Bathing Suits, of course.

So, Swimsuits!

Anthropologie, of course.

Yeah, I know it's c-c-cold, but look how pretty! So pretty. And the thing is, I'm going to the South of France in officially less than four months, so can you blame me for looking?

Last year I looked high and low for retro style swimsuits. And now they're everywhere! And there's polka-dots! And gingham!

More from Anthropologie:


I love the colour and print on this one, but the bottoms wouldn't really suit me, I fear:



And some equally flattering cuts from J. Crew, also available in other colours. I can't wait for beach-time! Also, You should see my sunhat. It's ridiculous.

I got me some war rugs.

My wonder-friend Cole shared a project idea with me a while back, and we've been slowly working away at it for months now. It has to do with the war rugs that have come out of Afghanistan over the past few decades, and the more I've learned, the more I've been fascinated by these pieces. You can learn more about them here and here.

So she emailed me last weekend to tell me that there was going to be a sale, through the Textile Museum, of 88 war rugs from a private collection. And with the purchase of a membership, each rug was only $50. (!)

So Chris and I headed down early last Saturday, not quite knowing what to expect. It's a good thing we got there early because apparently these babies are quite popular. We got in with the first group admitted and picked up a few that I think are really interesting and lovely.

Here are two that we bought specifically for the project. They are quite ornamented, but you'll notice the cars and tanks and helicopters:

Here's one I got for my boss. I didn't think he'd be too keen on the war imagery so I got him a rug with an abstract ornamented design. Also starring: my lovely feet.

And here's the one we bought for ourselves. It's around 6' x 4', with two big beautiful trees, what looks like a treehouse, and two little helicopters for good measure. You know what they say, helicopters on rugs guarantee good luck. Or something like that.

So now all we need is a place big enough to accommodate it!

Heading out to the Canadians Against Proroguing protest soon. And we'll also be testing out that Diana Polaroid. Fun day!

I fell in love, and I just can't stop thinking about you, chair.

People, I'm having an issue over this chair. It's so beautiful. And practical, right? And one day I'll maybe have a sewing room and it would be perfect! But right now, it totally matches our couch.

And I can't stop thinking about it. I just want to hold hands with it and like, talk about the funny things that happened today and maybe have some cookies.

Guys who buy their partners really awesome shoes for Christmas are pretty good guys.

Happy Holidays, you!

Despite my little holiday cold, I had a nice time off doing absolutely nothing at all except for sleeping, eating, watching movies, and 'helping' Chris cook by reading out the ingredient list before napping.

We watched The Third Man (again, and still so good), The Brothers Bloom, the first 20 minutes of Kicking and Screaming (B&B. Boring & Bad. Why do people like this one so much?). And lots of HGTV.

Chris got me lots of wonderful gifts, including these darlings:


I'm going to save them and wear them on our honeymoon. They're not really Canadian winter shoes, anyway.

I'm not going to lie, I love getting gifts. And giving gifts. Especially beautiful sparkly gifts. My friend Kate got me this dress, which I had been stalking for months. It's got swans on it. Swans!


And here's another one, from Chris, which I had also adored from afar. Did anyone get anything wonderful? I also got a gizmo that attaches to my Diana and turns it into a Polaroid. For real! I'm going to try it out this weekend.

Le Butter Dish.

What's with butter dishes being so awesome lately? I mean seriously:


Peanut butter dish & Crown butter dish by Rae Dunn. Delightful.

Cow butter dish.
Whale butter dish by Jonathan Adler. This would be mine if it weren't $70. Which is too much for a butter dish. At this point in my life.

The winner! Thanks Anthropologie, you always come through for me.

And I actually need one of these things in my life. The plate with a smoosh of warm butter on it is no longer pleasing me. The little bits of bread left over in the butter are pretty great, though.

Arts & Science.

Here's what looks like an amazing & perfectly curated store (for boys and girls!) , called Arts & Science. Hey, I like arts! And science!

Here are photos of the stores, which are in Japan, from what I can tell. 

Shoes & Accessories:

Men's store:

What looks like an apothecary:
And here are some amazing things I found on their website. I don't know how you can buy any of these things, but I'm happy just to swoon for now.

Bags!


Men's manicure set:
Girl-things!


I have a feeling that I'd be pretty happy living in the store. Or maybe having it as my winter home, with Anthropologie as my summer vacation spot. I still have to work out some of the details.

Breakfasts.

Sometimes I make breakfast.

Sometimes Chris makes breakfast.

Chris is pretty fun.

Fall Shoes.

Hello! In honour of fall, and of it having been really cold this weekend, I'm sharing some fall footwear that I'd be more than happy to own.

A.P.C, J. Crew, J. Crew, Les Prairies de Paris

These last ones are basically the same as the grey ones I bought last fall, but I love them so much that I dream about owning them in every colour. Ridiculous.

A great gift.

First off, I just wanted to spread the word that I've finally updated my website. It only took me around 4 years. I am officially no longer embarrassed of it. 

Anyway, what I really wanted to share was this great engagement gift that Chris and I got from my sweet friend Sarah. Perhaps inspired by a recent trip she took to Italy, she and her husband adopted an olive tree for us through a company called Nudo, and we'll be getting fresh olive oil shipments from Italy throughout the year. It's so nice to have a little something extra to look forward to! 

We got our first shipment - lemon oil, orange oil and chili oil - and it's gooood. And the packaging is pretty wonderful as well. Thanks Sarah!

Buying and Selling.

I hope you had a lovely weekend! Mine was full of bacon, ravine walks and making fabric flowers for the wedding (which is still far far away).

And! I finally got my shit together and opened an etsy shop. I currently have 1 item for sale. Slow but steady. Here it is:

I will be adding more to the shop in the coming week, and once I have more time to sew I'll be adding some hand-sewn items as well. 

You can visit it in all of its glory: shiraleuchter.etsy.com

In other etsy news, I bought a painting from Heather Smith Jones, who makes beautiful things. Here's the wee painting I found in my mailbox on Friday. Isn't it lovely?