A Few Of My Favourite Things -January

You guys! It is colder than a witch's heart here on the prairies! We have had -40° temps, with daytime high in the high 30'C's. They say that this cold snap will break this evening and go back to normal winter temps. Thank goodness, it sure has been a long week!

In times like this, when you do not want to venture outside for anything, not even groceries, what does one do?

I look for a warm chenille throw, a good book, cosy loungewear, and a spot in front of the fireplace.

I have oh so many throws (can one ever have too many?) but I really love my chenille ones best of all. They are cosy and warm, but also have a bit of weight to them. They just feel warmer. Maybe it is like the weighted blanket thing, just makes you feel safe and settled?

The books I have been reading lately - I finished my Stephen King Christmas prezzie book weeks ago. This year, it was 'Holly', a spin off from the Mr Mercedes trilogy. If you liked the trilogy, you will really like this one, too. It is in the same vein... kinda creepy, in that good way that only SK can do. Though, I must admit, I think Fairy Tale is one of his very best.

If you like the tv series/books 'Call The Midwife', you may enjoy reading this light reading series by Jo Bartlett called 'The Cornish Midwife'. I just finished the series on my kobo, where I get the books for free with my Kobo Plus subscription. Let me know if you want to know more about that....

Travel & Just Because Favourites....

Shortly after the holidays, we flew to the island to visit my son for a quick trip as he was unable to come home at Christmas.

As it always goes, we stayed up too late each night, drank way, way too much coffee as we visited with old friends, ate too much, laughed a whole lot, had a really great time.

We stayed at an airbnb for the very first time ever. It was so easy to book and nicer/homier than staying at a hotel. I wanted something with a coffee maker (of course!) and a wee kitchen for easy breakfasts and quick lunches. We indulged with a really lovely supper out each night, always at a different restaurant. If you go to Nanaimo at any point, you must eat at Asteras, a Greek restaurant. I'd give it 5 stars! The whole trip was so wonderful, even with the delayed flights home. Be sure to make a reservation though, or you won't get in!

Before I left, I picked up some comfy lounge wear to travel in. Here are some of my favourites.

This lounge outfit! I have it in this green colour, love it so much that I am thinking of getting it in the navy blue, dark grey or maybe coffee, too.

The fabric is on the thinner side, so is perfect for comfort while traveling, lounging around at home or the airbnb, and outdoors in spring.

This ribbed set is also lovely, great for those with longer legs than mine ( I have to roll up the legs).

No gonna lie, this knit one is my favourite! In green or brown, looks stylish enough to wear about town/anywhere.

Remember those vintage suede colour, bags I bought all us 'girls' at Christmas? It now also comes in this denim look, which is super cute (and on sale!) It also comes in a lovely vintage red, if that is more your style, also on sale right now! Oh, my daughter and DIL love it, too!

I bought it with the intent to use it for shopping here at home, but it made a super handy travel bag. I love that it stands up, does not flop over.

Held my kobo e-reader, magazines, purse, travel goodies, make-up touch up bag, Gravol (hah), and all sorts of other goodies, too. Easy access, fits under the front seat. Just perfect.

Oh, one more... also come in this beautiful, classy looking grey.

The only other thing I would mention as a travel favourite, is a good pair of slippers. I had these in my carry on bag, they do not take a lot of space, came in super handy on the trip.

The airbnb that we stayed at had laminate floors, so was cool on the feet. I also wore them in the Air Canada lounge while we were stuck at the Vancouver airport with delay after delay. So much comfier to pop than winter boots. Perfect at home, too, of course, for inside and sweeping snow off the deck.

Those were my favourites for the travel, though I only travel once in a blue moon, hahaha, so these are all wonderful for us homebodies and work from home peeps, too.

At home, these are this month's favourite things....

These deep blue velvet curtains!

I LOVE them so much, cannot begin to tell you how well they suit the room.

They make the rooms look so cosy and classy. I have always had a thing for velvet though. Give me a green velvet couch and I will be all set.

We went with a simple, black, 1 inch diameter curtain rod, and rings. I wanted the finial to not be fussy but look substantial.

For the curtain rings, I went with antique bronze to mix the metals. Just makes for a homier, less formal look. Gold would also have looked really nice. In fact, I think I ordered gold but got these bronze ones. I used 9 clip on rings for each curtain, so spaced about 5 inches apart.

I also love the green, or maybe gold for the fall.

My curtains, by the way, are 90 inches long, not a super common size. I had to go that length to get them to go right up close to the ceiling though.

I saw this throw (blanket) on another blog and had to have it! It is so lovely. I use it to protect my sofa from Little Lulu kitty.

It works with both my winter and summer drapes, washes well, is comfortable, and looks good to boot. It is reversible so go lighter or darker to suit your mood.

This is how things look around here this week....

Our entire home is in total chaos at the moment. We are replacing the carpet in the basement as the old one was very dirty and worn, and removing carpet from the two bedrooms upstairs.

Carpet is so much cosier underfoot but hard to keep clean with dogs, plus I have allergies. It just made sense to go with hardwood. We chose something that would (almost) match the existing flooring, so didn't have much choice in the matter. This made choosing a type of wood and colour super quick and easy.

All the furniture and 'stuff' has been jammed into any space it fits during the install so I am unable to get to the potting soil and pots to start my seeds. I will be starting onions, peppers, and indoor tomatoes, but more on that once I can get started. There is no hurry so do not fret if you are not yet in the mood.

Crafty things that I am loving this month.

As soon as the carpet layer is finished in the basement, we can put the craft room back to order. I have several craft ideas planned that I cannot wait to get started on....

As an amateur doodler, I don't need anything fancy or expensive to make my cards and tags. Some watercolour paper, basic paints, brushes, and line makers. The line makers are key to making your art look great, btw : )

If you cannot find anything at your local dollar store, or Michaels, these vintage paints are cute! Or something like this paint set is fun to get you going for Valentine's Day, lots of colours for very little money. This paint brush set, and these line makers to accent your art. I like these postcards for watercolour paint, but you can also get the cards or paper from this link.

I picked up these little wooden paper makers for making seed paper and gift tags. The cute how-to coming soon.

The colourful markers that you see in my pic above are for the words on the cards, and also for making my garden plans : )

*Disclaimer. As an Amazon affiliate, if you were to purchase an item(s) from the links, I get a wee small amount of money to support my blog. It does not cost you any extra to purchase through my link than if you went to that item on your own : )

Can't wait for summer! Cupcake Cosmos!

These white cupcake cosmos were also one of my most favourite things last summer. See HERE for these, and other Cosmo seeds. The most lovely array of selections I have ever found. Direct sow them in the spring, along with your zinnias, for the best results. They are late summer bloomers and keep going till the frost (or heavy rains) do them in.

As always, thank you so much for reading and commenting. The 'Favourite Things' posts in December were in the top 3 reads of the year, and I so enjoyed reading all your comments and messages. Hope you enjoy this one just as much. There is nothing better than shopping from your armchair (during winter flu season )

Coming up next time... Seeds! ~ Tanja