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Family-Friendly Fun in Winnipeg This Spring

_Pl_{ease note that this is a sponsored post, but all the opinions are my own.*}

Spring has sprung in Winnipeg. Guys, I am so excited! The weather is finally warming up and restrictions are lifting, and we are starting to get into a sense of normalcy in our lovely city. With the warmer weather approaching, we wanted to get out-and-about with our boys and enjoy Spring 2022!

Adventure waits for no one, and we took the weekend to discover some family-fun spring activities with the boys. Check out our amazing weekend of fun my favourite city. This is a true testament to a ton of amazing things that Winnipeg, MB has to offer. Family-fun in the city is a throwback to my childhood and all the things in the city that are near and dear to my heart.

1.) Assiniboine Park Zoo

460 Assiniboine Park Drive

We are Zoo members, and we use our membership throughout the year. It is so wonderful to see the animals year-round and the walk around the zoo is a feel-good activity that we all enjoy. We try to discover new spots when we go. This time we found our way into the Toucan Ridge which was super cool! The boys loved the large tropical plants, and it was so neat seeing the animals so close. (Ps. There are mice running around everywhere!) We also hit up the Dinosaurs UnCovered exhibit and Jasper loved it so much we had a hard time leaving. Overall, the Assiniboine Park Zoo is a classic go-to when you think of activities to do in Winnipeg.

2.) Staycation Location – Viscount Gort Hotel

1670 Portage Avenue

The past couple of years have been amazing for staycations in Winnipeg. There have been so many great programs to get people to stay at our local hotels when they couldn’t go other places. We love a good staycation, and this was no exception.

We had a wonderful stay at the Viscount Gort. The hotel itself is nice and clean. The staff was very friendly, and our sleep was very good. We had an adorable adjoining room for us, and the boys and it was the perfect set up for us. We stayed on the same floor as the pool and noise levels were good. The pool had a slide, hot tub, and a small shallow pool that was perfect for Jasper. We were not interrupted by the noise at all and there was an 18th birthday the night we stayed and a 7th birthday as we were leaving.

Our room had a King bed, with an adjoining suite room with one Queen bed and a pull-out. Each room had a bathroom and coffeemaker, microwave, and mini fridge. These were all great options for our overnight stay and even better if we stayed for the entire weekend.

We also had breakfast the next day and the breakfast was delicious, and the wait staff was top notch. We really do a lot of eating-out and the staff in the restaurant were super attentive and the breakfast was delicious. This was probably one of my favourite staycations in the city!

3.) Flying Squirrel

1250 St. James Street

If you ever want to get your kids to burn some energy, take them to Flying Squirrel! We love this place. Kato asks to come here all the time. The boys have so much fun and it’s so nice to be able to sit for a bit as parents and let the kids run wild. But don’t get me wrong, I love a good trampoline jump as well. This was truly a fun-for-everyone kind of activity. However, it does remind me that when you get older, jumping is harder on the body (LOL). Exercise with caution, friends 🙂 Also, it was very busy when we went on the weekend! It was super wild to see so many people in one place again, but it felt good!

4.) Dinner is Served – Sushi Cushi

1045 St. James Street

We love supporting local spots. We usually frequent at least one every weekend. This weekend we went to one of our favourite sushi joints in the heart of St. James! Just off St. James St. in the strip mall where The Brick is, Sushi Cushi has been one of our favourite sushi places in the city for years. Our fav rolls include Tuna Bakudan, Philadelphia rolls, and Tuna Tataki. Honestly, everything is good at Sushi Cushi. They even have great party trays and we have ordered from them for many family gatherings. Regardless of where you choose to have dinner, before you pick a franchise or chain– maybe consider trying something new! Check out a local favourite and support a local spot! Some great stops in the area include: A Little Pizza Heaven, Good Earth, Les Saj, Yafa Cafe, Fortune Cooking, FOODTRIP Kitchen, and The Burger Place.

5.) Manitoba Children’s Museum

45 Forks Market Road

How old were you when you first stepped onto the Manitoba Children’s Museum train? Ha! The space is perfect for kids to learn and explore and play. One of my favourite things to do is watch the boys discover new things. The nostalgia from the old train and the newness of the modern exhibits for kids really hit home for us. I also love that they have a dedicated toddler space, Tot Spot.

Jasper really had a lot of fun here (it wasn’t his first time but the first time he can remember). Our favourite spots included the water tables, the excavator, and the train! See below for some of the fun that was had.

6.) The Forks

1 Forks Market Road

#meetmeatTheForks We frequent the Forks quite often. Pre-pandemic, we would go every weekend and we had a regular routine. We still go a few times a month as it has some of our favourite sips and eats around. Kato’s favourite is the Shoyu Ramen from Fusian Experience. Aiden’s favourite is the Steak and fries from Simon’s steaks. Jasper loves the chicken fingers and fries from Zorba’s. TJ’s favourite coffee joint is both Fools and Horses and Harrison’s (both at the Forks!). My favourite are the Doubles from Bindy’s Carribbean Delights! We loved sitting down after a busy day.

Winnipeg has so much to offer. I’m going to say that one more time (and louder for those in the back) because I find that as a local resident, we really forget all the things that are available to us in our city to experience and enjoy. WINNIPEG HAS SO MUCH TO OFFER. I hope that this inspires you to discover (or re-discover) my favourite city. There are so many family-friendly options and activities available to do this spring. I encourage you to try one of things we did or, tell me what you do with your kids this spring!

Love through Food: Hainanese Chicken Rice

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Something that I learned about myself a long time ago was that I, like many other typical asian moms, show love through food. There is something about feeding the body that to me that feeds the soul. Its like saying “hey, nourish your body with this food I have prepared. I hope you will feel the love I put into it when I thought of making it for you.” If you’ve been watching my Instagram stories lately, you know I’ve been doing a lot of cooking. There is something that comes over me in the creation of food that feels so natural and it is so satisfying to finish a recipe that I’ve never tried before. I know there are a ton of soul foods that start with chicken and carbs and while Hainanese Chicken rice isn’t one of my childhood memories, the amount of videos I’ve been watching lately really show a lot of the love and care that goes into making it. I felt like I had to try it for myself.

So, here’s my take on Hainanese Chicken Rice. I watched a ton of different videos and didn’t base the recipe on any particular recipe but I watched several videos and looked up a dozen different versions and each one had it’s own nuances, different things they slightly added, different varieties of sauce, different ways of making their rice, and this was the version I put together for you.

Video of how I made the chicken and rice on my TikTok and Instagram.

HAINANESE CHICKEN

whole chicken (mine was about 2 kg)
¼ cup salt
2 inch ginger cut into 1/4 in slices
4-6 stalks of green onion
water (to cover)
1 tbs tumeric
1 chicken boullion (I used Better Than Bouillion)
2 tablespoons sesame oil

HAINANESE RICE

2 tablespoons chicken fat, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups jasmine long grain rice, rinsed and drained
2 cups reserved chicken broth

CHILI SAUCE

1 tablespoons sambal
1 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon vinegar

GINGER GARLIC SAUCE

2 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated
2 tablespoons garlic, grated
kosher salt, to taste
2 tablespoons Canola oil
1 tablespoon rice vinegar

SAUTEED BOK CHOY

baby bok choy, washed and cut at base
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon corn starch
2 tablespoons cold water
1 teaspoon sugar

Preparation

Rub chicken all over with salt, exfoliate. Rinse the chicken well inside and out. Pat dry with paper towels.
Remove any excess fat from the chicken and set aside for later.
Season the chicken with salt. Stuff the chicken cavity with the ginger slices, 5-6 cloves of garlic, and scallions.
Place the chicken in a large stock pot, cover with cold water by 1 inch (2 cm), and add tumeric and bouillion.
Bring to a boil over high heat, then immediately reduce the heat to low to maintain a simmer. Cover and cook for about 30 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165°F (75°C). Remove the pot from the heat.
Remove the chicken from the pot and transfer to an ice bath for 5 minutes to stop the cooking process and to keep the chicken skin springy. Discard the ginger, garlic, and green onion.
After it’s cooled, pat the chicken dry with paper towels and rub all over with sesame oil. This will help prevent the chicken from drying out.
Break down the chicken and save the carcass
In a large wok or skillet, add the reserved chopped chicken fat over medium-high heat and render it down. Remove the extra pieces of chicken fat. Add the garlic, and fry until aromatic (about 20-30 seconds – before it starts to burn), then add rice and toast the grains for a few minutes.
Transfer the toasted rice and garlic mixture to a rice cooker and add 2 cups (480 ml) of reserved poaching broth.
Add the chicken carcass you saved to the rice and broth and steam the rice in the rice cooker.
While the rice is cooking, make the sauces and bok choy
Make the chili sauce: combine the sambal, sugar, and vinegar into a bowl and stir to incorporate.
Make the ginger garlic sauce: in a small bowl, combine the ginger, garlic, sugar, heated canola oil, and rice vinegar, and stir to incorporate.
Make the bok choy: in a small bowl mix cold water, corn starch, oyster sauce, and sugar. In a wok with oil at medium-high heat, add garlic and sautee until fragrant, quickly add bok choy and sautee for about 30 seconds to a minute until it starts to wilt. Add oyster sauce mixture and heat until sauce thickens and it is done.
Serve the sliced chicken with the rice, dipping sauces, and bok choy.
Enjoy! ❤

This recipe was a ton of fun, I might make it into a series. Tell me in the comments if you liked this and if you want to see more!

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Vacation Staycation ft. Motel 6 in Headingly, MB

*This is a sponsored post, but all opinions are my own.

We are lovers of a good staycation. TJ and I stay at one at least twice a year because our busy schedules make it hard to get away, but we like a good treat night out here and there. The pandemic was hard on our kids because they usually get to get out of a town and enjoy a hotel room a couple times a year with TJ and I or with my parents.

When we were invited to the Motel 6, I was initially a bit skeptical but intrigued. It wasn’t our normal stay location, but we thought “what the heck?”, let’s make an adventure out of it! Adventure is one of our favourite things to do as a family.

I had planned holidays over the last two weeks of August when Jasper’s daycare closed for the summer and thought this would be a perfect fit– a little staycation and some fun with my boys. We did a stay over a Sunday-Monday. It was an odd time for TJ so he couldn’t hang out with us the entire time but perfect for me because it was a chance to do a few things with the boys and entertain them.

The Motel 6 in Headingly is just outside the perimeter of Winnipeg and took us less than 15 minutes to get there. I was surprised at how big it was! The check in was quick and easy. We had a main floor room which was great because we were both close to the vending machines and the pool.

I didn’t expect the room to be as big as it was. It was so spacious! It was designed for longer stays and it was perfectly suited for just that. The room itself was big. If featured a small eating area, a stovetop, full sink, microwave and full- sized fridge. There was a closet for jackets and there was a mop and broom. Even the trash cans/recycle bins were larger size. The bathroom featured a good-sized shower and all other usual amenities included (soaps, tissues, towels, etc.). The room both looked and smelled clean. I also noticed that they had complimentary bikes that you could use which is such a great idea! First impression was that we were pleasantly surprised.

I liked that they still were encouraging mask wearing in common areas. If they have people working in the building, they had booties to cover their shoes right when you walked in. There was plenty of hand sanitizer throughout the common areas. There were reminders to use the hand sanitizer when touching things like the continental breakfast area and I loved that we were able to book out pool time for ourselves, not just for safety but for privacy.

Upon check-in, I asked about pool times. The front desk let me know that we did have to book time slots and they were booked in half hour intervals. That night there was one slot left and we booked it without hesitation. This is something that I really like. I was highly impressed with the care to detail in making everyone feel safe with all protocols in place. The pool area itself was nice and spacious. It looked very clean. There is a small shower area and a washroom. The space features both a good-sized pool and a jacuzzi spa. The pool area that is booked is specific to your room at your allocated time. This allowed us to have a perfectly private space and was one of my favourite features of our stay.

After our swim, the boys and I worked up quite an appetite. We headed over to the nearby Original Joe’s and the boys got some of their fav meals. Kato loves hot wings and fries, Aiden gets anything that has a steak, and Jasper picked his classic favourite chicken fingers and fries. Dinner was delicious and a great way to end our night.

Sleep quality was great! Jasper usually co-sleeps with us most nights and this night was no different. The beds were comfortable! The boys had a hard time waking up because they were so comfortable. I slept really sound. (Side note: we had another staycation the following week after our stay here, we stayed at a popular chain hotel, and I can tell you with confidence that the beds at Motel 6 were much more comfortable than the ones we had the following week!)

The stay includes a continental breakfast. It is very simple, but a great inclusion with your stay. I grabbed some oatmeal and some granola bars, the kids had a muffin, yogurt, and some fruit juices. The vending machines in the area also include frozen dinners and snacks and drinks.

After breakfast, we did checkout and got on with the rest of our day. TJ couldn’t stay because he had to go to work the next day and it was just the boys and I. The weather wasn’t great over the weekend, and it started getting chilly and it rained. Kato wanted to spend the rest of his day at daycare and Jasper wanted to visit my parents who were also on holiday this week.

This was an opportunity for Aiden and I to spend time together. If you have been following me for a while, you know that Aiden is my first born and we are besties (don’t believe anything he says, it’s true!). He and I took advantage of a little quality time together and went on a mother and son day date. Included in our packages was a trip to Thunder Rapids. This is less than 10 minutes from the Motel 6 and even though it was a bit rainy, it wasn’t enough to keep us away from the races.

Aiden and I went to Thunder Rapids and hit up some races. I want to say I won but I didn’t. Turns out being short AF is a vice for the bigger and faster carts. Either way, we had a ton of fun.

Afterwards we ended up going for a mother-son sushi date and filled our bellies after all the fun. I really enjoyed this bit of time that I got to spend with the boys on a great local staycation.

One thing that we really missed and really affected our ability to stay and sleep in longer was that TJ and I are active. We work out 6-7 days a week and because of our busy schedules, we usually only have time to work out when the kids are sleeping or when they are at school/daycare. The Motel 6 unfortunately did not have a workout room which would have been an added benefit. If the weather was a bit nicer, we probably would have taken advantage of the complementary bikes as cycling is one of our favourite pastimes. Other than that, we had a very pleasant stay.

OVERALL REVIEW:

The Motel 6 was a great stay with a ton to offer. The rooms were clean, the service was friendly, and the kids had a great time. Our sleep quality was very good, and the size of the rooms were great for our family. The complimentary continental breakfast was an added plus for a quick and easy breakfast.

While we did miss having a workout space for our stay, it was a minor downside on an overall great overnight experience.

#motel6wpg #motel6 #motel6headingley #thunderrapids

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DIY Skating Rink ft. The Home Depot Canada

^{*this post is sponsored however all the opinions are my own*}

Ice Skating Rink ft. The Home Depot Canada

It doesn’t get much more Canadian than your own backyard skating rink! With the recent global pandemic sweeping over the world, there was a high likelihood that we would be spending much more time at home. With this in mind, I was so excited to partner up with The Home Depot Canada to build a DIY skating rink. They had all the products we needed to get the project done.

The kids aren’t huge hockey kids but they do love to play sports and go outdoors. We are the type of family to be going out and about all the time so staying home and doing nothing has been taxing. Now, at least the boys can stay home and get a little fresh air and exercise.

DIY is not our thing. Definitely not TJs (there is nothing wrong with not being huge DIY-ers :P). In any case, I wouldn’t say TJ’s the biggest “Mr Fix-It” or “Mr. Build-It”, but this was so easy to do! ANYONE could do it. TJ and my dad took on this project together and they built the kids a fantastic rink that they have had so much fun with thus far. We did have some hiccups in this project, but we also did it flying by the seat of our pants. So, to help those of you who don’t want to do it that way, continue reading :).

We have never taken on a project like this before. The Home Depot Canada helped us put together a list of supplies. They provided us with a guideline of what we thought we would need for our original plan of 16 ft by 40 ft rink, but we decided to try to make it a bit smaller (15ft x 25ft). We adjusted our supplies list along the way as our project took flight. We actually needed less items and were able to easily return them and/or exchange them for things we ended up using. The Home Depot Canada helped us with a few visual aides that I will give credit to at the bottom. Instead of walking around the entire store looking for everything, we thought it would be easiest to order at the ProDesk. The ProDesk was super easy to work with. With our list in hand, we got the item numbers we needed and easily placed the order with delivery to our home. The process was fairly simple. (Disclaimer* this was done before more restrictive guidelines for the general public were put into place. This can also be done easily on The Home Depot Canada website which I would highly recommend. Skip to the online list here.) We were even able to have product pre-cut to our desired dimensions for our project. We planned our delivery for the following weekend to start our project.

The challenging part for us, was actually getting the product delivered that was ordered. Unfortunately, our in-store order didn’t come as scheduled and arrived a few days late. Communication with our local store wasn’t perfect and some products were no longer available and that’s why we were told they were delayed. They waited a few days to see if product would come in and since it didn’t it was shipped anyways. I ended up ordering everything else that we needed online, and that delivery was super easy, super quick, everything arrived in time for us to put our project together without delays.

But all is not lost, while I can say the delivery process wasn’t without it’s own hiccups, sourcing the materials, and creating and building the rink was a breeze!

When considering building a DIY skating rink we considered a few things: the size, the materials, and where would we set this up. We had enough room to build a 16 ft x 40 ft rink but elected to make one a bit smaller at 15 ft x 25 ft.

Here is a list of supplies we purchased from The Home Depot Canada to complete our rink. Alternatively, I’ve included some optional and additional supplies below:

Mandatory:

1 pack – 8X3 PRO DECK BROWN SCREWS 700 PCS
1 – 30X50 Heavy Duty White Tarp
7 – 2X4X8 Select KD-HT (one cut into 4 pieces lengthwise – as they did not have any stakes in stock)
8 – 2X10X10 MircroPro Sienna Treated Wood (two cut in half)
8 – Angle 5in. 16GA

Optional:

1 – White Aerosol Paint
Twine Polypropylene medium x 500′
HB 24 ft. 12-light LED String Light

Other supplies we needed personally:

Big Boss Xhose Pro Dac 5 100ft
4lb Hammer

For the online link to the products we used, click here.

Step 1: Find level ground. You want the ground to be as level as possible. I didn’t realize our yard was all kinds of unlevel and it really affected the way the rink filled.

Step 2: Framing the Rink. We used 2x10x10 MicroPro Sienna Treated Wood. We had The Home Depot Canada cut it for us. They ended up cutting 2 of the boards in half so we could measure out our frame at 15 ft x 25 ft. What you may want to do is set up the frame and stake it out to support the frame. The white aerosol paint can be used for marking your stakes but not required. We asked that The Home Depot Canada to split a 2 by 4 into 4 so that we could make our own stakes.

TJ and my dad attached the frame together using 5 in. angles. We used 8 in total to attach the 2x10x10 together. Once the frame was built, they placed stakes around the frame and hammered them into the ground to support the walls of the rink. This was a bit challenging for us as the ground had already started to freeze. I may or may not have had to run to The Home Depot Canada for a bigger hammer (lol).

Depending on how high your rink walls are, you may want to get some brackets or to miter you walls for additional support. We did not need to do this for the size we were using. If you make higher rink walls than this, I would definitely recommend additional brackets for support or to mitre the walls. (Listen to me, talking about mitering like I know. Truth is, I had no idea what that meant until this project. lol)

We ended up cutting down the stakes we had already made.

Step 3: Place your tarp. We used a 30 x 50 Multipurpose White Tarp to line the bottom of our rink. My advice is to be careful with laying out your tarp, you don’t want any cuts in it. Our rink was obviously smaller than the tarp. You want to have enough slack when the water fills it that it won’t spill out. Once your rink is full and frozen, you’ll cut off the excess anyways, so don’t worry about the extra tarp.

Step 4: Fill your rink. Try to ensure that your hose is not laying on the bottom of the rink in order to avoid your hose from making any holes in your tarp. Fill it to at least 2 inches of water. For us this took about 4 hours to fill. Our ground was uneven, so some areas ended filled 2 inches and some were 6 inches 😆

Step 5: Let it freeze! We had some wooden blocks that we kept on the outside of the tarp because it was a little bit windy and we didn’t want the wind to pick up the tarp and freeze on top. We waited 3 days for the ice to freeze before we went on the ice.

Step 6: Cut off the excess tarp. We stapled it into the walls and cut the excess.

Optional step: We added in some lights and hung them to the extra 2×4’s we had – I picked up 4 sets to fit the size of our rink.

Step 7: Enjoy your new ice rink 😊

There you have it, folks! This rink was super easy to make thanks to The Home Depot Canada and the kids have loved using it!

While working with The Home Depot Canada, we really enjoyed the different ordering options that were available. They really gave us great guidelines to work with on our project and helped make this DIY a dream come true.

This DIY was a big deal for us. This is the first time we have ever taken on a project like this and thanks to TJ for putting up with my crazy and to my dad for stopping every few hours so I could document while they worked. This was super easy to build and we did it without anyone breaking anything or having to start over, so, I’m going take that as a huge win.

Current times have been hard on all of us, while we can’t go out as much as we would like to, we are finding fun and fulfillment in spending time at home. With our cool new ice rink, we are able to get out with the boys, get some fresh air, and make some new memories.

***This project was completed amid the COVID-19 global pandemic, affecting shipping delays due to increased delivery demands. Given the rise in cases and increased safety measures, The Home Depot Canada recommends staying home where possible, and opting for online delivery or curbside pick-up in lieu of in-store visits. Please be sure to adhere to all government and provincial protocols in your region.

Below are a few videos we used as reference when we were making our rink:

Our Living Room Makeover ft. Dufresne Furniture and Appliances

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_Pl_{ease note that these items were gifted to me but all the opinions are my own.*}

It happened after many years of waiting and wanting, we did it. We bought our first home.

In November 2019, we assumed possession of our first home. It’s a great little starter and we had some big plans for our little 1000 sq ft abode!

Now a few things to note, I was still on maternity leave when we moved, we did three weeks of renovations before moving in, and it was in the middle of minus a million degrees (obviously exaggerating but it was well below 25 degrees Celcius).

We didn’t have any furniture of our own and my mom was generous enough and let us use her hand-me-down basement furniture until we were able to get something of our own for our space. We started off with a taupe coloured sectional in a microfibre fabric. We had some cushions and a little ottoman storage coffee table. We put up some really cute prints for an adorable gallery wall. Our space was great for any new home. We had a small rug that was a few years old from our last place and a small little 32” tv as our to had just conked out a couple months before our move. I wish I had a good look of what we had before but I didn’t love our space and didn’t take a lot of before pictures.

Here’s a bit of our living room before, we covered the taupe sectional we already had with a black microfibre cover. Our table was a storage ottoman (unpictured, Kato’s pen holes he made into the sectional while ‘colouring’). Do not have many good or comprehensive before photos.

While looking for for furniture I always knew I wanted something that was both stylish and durable. With boys like mine, I’ve seen brand new things become ruined or worn in only a few weeks.

I don’t know if I had a name for our style but if I did I would say it’s a bit of “mid-modern boho”. It’s a little bit of me and a little bit of TJ. I really love natural tones and textures, and TJ appreciates things to be a bit more bold. We wanted something that was reflective of our style.

We found Dufresne had the perfect solution for us. They had amazing quality furniture, that would be super functional and durable for us, and still reflective of the styles we loved. I am so happy with the end result.

The pieces we picked from there are amazing and I can’t get over how much I love our new living room!

I loved putting this space together, it was a blank slate that we got to make ‘ours’.

We got the Kisper coffee table and I feel like it is the most perfect mid-modern piece.

We picked the L ane area rug. We had already picked so many dark pieces, I wanted something light with texture to brighten up the space and give the space dimension.

We also picked out a 50″ Samsung Smart TV. Given a new space to enjoy and entertain our kids, I thought it would be perfect in our new space. I don’t know about you, but a Smart TV has now become an essential item in our household. Especially with COVID quarantines/social distancing, we have spent a lot more time binge watching all of the Netflix.

Our favourite piece by far is the Melbourne 2-piece sectional. It is amazing. We got the sectional in a couch and honestly we love it so much. It is a great size with the 3-seat style couch with right hand chaise. The cushion is pre-crushed and we picked out their performance fabric with the leather look in navy. The custom experience went by flawlessly. I worked closely with a representative and we were able to put together the perfect look for our space.

The highlight of our space is the sectional. We wanted to find something that worked best for our lifestyle. We picked the sectional because it fit best in our living room, it is a bit of a smaller space and wanted enough seating for all 5 of us. The best feature of the piece we put together is the performance fabric. As a mom of 3 boys, let me tell you— boys are messy. Not just messy; they’re filthy. They go to eat and ignore the utensils and use their hands and then run to the couch and climb and jump and put their little greasy fingers all over the place.. and this fabric is a dream come true. Can you see the finger prints? Yes, you can. Daily, I can see the little prints of my filthy little boys. However, the clean up is so easy! I normally just take a wet cloth, sometimes a disinfecting wipe, wipe it down, and it is good as new! You don’t even see the old grease marks, the it’s amazing. I can’t speak highly enough. The kids jump on the sectional, eat on it, our littlest may or may not have had an accident on it.. and still, it’s like it’s brand new.

*Why did I think stepping away for a second would be okay? ;P*

In order to finish our space I knew I needed to find the perfect way to elevate the space. The idea I had was neutrals, texture, and my fav— PLANTS.

I finished filling up the space with cushions (because you can never have too many), some textured throw blankets, and some gold/brass coloured accessories; et voila!

Our living room revealed and completed!

We are in love with our space and every bit of it is everything we are and more.

CBD and Me – My Motherhood Anxiety is an all-time High

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Did the kids bring lunch to school? Do you think their lunch snacks are healthy enough? Is the teacher going to judge me because I let them bring fruit roll ups? I hope the kids aren’t dressed to warm today. Should I have let them wear shorts? When am I going to have enough time to do this laundry? Is the baby awake again? Will the kids eat the supper? With TJ eat the supper I made? Will the entire house eat the supper I made? Do I need to go out and grab more food?

Do you ever feel the walls are closing in slowly? Do you feel like the worry never ends? Lately, that’s me. I’m always worried. I’m not really sure what I’m worried about anymore. I’m just on a level of awareness that I didn’t know I had. I wasn’t always like this, I used to be a bit more relaxed. That was two children ago. Now that we’re three kids in, I feel like a lot has changed. I’m more instinctual. I know what my kids need before they even need it. However, knowing everything they need has probably become my biggest weakness thus far.

Think of it this way, if you know all the things that could go wrong, you know that there are a million things to prepare for and who has time for preparing for everything? No one. Perhaps, like all mothers out there, or if you’re like me, a “Type-A” personality, there’s a little bit of OCD going on. So let’s do the math + mother of multiple kids + type-A personality + a little bit of OCD + and a million-item-to-do-list all day = A mother about to lose her mind.

I recently started feeling a heaviness weighing on me. It started to feel like there was a weight on my shoulders that has been weighing on me, on my relationships, my patience, and even physically; been giving me body aches and pains. I couldn’t figure out what it was at first, then it hit me like a wall — it was motherhood.

“Motherhood is the greatest thing and the hardest thing.”
Unknown

I was looking for a way to calm my nerves, to centre me and ground me quickly when I started to feel the heaviness on my shoulders. Sometimes it would be so bad that it would make me hyperventilate into my chest. That’s when I went to look for solutions to treat my anxiety and depression. If you’ve read my postpartum depression post, you know I suggested that CBD may help. I’ve been using it to help me though both depression and anxiety during motherhood.

I recently discovered a Canadian company called FeelCBD. They are based out of Vancouver and offer a variety of CBD based products including disposable capes, tinctures, and their newest product called the Relief Stick. They use full spectrum CBD and plant-based oils to give you a unique CBD experience.

Trust me when I say I’m a skeptic basically all the time. Seriously! Like what was all the hype with CBD? In my head I’m thinking it’s probably a bunch of voodoo. I don’t believe in this stuff. Hippie hemp crap… but boy, am I eating my words now. I love CBD and how amazing it has been for me.

My first love with CBD is called “Love”. Now I’ve tried CBD in both oil and pill form, but this was my first time really experiencing the benefits. The pen is a disposable CBD vape pen with no THC. You get the vape pen and a charger. The vape drag is much deeper than smoking a cigarette. Think of taking a deep breath for 1-2 seconds, holding it in for just a moment, and exhaling. Not only will the deep breathing calm you down, but for me, I felt a nice warm wave of relaxation after vaping with “Love”. It has a nice cinnamon flavour. This pen in particular is enhanced with rose and cinnamon. The claim is that it helps with libido and while I don’t know if that worked for me, it definitely helped me with feeling warm on the inside. I almost immediately felt a calming sensation all over my body. I did this before bed and I had a great sleep that night.

FeelCBD was kind enough to send me another pen, Balance. This one is enhanced with grapefruit, ylang ylang, and vanilla. It was definitely a different experience from Love. Love was warm and cozy and Balance was very calming and relaxing. I did enjoy the flavour and the experience. I did have to take a couple more drags out of this one to get the same calming feeling as Love but overall it is a good pen. I did have to charge this one more frequently than Love because I did take more drags from this pen.

Finally, they sent me their Relief Stick. This is a CBD infused topical. It is enhanced with menthol, camphor, lemongrass and lemon eucalyptus. In short, it’s amazing. I do eyelash extensions and hold my little guy often and my neck, shoulders, and upper back take a beating. I’m sore all the time. This has a wonderful menthol feeling that makes the aching soreness go away within minutes. MINUTES. I found it lasts for a while and by the time I notice I’m sore again it’s been a couple of hours. Also, it SMELLS AMAZING. I didn’t want to forget that. Lemon eucalyptus is one of my favourite scents.

CBD has now become a part of my every day life. It helps calm me, and centres me when I’m on the edge. I do a lot of meditation and self reflection but some days are harder than others. I like that these pens don’t give me a high feeling and alter my mind. As a busy mom of 3, the last thing I need is my mind to be altered because my mind is going a mile a minute. At the end of the day I always suggest to figure out what works for you to calm yourself when you get into a difficult state of mind or you start to feel anxious or stressed. For me, it’s FeelCBD vape pens that help me when I need to calm down quickly. While I continue down my postpartum journey, I’m glad I’ve found something that works for me to help me mentally. I’ll take any help if it helps me be a more patient mom.

Finally Getting some zZz’s…

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Ok, so I’m no sleep expert and trust me when I say by far do I get a good nights sleep but I get sleep. TJ had asked me from the get-go to sleep train Jasper. I told him he’s too newborn to be on a schedule when he was first born but we would get to it after a couple of months.

Babies need to feed every 2-3 hours in the first few weeks of life. Getting adequate sleep was not really an option. Jasper had issues gaining weight in his early weeks. As a result, he would sleep through a feeding. I literally had to set up a timer and do everything I could to wake him up to try to feed him (unswaddle, undress, tickle his feet, turn on the light, cold towel, you name it!). I thought he was the perfect sleeper because I was the one needing to wake him up. This was not the case.

About 4-5 weeks in, he started to adequately gain weight and sleep regression set in. No more were the nights we could get away with 4-5 hours uninterrupted. It was like every 2 hours he would wake up. Wake. Feed. Sleep. I was exhausted.

I am a lover of cobedding. Although this may be frowned upon, it works for us, for our family, and it feels natural. I won’t let anyone shame us for it. I love the closeness and the ease of night time feedings. Your babies won’t cuddle you forever (Kato just started to distance himself from cuddling and he is six years old). Enjoy the cuddles while you can.

Around 7 weeks I decided we could start some type of sleep “training”. I wanted my bed back, I wanted my sleep back, I wanted to be able to cuddle with TJ without worrying if the baby was going to fall out of bed.

I read article after article, tip after tip, poked my nose in a baby sleeping book or two. There were many consistencies and so I took the most consistent tips and applied them.

1.) Swaddle

Consistently I read to swaddle your baby to create a womb-like experience and to protect the baby from waking himself up with his newborn reflexes.

I got mixed messages from the public health nurse about swaddling and apparently you should swaddle but allow your baby to touch his face. From what I understood, the jerk-like movements act as a SIDS prevention for babies.

Jasper is a squirrely baby (best way I could describe his movements) and he never stops moving.

A tight swaddle worked best for us. The tighter the better. We love the Halo sleep sack swaddle. It works the best for us. Jasper loves a good swaddle and he has the strongest little arms and this keeps him nice and tight.

2.) White noise

This was also consistently mentioned in the various articles and books I’ve read.

Personally, I can fall asleep under any thunderstorm, that’s my jam. Jasper, not so much.

We use the Natural Dohm White Noise Machine by Marpacusa. This runs from when we start our bedtime routine until we wake up in the morning.

However you do it, whether it be by white noise machine, app, or YouTube, white noise definitely helps drown out any noise or conversations we have in our room where his crib is.

3.) Routine

Set up a bedtime routine. Doesn’t matter what it is or what order you do it in but keep it the same.

We do a bath and a feed before bed. This starts at approximately 7:00pm – 7:30pm and bedtime is 8:00pm. Bedtime used to be 9:00pm but after experimenting between 8pm or 9pm, we found that the earlier bedtime yielded a slightly better outcome. We usually try to keep Jasper up for an hour to 90 minutes before bedtime.

4.) Consistency

However you choose to train your baby– crying it out, no-cry method, etc.. keep it consistent! Consistency is key and will help your baby make sleep associations. Jasper loves his swaddle and white noise (static noise and not thunderstorms). He will cry while putting him into his swaddle but once he is in the sack and the white noise is on, he tends to calm down. I did the cry method with Kato and while it worked, it hurt me to hear him cry so much. Jasper we will let cry for a minute or so but I usually try to get to him within that first minute or two.

5.) Daytime naps are sooo important

Newborns nap all the time but I have found after 3 weeks, your baby may not nap anymore on his own. You actually have to learn how to put your baby down for a nap. Do not skip these naps thinking that if you baby stays up longer they will be more tired at night. HUGE MISTAKE. Better daytime naps make for better night time sleep. Seems counterintuitive but it’s the truth.

“The night is the hardest time to be alive and 4am knows all my secrets.”
Poppy Z. Brite

We started our bedtime routine around 8 weeks and tracked for two weeks:

Day 1 – 3 fills hours spent swaddling and shushing and rocking and putting down. Result – 3 hours uninterrupted sleep 9pm bed time

Day 2-3 – 2 hours spent swaddles and shush – result – 2 hours of sleep 9 pm bed time

Day 4 – 1 hour of shush – 4 hours of sleep 8pm bed time

Day 5 – 30 mins of swaddle and shush result – 5 hours of sleep 8 pm bed time

DAy 6-11 – 1 -2 hours of swaddle and shush – 3.5 to 4.5 hours of sleep 8pm bed time

Day 12 – shots woke up every hour for 3 hours. 1.5 hours of sleep. Cobed for rest of night

Day 14 – 15 min of shush. Result – 4 hours of sleep. 9pm bedtime.

Fast forward. We had been doing this for nearly a month and it’s been a total game changer. Jaspers bedtime is 8pm. Will usually get up within an hour, we will wait 5 minutes to see if he will settle himself. If not, I will give him a feeding after rubbing his chest or head for a minute or two. Then he will sleep until 1 or 2 am for another feeding until waking for a diaper change around 5-6am. Another feeding until I either get up around 9 or if I’m feeling lazy, we lay in bed until 11am. Either way, our sleep life has changed so much and I never thought I would feel so “rested”. Well worth investing the time to sleep “train” your baby.

Some nights we still wake up every 2-3 hours and that’s ok. It’s not perfect but it’s progress and we are getting closer and closer to that full night sleep every day 💕

Weekend Family Fun ft. The Manitoba Museum

*This is a sponsored post however all opinions are my own.

As a young girl in elementary school, I had made many trips to The Manitoba Museum (throwback to an old name for it: The Museum of Man and Nature.). I remember picking my bus buddy, walking onto the stinky yellow school bus, the teacher yelling at everyone to be quiet, and everyone fighting to see who got to sit at the back of the bus. I remember wearing clunky winter boots and the slushy museum floors from all the tours coming in. I remember walking down the stairs to hang all my winter clothes and take off my ski pants because who needs ski pants in the museum? No one.

I have warm memories of seeing the Bison when you first walk in, looking out for the polar bear eating the seal, and the Non-Such has always been a winner in my books.

I have never been to the Science Gallery (or for some of us “Touch the Universe”). Even with bringing the boys on previous visits, we never got through the space with enough time to visit the exhibit.

You can only image my level of excitement when we got invited to the members-only opening of the Science Gallery. While the space is not new, this entire new-to-me experience was very exciting (and Jasper). The Science Gallery opened to the general public starting November 20, 2021.

The Science Gallery itself is a great place to visit for anyone, but especially so if you have some pretty active boys like myself. With so much to look at and see, the excitement doesn’t end after one area. I really love watching the boys play and learn. They really do have minds of their own and allowing them to discover their own path through life and learning. They were definitely more drawn to the racing area and the legos. Jasper could not sit still and had to keep running around because there was so much to see. It was really the highlight of my day to watch him experience the space for the first time like myself.

TJ and I walked through the museum and realized that this entire space has changed very little from when we were kids and that’s probably our favourite part. It is truly a classic slice of things childhood (if you grew up here) and an iconic Winnipeg monument. I kind of hope it never changes. What did change however, was that due to COVID-19 restrictions, some areas of the museum aren’t accessible (like in the Non-Such area). All of that was fine, it didn’t take away from the experience there and if you’ve never been in those areas, you didn’t really miss out on the big things. Although going onto the Non-Such again would have been a lot of fun.

The museum itself is a treat. Aiden and Kato have been there before so everything wasn’t as exciting for them as it was for Jasper. It was really great for him to engage with everything there was to see and do. If you’re looking at a great way to spend a few hours on the weekend, definitely take some time to check out some of the exhibits at the museum. The Science Gallery was so much fun and I had a great time checking it out for the first time. The boys and I had an amazing visit and we hope to catch one of the planetarium shows the next time we are in! We didn’t have enough time and the boys’ patience was running out by the time we got out of main museum and the science gallery. But that’s okay, it was a great trip and gives us a reason to come again!

Winnipeg has so much to offer and I love our city. Trust me when I say, The Manitoba Museum is a great visit. We had a ton of fun and had an amazing opportunity to learn and explore. I highly recommend a stroller for smaller kids because towards the end, Jasper was really tired. There is definitely something for older and younger kids as you go through the facility. It’s also a great way to spend some family time.

For pricing and hours of of operation, be sure to check out their website.

Ode to 2020

This is a few days late. I wanted to fully absorb and reflect on the past year before I wrote what I thought about it. As I write this, I have a baby across from me drinking some warmed almond milk with cinnamon and honey, demanding my attention, the boys are jumping around, eating, watching movies, and I am wondering how important it is for me to be writing this right now.

I’ve decided it’s important. It’s important for my own personal therapy. Writing is my therapy. When I am struggling, when I am wondering, when I am lost as well as found; I am inspired to write.

2020 was the year the world stood still but I feel like my growth over the past year was greater than any year before. I have experienced great highs in 2020 and insurmountable lows. I have gained friends, lost friends, renewed friendships, built relationships, and as well, destroyed some.

I started this year not knowing who I was because I didn’t know who I wanted to be. I ended this year knowing who I want to be and what goals I wanted to reach next. I am not looking for “new year, new me” although, I feel I am working towards that image. I am not working towards a “new me” but a “me” that I want to be. I want to be brave; I want to be happy; I want to be free.

Things I’m learning in my 30’s that I wish I knew in my 20’s:

establish boundaries and stick to them
be okay with saying goodbye
if it does not serve you– if it does not influence you to be the best version of yourself; walk away
be mindful of the people you surround yourself with

I never thought of myself as an empath. In fact, it was one of the weaker areas of my life. I lacked empathy. I held up a hard front, I did not let other people get to me, I was hardened by my work and my life. I find now, I absorb feelings, energies, and emotions of those around me. I have softened myself and succumbed to embracing humility. I will still revert to hardness and insensitivity sometimes as a coping mechanism and to protect myself. I am a work and wxmen in progress. I am imperfect and I accept that I will always continue to work on myself.

I am dedicating my 2021 to myself. I hope to continue growing, learning, loving, and living. I want to find peace where I am, peace with my career path, peace in my relationships. I want to bring more calm into my life. I want to be the most authentic version of myself. I hope you will all continue to come with me on this journey of me, loving me.

Yummy Ways to Eat Toast || featuring Silver Hills Bakery

*This is a sponsored post

Who said that bread had to be boring? If you haven’t tried Silver Hills Bakery bread, you should! Not only is it delicious but it is full of amazing nutrients. I started eating this bread when I started my first serious meal plan a few years ago. Bread and carbs are my kryptonite and my trainer told me if I was going to eat bread, I should eat a “better-for-you” kind-of-bread. Silver Hills Bakery makes plant-powered bread from organic sprouted whole grains. Their breads are nutrient dense and plant-based, non-GMO, and certified Glyphosate Residue Free (Google that, will you?)

Silver Hills Bakery launched two new organic sprouted bread loves in Costco locations this month: Oat So Lovely and Full Seed Ahead. Oat So Lovely is slightly sweetened with natural date syrup and Full Seed Ahead is full of seeds — sesame, sunflower, pumpkin, and flaxseed (it’s a mouthful! In seeds and in your mouth XD).

I made two delicious recipes using both of the varieties and couldn’t wait to share them all with you. It’s been a while since I’ve written (actually I’m lying, it’s been a while since I published anything), and I thought, what better way to say hello again than by sharing with you my second love to my kids — food 🙂

Whipped Ricotta Toast with Roasted Tomatoes and Picked Onions

This version uses the Oat So Lovely and paired with it perfectly. The subtle sweetness of the bread is echoed in the subtle sweetness of the roasted garlic in the ricotta and the sweetness of the roasted tomatoes.

Whipped Ricotta

1 cup of ricotta cheese
1 clove of roasted garlic (roasting the garlic gives it a sweeter, more subtle garlic flavour, adjust to your taste but I love a ton of garlic and it’s not overpowering at all)
salt/pepper to taste

Throw everything into a blender and blend until smooth, put aside or keep in the fridge until assembly.

Roasted tomatoes

20-30 grape or cherry tomatoes (or 2 vine ripe tomatoes)
olive oil
season with salt

Coat the tomatoes with olive oil and season with salt (if using vine tomatoes, slice tomatoes into 1/2 inch slices). Roast at 400 degrees Celcius for approx 15-20 minutes or until the skin begins to blister.

Pickles Tomatoes

1 red onion
1.5 cups of white vinegar
1/3 cup of sugar
1 tbs of salt
2-3 peppercorns

I call this a “Quickle”- my quick pickled, anything. I slice the onions super thin with a mandolin. While I’m doing that, I heat up my vinegar, salt, sugar, and peppercorns until the sugar/salt dissolve. Once everything is heated, I throw everything into a bowl and let it sit for about 8-10 minutes.

Assembly is simple, toast your Oat So Lovely Silver Hills Bakery bread to your liking, butter your toast if you choose, start with a thin layer of the garlicky ricotta mixture, top with the roasted tomatoes, and some pickled onions. Enjoy!

Mushroom Toast with Asiago Cheese

When I thought of this recipe, I thought that something rich, hearty, and savoury would be the perfect fit for the Full Seed Ahead. This is a rich, “meaty” toast full of nutritional goodness!

Sauteed Mushrooms

Olive oil
2 cups of Mushrooms of choice (I used mini bellas that they had at Costco)
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Salt/pepper to taste
Asiago cheese
Chopped parsley

Heat olive oil/butter at medium high heat, sautee the mushrooms until browned, add salt and pepper and balsamic vinegar. Sautee for another 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Toast Full Seed Ahead to your liking, butter toast, top with mushrooms, sprinkle asiago cheese on top and chopped parsley for garnish.

I hope you enjoy these recipes and tag me if you try them out! I’d love to see! @mombossofboys

Chronicles of a Quarantined Mom

“Mom, I’m Hungry”

“Mom, I’m bored”

“MOOOOOOOOOOOM”

If you have children, these are probably some of the “quarantine cries” you have heard as of late.

If anyone ever told me that I would live to see a global pandemic, I would tell them they were out of their minds. It would never happen. The “zombie apocalypse” would never be a part of my life.. and yet, here we are. Schools are closed, workplaces are closed, you’re limited on how many people you can be around and where you can go and when. The government is now controlling every aspect of our lives “for our own safety”.

Do not get me wrong, I believe in social distancing, I believe in the principles set out by the WHO, I believe in guidelines and the “new normal”. But guys, I’m crying here. I miss, life. I’m sure many of us do and many of us are getting antsy, anxiety, and depressed as a result of this “new norm”.

I have no advice, I only have my outlet to talk about days passed and forever FOMO over events passed. I miss seeing family, I miss seeing friends, I miss going to my favourite shopping outlets at random times, and packing all of my kids into the car to venture out into the world and experience the small things that life has to offer.

My Sunday Fundays at The Forks have long since passed, my weekend trips to “walk through IKEA and dream” are long gone (although they did open the local IKEA here recently), and my trips to spin/gym have come to a screeching halt. I wonder where all the “little things” in life I once loved to do are now. I always wanted to show my kids experiences. I thought experiences > objects so they could appreciate time together. Now we have all the time together in the world and what we would all really love to do, is spend a little time apart.

It’s funny though, in February I went back to work and I longed for the days that I was at home with Jasper and wishing that I could spend a little more time with him. My wish came true. I was able to spend a bit more time with him and now have a stage-5 clinger that won’t even let me leave a room. I want to say I hate it, but I do love it. I love being “Mom, the fixer of all things” for this little guy. Every cry can be consoled by me. I really wouldn’t have that any other way.

Kato cried the other day, not just cried, he bawled. He was unconsolable and broke down in some of the heaviest tears I’ve seen. He missed his friends. He missed the playground at school. My boy, who hates going to daycare and to school, was crying because he missed school that much. I see the mental and emotional toll this pandemic has on my children and my heart aches for them. I hate that they have to live through this because I just don’t think it’s fair. The world took something away from them that they will never get back, he will never get Grade 1 back. I know it’s only grade 1 but some of my fondest memories in life happened in grade 1. He repeatedly tells me “I hate the coronavirus”. Me too bud, me too.

Aiden is my beacon of hope. He is such a survivor during this time. He can’t wait to see a better future and be prepared for it. “Mom, can we go for a run” <– That is his line to me almost every day. He wants to stay active and healthy. “I don’t want to be chubby going back to school”. I love it. He’s going into his teens and he has so much poise. He accepts the things he cannot change today, and looks forward to tomorrow. He is what I want to be. It’s crazy, to be so inspired by a child. I love being so inspired by my own children.

This quarantine challenges my relationship, daily. TJ is still working, days and nights. He is doing everything he can to provide and I am a bit of a brat. LOL. I have my own internal struggle, I haven’t found a fix for all the stress and anxiety I have over being so cooped up. He’s my emotional punching bag. Kudos to him. He takes it in stride. I even have my own new nickname “Miss Grumpy Pants”. I’m not even mad about it. It’s still cute.

So here’s what I’m doing to try to manage through this “new norm”:

1.) Exercise – I’m going for daily runs with Aiden. When I get a bit more of my energy back, I’m going to start more at home work-outs. I need all the endorphins I can get at this point. On days that we don’t do runs, we do home workouts. It’s cute to workout with the boys.

2.) Plants – I don’t know what it is about all the plant I have, but they bring me so much joy. There is so much life in a home with plants. My plants are my other babies. They make my space cozier every day. Consider me the crazy plant lady.

3.) People – I have a small group of ladies I speak to daily. They are like a lifeline out of this house. If you don’t have “people”, I hope you have a person that does this for you. I have my small crowd and it’s like hearing about another’s person’s life helps to bring you out of your four walls.

4.) Find one thing that brings you joy and do it every day. One thing, just do one thing! I have kids and everyday we do one thing. I don’t even care if the kids get a little bit of screen time every day, it’s their one thing that they can just do and forget that the rest of this BS is going on in the world.

I would love to hear how you are managing through this difficult time. Comment below and let me know what helps you, or shoot me a DM on something you think might help me, I’d love to hear it!

Household Upgrades in the Simplest Form | Schlage Custom Eller Lever with Collins Trim Hall-Closet and Bed-Bath Lock

*Disclaimer: These products were gifted to me however all opinions are my own

This simple upgrade of hardware in our home has completely changed the space.

When we bought our home I knew there were upgrades that needed to happen. We stripped the carpets and old vinyl flooring, we finished the basement and added a custom bathroom to boot. We added luxury vinyl plank throughout the main level, styled with new furniture and started to design a space that really reflected our style. These were things that I knew we needed to do to make our house a home. What I didn’t realize is the snowball effect it would have on the rest of the house. With these newly improved spaces, I realized that the hardware we had in our home, was no longer reflecting the type of vibe and feel that the rest of the house had. We wanted something classic and refined; something tasteful and elegant. We wanted to make a small improvement to create the home we have always wanted, and Schlage was right there to help us make that happen.

We love the contrast of the black against the white. The bold design bring a classic elegance into our space.

Our current home is a blank slate! It is 5 years old and holds most of the standard/manufacturer chosen hardware and fixtures. The previous owner picked everything in the home and it is a great “blank slate” for me to put my touch on. This is our first home and design was something I’ve always wanted to dive into. I’m not very handy, I can’t make a lot of things but I have big dreams and big ideas!

We chose the Schlage Custom Eller Lever with Collins Trim Hall-Closet and Bed-Bath Lock. I loved the look of these because there was something about the matte black against the white doors that I loved. I loved the contrast and I think it really makes a statement.

TJ spent the better portion of the morning installing the hardware and trust me, if TJ can do it, anyone can do it! We are not Mr/Mrs Fix-its and we are definitely not DIYers (considering we hired someone to do our floors and build our basement. I would never trust myself or TJ to do such a thing (;P). They were easy enough to install and came with matching black faceplates. We had eight levers to uninstall/install so you can imagine what that was like. One thing I wanted to mention was, you do have the option of having them with the lock or without. The lock is a push-pin style that is discreet and just below the lever itself. It is truly a customizable piece with a lovely aesthetic.

Not only do we love the aesthetic but the quality of Schlage’s hardware is bar-none.

While I don’t think there was anything wrong with our fixtures to begin with, I do feel as if this simple upgrade has created a much more elegant space. It’s crazy how something so simple can create a more modern and elevated look with the simple change of colour and style. Can’t wait to share with you guys more of our design projects as we go!