Before the weekend came, Emily surprised me by sending flowers to my work--all the way from Florida--for my birthday!  I got them on a super snowy day and it was the sweetest, most thoughtful gesture.

On Friday morning I went into work and my friend had put up some birthday decorations and there were a couple cards and a gift waiting for me.  It really brightened my morning.  Would anyone be interested in seeing what I got for my birthday?  Perhaps a separate post to share that?

Friday evening I did some shopping at the mall--but purchased nothing--and had dinner with Marco.  It was a super low key evening, exactly what we both needed, topped off with an episode of Banshee.

Saturday was my birthday so we started the morning off right at the gym--which helped to feel good all day long and when I got dressed for the evening's party (and for the treats I ate).

We came back to the condo and Marco surprised me by making eggs benedict for the first time.  So good!  An awesome first breakfast in my 30's.

Marco went out during the afternoon to run around and collect supplies and food for the evening festivities.  He came back with a beautiful bouquet of balloons!  Balloons are so fun to get, and you can enjoy them for a few weeks too--what a treat!

Marco planned a birthday party for me at our new place, but in the party room--which was awesome because our place really isn't ready, or up to my standards, to show people yet.  Plus, no pre-cleaning required and plenty of room to fit everyone with ample seating.  This is what I wore and you can see a full body shot on Instagram.

Outfit deets:  Mexx cardigan, Urban Planet top, H&M faux leather leggings, Liliana wedges & Smart Set necklace.

My friend Lindsay's fiancé made me a pecan pie!  She poured through my blog to discover my favourite pie, and he made it; a joint effort.  It was so good.

A beautiful Kate Spade 'Hello Sunshine' necklace from a friend; I never want to take this off.

Sunday morning, feeling pretty good--and not hung over--I went to the gym.

Then back to the condo for another breakfast by Marco.  Two thumbs up.

I spent all afternoon filming my next Place d'Orleans video.  It took me about three hours to film, and another six to edit; needless to say, bedtime came after midnight.

I took a quick break to run downstairs.

The set-up for the shoe shots; looks like someone has the photography itch.

Hello!  I just wanted to quickly pop in and say thanks for all the kind birthday wishes on the weekend--I had a wonderful day on Saturday and will share more, including weekend snaps later today.

I spent all afternoon on Sunday filming my next Place d'Orleans video, and then six hours editing it all together until almost midnight.  The picture above is a screen shot from the video!  Needless to say, I'm a little pooped today and didn't get a chance to compile my recap for this morning.  Rest assured, it's coming.

As far as a quick condo update, I'm still not fully unpacked, which feels a little bit chaotic, but I want to enjoy my down time at the same time.  So a little chaotic, a little lazy, it will get done within the coming days.  Other than that, the place is wonderful and waking up here is so lovely--minus the non existent curtains, ugh.  I've been using an eye mask to block out the early morning light.  I've done more loads of laundry than I can count because I don't have to go down to the sketchy basement anymore.  I've also happily filled and emptied the dishwasher #simplepleasures #lifeisgood.

Hope you all had a great weekend, and can someone please send some warm weather this way?  We are sitting at -32C today which makes me wince--please Spring, hurry up!

Oh, and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Related posts:

* My Place d'Orleans fashion videos

* My YouTube channel

Outfit deets:

* Old Navy jacket (old) and see with a skirt / boots combo, with a forest green purse,  last Spring with black, white and citrus colours, and also with magenta pants and polka dots.

* Zara low back sweater which you've seen in the summertime (a fave outfit post) & with a skirt and boots; I also have it in black.

* Urban Planet double layered chiffon cami (new!).

* Urban Planet half faux leather leggings which you've seen with my favourite boots and in maroon.  These are amazeballs and I get so much wear out of them.  I purchased them back in the Fall and wore them in my Bundling Up video; I love that they are different from black, they fit well and cost me under $10.  Win, win, win.

* Call it Spring boots (new!) and purchased a few weekends ago to get me through the remainder of this winter (RIP to my favourite Rampage boots).

* H&M snood which you've seen when I first got it, years ago, with the same jacket in the Fall.

* Phillip Lim for Target bag; I use this bag everyday to commute back and forth to work.  I put my clutch/cross-body purse in it, my heels for the day, lunch and anything else needed. 

* Accessories: Gucci sunglasses (old) & Swarovski bangle.

Today is my last day in my twenties--can we please just take a moment of silence for that?

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Now that we got that out of the way, happy Friday!  So excited the weekend is finally here and we can get down to the stuff that really matters; friends, family, fun times and maybe a birthday celebration or two.

I love this combination of layered chiffon, knit on knit on faux leather.  I've been on the hunt recently for chiffon-style strappy tanks for layering under my tops and sweaters instead of a snug tank--so much chic.  I totally wanted to show you guys the shoes I wore with this outfit indoors, but it was freaking freezing so I kept my boots on.  

Any fun plans for this weekend on your end?  I'll be back tomorrow to share a few thoughts and you know I'll fill you in now how I spent my weekend come Monday.  See you tomorrow!

Photos by Serena Rivard.

It's finally here: move day!

I was up until after almost 3am last night finishing my packing--turns out, I was less organized than I thought.  That said, it's done.  It's done!  Now just have to supervise the movers, bite my tongue and pray nothing gets broken.

The plan for the day is as follows: movers arrive at Marco's at 9am.  I will be heading there just before then so we can keep an eye on things at both ends.  Once all packed up, we will head over to my place together and get this place packed up by the movers.  Then, it's on to the new spot for unloading.

The bonus is that we both have our apartments until the end of March, which means there will be a few items remaining once the movers load up my place, such as my bed, dresser, armour, etc.  All things I plan to sell and don't want to move.  Additionally, a garbage bag of laundry--how do people deal with that?--and some bottles of wine that I suppose I will just transport over the coming days on my own.

Tomorrow I have taken the day off work to unpack and organize and putter away at my own pace, which I'm looking forward to.  I'm even more excited to spend the first night in our new place, and in our new bed--from the couple quick lie downs, it seems like something I could get used to!

I'll share weekend snaps on Tuesday and you can see what my apartment living room usually looked like here, if you'd like.

MIKOH swimwear | Maui & Banyans

I've got my mind on vacation and eyes on these Mikoh tops.  I have no vacation planned, but want to splurge on one of these, in either that yellow citrus colour or the black.  Not sure which style I prefer, but either way the back detail is killer.  If I was shorter and could fit in a one piece, I would totally go for this.

Since I was sick all last week, my weekend was pretty low key and these weekend snaps are pretty boring with a lot of restaurant food--a nice change from five days of home-made egg-mcmuffin breakfasts, apples with cheese snacks and soup for dinner.  We had our new bed delivered, cable installed, ordered our sectional and found a mattress.  Read on to see basically what I ate...

Friday night on my own I had no groceries and did not feel up to going out so I ordered Greek on Wheels and edited some footage (if you'd like, see Sarah's baby shower video here).

I slept in Saturday morning and then did some light packing.  I used some winter accessories & pashminas to wrap up a few fragile items.  I am moving this Sunday!

On our way to the new spot, we stopped for chicken sandwiches and I splurged on fries (I never get fries but had a hankering).

I showered, got dressed and did my hair for the first time in a week.  I didn't feel great, but improved, which was a nice change from being so sick with a terrible sinus cold.  Here I am with our new bed!  We had scheduled the delivery over a week ago so it was a real week brightener.

The view from our new place--will be so nice in the summer with the water.

A sneak peak at the closet in the second bedroom with a few things.  I still have so much to bring but have purged a lot.

Quiet Saturday night in, resting more with some Carribean take-out.

Sunday morning I was woken at 8:45am by a call from the cable guy who was going to be at our new place, 'in five minutes'.  Panic!  I jumped out of bed, threw on some clothes, tossed my make-up in a bag and rushed off.  I called Marco immediately and he showed up just minutes after me with Tim Hortons in hand--so perfect.

It took over three hours for the guy to install the cable and Internet and we just sat around on our phones--isn't technology grande?  Afterwards, we ordered our new sectional and found a mattress which is being delivered on Tuesday.  Then home to rest for a few hours.

Later in the evening we returned to the new spot and did a few loads of laundry.  The fact that we have some fresh towels ready to go for when we move in makes me happy.  Plus, four fewer things to move.

The rest of the night was spent assembling our new bed since it's the only chance we have before the mattress arrives.  I'm so pleased with how it looks and can't wait to see it in the daylight.  Still need to buy a duvet, bedspread and throw pillows.  I've already purchased a set of sheets which I'll have to wash this week prior to move day.  Exciting time!

Michael Kors, Casey $395  |  Schutz, Florenza $260  |  IRO, Saresha $665

I am a shoe lover, and if there is one thing I will splurge on, it's shoes.  I have a special birthday quickly approaching, a big one you guys, and while I likely won't buy myself a gift--as some people do--I can still ooh and ahh over these beauties above.  I'd love to add any or all three to my collection.

And so, these sweet sandals came home with me.  That said, if you're still hung up on them, there are still a bunch kicking around on eBay and while you'll pay a pretty penny unlike myself, you'll likely end up with a pair without a pen mark on the back side... unlike myself.

* I know I shared these in my Weekend Snaps, but I feel all new shoes--that are pretty enough--deserve their own post.

* Here is this year's version of the sandal, with a slightly thicker heel.