Everything is coming up Rose-y :)

I'm not a "gold" person at all.  I sometimes wear some gold in my jewelry, but it's "ghetto gold" as Carrie Bradshaw would say.

{Doesn't it all come back to Sex & the City?!}

However, there's a growing trend I've been noticing lately, which I'm kind of loving, despite myself.

Ok. Here it goes...

My name is Maggie. And I'm a ROSE GOLD addict. 

I absolutely adore rose gold - especially for Fall. It complements every skin tone because of the warm pink undertones.

Don't get me wrong, I'm STILL NOT a GOLD fan, but this rose gold is something special. It's modern, it's fresh, it's fabulous.

I hadn't actually delved into the rose gold realm until this week when I splurged on a new watch.

{via here}

 I loved this rose gold Guess watch right away. The crystals are really bling-y and go well with my new diamond ring :) {yes, you read that right. I'm on a diamond jewelry kick right now too -- but ONLY if it's on SALE!}.

So, are you on the Rose Gold Train yet?

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Backsplashes are Installed :)

In a matter of a few short hours, ALL of the backsplashes were installed. And we didn't have to do it! 

It probably would've taken us a week to do it in our free time, so it was so lovely to have it all done on a Saturday morning when we were out playing :)

 

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New Kitchen Lights - Even More SPARKLE!

Like many other things in our new home, the light fixtures were just ok. They're by no means icky, just not as awesome as they could be.

To be honest, I think EVERYONE thought I was bananas for changing the light fixtures. But I adore cool light fixtures. They totally change the feeling of a room - from ho-hum to "happening".

**I also convinced the builder to buy back ALL the light fixtures from us to put into another house -- just like I did with the tiger tail granite :) Yippee!

Needless to say, I'm having fun buying all new lights! 

Here are our kitchen lights!

 BEFORE:

AFTER:

I bought these on our first trip to Edmonton. We had about 10 minutes at the amazing light store, appropriately named "Best Lighting", before the showroom closed. I saw the light over the kitchen table first and was smitten. The light was even on sale! Totally meant to  be :)

I scoured the store for pendants and luckily these gorgeous orbs were in stock. These chrome beauties were exactly what I was looking for. And they were only $100 each!

I'm so incredibly pleased with how they transformed the room from boring to brilliant!

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New Backsplash Tiles!

When we purchased our home, it was still under construction so we had *some* say in how a few options were finished.

One of these options was the backsplash tiles for the kitchen & bathrooms. The builder had picked out a decent beige-y oversized subway tile. It was okay, just not FABULOUS. 

And seriously, when you're paying what we're paying for this house -- you want JAW-DROPPING AMAZING. Ok, that may be overkill, but you want something special.

And, let's be honest, I wanted something SPARKLY! 

One of the best things is that the builder offered to put in whatever tiles we chose! How amazing are they?!

I sourced some alright options at our local shops, but they were expensive and they did not "sing" to me. So just before we put down cash on some fancy tiles, I decided we should go to Edmonton to check out what the city had to offer.

The first place we went was to Lowes. We arrived around 10:15am {on a Holiday Monday - one of the perks of Alberta is that the shops are open on stat holidays! SCORE!} and they had JUST put out a new line of tiles that very morning! 

I LOVED EVERYTHING! And it was so affordable {like under $20/sq. ft. compared to the $40+/sq. ft. I was looking at locally}.

Since there were so many stylish options, I decided to do a different tile for every room. Here's what I came up with!

  Main Bathroom: Modern Mix of Cream, Putty & Stainless tiles

{These are a cooler & more modern version of the tiles I had already picked out! WIN!}

 Master Ensuite: White Carrera Marble 

{I've always eyed carrera marble but I never wanted to commit to it because it stains! This is a perfect alternative and will go perfectly with my new sparkly quartz countertops!}

 Powder Room: Stainless Steel penny rounds 

{I've ALWAYS wanted these so it was a treat that Lowes carried them!}

Kitchen Backsplash: Sparkly white glass, marble, gunmetal & stainless steel

{These are almost exactly the same as what I sourced here in Fort Mac - but I liked these much more - so much lighter & brighter!}

Getting this kitchen tile was a CHALLENGE. They had 100 in stock but they couldn't find them. They asked us to come back in a couple of hours so they could look for them. When we returned, they said they needed more time. We had to drive back to Fort McMurray {a 5 hr+ drive}, but waited another few hours. I couldn't leave this amazing find behind. 

We waited until after 5pm {remember we got there at 10:15am?!} and they STILL hadn't found it. They said they'd call when they located the tile, but we HAD to leave for Fort Mac since we both had to work the next day. So we left with only a faint hope they'd call.

But, true to their word {YAY LOWES!}, they did call 3 hours later. They had stayed late to find them for me!

Luckily 3 days later my brother happened to be driving through Edmonton and picked them up for me! Thanks bro!

UPDATE: The tiles went in today. Wait till you see them!

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{More!} New Specs for Mummy!

One can never have too many pairs of glasses. 

 At one time, glasses were only perfunctory for me and I  *only* wore contact lenses. I still love my contacts, but I enjoy the spectacular fabulosity that comes with styling around your glasses. 

And when glasses are so affordable, thanks to Clearly Contacts, a girl's gotta have a few pairs. Or FIVE {with the hopes of adding more to my collection!}.

Here are the new additions to my collection:

I LOVE these chic transparent rectangular glasses. They are cool, but are sophisticated for a professional environment.

I couldn't decide between these raspberry coloured or cotton candy pink coloured, but since it's going to be Fall soon {REALLY SOON here in Fort Mac!}, I thought I'd go with the jewel tone colour. I love the retro cat-eye styling.

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West Elm Surprises

This past weekend, Big A went back to Ontario for a wedding. While he was there, I *made* him go to West Elm. 

Fort McMurray is awesome, but its shopping {especially for home stuff!} leaves much to be desired. I am desperate for an infusion of West Elm style.

Upon arrival at the store, he called me and I hopped onto the internet to guide him through the store with my wish list. That's when he informed me that he only brought a CARRY-ON!!! No room in his luggage for my wish list :(

So I had him look around and surprise me with a few cool things that he'd think I'd like. 

I think he did a great job :) I'm a lucky mummy.

First he got me this cool Pop Phone. It's a retro-look phone that plugs into your cell phone. And it's awesome in YELLOW. My favourite colour!

{via here}

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He also got me this super cute owl candle - "Owl" love it forever :)

{via here}

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Lastly, he picked up these cute kitchen accessories for me. Elephant oven mitts & an apron -- in my favourite colour combination!

{via here}

{via here}

  I heart West Elm. I see that they're now shipping to Canada, albeit only on a limited scale. Hopefully that'll change soon :)

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Update & Sparkly Countertops

We've been in our new home for just over a month, and it's definitely been a whirlwind {hence the lack of posting - sorry peeps}. 

We didn't have internet or phone until 10 days ago, but I guess it's been 10 days, so that's not a good excuse! 

Anyhoo, I am absolutely DELIGHTED with the way our new house is becoming a home. We moved into the brand new house in a brand new neighbourhood {hence the lack of availability of phone or internet despite we live in the 21st century. And we still don't even have a proper postal code, let alone mail delivery service!}, and it's slowly become our home -- or "Mummy Maggie-fied", if you will.

I'll show you the changes we've made so far in various posts. In this post, I was telling you about the tragic tale of the tiger tail granite. Specifically, how much I hated it :) I'm told by many people that this granite is expensive and fabulous, but I'm sorry, it just didn't suit the house nor did it fit into my vision of how awesome this suburban house could be. 

So we had it removed. And replaced. The day after we moved in. All for the price of a small car.

But it is WORTH EVERY PENNY!

Here's the BEFORE:

 Here's the AFTER:

 We chose Cimstone quartz in Lapland. The colour on the screen really doesn't do the quartz the appropriate justice. It's gorgeous bright white with tiny gray and mirror flecks, giving it that sparkling look. 

This is a close up of Lapland:

 I am absolutely thrilled with the final results. The change is massive. The house is so much brighter and the richness of the wood is really highlighted. We changed the granite in all the bathrooms to this white quartz as well. I can't wait to show you the rest! We've been busy around here!

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