Mini Caprese Salad

The other night at a dinner party I brought a dish of tomato,  Bocconcini Mozzarella and basil skewers which is one of my go-to appetizers otherwise known as a mini Caprese Salad. The girls asked me to pass it along so here it is. It's really simple,  healthy and looks great. Although i bring it out year round it has the traditional Christmas colours which I think is great. 

Mini Caprese Salad

1 container mini Bocconcini Mozzarella (halved)

1 pint cherry tomatoes

1 handful fresh basil

1/3 cup olive oil

4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Directions:

1. Combine the oil, vinegar in a medium bowl. Add the cheese to soak in the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

2. Drain cheese and discard the marinade.

3. Take a toothpick and skewer one tomato, followed by a basil leaf, and a half of bocconcini ball.

4. Repeat until everything is used up.  Place all your mini skewers on a serving plate

Velvet Party dress

Planning a party outfit? Why not try velvet. I think a velvet dress will always remind me of elementary school . I don't know about you but I had a couple of outfits from Jacob Jr. Ok maybe they were hand-me-downs but I felt pretty special in them.

Now there are so many styles, cuts and colours to choose from. I found one the other day at a thrift store that I'll be posting soon. Until then, here are a few that caught my eye.                                          

       

DIY holiday wreath

Last night my sister in law Stacey and brother Sean gave mom her birthday gift…a handmade wreath made out of ornaments. Stacey did such a lovely job, it looks so wonderful. She bought a Styrofoam ring from Michaels and just glued all the ornaments on. Have I mentioned how much I love the glue gun!

Mom and Stacey

She said she has made a few for other family and friends. The nice thing with a gift like this is you can personalize them and add anything you’d like. It's hard to tell from the photo but she’s included pine cone ornaments and little acorns. So cute!

DIY Snow globes

My brother Sean was teasing me and saying they're not snow globes if they don't have water however I disagree; Glass jar with snow and glitter that you shake to make to make it look like snow....Snow globe! 

The first step was getting ornaments to fit in the jars which was harder than I expected, poor Nutcracker had to have his feet chopped off.  Second was gluing them to the inside of the lid.

I decided to use snowflakes and glitter that I bought at Michaels then all I had to do was filled the jars and close them up… VOILA!!!

Shit Girls Say Episode 2

Chris called me this morning to tell me about Shit Girls Say Episode 2!!!
I will admit there are one or two of these scenarios that might be a tad similar to something I would say or do...."get these chips away from me", "does this taste funny to you??", "That poor dog needs water"

Planning a party outfit

Daumer and I have a wedding reception to attend this weekend and I’m trying to plan an outfit. I went searching in the party-dress closet and I think I've decided on my BCBG navy blue lace dress. It was an exeptional find at a thrift store last summer and the only time I've worn it was for my engagement party that was thrown by my boss at Lift and it was a hit. The party was the end of the summer and held on the patio it was very hot out so I kept the rest of the outfit simple. I layered my name necklace and 'key to happy marraige' necklace. I also had on my gold oversized Michael Kors watch, Tory Burch aviators and my Nine West nude pumps. This is the only photo I have of the dress....yes Erin is attaching a ball and chain with Chris' face on it!

For Saturday night I was planning to do it up a bit more especially since it'll be the last Saturday night out before I cut my hair. I haven't decided on accessories however I'm thinking of my gold hammered hoops and thin gold bangles. I'll be sure to add photos from the party to show how it all came together.

Hair: The twist (maybe have the bangs tucked in a little more)

Make up: Matte lips, liquid eyeliner



http://www.mynamenecklace.com/

http://www.wishlistboutique.ca/



Shit Girls Say Episode 1

Classy but a little bit true
Once again I have a been sent something from my coworker Kirsten that I have to share..I guess she knows me pretty well. I don’t know how many times Daumer has teased me saying I must hold the world record for the most words spoken in a day. I try to tell him I’m a normal female and just needs to embrace it! After all, he married me!!

Keeping Cozy this winter!

Do you have a few outfits that you find yourself throwing on when you want to be cozy and comfortable but aren’t your sweat pants??

I find one of mine is my Citizens of Humanity Avedon skinny jeans, my Wilfred Free Graham fleece sweater and my army boots from Spank.

Chris, Justina and I went up to Whistler with some friends for the weekend, when we picked up Justina I couldn’t help but chuckle…We had on the exact same outfit!!

On Saturday while the boys were snowboarding we were in the village doing some Christmas shopping. We stopped by the Whistler Hat Gallery where Justina picked up an adorable new toque for herself. She was tempted to go with the fur but I think she knew the toque was a bit more practical..

Another way to stay warm is to share a scarf with someone :) 

We met the boys for multiple Apres-Ski drinks. They had already had a few pitchers of beer by the time we arrived!!

Here are a few of my favourite must have items to stay warm this winter:

Sorel boots:

Tia gloves Club Monaco:

Wilfred plaid scarf:

Community Henk knee-length parka:

 http://www.whistlerhatgallery.com/pages/our-story

Shopping Wishlist

Here's an outfit from Anthropologie that is right up my alley.

The site says LET IT GLOW- LACEY, VIBRANT PERFECTLY FANCY LOOKS AWAIT…So exciting,  how do you resist an introduction like that.

I have a sweater with a print just like these pants that my mother says looks like an old couch…I love it...I think I might have to go take a look at Anthropologie!


http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/index.jsp 

Bye bye Ponytail

So the apointment is booked. It's time for a change. I've heard people say women tend to cut off their hair after they get married or have a baby. I don't know why but this seems to be the case for me. There's no baby yet but I think it's due to the fact of the year of planning for the one special day and what you want to look like. Now I'm a married women and looking to spice it up.

Here is what my hair is now (photo of Justina, Kaeli and I - I'm in the middle)

Here are a few inspirational hair pics.

Since I've done a cut like this before most people don't think its a big change but it is...no more pontytail on bad hair days!! When I asked Chris his opinion he of said he loves it and can't wait. I don't think his vote counts...he would love me even if I buzzed it. I think Natalie pulls it off but I don't think I could...

Thank you

To everyone who shared in our special day along with those who celebrated from afar, Chris and I would like to thank you very much for making our wedding day that much more special. Please click the links below to have a look at our wedding video along a few old the photos.


If anyone is interested in recieving images for printing (including images not shown below) please let me know and I'd be happy to send them over.

Video by Boutique Studios

Aniela and Chris - Wedding Video from Boutique Studios on Vimeo.

Photos by Heather Wilkinson
http://www.heatherwilkinson.ca/2011/10/01/sept-10th-wedding-chris-aniela

DIY dress styles with Men's shirt

A friend of mine (thanks Kirsten) sent me a link of DIY styles of dresses, skirts and tops using a Men's dress shirt. I think it's something i'll have to try out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdGjWOinBGc&sns=fb

New Favourite Item

I treated myself to a new T. Baton Hugh Crewneck sweater from Aritzia in Heather Whitecap http://aritzia.com/fashion/sweaters/hugh-sweater. I paired it with a vintage creme silk collared blouse, Swedish Hasbeens http://www.swedishhasbeens.com/, Citizens of Humanity Ava Straight Leg in bitter http://www.revolveclothing.com/DisplayProduct.jsp?product=CITI-WJ857&c, a black TNA waffle scarf and topped off with my new favourite bag: A Marc Jacobs the Paradise Rio http://www.marcjacobs.com/products/c301008/marc-jacobs-rio?q=paradise%20rio&p=1

Although I'm a summer girl I love being bundled up in a soft and cozy sweater. Next item is a new wool Mackage. Im thinking the Ayumi in Black. http://www.mackage.com/shop/index.php?menuby=fab&langue=en&devise=CAD&genre=F&coll=FW11&cat=wool&dets=AYUMI&detsc=7&pg=0 

 

Christmas S'mores ornaments

At first when I started this blog it was a way for me to share the wedding photos and video with friends and family. Then i started to think of the different posts I'd like to do even if no one out there was reading them. I figured I'd have some fashion, DIY crafts, fun photos or anything else that popped into my mind...that's where the offical first post comes in.


I wanted to share some pre-Christmas holiday cheer. Every year Santa leaves an ornament on my parent's tree with our names and a little Christmas cash (it's lovely). This year Santa showed me a little preview of this years selection. Now you have to rememeber its hard to find one for all of us since there are quite a few of us now we Sanata doesn't like to double up, he likes them to be personalized...If you know my family you'll be able to tell who is who: