Keegan Smith?

 Have you heard of Keegan Smith? I've only recently discovered him and I'm LOVING his music. Here's some samples:

Keegan Smith Organic Acoustic  

Keegan Smith Superman 

Keegan Smith Call Me 

Keegan Smith - Smile 


 Let me know what you think!

Shoppers Drug Mart gala and the Centennial Shuffle

 I just realized as I uploaded pictures for this post that I didn't take any when I went to the Shoppers Drug Mart - Look Good, Feel Good Gala. Darn, sorry about that. :S I went with my friend Dana and we had a good time. I was the first one to have my name called to win a door prize and picked the big purple Marc Jacobs tote(will make a great beach bag) that was filled with fun goodies. Lots of skin care stuff, some lipgloss, make up bags, perfume sample etc... I never win anything so totally unexpected and awesome! :)

 The Gala was fun, not a ton of people there but they had music, make overs and a local lady doing hand and foot massages as well as some make up specials. I was pretty well behaved overall(haha) and kept my purchases to a minimum...a few polishes that were on sale, a couple of eye liners, a Travelo refillable perfume atomizer(www.travelo.com - so cool) and some brow powder. I would definitely do it again. It's fun to get out and play with make up. :)

 Today we went to the Duncan Centennial Shuffle that was held in downtown Duncan. As the name suggests this year is Duncan's 100th anniversary and there are a few things this year being done in celebration. Today was the 2km or 5km race, we did the 2km..Ella is only five years old after all. I was expecting to walk it(didn't even put on a sports bra), but once we were there and with everyone encouraging along the way, Ella just wanted to run. And run she did, just about the whole way. I was very impressed. The weather was absolutely gorgeous today which made the run much more fun and it started and ended at the Centennial Park which was great for the kiddies.

After the race we met up with my Aunt Sheilagh and headed to The Doghouse restaurant for some "breakfast for lunch". The Doghouse has great breakfasts(real hashbrowns..not the yucky deep fried kind) and is very kid friendly. After lunch we headed back to the house to visit some more and play in yard/enjoy the deck. Other than feeling a little under the weather this afternoon/evening it was a great day.

 The hummingbirds are showing up like crazy, going through a feeder full of sugar water everyday and as more birds show up I suspect we will be going through more. I love having them around though, and will probably be putting up another feeder.

 Hoping for more great sun tomorrow! 

A visit from my Mom

 I had an impromptu over night visit from my Mom yesterday. I just love it when that happens, it was so good to see her. :) We did an easy dinner of tacos(Ella's FAVOURITE meal) and then Mom and I went out to run a couple of errands. One of the errands took us to Wal Mart where my mother kept saying that she couldn't believe how cheap everything was. That is why that place keeps sucking me in and why small businesses go out of business. Who can compete?!

 While I was there I found this super cute EOS lip balm. I love it! It's 100% natural, 95% organic and smells great too. It now has a permanent place in my bag. 

 With everything sprouting, blooming and generally turning green and flowery I have been having lovely little surprises all over the yard. That is one fun thing about moving to a new place..you never know what plant life you will find as the year moves on. I was very happy to find that two of the trees in my front yard are dogwoods. I just love dogwoods, they have the prettiest blossoms. 

  And speaking of dogwoods, my mother who follows along on my blog(just like a good mother should ;) ) read how I wanted a pink dogwood(see post here: Happy Earth Day!) and brought me the one that had been sitting in a pot in her yard for the last five years(she bought it when Ella was born and had every intention of planting it but with their house being for sale it just never happened). I'm thrilled! And it will have a permanent home here in our yard.

 I have been keeping busy with the jewelry which I am just loving. Here are a couple of pictures of the latest pieces:

Here is a link to my Etsy store if you would like to see more pics: EllaMarsh on Etsy

 Hope you're having a great day today. The weather here has been a bit dreary and Chris was actually home sick from work today so it's been kind of a lazy one. It started with a three hour phone conversation with my sister (you know it has been too long since you chatted when catching up takes three hours) and hasn't been a whole lot busier since. It's nice to have days like that once in awhile. :)

My mantra

 I thought I would share my mantra with you folks this morning. This lovely little plaque hangs on my wall right beside my tea kettle in full view from my kitchen, dining area and computer. I read it regularly and go through the whole thing every morning when I'm making my tea. It's hard to ignore something that starts with "This is your LIFE". I love every word of it and try to live my life by everything on this board. I hope you enjoy it and take something from the words into your own life as well. 

 If you are having trouble reading it you can click on the picture to make it bigger. :)

Wanderlust...

 I've been having a serious case of travel fever lately. I've been having daydreams of just packing up and leaving on an adventure, travel around the world. Wouldn't that be an amazing way to grow up if you were a kid? Real life experiences are better than sitting in a classroom any day. Instead this was my travel adventure, sitting in the line up at Tim Horton's.....haha.

 I had to make a trip to Costco today to pick up a few things and decided rather than try to rush home to pick up Ella from school I would pull her out just before lunch and take her with me. She wasn't impressed with that, this girl loves being at school, but she got over it quickly. While I was at Costco picking up the things I needed, I also picked up this magazine that I did not need.

 I have never bought the magazine before but the word PARIS in big yellow letters drew me in like a moth to a flame and played havoc with my above mentioned wanderlust. This is the travel issue and the  photos are so beautiful. I haven't gotten more than a chance to do a quick flip through it but the recipes look very good, I'm a little scared to look too closely because they're probably complicated too. :S

 I've been busy getting my Etsy store up and running and loading items for sale(I've already been "favourited" on there and it's not by anyone I know! :) ). I also started a Facebook page and have been putting lots of pictures etc up. Be sure to check it out when you get a minute and let me know what you think. Here are a couple of pictures of the bracelets I've been working on:

 
Check out that polish colour, I absolutely LOVE it! It's from Essie(I know I hate Essie, but this colour was too good to pass up) and it's called Lilacism.

 Once Chris got home from work he and Ella went to work pulling the dandelions out of the lawn...there sure are a lot of them, but Chris has made it his mission to rid the yard of this nasty weed and he's putting in a valiant effort with his handy dandy(lion??) puller. The puller works really well but it's a tedious job. The plan has been forty per night. I'm not actually sure how that's going numberwise but he's been out there every evening.

I'm looking forward to this Saturday night. My friend Dana and I are going to the Shopper's Drug Mart ladies night. Tickets are $10 with five going to the Canadian Cancer Society and the other five you get in the form of a coupon on anything you purchase over the evening. There is music, makeovers, skin consultation, hand paraffin dips, food and prizes. Should be fun. :) I've done the same sort of thing at the Bay in Victoria and that was really fun and something I intend to do again this year. They bring in the local radio station to DJ the event and there is a huge spread of food and lots of prizes. I'll let you know how the Shoppers beauty night goes.

 Ok, it's after midnight and I can't believe I'm still up. The other three members of my family are fighting a cold and I'm so hopeful it continues to pass me by. Must get my beauty(and health!) rest!
Bonne nuit mes amis!

It's official!!

Hello! I'm so excited to announce that my new business is off the ground! The name is...(drum roll please..)...... EllaMarsh! It sounds like a fun accessories name to me and of course a combination of Ella  and Marshall makes it very dear to my heart. :) 

 My latest work is pictured below and is also listed on Etsy(yes I now have a store on Etsy :) ). 

 Braided cord bracelet by EllaMarsh on Etsy

 I will be doing this one in a variety of colours and combinations with custom sizing to fit all wrists. I'll be listing more things on Etsy over the next few days so check it out and please feel free to share it with your friends. :)
 I will also be putting together a Facebook page and you can follow me on Twitter: Mariah Dupuy (ellamarshshop) on Twitter
 Hope you all had a great weekend!

Farmer's market, iPhone app and music

 We had decided to check out the farmer's market this morning, but when we got up the plan was almost derailed by the weather. The market just isn't fun in the rain, but just when we decided to stay home(and I was contemplating going back to bed with a book) the rain stopped so we quickly packed up and headed out the door. We hadn't been browsing long when Chris got a call for work so it was a quick trip, but fun to get out. We hadn't been to the market since last year and it's growing all the time. I'm sure once the weather picks up a little further into the season it will be even bigger.

 I downloaded another app(free, yay!) for my phone called Picture Frames. Here's a little sample of how it works courtesy of our market visit:

 I used Instagram to enhance the pictures(the above effect is called Early bird...hence the sort of 60's photo feel) and then put the three photos together. I think it turned out great, love this app!

 I also thought I would share some different music from my playlist that you probably haven't heard before.

The Bird and The Bee - My Love - this one is easy and mellow, kinda sweet with a happy beat.

The next two are french(keep an open mind!!) and are really catchy and fun.

Rachid Taha Tékitoi  - has a middle eastern beat

Camille - Ta Douleur  - my recommendation would be to walk away and listen to the song and not watch the video. It's weird and will ruin the song for you.

 Let me know what you think. :)