Monday, September 30, 2013

.threads: big/little style - the mother/son edition.

a couple weeks back, i had the absolute pleasure of having over two of the most creative ladies i know for a little blog collaboration and play-date. the girls behind just bella and adventures in pinksugarland, or christine and andrea, respectively. if you've been following my blog for a while, you probably have seen this guest post from christine, or our wedding photo's done by andrea [she's also the talent behind the lens of pinksugar photography]. yep, not to gush or anything, but those beautiful ladies and i hung out all morning!

we let the kiddos run wild [i personally think jack was in heaven just following cole around, alice in heaven in my jewellery cupboards, and lila in heaven ransacking jacks bookcase], and then us ladies sorted through mine & jacks [extensive, as christine and andrea called them] closets for a special edition of those adorable big/little style posts that are a personal fave of mine over at just bella. 
this one, a special mother/son collaboration.

here is jack and i working our picks, but if you want to get all the links [and to check out christine's beautiful styling] click here to head on over.
we tried to get the suspenders on the dapper little dude, but with a grumpy and tired baby, this was all we were going to get. so we took our loss but still think he looks so darn adorable.

thanks again, ladies, for the awesome play-date and just fun being had all around. till the next round....

Monday, September 23, 2013

.fancy napkin on instagram.


yep, i've finally entered into the realm of a real[-ish] blogger. i got an iphone and instagram all in one day. and my gosh! what have i been waiting for?! instagram has quickly enveloped all my free time this last week and i am completely enamoured!!!
what a great way to show our simple day-to-day details and i can't wait to look back on them a year from now and reminisce.
here's what my first week on on instagram looked like. 
me and the boy, just hanging out together at home. how i'll miss these moments, just the two of us, when i head back to work || melissa and bryan's amazing wedding invitation and my happy mail day. we leave in a month to san diego for these festivities and cannot wait! || this boy and that hair. jack freshly napped and wanting out. he just looked so darn cute that momma just had to snap a picture!
|| outfit-of-the-day, aka: ootd. loving my new mustard jeans and camo sweater [found in the men's department] || me and this boy at oliver's first birthday picnic. he's just my favourite || announcing our win for the h&m fashion family contest. we'll be in the december issue of today's parent magazine!!!
|| sunday brunching with my two favourite people || three ikea prints that found their way to our house || out with some fabulous ladies for gilly + rob's engagement party

and if you want to follow along on a daily basis, you can find me under http://instagram.com/erinntreb [or just click here!]

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

.jack's firsts: camping.

this post is late in getting to you, but i didn't want to miss out on posting it and sharing another one of jack's firsts! camping! 

this was a 'cheat' camping trip as we just spent 1 night over in my parent's fifth-wheel, but there was a fire and s'mores so i'm counting it.
jack handled it like a champ, staying up as late as he could before falling asleep in grammy's arms as she sang him my childhood song, edelweiss. we also survived freezing to death [in the fifth-wheel no less!] after grandpa dan decided that april was warm enough not to turn on the furnace [it wasn't!!!].

all-in-all, it was a fun overnighter with my family. i guess its these simple and sweet memories that i want to preserve forever, and it makes me so grateful that i have this little blog to solidify them. 
^^^trust me jack's bottle was empty! and what a cheeky daddy^^^

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

.simply put but not simply meant, thank you.

i'll let the video do the talking, but this is a sincere and from the heart, thank you

xoe

.need, want, eat, make: jack's almost 1.

our little jack bugg is about to turn one.
all i can think is damn, where has the time gone?

i am literally knee deep in party decor at the moment, planning his first birthday, and just had to sit back and take a few minutes to reflect on the past year. gosh, it's been wonderful. and busy. and emotional. and full of growth. and full of love. and full of exhaustion, but just so so so amazing. as my good friend, who is a fresh new mother herself, texted me the other day "this is better and harder than i ever imagined" and i just couldn't agree more.

so back to turning one. gosh darn it. my little boy is getting big and old.
and planning a party is waaay up my alley, so i won't complain much ;), but here's a little that needs to be done.

need || every birthday boy needs a bowtie. that's fact. 
want || this superhero sweater is just plain awesome. and that's a fact too!
eat || i love this balloon cake so much. simple, fun and looks delicious. all wins in my book.
make || these birthday straws are pretty darn great. i think i could possibly make them myself with these colorful straws, however if time is running tight buying them from here also works! perhaps if they came in a buffalo check....hint, hint....a little sneak at jack's party theme ;)

Thursday, September 12, 2013

.jack's nursery: wood bookcase diy.

i know, i know. it's about time i show you all jack's nursery, but till i can manage to figure out how to take pictures in a way i can really show it off, you'll just have to be stuck with little sneak peeks like this one.

to give you the back story, basically peter put his foot down on a new crib when we received a working one from his sweet aunt & uncle. the problem was, it was dark wood and i wanted white. after humming and hawing over whether or not i could safely paint a crib, i decided to just leave it as it was and try to tie in a few dark wood elements to the white/grey space i was creating for baby's nursery. and that's how the wood-bookcase-hunt was born! i wanted something that looked natural, but functioned as a great place to store books, toys and a few decorative peices. i was also on a pretty tight budget. 

well, have you ever tried to find a natural looking wood bookcase on a tight budget? next to impossible [or perhaps my standards are a little too impossible! ha!]. and that's where homesense came in and this ugly yellowy-peach-stained wood bookcase was found. i mean, this colour?!? why? 
so i showed peter it in store. he laughed. i asked him if he could sand and stain it. he laughed again. said it would be too much work. i smiled sweetly and rubbed my big preggo belly. said it was for baby bugg. and then we bought. 
[note to self...using baby to get things works!]
this bookcase was actually priced at $770 [even at homesense!!! wth, right?! i wonder what the price was before homesense came into the picture? ouch], but after markdown after markdown we managed to score it at a whopping $140. now that's a budgeted price i can work with. and here's what my handy husband did to it....
not to darn shabby, hey?! i am super happy with the results and think pete did a fantastic job. it now serves the exact purpose that i wanted it too and i think that jack loves being able to pull out his toys and book at his own leisure. it's the perfect height for him and the perfect piece that i needed to tie everything in with his nursery. more too come on the rest of the space shortly.....
**and not to worry! i was major preggo at the time, but wasn't present during this diy [only for 2 seconds to snap a few pictures], we slept in the basement and the house was well ventilated the entire process :)

Monday, September 9, 2013

.threads: wedding lace and a peplum.

over the long weekend, my cousin got married. it was an awesome day/night, filled with loads of love and dancing. it was even better because jack had his first sleepover at babcia and dziadek's house [polish for grandma + grandpa!] and this momma got to have a few drinks and relax! all went well at the sleepover, besides a rather sleepless night for babcia zosia, but i suspect she didn't mind one little bit. i on the other hand, had a really hard time saying 'buh-bye' those first few minutes at the hand-over, but felt i dealt with the separation after a few hours rather well. helps that i know the woman loves my little man almost as much as i do. so thank you, zosia.

also helped to think of the amazing trip the hubby and i are about to take, just the two of us, in a couple months so i'd better get used to the idea of leaving the little man overnight with someone i trust.

guess i could have called this post, 'parenting success with the first sleepover'.

for attire, i went with my newest acquisition from anthroplogie. a burgundy lace peplum dress. i seriously have nothing but rave reviews from this beaut - i mean, i got to eat dinner and not have to suck it in for the rest of the night! that is an absolute win in my books! that little lace puplum detail around the mid-section hid all the bits i wanted hidden, and the short length allowed me to show off all those squats i do while holding jack non-stop throughout the day. i also found the lace material just dreamy, and the shade of burgundy gave me a little rosy-glow. and how about those melanie auld earrings! just perfection, no? [and they are on sale! whoop!]

**only 2 more days to vote for my family in the H&M fashion family contest! we're currently holding first, but it's a tight competition so please head on over and give us your vote. we could use each and every single one! many many thanks my friends!
shop:
dress, anthropologie | shoes, nine west [similar] | clutch, club monaco [similar] | bracelets, stella & dot 1 & 2 | earrings, melanie auld
shop similar looks here:

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

.grilled corn + avocado salad with cilantro vinaigrette.

summer is slowly coming to an end. i've said it before, the nights are getting cooler and the sun sets a little earlier, although you wouldn't know it from the 30C heat in the day! however with the end of summer comes the harvest bounty! one of my favourite times of the year. 

what you may not know, is that my father lives a little out of the city and each year he plants one hell of a garden [i'm going to do a little post next week to showcase the beauty]. we fill it with potatoes, tomatoes, peas, beans, carrots, onions, corn, radishes, bok choy, lettuce, and even grew some kale this year [which turned out sooo good!]. so when he told him that i'd better get to picking, i immediately packed up jack, a few empty bags and drove out to the farm complete with a huge ol' grin on my face. because i knew we were having something fresh and delicious for dinner.

here is one of my newest favourite salad recipes. it is out-of-this-world good. my girlfriend chelsea brought it over to my house one day and i begged her for the recipe. and for a girl who doesn't like raw onions and thinks cilantro tastes like soap, you know it's got to be good for me to crave it on a weekly basis. thanks again for another home-run recipe, chels!
Grilled Corn and Avocado Salad 
with Cilantro Vinaigrette
directions:
1] brush the corn husks with olive oil and grill [you can also just boil the corn husks too!]. remove corn with a sharp knife, let cool.
2] add all ingredients to a large bowl and refrigerate until ready to use.
3] prepare cilantro vinaigrette.
directions
1] whisk all of the ingredients together, taste and season according to your desire.
2] add the dressing to the salad just before serving and toss well.