Victorian Idyll

Last weekend, David and I spent 5 delightful days in Victoria, our favorite Canadian city.   

It was a perfect romantic and refreshing Valentine's getaway.

Victoria is on the lush west coast, the only part of Canada that stays green all winter!  Enough said.  It was even warmer than usual when we visited, with hardly any winter rain.  Perfection!

First stop, Rook & Rose, my favorite flower shop downtown.  These girls are just great stylists, besides knowing their way around flowers:

After the flower shop, you must grab a coffee at Hey Happy (my favorite new coffee joint).  I will admit, I am a discriminating coffee enthusiast (ahem, not snob).  THIS is the place for a great cup:

After your coffee, drop by Munro's (our favorite bookstore) for a marathon visit.  It will take you at least an hour to look around here (maybe two).  They have lovely greeting cards and a great collection of foreign magazines.  I always pick up the very English House & Garden here:

Next stop, Oak Bay Village for lunch and shopping!

Our first stop is always at Faith Grant Antiques (they aren't on Instagram, sorry kids), where we love to visit with our friend Forrest, who owns the business with his sister Heather.  These two are the real McCoy and seriously know their antiques (their grandmother started the business).  They love to know the provenance of all their pieces so stop by for a look and a great conversation (you need at least an hour).

I just grabbed only one photo this time, of these great Chippendale chairs (a set of four for $1200).  The back is classic Chippendale, but the leg is very plain, so these pieces would adapt beautifully to a modern room.  If I had a better house, I would have bought these:

Next stop...A French Touch, on Oak Bay Ave.  The proprietor Debra Boeyenga, is a wonderful stylist and a lovely person.  You can tell, as her shop is inviting and warm, like her:

 

moi

We also like to visit Cook Street Village.  Maybe grab a slice of pizza at Prima Strada, and then peruse the charming vintage and antique finds at Surroundings, where I always covet something like this fabulous little inlaid wood chair:

And last but not least, we come back home to our little apartment!  

Lately we've been renting little apartments downtown, this time in an old house.  We want to get a feel for living here, as we plan to retire here eventually.

Here was the view from our living room, overlooking a charming private garden:

I bought some tulips and pussy willows for our living room, and displayed some finds including this this blue candy tin (identical to one my grandmother kept her buttons in), a white vase and a little candle holder:

And lest you think Victoria is all about shopping, we also spend lots of time with family and visiting our beloved friend, the ocean.

Here's a view for my American friends, of Mount Baker in Washington state, visible across the ocean on a clear day in Victoria:

A panorama of David, sitting in our favorite spot, watching the world (fish, birds) go by:

Have a great week ahead!

An Update & Our Upcoming Trip to Charleston & Savannah

Hello dear friends,

As you may have noticed, post-wedding I took the rest of the summer off from blogging!  I am happy to report my indolence has been without equal.  

I have missed you.  But not enough to raise my head from the pillow to say hello.

I was truly exhausted after the wedding.  It took me a while to stop looking at wedding magazines and Pinterest boards, to be honest.  But once I gave up that, I felt completely spent.  I almost felt like I'd borne some sort of wedding baby and then given it up for adoption.  I longed for it daily.  

I'm sure plenty of brides feel like this post-wedding, when they are suddenly sans purpose.  There is so much energy and intellect invested in the planning.  I'm sure that others feel the same sort of void after any long project of passion, which culminates in a single day of celebration.  There's this existential "who am I" that creeps in after all that passion is laid down and your soul is poured out.  Or maybe only introverts feel like this...

I did visit my Mom briefly but kept the trip very quiet so I didn't have to visit all over town. I just needed mental space, privacy, and to turn completely off and be with my Mom.  I wanted no commitments, no plans.  

I did visit a charming little antique shop when I was home and found these divine dinner plates (Furnivals), a set of 11.  A few are quite dark while the rest are a lighter blue:

These will work great with all my white and gold Limoges china.

My Mom was in the midst of a little renovation work when I was home, installing some new windows in her little 1940's house.  Four new windows went in on the west side along with two new front dormers in front (not shown).  

All the new windows are double-hung which means both the top and bottom panes are moveable (up and down) and also can be tilted into the room (hinged at the bottom) for easy cleaning.  Gorgeous windows with lovely trim work and nice sills inside.

The bathroom window (the horizontal one) is an awning style (opens out like an awning, so you can leave it open in the rain).  They have a very heavy winter out east, and the windows will really help with energy efficiency this winter.  She burns wood mostly, but also oil. You can see the spot awaiting her new (beige) oil tank, with its new cement pad.  I didn't think of it, but oil tanks need to be replaced every 10-15 years as they can corrode inside and then you have an environmental mess on your hands (not to mention no heating oil!)

Shortly after returning to Calgary, this happened on September 10th:  

We may be winter-hardy Canadians but we were all utterly appalled to have snow in September.  Since all our trees were still covered in leaves, the soft wet snow weighed the trees down heavily and caused mass destruction around the city.  People lost power for hours, and there were numerous small fires and damage to homes as trees weighed down with snow fell atop hydro wires and homes:

Our apple tree.  Not impressed.  After this photo I went out and knocked snow off branches for half an hour, saving our tree from damage as many trees lost branches from the weight of snow.  Our power was out for 9 hours.  The house was 15C (60F) when the power came back on as the furnace was off all day.  It was around freezing outside.  Some people were without power for days.

After the snow debacle, it warmed up to summertime temperatures again, thank heaven.

For our next adventure, we will soon leave for our honeymoon in South Carolina!

If you have any suggestions for decor, dining and sightseeing in Charleston, Savannah, Fripp Island, or neighboring towns, please send them!  It looks like foodie heaven, and we already have home and plantation tours planned for Charleston, as well as some historic sites (Fort Sumter) and a list of shops to visit in historic downtown Charleston and Savannah.

Please send your suggestions!

xo Terri

Finds!

I am finally back in a writing mood, so forgive me for spamming you twice in 24h with new blog posts.

Here is a wonderful find I've just acquired, an aristocratic sauceboat from Paris, with my surname initial "P" beautifully monogrammed on it:

I think this will go nicely with my collection of white and gold Haviland china.

In other news, this little clock has also found its way into my life, and it is in working order (although it needs to be wound):

The clock sits on my desk alongside another find, this old pressed glass lamp from the UK that I brought home from my favorite local shop, Rob Kurkut Interiors. The shade sits slightly askew, but it has a lovely rosy glow that I adore:

The bird's eye maple pen was a gift from my uncle who runs a very cool fishing lodge in New Brunswick

I always feel a bit guilty when I buy too many things at once, so I am cut off for a while, although I do need a new fall coat and have to start looking soon...

Hope you are having a sunny end-of-summer weekend.

More Stunning Decor (from my Favorite Store)

I visited Rob Kurkut's divine Calgary shop again this week and took a few more photos for you! 

(I blogged about it previously here).  

Everyone was so smitten with my post on his shop (it's all over Pinterest!), and rightfully so...

Rob's shop is captivatingly beautiful with a perfect balance of fine, deftly arranged things.

I love his whimsical birds-in-chandeliers for Christmas!

I think this is a charming idea...little birds nesting in your light fixtures!

Rob is a master of the killer vignette:

I love this Christmas creation.  
Rob hand-painted a giant tree branch and suspended it from the ceiling, adorning it with crystals and glass icicles... 

It was hard to capture the presence and spirit of this delightful branchscape.  This is certainly an idea to steal for your home (if you have lots and lots of time and high ceilings!):

There are so many pretty moments in Rob's shop.  I am fond of this apple green scene (with a wonderful ornate chair in the foreground):

There is a wonderful mix of light and dark that I find particularly pleasing.  This chiaroscuro effect makes each white element really pop against the dark ones and vice versa: 

An intricately carved table, with more of the light-and-dark motif:

(which reminds me that I need a larger house so I can place this in the front hall)

A little more contrast in another beautiful Christmas branchscape, comprised of elegant black and silver ornaments:

At the bottom of this shot, you can see Rob's gracious customer service counter, which looks like a chic hotel lobby front desk (that's Rob hiding behind the flowers).

Every object is expertly chosen and arranged:

I love this French canopy/balloon chair (do you know what this is properly called?):

No, Restoration Hardware did not invent this chair

I hope you had an enjoyable tour of this utterly perfect store (*sigh*)

If you are interested in purchasing, please contact Rob through his website here.  I promise, he is lovely and easy to talk to!  Call and ask him questions and if you are nice, he might ship you something...

(or come to Calgary and visit us!)

The New Old Dresser

The new old dresser arrived from Victoria and we installed it in the upstairs office, in place of the old Ikea bookcase (good bye!).

I cleaned it with lemon oil (sorely needed) and we have yet to install the casters. I have just begun to declutter the office, so excuse our unstyled ethos:

I find the wee dresser very charming. It is well-loved and not in pristine shape by any means. It is thought to be from the 1920's, according to previous owners, but has no markings.

I will show you more once the office is transformed. I am keen to paint the walls as I've grown tired of the preppy blue. I am considering an antique white, with green drapes and a green velvet on the chair i.e. old world elegant (perhaps). I am also considering wallpaper, maybe a stripe or a damask pattern by Farrow & Ball. Suggestions are welcome, but keep in mind that I want to leverage the old-fashioned look from the dresser and chair.

Here are some gathered mementos. I love the vintage magnolia print (above) and nuthatch print (below). The small ceramic bird dish holds thumb tacks while the basket holds memory sticks and whatnots. The little business card is from Comer & Co., a favorite store in Washington DC. You must check it out if you go. You can read my post about it here.

I bought these "stamps" in 1991 in Paris, at the Louvre. I've been lugging them around for 20 years, so they are a little crumpled. I think I will frame them for the new space, at long last. I love all the images. I've visited the Louvre three times and have seen all these works. I love the Winged Victory most of all...it is housed in a large and profoundly beautiful space:

Happy Easter to you!

xo Terri