUP, nine!! I wanted to die. I've been working on getting back to the gym and eating clean since Jan and lost a bunch of pounders but 9 pounds up in one week? Oh Lordy. So much food, so much beer. However...sign of a good vacay and back on track today, right? Right. I have a yummy salad recipe to share with you today in case you're looking for a spring kick start. Shorts and tank season is quickly approaching! Easter is also around the corner and this would be a great addition to your menu. Speaking of Easter, I'm crushing on this buffet. The colour is gorg! These beauty Wayfair dishes and I'm going to order this adorable banner for the mantel. 

March is maple syrup season. Who doesn't love Canadian made syrup? Heaven. A local farmer at the cottage taps some of the trees on our road for the sugary goodness. It's really cool for the kids to see where the syrup on their pancakes begins.

The thing about this salad is that using real maple syrup is a must! 

The dressing will knock your socks off. Here's what you need....

- 1/4 cup of real maple syrup
- 2 tablespoon of dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup of good olive oil
- salt and pepper

Mix the ingredients (except the oil) and then whisk in the oil. I shake everything up in a little mason jar. It's the perfect size.

For the salad, I added mixed greens, sliced pears, black berries and mini tomatoes. It's simple and delicious. You could add some toasted pecans on there too. Yum!

Pour on your dressing and VOILA! Maple syrup deliciousness!! 

Now that we're back from vacation and the snow is melting, it's time to start on our baby girl's big girl room. As per usual, I have my eye on all things pretty from Wayfair.ca. Shocker.  We're besties. I'm gathering up some furniture ideas for there that I'll share with you soon. Now, go find yourself some Canadian made maple syrup and whip up this salad. Yum!

Keep it Beautiful.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Wayfair.ca. As always, thank you for supporting the brands that support this blog. Love you!

Give Your Home A Lift

Throw-pillow switch up

Mix up your pillows and move them around your house. Why not try to move the pillows you have on your couch, up in your bedroom or in the tv room? They may give another room a whole new look. Or pick up a few new ones, a very inexpensive way to give your couches and chairs an update.

 

When looking for pillows, you can't go wrong by choosing: a bold pattern, a subtle pattern (small stripes, geometric) and a solid colour. Choose all three in similar colours and it will look great!

Clean out your front hall closet

I did this a couple of weekends ago and it felt so good to get rid of all the hats and coats! You can actually see the closet floor now! I took my kids' old baby clothes dividers, gave them a spray and now they separate all our jackets in the closet. Use what you have!

Switch up your bedding

Getting into crisp fresh sheets has got to be one of the best feelings after a long day. I found this bedding at HomeSense. It feels like summer to me! So long winter blankets!

Paint

Easy, peasy way to give your room a boost. I noticed that our baseboards and walls have taken a beating this winter. The winter was so brutal this year that a lot more inside hockey and car racing happened inside which led to the baseboards taking a beating!

Flowers

Instant prettyness.

I'm going to be off the radar for a few days, but I might be back here on Friday and for sure Monday. Don't forget to enter into the Lampe Berger contest. It closes Thursday!

Keep it Beautiful.

Spring Mantle

Have a good weekend everyone? Ottawa still has mucho snow but, we saw a little glimpse of Spring this weekend and all of a sudden my living room was feeling too heavy, too winter. So, the mantle got a little lift with a change of décor. I headed down to the basement (you know, that place that is waiting for some mega love that I told you about last week) to see what I could find. After looking through the "Spring/Easter" bin, here is what I found and came up with. Think clean, fresh, light...Spring.

I filled one of the kids' Easter basket with straw and eggs that I had used previously for Spring decorating here

Try not to overthink it when giving your décor a refresh. Spring is about longer days, fresh starts, new life. It's time to give your home décor a fresh start and new life.

I have a great giveaway coming up on the blog this week to one of my fav home design/furniture stores. Its AWESOME! Stay tuned!

Keep it Beautiful.

Wednesday Yummies: Spring Into Food!

Hey guys!

How’s the week going? It’s day 3 of being back to the office and so far so good. We’re all still transitioning into the new routine but it’s going to take some time. One of the hardest things has been getting dinner on the table before the kids melt! Meal planning and having food ready to go is definitely key to keeping everyone smiling. Need to put my thinking cap on. Have any suggestions?

In the meantime, I’ve been on the lookout for Spring recipes. The snow is melting (thank God!) and soon the tulips will be peaking out, so I’m feeling the need to find some new recipes and feel refreshed. Seeing how it’s Wednesday Yummies today I thought I would share some that I definitely want to try:

 Is your mouth watering? Here is where you can find them all…

Asparagus Mushroom Stir-fry

Eggplant Tomato & Pesto Stack

Grilled Chicken & Corn Salad

Honey Balsamic Ham

Rack of Lamb with Mustard Sauce

Roasted Beets & Pearl Onions with Pistachio Vinaigrette

 

Let me know if you make any of these! That roasted beets recipe is sounding like a fresh.fabulous.sophisticated side dish at Easter! Delish.

Also want to say a Happy Birthday to my gorgeous girlfriend Robyn! XO you!

Keep it Beautiful.

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

Hey everyone!

Sorry I've been so MIA this past week. It was March Break, I was home with the kiddies and it was oh-so-busy! My mum was visiting and was a huge help to me. Phew! Mum and I were also condo shopping for her and my dad. I loved looking into all the condos and their décor possibilities. Designing from a blank slate is a decorators dream!

Happy St. Paddy's Day to you all. Are you really Irish or just Irish for today? I can remember in my University days, standing in the bar line on St. Patrick's Day at 9am. How times have changed! These are the cupcakes my big guy and I made last night for school today and at 9am I was far from the bar and taking my son to school ;)

Do you love green? Do you decorate with green in your home? Here are a few green rooms that look pretty fresh.fabulous.sophisticated to me.



Real Simple

Tonic Living

 My Nana loved St. Patrick's Day. Her house was always "decked" in green. This morning I'm wearing my shamrock earrings that she gave me with pride and ready for my green beer tonight. Happy St. Paddy's Day.

Keep it Beautiful.

Easter Decor!

Are you ready for Easter? Are you entertaining this upcoming weekend or laying low? We're STILL waiting for our baby girl. Her due date is tomorrow, so come on baby!!

If you are looking to do some Easter decorating, here are some easy ideas...

Yesterday I hit up the dollar store to add a little Easter love to our home. I found these cute little painted eggs (4 in a pack) and hung them on the branches that I currently have on the dining room sideboard.

On Cityline the other day, I saw one of the guests using plastic green grass from the dollarstore on her table. I've seen it there before and always wondered what I could use it for. Voila...a couple squares of green grass, a little easter grass, pussy willows and dollar store eggs = fresh.fabulous.sophisticated Easter centrepiece.

 

Do you have an Easter or Spring wreath?  I was looking around for something to add to our door and really wasn't feeling like spending $40-$50 on an Easter wreath. So, I just wrapped around three strands of these little blue and yellow egg garlands (dollar store) and added a few foam eggs (dollar store) to a grapevine wreath that I already had. Voila...Easter wreath.

Another idea is filling a glass vase/container with plastic eggs. Instant Easter!

Sorry about the light in the photo, that Spring sunshine wanted in!

Those are a few ideas to think about and feel free to use, when decorating your home for Easter. You can create fresh.fabulous.sophisticated festive spaces without feeling too hokey or breaking the bank.

My lates blog on the Ottawa Mommy Club is live today. Operation: Playroom Organization! Click on the link and click "featured articles".  Check it out!

Keep it Beautiful.

Happy Spring! A Little Mantel Love

Happy 1st day of Spring everyone!! Hmmm, this is the weirdest Spring weather I've ever seen..our backyard is still filled with a whole lotta white stuff!

Last week I was busy with having the kiddies home with me for March Break. I was sure this baby was going to arrive then but thanks to the help of my Mum, we managed to get the rest of the closets organized (including the babe's), have fun with the kids and Mum did ALL our laundry. God Bless her!! She's the best.

Every day I think this babe is going to arrive, but to no avail. Both our sons were born on the 20th day of the month so it would be pretty cool if she decided to make her grand appearance today. Hear that baby?

Whether Spring only feels like a date on the calendar today, I'm definitely ready for a change in season.  Easter is quickly approaching and my winter mantel needed a little love.  I headed down to the basement to see what I could round up.

I have this pink, feather Easter wreath from my Nana. It was the last wreath that hung on her door before she passed away. It's girly, whimisical and my Nana loved it and so do I. I don't think I would have ever bought it myself but there is something really adorable about it. So, it found a place on my Spring mantel and it makes me smile.

However, then Mum and I headed out to Homesense to look for some baskets for the playroom and I came across a beautiful mirror that said "please take me home". I've been stalking Homesense once a week since January waiting to scoop up the perfect mirror to finish off the mantel DIY we did in the Fall and this beauty was there.

Mr. Fix-it hung it and Nana's Easter wreath went back up too. I'm in mirror heaven. I'm glad I waited for the perfect one, instead of buying something just to fill the space.

Greenery, flowers and fresh colours can give your mantel an instant pick up and it's a nice change from the heavyness that we often do for winter.

Look around your home, I'm sure you have something that says Spring. When in doubt, pick up a few bunches of tulips at the grocery store (I suggest keeping them all the same colour for continuity) and line them up in three vases across your mantel. It's a fresh.fabulous.sophisticated way to get a Spring mantel.

Keep it Beautiful.

Alicia

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Serenity Now @ www.serenitynowblog.com