Le weekend

We spent Saturday afternoon at the MuseumsQuartier. We were under the impression that there was a 'Kissing for World Peace Flashmob" but no such luck, I guess we were the only ones dumb/naïve enough to buy into that idea. Instead we met up with some friends and went to the Halle Cafe and then off to the AKH Christmas Market for some punch.

There's currently an Edvard Munch exhibit on at our favourite museum, The Leopold.

Halle Cafe/Restaurant. I had never been there before, it was so beautiful!

After the sun goes down (around 4pm) the lights come up. They do a great job decorating the whole city. Notice the snowflakes projected on the buildings.

Curling? Or a variation on it, and in the background a couple outdoor cafés serving winter treats and warm drinks.

That's me in my new hat and Joe Fresh jacket.

Have a great Monday :)

b

Where in the world...

would you like to be right now?

I'd like to be in living on the water in this Swedish Houseboat. Ahhhhh, bliss!













{found on My Scandinavian Retreat}

This houseboat was featured in Sköna hem, and built by carpenter Stefan Dillner of Stockholm.

Have a wonderful Friday and relaxing weekend.
bess

ps. Don't forget to check out my shop for my holiday weekend deals!

Deals! Deals! Deals!

Apparently there's this thing called "Black Friday" and this other thing called "Cyber Monday", it's probably old news to those of you in the know, but I just heard about these notorious shopping discount days today when I received an email from Etsy. So in honour of the deals! deals! deals! I am offering Free Priority Shipping on all the items in my shop! That's right, your package will be traveling first class, perhaps even enjoying a little champagne on take off, on me!



So pop over to my Etsy shop to get your Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals!

Have a great Thursday, and Happy Thanksgiving to all my American readers :)
bess

The countdown begins!

Well, it's official, only 1 month left till Christmas! I was looking through my Etsy Favourites and discovered I've been "hearting" a lot of holiday decorations lately. Here are a few of my faves...


Merry Christmas Message Deco
Strand Garland Winter Christmas Ornament
Enchanted Forest Five Trees made from felt and wood


Sweet Garland Xmas Dream
Vintage Top Had Reindeer
Dog Christmas Ornament - Linen
Hand Printed Moleskin Journal - Cardinal

I'm not sure if we'll get a Christmas tree this year or not. We got one last year, our very first as a couple, and it was beautiful and festive and fun. I love having Christmas lights around the house and a few holiday decorations courtesy of Ikea. I wish I could buy some fun things from Etsy, but as we are leaving Vienna soon, it's probably not the best time to start accumulating holiday decor. So for now, i'll just decorate my blog ;)

Happy 1 month till Christmas day!
bess

Dead Sexy Magazine

If you live in Toronto, are planing to visit Toronto or just want to know about some great places to see, shop and eat in the city, then I really recommend taking a peek at the Toronto based online publication, Dead Sexy Magazine. Each monthly issues contains among many other categories, a profile of a local Toronto neighbourhood - restaurants, bars, clubs, shops, and other interesting locals. It's a perfect guide of all the best spots in the city, and they are beautifully photographed too. Looking forward to reading next month's issue!


Distillery / Corktown


Parkdale Boho


The Junction


Kensington Market


Leslieville


Harbourfront

Dead Sexy launched in May 2009 and you can read all their back issues on their website.
(all photos courtesy of Dead Sexy Magazine)

Have a great Tuesday!
Bess

Birthday Weekend

Well it's official, Big Chuck is 30!! We had a great weekend celebrating. Here are few late night photos from Friday's celebration.


Mayer Hawthorne concert at the Roxy. Before the concert we ate a wonderful meal at Zum Roten Elephanten, a french restaurant, and attended a friend's house party in a beautiful old Viennese flat. I really should have taken pictures - sorry!


Big Chuck lines up for a late night snack.


The Christmas lights went up around the city 2 weeks ago. It was nice to walk around and see Vienna all dressed up for Christmas.


The Ring Hotel

Happy Monday :)
bess

Dancing Shoes

Repetto Shoes

So it's Big Chuck's birthday this weekend and tonight we are heading out for a night on the town. There will be dinner, dancing and all manner of celebration. Our first stop is the new-to-us French restaurant, Zum Roten Elephanten, then off to a friend's house party and finally to the Mayer Hawthorne concert.

Better get out my dancing shoes!


Bloch


Bloch


Bloch

The shoe companies, Bloch and Repetto, were know to me at first only as point shoe manufacturers. I'm pretty sure that I had a few pairs of both during my ballet dancing days. They look so scrumptious and comfy that I think my feet would still appreciate they beautifully made shoes.

Have a wonderful Friday and weekend!
bess

Pretty Pears

A wee bit of pear inspiration for you...


Agent Bauer for Residence Magazine


Monika Design


Lil Fish Blog

have a lovely day...
b

Bio-Diversity

I was on the New York Times website and saw the cute little image titled "tree-shirt" so I couldn't help but click on it, and look what I discovered. A lovely visual treat from the NYT's Abstract City Blog by Christoph Niemann.

Lorena Arance

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of finding Lorena Arance's new Etsy shop. I have been following her work on Flickr and am so happy to see that she's now offering her prints online (and for a very reasonable price - includes shipping!). I love finding new and amazing artists from around the world - the internet really makes the world seem smaller. Lorena is a recent photography graduate who lives in Spain. Her photos are so beautiful and full of light, something my eye is definitely drawn to during these cold and dark Fall months.


Lorena Arance's Etsy shop

You can visit her Etsy shop here, and her website here.

enjoy your wednesday :)
b

Irene Suschocki

I love these photographs from Montréal photographer, Irene Suschocki. You can see more in her Etsy shop, or on her blog, eye poetry.


Looking for Love


Paris, le matin


The Red Balloon


City of Love


Mimi on the Beach

Wishing I was 'Mimi on the Beach' today.

Enjoy your Tuesday :)
b

And the winner is....

flickr

a_berson!!! You are the winner. Please get in contact with me (since you didn't seem to leave a way to get in touch - oops!) and I'll be more than happy to send you your 2010 Calendar and we can discuss what you want on your Custom Holiday Printables.


Thanks so much to all of you who participated in my very first Giveaway! And FYI, my blogstress friend Linda is giving away a pair of lovely earrings to celebrate her 100th post over at Struggles of a Creative Mind. Go take a peek!

Enjoy the rest of your Monday!
bess

Giveaway!

Last Friday English Muffin was featured on the Gussy blog, and I meant to put up a link here but totally forgot. The stinky part is that Gussy and I were giving away a free Custom Holiday Gift Tag and Card Set to one luck winner. Sorry I forgot to tell you :(

So.... guess what I'm doing today? A GIVEAWAY!! My first one actually.

Here's the prize, an English Muffin Holiday Package which includes:



• the super fun 2010 Animal Calendar perfect for both young and old



• and your choice of any of my Printable Holiday Gift Tag and Card Sets (Santa, Snowman, Mittens or Reindeer-dogs) a great way to simplify your holiday gift giving.

If you want to enter the draw (and I hope you do!) simply leave a comment at the end of this post, make sure there's a way for me to get in touch with you.

The winner will be chosen on Monday November 16 at 4pm EST

Have a great Friday!
Bess

Photoshop Actions

I'm going to share one of the best things I've found on the interweb as of late. Pioneer Woman's Photoshop Actions. I downloaded them a few weeks ago and have been playing with them in Photoshop ever since. By far my favourites are Boost, Colourize and Seventies - everything looks better in seventies lighting.

Here's an example of just a few of the Actions in action ;)


#1 Normal unedited image of Tyke


#2 Boost


#3 Colourize (better on images where there are more red hues)


#4 Black and White


#5 Seventies

Of course you can also apply them in tandem, like Boost + Black and White will give you a super high contrast b&w image. Check them out, they're so much fun!

Have a great Thursday,
bess