Showing posts with label blog friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blog friends. Show all posts

Blog spotlight: Arren Williams

I'm over at Arren Williams' blog today participating in his {that one great thing} series. Arren is a stylist, trend reporter, regular guest expert on CityTV's CityLine, and always entertaining host of my Pecha Kucha events. Can we say multi-talented?

Arren is constantly ahead of the curve, spotting the latest trends before they even make a ripple in blogland. I love these flouncy umbrellas by Santa Barbara Designs that he recently featured.

He also displays a deft hand in decorating his own home. Just look at his rooms below, each deliciously modern and retro, with a European flavour. If you want to see how to expertly mix patterns and furniture from different genres, head on over to Arren's blog for inspiration! Thanks for having me over for a visit, Arren.


Photos by Angus Fergusson for House & Home, courtesy of Arren Williams.

My Date With Nate

My appearance on the Nate Berkus show is airing THIS MONDAY (Jan.31st!). Oh my.

*****

A quick little recap of our NYC adventure with Nate...

Jan.12
10:00AM - Consult Urbanspoon and decide on delish breakfast at Sarabeth's. Follow it up with a brisk walk to Central Park to burn off some nervous energy.

12:00PM - Bye bye Lucerne Hotel & hello CBS studios!

12:30PM - WHOA, my own green room (that isn't really green)

1:15PM - hair & makeup, and a run-through with the panelled wall mockup. Two minutes after this photo was taken, I almost spilled an entire bottle of carpenter's glue on my shoe!! Yikes!

3:30PM - waiting, waiting, waiting and then it was showtime! Sorry, no photos in studio. You'll have to watch and see how it turned out!

4:15PM - All done and packed up - but stop for one more quick photo with "Nate"... the fake Nate that appeared on the show too :). Bye CBS studios!

Jan.13
9:00AM - up bright and early and head to our favourite store, Fishs Eddy. Stop into Eataly and admire the pretty packaging.

11:00AM - check out ABC Carpet & Home. Love the herringbone floors. Hmm, that wood frame around the wallpaper in the Barbara Barry display has me inspired to do something similar in my own home...

12:00PM - meet up with one of my favourite bloggers, Mrs. Limestone! And yes, she is just as lovely and humble in person as she appears on the blog.

4:00PM - So long New York! We had a fabulous time!!

Meetup Magic

Last night, I walked into a room full of friends that I hadn't yet met. That's how I felt when I went to the Canadian Design Bloggers Meetup. It was a room filled with 60 women, and even though I had only met 3 or 4 of them in person before, it didn't feel like a room full of strangers.

I loved finally meeting the lovely faces behind the blogs I visit on a daily basis. Like these ladies:


JAX does design; Bijou and Boheme, Decor Happy, The Marion House Book

And these ones too:



and many, many others. As one of the organizers, along with Daniella and Vitania, it was fulfilling to see it all come together. The venue, swanky Hotel Le Germain, was the perfect backdrop for mingling and trading fashion tips and renovation stories over hors d'oeuvres and drinks. From the inspiring speeches from our sponsors GKHair and Delta Faucet, to the envy-inducing giveaways from House & Home, One of a Kind Show, Penny People, Interior Design Show, Style At Home, Omiyage, and Kravet Canada, and the sweet floral arrangements by Coriander Girl, it was a magical night.


I must admit I felt like the "elder stateswoman" in some ways, having been at this blogging thing longer than most of the people in the room. And in my 3+ years of blogging, I've often wondered... what's it all for? Why put myself, my house, and my family out on display? Luckily, last night I found that answer.

To me, blogging is about community and making connections with people you otherwise would never have crossed paths with. It was wonderful to hear from some bloggers that listing them in my blog roll helped drive traffic to their sites - and in the same breath, these same bloggers gave me suggestions for my basement reno. Its a give and take thing, this blogging thing, isn't it?

Like I said to Celeste from GKHair (who does have the most fabulous hair, by the way!), most of the people who blog don't blog about their 'regular' day jobs; they blog about their passions, what drives them, what they would choose to do and pursue for the rest of their days if they could. We all have that "blogging story" inside each one of us, waiting to come out. And I was so lucky to see those stories come to life, in real form, in those 60 beautiful ladies last night.


I want to thank all of you who have come to visit at Rambling Renovators over the last few days or over the last few years. You make me feel supported and encouraged and inspired to do those things I love to do in life. I hope in some small way I do the same for you.

xoxo

Meetup!


Hey fellow bloggers, are you coming to the Canadian Design Blogger Meetup on November 20th? We've got a fabulous venue and some exciting sponsors lined up; details to be announced shortly on the Meetup blog so check it out. RSVPs for the event are due November 10th so send us an email and let us know if you're coming, if you haven't already! And if you want to help spread the word, grab the button <---- and post it on your blog.
Hope to see you there!

On The Set


I'm back from the Steven & Chris show and my head is dizzy from all the fabulousness. I've watched the S&C show on TV but seeing it live makes for a much more exciting and fun experience. I loved seeing the set (Lindsay just wrote a great post about it) and watching the five cameras being moved with precision to bring those magic images to your screen. The boys were on top of their game - Chris' funny endearing personality was the perfect complement to Steven's more subdued charms.




Liz, Shannon, Tara, Kerry, and me. Pic borrowed from Liz.

Finally seeing blogger friends in person was great fun. Chris, Tara, Lindsay, Liz, Kerry, Janice, Sharon, Vanessa, and Lisa were all there. I am so glad I got to meet you all! And meeting some new-to-me bloggers like LipstickRules, 7 Dollar Pants, and le Petit Reve was nice too. Can I just say that bloggers make the best looking audiences? Because they do. Everyone was so pretty. Speaking of pretty, Jenny McCarthy was a guest on the show and she was stunning, smart, and funny. What a great combination. She talked about everything from buddhism to masturbation bears (you'll have to watch the show to understand that one!).
Liz and I

The CBC crew on the show has to be commended. They did a wonderful job of making us feel welcome and appreciated. From encouraging us to take pics and tweet during the breaks, serving up a deelish pulled pork sandwich lunch (courtesy of guest Chef Rodney Bowers), to an intimate Q&A after the show and giveaway bags to take home, it was a great experience.

The top 5 things I learned at the Steven & Chris show:

1. You're not a true blogger unless you have a smartphone.
2. Bloggers can put an outfit together just as well as they can decorate a room. They are a stylish bunch.
3. Its really hard to identify bloggers when you've only ever seen them in their 2"x2" blog profile pic.
4. Steven & Chris are a couple on and off the set. I always kind of wondered. Doesn't mean I'll give up the schoolgirl crush I've had on Steven ever since his CityLine days though.
5. Pulled pork + Dr. Pepper secret sauce = a.w.e.s.o.m.e.

Steven & Chris & a whole bunch of bloggers


See this dashing duo? Tomorrow, a whole bunch of bloggers including me will be sitting in the audience for a taping of the Steven and Chris show. (Yes, the producers probably borrowed this idea from the Nate Berkus crew, but I'm hoping it will have a much more positive outcome than 'Nate-gate'.)

While the boys are really talented (I loved their show Designer Guys!), what I'm most looking forward to is seeing these lovely bloggers in person. Let me know if I've missed you off the list!

**edited to add: The show will be airing on Friday, October 22nd**

Artistically Connected
Aubrey and Lindsay
Decor by Christine
Designwali
Desire To Decorate
Decor Happy
Dress Design Decor
First Time Fancy
Just Beachy
Life Begins At Thirty
LipstickRules
Jen Selk
Passport2Design
sarah.wandering
Sharon At Home
Sogni e Sorrisi
Staci Edwards
SweDaisy Spaces
The Cinnamon Post
Wallpaper
What's Up Whimsy

I can't wait! Now if I could only find something to wear...

Canadian Design Bloggers Meetup!

Do you love to talk design? Is your TV permanently tuned to HGTV? Do you want to spend a few hours chatting with similarly-obsessed bloggers? If so, mark your calendars because the 1st Canadian Design Bloggers meetup is happening on the evening November 20th!

Details about the event will be posted on the meetup blogsite. I'm helping organize the meetup along with Vitania from Verdigris Vie and Daniella from Dress Design & Decor and I'd love to meet all of you there in person!

The venue hasn't been finalized yet (so drop us an email and let us know you're coming so we can gauge numbers!) but it will be downtown Toronto.

Hope to see you there!!

The Love List

Thank you all so much for your lovely comments on my last post! I like getting comments but best of all, I got to see some new commenters... I love following the links and finding out who my readers are. And you folks are a creative and kind bunch! Here's a spin on my semi-regular Friday Love List, filled with great things I found on your blogs...

I'm loving...



A Spoonful of Dish's dining room inspiration board.


Roncesvalles Victorian Reno's sweet & sophisticated nursery. You must check out the built-in wardrobe.

Ten June's stripey office



Shine Your Light's (love that blog name, btw!) post on kindness

Modern Jane's kitchen transformation



Anything Pretty's laundry room (I've got to make one of those wall drying racks!)

Kentucky Mama's kitchen renovation. Oh my!!


Four Little Fishies fall porch decor

Freckles Chick's bedroom vignette

xoxo to you all!

Toronto Blogger Meet-up!

Vitania at Verdigris Vie is organizing a Toronto Design Blogger meet up. If you'd like to meet up and meet some of the minds behind your favourite local design blogs, then leave a comment with your email address on Vitania's blog here.

Though I've met some individual bloggers (Hey Lisa! Hi Our Castle! Hi Jen & Dave!) it would be great to get a big group together. I was so jealous of those bloggers that met up at Nate Day. Hmmm, maybe we could get some sponsors and do this thing off right! Hope to see you all soon!

Thank You Auntie Shan!

I have the best readers - I honestly do. Auntie Shan, one of my frequent commenters, saw this post where I showed the fabrics for Chloe's play kitchen and she decided to whip up a little gift for Chloe. What's a kitchen without a washcloth, especially one as cute as this...

Chloe loves the gift Auntie Shan! She is a cleaning fiend and loves to wipe her bowls and our appliances so this washcloth will get lots of use. Thanks again!! If you'd like an Auntie Shan original yourself, do check out her blog and see pics of her 'babies' here.

Speaking of the kitchen, I hope to reveal it by the end of this week. We've finished building the stove and sink and are partway through the fridge!

Hanging with: Our Castle bloggers

Chloe and I dropped by the lovely home of the Our Castle bloggers the other day. Thanks for the tour Meredith and thanks for sharing your toys Mackenzie!

Its so fun to meet blog friends in person. Have you checked out Our Castle? They put our reno skills to shame! They tackle projects that would make HandyMan and I shake in our workboots, like building their own curved stair treads and risers from scratch, rebuilding a sunroom, and taking a 1950's bathroom from scary & pink to spa-like, complete with a hand-laid tile mosaic medallion. Maybe Mackenzie can pass on some tool tips to Chloe in a few years :)

On a fun sidenote, I actually walked through the Our Castle house when it was on the market two years ago and one of my friends was house-hunting. My friend didn't end up getting it, but Meredith and Vez did which is great because they've done a phenomenal job with it - I barely recognized the place. Do check out their blog and maybe you'll be inspired to tackle some projects in your own home!