Mlle Magpie

Birthday in the Backyard

 

Last weekend we had my youngest daughter's female classmates over to celebrate her 8th birthday.

 

 

 

 

My three children all helped to set up for the party. Here's my 11 year old hanging up the small pink paper lanterns I picked up a week ago when I went on a road trip to Target in Plattsburgh. My bestie and I like to take our little road trips to Target and Michael's across the border every few months - it's great to take a day off from the hospital, do a little shopping and have some much appreciated girl time. 

 

 

 

 

The cherry tree in our backyard was in full bloom. It really is one of my favourite times of the year in the backyard.

 

 

 

 

We had matching pink flowers on the table outside.

 

 

 

 

Last fall, I hung up some birdcages in the tree to add some interest over the winter time. Husband wasn't too sure about that but I think they look great in the tree. By the way, you can see the green climbing rope in the background - I was so glad that all the girls loved taking turns climbing up into the tree.

 

 

(all photos taken by 15 year old son)

 

 

And the weather was just perfect for the party outside. Sunny and warm. Just like my sweet little daughter :)

 

Mlle Magpie

 

Pastel Pretties

 

 

 

Working on a big clean up and organization of the house before my youngest daughter's First Communion and older daughter's Confirmation in May. So very busy with all my work outside of the house that I don't know how much I will get done at home. Will just keep plodding away at it...

 

 

 

 

This is a part of my vintage dress collection. So pretty to look at. They're not all fitting in my vintage prom dress closet so I had to buy a rack to hang some of them on. I think they look so nice in the family room in the basement, but husband doesn't think so, so out of the family room they will go... :)

 

Mlle Magpie

More Roses for the Garden

 

Gentle Hermione

 

Since the weather has been incredibly warm this past week, it has been such a delightful break from the winter season. Makes me feel like gardening season is just around the corner...

 

 

Wildeve

 

I've already ordered another bunch of David Austin roses to add to our city garden. Can one have too many roses in the garden?!!

 

 

Winchester Cathedral

 

These English Roses are grown in a nursery in Tyler, Texas and will be arriving up here sometime in April.

 

 

Eglantyne

 

There really is nothing like these gorgeous, fluffy and fragrant beauties.

 

 

Queen of Sweden

 

 

Princess Alexandra of Kent

 

 

St. Swithun

 

 

Clearly I am partial to the pinks.  My favourite colour!

 

Do you have any special garden plans for this spring...?

 

Mlle Magpie

 

Some Sunshine Therapy

 

 

Back from a week of rest and relaxation in sunny Florida. I really enjoyed the warmth and the sunshine, wearing flip flops, hanging out at the beach and just plain taking it easy. The simple life. This was the first time we ever went away all together en famille for March Break; I told my husband that we need to do it more often so that we can get better at it :)

Anyways, although it is now back to school for the kids and back to work for the parents, I must say that I feel much better after this vacation. Of course, it doesn't hurt that we came back to summer-like weather back home - just crazy high temps! Makes me feel as if winter is over and gardening season is just around the corner...

 

Mlle Magpie

My New Shabby Chic Chairs

 

 

 

My new Lila chairs from Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Couture arrived today!

 

 

 

 

Since we got our new sofa, our old armchairs no longer worked in the living room. We took the old Ikea Ektorp armchairs to the farmhouse where they look great with our huge white slipcovered sofa in the living room there.

 

 

 

 

I searched high and low to find chairs that I liked and that would work with the new sofa. These Lila chairs were on sale so even paying for the shipping and the customs duties (we're in Montreal, Canada), it worked out well.

 

 

 

 

I'm very happy with them! And there's our Molly checking them out... I think Daddy will like them too when he comes back from his week-long business trip in San Francisco.

 

Mlle Magpie

Birthday Flowers

 

 

These are some of my birthday flowers - I turned 48 this week (and got 48 roses!). Not much time for blogging lately as life keeps getting in the way. It doesn't help that I'm now working at three different hospitals.

Anyways, very much looking forward to a break during the kids' school break in March. We're going to be going to Florida en famille for some much needed warmth and sunshine. It will be nice to relax, go barefoot and wear flip-flops again...:)

In the meantime, I've got my beautiful flowers and this weekend I will get birthday cake!

 

Mlle Magpie

Rachel's Shabby Chic Store in NYC

 

 

 

If you guessed Rachel Ashwell's Shabby Chic Shop as my favourite store in New York, you know me well. This store is smaller than her previous one in Soho, but still utterly pretty and delightful.

 

 

 

 

Love the vintage bicycle in the front window display with pretty ribbon-wrapped gifts.

 

 

 

 

A most eco-chic way to deliver one's Christmas gifts. Indeed, completely practical as there was no snow in NYC when we were there right after Christmas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A fabulous large inspiration board a la Rachel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Could have spent a lot more time browsing and enjoying this shop but I was with my teenaged son :)  I did manage to get my bestie a couple of small things that she wanted and I got some ruffled white bedding for myself that had been on my wish list for a long time. Sigh. So romantic and dreamy...

 

Mlle Magpie

NYC After Christmas

 

 

As I mentioned, my son and I flew to New York City for a few days after Christmas. We left Montreal in a snowstorm only to arrive to very mild weather in Manhattan. Truly a delightful break for my son and me.

 

 

Look at these pansies blooming in this courtyard garden!

 

 

Our hotel was on the Upper East Side, a short walk to Laduree on Madison Ave.

 

 

What a palace of pretty pastel confections! We went twice and both times there was a big lineup.

 

 

My son bought a couple of boxes of macarons for his girlie friends back home. Unfortunately I could not taste their world-famous macarons as I have an allergy to eggs, but I sure enjoyed being in this super pretty shop. It definitely reminded me of Paris.

 

 

 

A favourite place of mine to go every time I am in the U.S. is Whole Foods. Love this shop. This is where I always go to pick up my groceries when I travel (I cannot eat out due to a severe food allergy). I also like to pick up a little bouquet of flowers from their flower section which never disappoints. We went to the Whole Foods in Columbus Circle which is on the edge of Central Park and it was a veritable zoo there. The one near Soho was far more quiet and calm. 

 

 

My son picking out freshly made sushi for himself.

 

 

On our second day there we went to Soho, my favourite neighbourhood. I ADORE the Purl Soho shop!

 

 

Purl Soho used to be two tiny sliver-like shops on a little side street in Soho but has now moved to this gorgeous high tin-ceilinged space on Broome St.

 

Such a fabulous shop filled with all the best supplies for knitting and sewing! Thankfully they have an online shop too.

 

 

And finally, I want to take you to my all-time favourite shop in New York City, but I'm going to save it for a whole separate post...

 

Mlle Magpie

 

p.s. Can you guess what it is? Hint: it's also in Soho.

Happy New Year's Day!

 

 

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year's Day. May this first day of 2012 start to bring blessings to all of you that will continue throughout the year.

 

I somehow made it to Christmas relatively intact. Did you know that I danced in my ballet studio's Nutcracker performance in December?  Both of my daughters danced in the production as well. I was an angel and even got to dance the angel dance with my 11 year old daughter - how cool is that?!! My seven year old was a party girl and my older daughter also danced the Chinese dance en pointe. I was so proud of them.

 

On the homefront our new living room sofa that we had ordered arrived just in time for Christmas. Also, the snow arrived on cue a couple of days before Christmas so everyone was happy that it was a white Christmas. As for getting "everything done" by Christmas, I did not, but c'est la vie. For example, the Christmas tree never really got decorated very much, but on the bright side, much easier to take it down :)

 

We enjoyed the holidays here at home with my family from Toronto. A couple of days after Christmas I flew to New York City for a few days with my 15 year old son for some much needed one-on-one time. We did quite a bit of walking there and it aggravated a little knee injury that I had so unfortunately I ended up hobbling around Manhattan with a terrible limp. Not very cool, but kinda funny. 

 

I'm going to post about my favourite shops in NYC soon. Can you guess what they could be?

 

Mlle Magpie

 

p.s. hope you got to celebrate more than me last night - I had to drive the family to the airport at 5:30 (!) in the morning for their ski vacation in Fernie, British Columbia, where my husband used to go skiing while growing up in Alberta (I'm not a downhill skier so I didn't go; also, I've got that knee injury now which makes it hard just to walk...)

Can't Wait for Christmas

 

(downtown Montreal on a Saturday morning in December)

 

Whew, it's been beyond busy here lately. Work, family life and husband gone pretty much for last five weeks (in Korea, Japan, France and England!). That's why I've been pretty absent from the world of blogging. Lots of stuff has been going on, some bad, but mostly good stuff. Anyways, just need to make it to the Christmas holidays...

 

Mlle Magpie