Every other year, my husband and I seem to find an impetus to change things up around the house. This year, that impetus came courtesy of the kids, who decided that they rather liked sharing a bedroom during our vacation in Calgary, and wanted to make it a permanent (for now) arrangement. As an only child and an introvert, the idea was odd to me, but they were excited about it, and so eventually we came around too. (It helps that the kids seem to sleep better, and actually longer, when they’re together. Odd but great.) After thinking about the logistics for a bit, we decided that it made the most sense to have them bunk together in the smaller of the two bedrooms (formerly my daughter’s nursery) and turn the larger bedroom into a playroom. In this way, the available space would be most optimized.

We didn’t want to invest a lot of money (or time) into this project, mostly because we weren’t sure (and still aren’t) whether this is a fleeting whim on the part of the kids, or something they’ll want to stick with for a few of years. (I’m thinking that by the time they’re 6 and 8, if not before, they’ll want their own bedrooms again. My kids currently share a lot of the same interests — Ninja Turtles, Legos, Peppa Pig, Robert Munsch books, to name a few — but that will probably change in time.) We ended up getting only a few pieces from IKEA, mostly for storage, and re-purposed the furniture we already had in my son’s bedroom (and elsewhere, because we are hoarders, apparently). If you’re interested in the “before”, you can see pictures of the bedroom in its previous incarnation here.

Our main objective in “designing” the playroom was to create a space for all of their hobbies — arts & crafts, reading, construction, etc. We bought a bigger table and chairs (from the IKEA Mammut line) so they could work side by side. This was the biggest investment, though still relatively inexpensive. We were in a rush to get this finished quickly before we went back to work, but if you’re looking for something similar and have time, I would recommend checking out Kijiji — there’s always someone selling one of these sets.

You will recognize the smaller storage unit from the previous layout; the bigger one originally came from my husband’s college-era apartment. It’s been sitting in out basement for YEARS, and is now perfectly useful once again. I won’t lie: I feel this vindicates my hoarding tendencies. Also, these Expedit units are basically indestructible it seems. They also make great storage/book/display cases.

We also re-purposed my son’s old table, which fortuitously fit perfectly in the gap between the two bookcases. I’m calling it the “homework desk”, although who are we kidding: it’s probably going to be anything but.

All in all, this playroom came together with minimal effort and only two trips to IKEA (one of them blessedly child-free). The kids love it, and I love that it’s fairly easy to keep tidy, notwithstanding the enormous amount of toys it contains (hidden from view for the most part, thankfully).

The best part of this whole endeavour? I get my library back!

As I mentioned in my last post, the second part of my vacation was a staycation in town. It involved a little bit of everything: taking the kids to fun activities around town, eating out, thrifting (natch), reading, and some home DIY (more on that tomorrow). The one thing I DIDN’T do was work on my long-neglected book. Sigh. Let’s leave that lament to another day and talk about clothes, shall see?

My experiment with minimalist style continued apace, though it is, of course, both a work in progress and a relative concept. As much as I adore black, there will always be colour in my life and my wardrobe. I don’t want to deliver any false promises here. But I am working on streamlining my approach to getting dressed, through a mostly intuitive process, to reach what will hopefully be a definitive style. It’s been an interesting experiment so far — at times fun, at times frustrating. There have been times when the vision of an outfit I’ve had in my head doesn’t end up being fully reflected in the reality captured in my daily OOTDs, or when the result doesn’t feel as “good” (on me) as I would have liked. Which leads me to wonder if people like Jenna Lyons, Elisa Nalin, or other women famous for their personal style ever have moments of sartorial self-doubt.

Such questions aside, I’ve had fun experimenting with my casual wear, and pants in particular. Who would have thought?

I love black and grey together — it’s such a crisp, polished combo. However, these pictures are convincing me that I need to ditch these jeans. (Love the cut, but the wash is meh.) I haven’t had much luck finding a replacement pair yet, but I’m not deterred; it’s only a matter of time.

I already had a pair of mustard yellow Pilcro cords, but when Nicole offered me these chinos, I couldn’t refuse. Mustard yellow is my jam. I wouldn’t normally wear a button-down shirt on what was, for all intents and purposes, a weekend, but it proved to be a perfectly comfortable option. This print is a bit zany, but the black and white palette reins it in. I need more black and white prints in my closet.

Can you believe it? I finally found a pair of white jeans that (a) fits, (b) isn’t see-through, and (c) was inexpensive enough for me to risk buying. I’m too much of a klutz for white clothing of any sort, but I’ve been so tempted over the years by other bloggers looking oh-so-cool in their white jeans. Thrifting saved the day, allowing me to take a risk without a huge downside. I wore these pants on a day when the kids were in daycare, just to tip the scales in my favour a bit more.

Oh, hey, look: I got a new watch too. This one was not a thrift find (I wish!), but it was a bargain nonetheless, courtesy of Winners. I love Skagen watches so, so much.

And thus my vacation recaps conclude (sniff) … for the time being. I have a long weekend coming up in a few weeks, when I’m hoping to run away to Calgary with my husband for a short adult getaway.

It was a long time coming this year, but because July was such a hectic month for me, work-wise, our annual family vacation was very much an impromptu affair. For the first part of it, we went to Calgary to visit family for an extra long weekend, and used the opportunity to see a few sights along the way, including Canmore and Drumheller.

I’m not kidding about the lack of planning involved, and that includes my packing. I didn’t get around to it until the night before we left (at 8 am in the morning), and I didn’t have a lot of time to think about it. For probably undoubtedly the first time in my life, I under-packed — underestimating how long (and dirty) days on the road with the kids can be. A few extra outfit changes would have come in handy, and not for any style-related reasons. Luckily, inspired by my minimalist experiment (which finds its fullest expression in my casual wear), I ended up packing mostly dark, easily interchangeably pieces.

For the record, here’s what I packed: 3 tops, 2 pairs of pants, 1 sweater, 3 jackets — because the weather was forecast to be erratic — and 2 pairs of shoes. I also packed a maxi dress, but then forgot to pack sandals, which ruled it out as a wearable option. Oops.

I don’t have a photo of my outfit from day 3, but it involved a striped top, the same black pants as Day 2, the olive jacket from Day 4, and my trusty Chucks. That day happened to be my birthday, and we spent it in the mountains, enjoying the sunshine, beautiful scenery, and some seriously amazing fudge (see below).

Here’s a picture of my birthday fudge — simply delicious. I’m already planning my return to Canmore, to stock up.

Of course, I did a little thrifting:

The Calgary thrift stores I was able to check out had decent selection, but the prices were slightly-to-significantly higher. Unexpectedly, Goodwill (rather than VV) was the biggest culprit in that respect. I also dropped into Vespucci (consignment) but was disappointed once again by the prices. I was somewhat surprised by that experience; a while ago, the newspapers were full of reports of Calgary c-stores brimming with hugely discounted designer goods as a result of the recession. Clearly, bargains are relative.

On our way back to Edmonton, we made a detour to Drumheller to visit the dinosaur fossils and exhibits at the Royal Tyrrell Museum. The drive there was unexciting, to put it as diplomatically as I can — most of it crossed the flatest of flat lands I have ever seen. We did enjoy taking in the sights in Drumheller, and especially the museum. We’re planning to go back once the kids are a bit older and have more stamina (and appetite) for a good hike around the “badlands”.

Part two of my summer vacation was more of a staycation, but I did use the opportunity to continue my experiment with minimalist dressing so stay tuned for that recap coming up on Wednesday.