So what is happening?

This week has been quite lovely, hanging out with friends and kids birthday party (yes it was a European style in Calgary, we do drink in front of children casualy and so don't judge!), our fence got finished and roses with hydrangeas are smiling at me happily... We play, shop for door handles and mail box! And we watch Ipad during an afternoon snack on our porch... life can't be better as we are enjoying each other every day...

B-day party for my son's friend, they are 4!!

Our house before:

And house after: 

Our fence & gate, love it! Do you see the roses and hydrangeas on the right?

If you misssed my previous post about the design of the gate and garden, click here: design privacy

Close up...

It came together well I think.

We play!

Shop for door handles...

New mail box, of course, the bigger the better..never have to redirect mail when we travel ...again!

We play at breakfast...

We eat a peach with Greek yoghurt in the afternoon on our porch....

And I shop for houses on internet in the meantime....

This one is in Norfolk, England...such a lovely Georgian manor...

Love their simple bedroom elegance....

And could use this roofed glass house pool in our back yard too...Next reno?? ...smiles...

Hope you are having an exciting and relaxing week as well.

XO, Z

Runway to Workway: Fashion Tip on Denim Skirt

Hello my fashion adict friends!

As you may know, I don't like wearing denim trousers much, only with my cowboy boots or a really spectacular blouse that will distract from the fact that everyone wears them like a uniform...and they have to be skinnies and carrot leg and not the boyfriend type as I don't look good in the loose masculine versions. 

NOt sure why I am telling you all this, as it is beside the point of this post.

I LOVE DENIM SKIRTS and they are very hard to come by actually. 

When I found out that the ex-editor of French Vogue Carine Roitfeld doesn't like to wear jeans much...and prefers denim skirts ... a long time ago, I realized that I love pencil skirts too and when ever I wear jeans I wish I wore something else, like leather pants or dress....or floral print pants, too many options to limit myself to jeans. 

The most amazing denim skirt that I currently own and bought recently on-line shopping at 
J. Crew is "perfect" ! 
Adore the 1950's silhouette and the amazing fit despite it being so very comfortable. More comfortable than any pants can be. 
Check it out for yourself, needless to say that my shopping experience had been just without any hickups, fast, beautifully packed and so easy to do! I may shop on-line more and more...little time wasted and I only buy what I really like...whilst in regular stores I tend to sometime get stuff that I don't like because they often don't have what I am looking for and because of my "I am there and I may just get something as well" attitude.

J. Crew fabulous skirt on a model!

Here it is on me...

Have a lovely rest of the week!

XO, Z

City Property: postage-stamp yard or not?

Hello!

Are you also gardening? Collecting soil and mud up to your "knickers" like me and these wise words came from a lovely woman Debra from Acquired Objects Blog, and made me laugh until I started planting and realized I was so muddy and it was not funny!

According to the Better Homes & Gardens magazine, city lot and its' front yard should be well landscaped to look modern and up to date. Well, I only found out this opinion after I had significantly reduced the amount of sod and nothingness from our front yard and replaced it extensively with plants and new landscape. 

I felt a bit overwhelmed with my own work that I had to sink my own confusion with what I like and what looks good! And to my liking ... I found out I am on the right track. Flat green lawn with a bit of foundation planting is not the way to go these days, it is not enough, it is boring...smiles.

Naturaly I have a feel for what looks good but putting it into words, I appreciate the BETTER HOMES magazine putting it into words as a very important tip: "make sure you repeat an element to bring continuity and keep your garden from looking helter-skelter..."

I am really glad with what I did and will show you some of my inspirations and a peek at our own yard but I will show you the complete project when we are done with new railings and fence installation this week, very exciting. 

Here is a peek!

Evergreens to keep some green in winter and to create continuity.

Boxwood to line the pathway and also have greenery in winter.

Bushes and evergreens also for continuity.

I  also have roses and hydrangeas! For Beauty and won't show you now!

More to come....

Here is those lovely gardens I saved on my Ipad to keep inspired:

XO, Z

What is in your PANTRY?

Inspired by Leslie of 4aroundthetable  it was fun to review her goodies in her kitchen closet, "the pantry". 

My love for clothes and closets in general is huge, and so it goes for the food closets too..."eating and preparing food is my hobby". 

Leslie is very healthy indeed and so it was a pleasure to "snoop" with her in her kitchen. What a great idea...loving that she is using baskets to keep organized... without further delay, here is a peek in my pantry and perhaps Leslie's idea will become a chain reaction and other bloggers continue this trend...and I definitely can't wait to see Tina's Enchanted Home pantry and lots of others! 

Our Pantry is walk through connecting the dining room and kitchen, it has shallow shelves to store things perfectly...so I can always see what is there and things don't get forgotten hiding in the far back!

I ADORE the look and the practicality of baskets:

What do I use most?? ONIONS and GARLIC for cooking almost every day. 100% can't live without them. But also this closing basket is a gem, all hidden and nicely dry ... perfect storage for fast access. 

.

Everyone needs an ITALIAN shelve:

.

CANADIAN, we need maple syrup absolutely:

OATS and dried GINGER jars!

Definitely Legumes in cans or dry:

Good to have MINERAL waters and coconut waters and some Czech medicinal miracle drink hidden there too!

Coffee OF COURSE: LAVAZZA ONLY FOR ME!

SNACKS: running on the low side I notice now taking pictures. Chips I love real potato just with sea salt, nooooooo flavors please! Some Czech egg cookies and Dutch almond ones and Pizzelle because Tina from Enchanted Home blog showed us the Icecream desert that I have to try with them yet....

Then I have a handy closet pantry in my kitchen where I have a full basket of TEAS and lots of olive oils and balsamics and other spices refills etc. 

On the other hand, my biggest storage is the fresh foods in our 2 refridgerators (veggies, fruits, meats, milk products or almond and peanut butters!) and freezer too, like Leslie, I believe in frozen fruits to put in our smoothies each day...easypeasy stuff! 

Thanks for snooping with me and what ever you are up to these days, here is a lovely summer field photo that gets me in a great mood and hope it does the same for you!

XO, Z