Master Closet One year Anniversary Update

One of my most popular posts last year was  anything and everything that had to do with my MASTER CLOSET - my BEST VALENTINE GIFT EVER. And since it has been a year since I revealed this little 'piece of heaven' of mine, I just wanted to give you a few updates on it!

Not a lot has changed for sure, and I think that was a testament for how good the design worked for US! And my sanity each morning has been kept everyday because I knew where everything was.

I re-organized my bags - some addition to my growing collection was added for sure! ;-)

I decided to keep most of my bags inside their boxes because of the dust. I still have not figured out how to put glass doors on my Bag cabinet so until then, most of my bags (except the ones too cute to keep in boxes), will be inside their box or dust bag.

My Jewelry area/Vanity is kept the same

I added this since the last time too...

Another extra pull-out shelf

It houses some of my sunglasses and other accessories

Still the same here

... and here

My hubs lost a shelf since I put it on my side

There you have it, short and sweet. I hope you join me on my next post as I share a REVEAL of a room I had just finished! Can you guess what room?

Have a Great Week!

VEL

 Would love to hear your thoughts! Please share away...

Family Valentine

Hello Everyone!

I hope you all had a lovely Valentine's day with your family! Today, just wanted to share with you how we celebrated ours, which by now you know, has become some sort of tradition in our household.

We started Valentines day with a special breakfast I prepared for my family.

 I used some heart-shaped plates I scored from last year and my Norman Rockwell mugs for the occassion. Simple doily chargers for our simple Valentine meal.

I had a card and gift for the kids

On the morning of, my hubs and kids surprised me with this...

Donuts, tulips, roses and balloons

 Hubs bought the donuts so I wouldn't have to prepare breakfast but I already had the breakfast planned.

I made Chocolate chip red velvet pancakes which was supposed to be heart-shaped ;-)

I made Hot cocoa for breakfast too

Donuts hubby got

My balloon

For dinner our meal was very simple and also has become a tradition of sorts, heart-shaped pizza!

Southwest Chicken Salad, macarons

Our special pizza and I made a heart-shaped chocolate cake too!

Yes, i do lots of sweets for my sweets

Our kid-friendly drink

Overall it was a very fun Valentines for all of us. Hope you enjoyed this short post of mine!

Happy President's Day!

VEL

 Would love to hear your thoughts! Please share away...

Linking back to... Cooking and Crafting with JJ

Travel Portraits - Our Family in Paris

Last Christmas, we went for the very first time to Europe.

It was a very memorable and tiring trip ( we had all 3 kids with us). We visited only London and Paris in our short 8 day vacation. Five days in London and only 2 days in Paris (the rest was on a plane).

And before I share any details of our trip, I would like to share with you probably one of the BEST part of our trip, our Family Pictorial in Paris...

I booked a photographer -  I heart Paris Photographer, 2 months in advance to make sure they would be available on the 2 short days we were there. I highly-recommend Fede and his wife Anastasia since we absolutely had to do our photos on on one of the foggiest and coldest day in Paris at that time! We were so lucky to have found Fede since he was so patient with us and the kids and we definitely felt so at ease with him.

I can definitely say, these photos (which are only some of many), is one of the BEST SOUVENIR I could ever get or hope for for such a memorable trip! Choosing which ones to display is now the only hard part! ;-)

Some tips I would recommend if you plan to do something similar on your next trip:

1) Find the right photographer - browsing thru IG and FB is super easy, you get to see their portfolios and the type of photos they do and there are a lot of really good ones out there.

2) Book way in advance if possible  - once you get your tickets, you have to book your photographer next. Most of them require a deposit so that takes your mind off of things in terms of making sure your session is a go.

3) Plan your family's outfit on the day of  - ours didn't work out so well since it was so cold, we ended up wearing our jackets thru most of it all.

4) Have some idea as to what type of photos you want - again social media pics are a great example for your photographer, although with Fede, he mainly dictated what was good or not.

5) Plan to do it in the morning if possible - especially if you want it done in a famous iconic tourist spot, to avoid less crowd of course and that way you also can still look your best and do more sight-seeing in the afternoon.  But I understand if sunset is your thing, timing is crucial so be there early.

6) Make sure you are full. Yes, so true for pictorial with kids, you want them to be happy and content when you do this. In our case, it was the cold that we didn't expect so there were some photos that had Aidan looking grouchy. ;-)

7) Most important of all, HAVE FUN! Your photographer will edit for you anyway so just relax and let the moment take you!

And since it's Valentine's day tomorrow...

Happy Valentine's Day to you too!

VEL

 Would love to hear your thoughts! Please share away...

As featured in...



Linking back to: Coastal Charm, Cooking and Crafting with JJ, Amaze Me Monday, Tuesdays at our Home, A Stroll Thru Life, Inspire Me Monday

Throw Pillow Crush

Ok, you know how it is when you go out and look for something in particular and totally find something different in the end that you absolutely love? Well, this was one of those moments.

I was browsing thru the different home decor websites when I eventually ended up at Hobby Lobby.
I won't tell you exactly what I was looking for (it's a surprise for my spring decor) but it was definitely for a new pillow. And since I thought I was done with my Blue & White Winter Decor ( you can check it out HERE), I wasn't paying much to the Blue and white pillows. But then, I SAW IT...

So pretty

Love it's contemporary touch against my traditional Chiang-mai pillow

Here is up close....

Totally in love, and the price? Check it out below...

Link HERE

 Yes!! It's true and with a 40% coupon, you know how much I got my babies for? $5.99 each!!!!! Crazy good! That was why I had to share it with you in case you needed new pillow covers (or not)!

My Ikea toile' pillows moved to my chairs over here

And I am as happy as can be

These pillows remind by the way of these...

DIY Indigo Marbles ornaments by Alice and Lois

DIY marbled Indigo Pumpkins by Alice & Lois

Which I plan to do for my decor this year!  Hope you all have a great week my friends, thank you for your always supportive comments!!!!

P.S. I have in no way been contacted or compensated for my product placement here. All opinion written here are my own.



VEL


 Would love to hear your thoughts! Please share away...

Blue and White Winter Living Room

Hello Friends!

Yes, I am still here. 

Most of you know I still decorate around my house and do little projects here and there thru my INSTAGRAM account, but with so many things going on, particularly a very busy Winter season with regards to my job, the kids have non-stop activities from basketball (for Aidan), to play rehearsals (for Nio) and Toddler Gymnastics (for Sophia), I just don't have as much time for moi and blogging,  as I'd like! :-)

No complaining here, but like most of you who are mothers running a household, you know that Blogging always takes a back seat when it comes to family. And as much as I would love to share so many little things with regards to my home, I just cannot find the time! Hence, my usually long posts with lots of photos. 

So anyway, finally things have slowed down a bit and I am sharing with you now my home once again for this Winter!

All my Blue and white collection are out!

As you can see, we have something new  in the back if the sofa...

My husband's new hobby - Saltwater Aquarium

Yes, there are fishes inside, all shy and hiding, I couldn't take a good photo. And believe me, the work my husband puts into this tank is just plain insane! I didn't know how difficult to set this thing up! We already 'killed' 3 fishes, 1 anemone, 2 snails and 1 shrimp" with this thing! LOL! It's a work in progress and as my husband says, a lot of patience!

Super happy with my newest pillows - My new Chiangmai China blue pillow from Studio Tullia from Etsy and my 2 new navy blue velvet pillows from Hobby Lobby!

Still hung up from my recent trip to Paris, I have a book on it on my coffee table and on the Louvre!

More blue and white here!

Couldn't be prouder of these abstracts, I painted them myself!

I couldn't find the right art work to display by the stairway and of course, it had to be BLUE, so I decided to just paint away! And to be honest, I actually enjoyed painting and actually love my own work! LOL! I'm sure these babies which I call "Thoughts on Blue" ( yup, I have to improve on naming my paintings), won't be my last!

Simple Blue and White vignette by my telephone

Love my new Matisse Art print from Art.com! Perfect backdrop for my growing blue and white collection.

Displaying the books I collected during our recent trip!

I hope you enjoyed my Living room tour! I'm getting ready to add a bit of Valentine here and there, but nothing crazy (like HAlloween or Christmas ;-)). I hope you are all doing well and I will definitely drop by soon!

Have a Great Week!

VEL

 Would love to hear your thoughts! Please share away...

Linking back to: Coastal Charm, Cooking & Crafting with JJ, Amaze Me Monday, Tuesdays at our home, A Stroll Thru Life, Inspire Me Monday