Monday, February 28, 2011

The Oscars

Last night we ordered Sushi and watched the Oscar's.  We were underwhelmed to say the least.  As per many of the reviews we found the show rather boring as a whole.

Since the Red Carpet is the best part, I wanted to show my Hits and Misses on the Red Carpet.

HITS
Firstly, Halle Berry...could she be any hotter?  
These four all look great!  I loved that Hailee Steinfeld looked sweet and innocent in her ballerina inspired dress.  I am also in love with Gweneth's gold dress, she looked so chic in it.
Natelie Portman not only looked amazing, but also showed grace and elegance when she accepted the Oscar for Best Actress in Black Swan.  If I am ever prego again I will be borrowing this dress.  :) 
 
Finally, Sandra Bullock's dress was gorgeous.  I love the colour and the cut...so flattering.  She does however bring me to my pet peeve of this year's Oscars.  What was with the hair?  Sandra Bullock's looked like she hopped out of the shower and put it in a bun. It wasn't even a slick bun, I felt like it  closely resembled my beach hair....

MISSES
Scarlett Johansson's dress was a great colour but I feel like her hair looked like mine when I try to put a wave in it myself.  It looked like it was falling flat due to humidity...that shouldn't happen to movie stars.
...and Amy Adam's hair also looked like the day after curls, when you brush your hair out and it's kinda frizzy.


I heard a magazine editor raving on one of the morning shows this morning that the actresses were trying to go for a more natural look this year.  I don't know about you, but I see natural everyday when I look in the mirror...I'm bored with it.  I want to see GLAM at the Oscars.
Who was your favourite???

Sunday, February 27, 2011

The National Home Show

Yesterday Mr. D, the Boss and I attended the National Home Show in Toronto.  The show was a little overwhelming with over 700 different vendors.  We enjoyed walking around and looking through the model homes.
 The Boss checking out the event guide.


One booth that I loved was the Urban Barn booth.  They have a number of stores across Canada and I love almost everything they sell.  They are currently running a contest called "Canada's Ugliest Furniture" which can be found on the Urban Barn Facebook page.  One of Mr.D's friends is a Bachelor and bought his first house 2 years ago.  When he moved in his parents gave him their old couch to use until he got around to decorating.  Since the couch is about 100 years old I entered it into this contest.  The funniest part...there are two other couches that look the exact same.  Check out their page and vote for the ugliest piece.

Friday, February 25, 2011

The Second Reason for the Best Mail Day Ever!

So yesterday I posted about my awesome ring from Little Miss Momma, but I also said there was a second happy surprise for me.  It was this gorgeous headband from a giveaway on Dwelling by Devore.  Bethany has a super cute blog with all kinds of design projects.  Her blog is actually one of the first I started following through a mutual friend, so you can imagine my excitement when I won her headband giveaway.  What could make me happier...a free headband (obsessed with them for the Boss) from blog land (my new BFF's).  The headband was from the Etsy shop Cherrie Chic.   Michelle of Cherrie Chic also has a cute blog Cherrie Chic Life which follows her life as a wife, mommy, and decorator extraordinaire.  She has two little girls including one not too much older than the Boss.

  Thanks to Bethany and Michelle for this great giveaway.   I think the Boss looks truly adorable!!!







Check out both of their blogs or Michelle's shop to pick up a treat for yourself.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Greatest Mail Day Ever

Everyday I go to the mailbox hoping for something fun and exciting, and most days I am disappointed.  The box is normally filled with junk mail and bills, but yesterday there were two awesome surprises.  The first was this awesome ring from Little Miss Momma.  I follow Ashley's blog and appreciate her transparency and how cute she is.  She is such an encouragement to new bloggers. I can tell from her blog that if we lived in the same, country, time zone or state we would be friends.  I also wouldn't mind if  the Boss married her precious Baby W.  Along with her blog, Ashley also runs an Etsy shop (I love Etsy) also called Little Miss Momma that can be found here.  That is where I found this AMAZING ring that I just couldn't live without.  

It came in this cute heart box...
 I took pictures of it on both hands....
 It will live on my right hand though....
Check out Little Miss Momma either here or here for cute couture jewelery at a reasonable price.   

Check back tomorrow for the other great thing that came in the mail yesterday.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Happy Be-lated Family Day

We arrived home from VA late last night but had a wonderful trip!!!!  The Boss did great in the car and I bought her lots of great things from Target that I will share later in the week.  One of the best parts of the trip was spending Family Day as a family!  Although we were in a car for almost 12 hours, I was with my two favourite people!  Happy Be-lated Family Day (or Presidents day depending where you live)!!!!

 

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Our First Road Trip...with a baby!

This weekend we are heading to Virginia to visit our friends. We are so excited to spend time with our friends and introduce the Boss to everyone.  I'm a little nervous about the drive, but Mr. D has downloaded cartoons for the Boss on his iPad.

One of the things I am really excited for while we are away is American shopping!!!!   Target is one of the stores I miss the most, but I've been told it's coming to Canada.  They have cute things at reasonable prices!  I did some pre-shopping online, and can't wait to get there and check these items out.

Merona Collection Women's Zea 2fer Dress $39.99
Merona Collection Women's Vevette Dress $39.99
Merona Women's Twisted Neckline $39.99
Merona Water Repellent Long Trench Coat- White/Gray Gingham $49.99

And for the Boss...
Cherokee Red Double Ruffle Dress $15.00
This final dress I'm thinking about for the Boss for Easter.  I think it's so cute!!!  I'm not ready to purchase it until I see it in person but I am definitely on the hunt for something super girlie and frilly for Easter.  Can you beat the price for this?

Charokee Navy Sleeveless Dot Dress $20.00
Can't wait to see what we find!  Have a wonderful weekend and  a wonderful long weekend for all my Canadian readers!



Monday, February 14, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day!

While reading everyone's Valentine's posts I thought, I better not miss my opportunity to brag about my day of love!  We started the morning with homemade waffles in bed, followed by a Mommy group Valentine party with some of my favourite little people.  This evening my Hubby and I spent the evening eating lasagna and spending time with our little one.  Other years we have enjoyed eating out and being romantic, but this year we wanted to spend time with the Boss on our day of love.  While I know some people think Valentine's Day is a Hallmark holiday, I think Hallmark had it right when they reminded us to show our love at least ONE day a year.  I, personally LOVE Valentine's Day.  Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!!!

My Valentine and I

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Red Velvet Cupcakes


I was finally able to find a Red Velvet Cupcake recipe!  As you will remember my previous post here, I received cute muffin cups from my mom and I was dying to make Red Velvet Cake for Valentines Day.  I didn't want to have to buy a cookbook so I went looking on the internet and came across this cute blog Pinch My Salt.  Nicole started the blog while living in Italy but now lives in California.  She has lots of yummy looking recipes that I will have to return and try!

The batter is a beautiful and vibrant colour
 Letting them cool... look how pretty they are!
 You can't tell me these muffin cups aren't great!!!!
 Decorated and looking pretty
 Close up...
 Now the moment of truth...do we even like Red Velvet Cake.... (please excuse the horrible lighting and the fact that we both look ill...it's just terrible lighting...)

The answer was yes, these cupcakes were so good and a total hit at my sister an brother-in-laws place tonight!  The recipe can be found here or below.


Red Velvet Cupcakes
2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour*
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 oz. red food coloring (two bottles)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers.
2. Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl; set aside.  In a small bowl, mix food coloring and cocoa powder to form a thin paste without lumps; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about three minutes.  Beat in eggs, one at a time, then beat in vanilla and the red cocoa paste, scraping down the bowl with a spatula as you go.  Add one third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beat well, then beat in half of the buttermilk. Beat in another third of flour mixture, then second half of buttermilk. End with the last third of the flour mixture, beat until well combined, making sure to scrape down the bowl with a spatula.
4. In a small bowl, mix vinegar and baking soda.  Yes, it will fizz!  Add vinegar mixture to the cake batter and stir well to combine. Using an ice cream scoop, fill cupcake cups with cake batter (they should be 2/3 – 3/4 full).  You may not fill all the cups, I ended up with 20 cupcakes.  Place muffin tins on the middle rack of a preheated 350 degree oven.  Bake for approximately 20-22 minutes, rotating pans halfway through. Cupcakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Check early and don’t overbake!
5. Cool the cupcakes in their tins on a wire rack for 10 minutes then remove and allow to cool completely before frosting.  Frost cupcakes with cream cheese icing (recipe below) and decorate with red sprinkles if desired.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Valentine's Treat

My Mom was at IKEA this weekend and picked these up for me.  Aren't they adorable?

 I can't wait to use them!  I am hoping to make red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing for Valentine's Day.  I have no idea why I am so set on this idea, because I've never even tasted red velvet cake, but I am obsessed with the idea of it and trying to find a good recipe.  Does anyone have one?

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Changes Coming

Hi Blogging Friends,

  As you can probably tell I am making changes!!!!  I am hoping to have all my changes completed by the middle of March.  The changes I have in mind will include; more posts, more consistency, a name change and themes.  I am so excited about the changes so please stay with me.  I will try and make it as painless as possible from your side.  I will try to keep posting and give hints along the way.

Luv,
Chic Momma

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Valentine's Outfit

I finished the onesie to go with the Boss' hat I made here.  This is the photo shoot of her Valentine's outfit. 

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Where have I been...

The past two weeks have been crazy!  Mr. D went to Mexico for a few days and so I was left alone with the Boss.  Luckily my Mom stepped in and helped me out.  I would have had to talk to my walls if it weren't for my Mom.  In the mix of getting ready to go to my parents, getting the Man ready for Mexico, and actually spending a few days at my parents has lead to the lack of posts.

On Saturday I attended the....

We took the Boss and went down for the day.  We had so much fun, even the Boss loved it...she LOVES home decore.  Mr. D was loving all the fireplaces and bathtubs! I fell in love with these tables.  I love the rustic look with the beautiful chandelier.  

I also loved this table decorated by the famous Sarah Richardson and her brother Theo.  The lights are from Theo's store but will be available in Canada soon.  I love them. 
 I also met Tommy Smythe at this display!

Also, while I was sleeping... I won a headband by Michelle at Cherie Chic for the Boss through a giveaway at Dwellings By DeVore.  If you haven't ever checked out Dwellings By DeVore you don't know what you're missing.  She has a great sense of style and has transformed some amazing pieces of furniture.  If you love decor check out her blog and if you are looking for some cute different headbands check out Cherie Chic, I can't wait for ours to arrive!