2012 Goal Recap

At the beginning of 2012 I set a few goals that I wanted to accomplish. I will admit that I didn't check in with them much throughout the year but despite that I managed to do ok with them. Here's how everything worked out.

:: Finish decorating our home ::
We didn't quite 'finish' decorating but we made a ton of progress. Our bedroom got a lot prettier (although there is still a ways to go in there), my office got a makeover (and is currently getting another one), the kitchen is pretty much the way we want it minus some missing art on the walls and the Black Lodge Room was awesome for a few months but now it is being repurposed. I think decorating the house will always be a work in progress as we have several plans already for this year. I'm really excited to share some of the changes with you. 

The sub goals in this section did not get accomplished. We still haven't hosted a housewarming party and I doubt that we ever will at this point. That video tour is still a future possibility though!

:: Have an amazing backyard garden ::
Goal accomplished! Our garden was really great this past year and I think we learned a lot so that we can make it even better in 2013.

:: Complete a year long project ::
Ummmm, kind of. Well, not really. I abandoned yet another 365 project as well as a 52 week project. I did mostly keep up with my silliest 365 project: Photobooth a day. I will share the results of that soon. 

:: Blog makeover ::
Yes! I did this! I simplified things a lot with my design and I still like it a lot. I will probably change it again sometime this year though.

:: Create more ::
Yeah, I did a pretty decent job of this one. I made some art for our home (although I still have more that I would like to do), I completed two afghans and I made a ton of videos. I also crocheted lots of hats, scarves and other miscellaneous warm, fuzzy, yarny things.

I am also doing a pretty good job of diminishing my craft supply stash. I am in the process of donating things that I don't think I will ever get around to using. I have already downsized my fabric stash considerably!

:: Get my hair healthy ::
I did this! Then I wrecked it again. Now it's feeling pretty decent so I will say goal mostly accomplished. It is so hard not to bleach your hair. Well, it is if you are me. One major change I have made is to almost eliminate heat styling. It is rare if I pull out my straightener (I actually went several months without one after mine broke) and I pull out my blow dryer even less. I actually can't even remember the last time I blow dried my hair. I'm doing pretty well!

:: Tie up wedding loose ends :: 
Yes! Mostly. We sent out wedding thank yous in the summer. Although...I am embarassed to admit I just found a couple that I needed to look up addresses for that were never sent. I better get on that. 

I finally finished buying gifts for my bridesmaids this spring! 

As for the last name thing. That's on the list again this year. 

Overall I would say that I am pretty satisfied with meeting my goals in 2012. Could I have done better? Definitely. That's what this year is for! I had to leave room for improvement. I need to think a little on the goals I want to set for 2013 and make myself a new list. This year I think I will put it somewhere that I will see it frequently.

♥elycia

2012 in Review :: Part Two

Here is the recap for the second half of 2012! You can find part one here.

- I got to sample some really delicious goodies from Naffles.

- Ivan and I headed out to a Hamilton festival.

- Some really sweet ladies drew some really adorable pictures of me.

- Chantilly & I made a really funny drinking vlog.

- I made really yummy date bars.

- The baby birds hatched!

- I shared the recipe for some delicious strawberry chamomile popsicles.

- The essentials that I carry in my laptop bag.

- Our garden grew!

- I spent a week in Ohio with Kaylah and a lot of awesome things came out of it including this outfit post.

- I gave my shoes a makeover.

- Showed off my office closet that I painted with whiteboard paint.

- Shared another awesome thrift haul from Ohio.

- Sparkler photos!

- Showed off my monthly flower glass collection.

- Kaylah and I got very fancy in this outfit post.

- I added some pretty paper to our hutch.

- I visited the Distillery District.

- I threw a 30th birthday party for Ivan!

- Kaylah proudly introduced Living Better with Leslie & Janet. Those poor ladies have been neglected ever since. They need to make a comeback in the new year.

- I recapped the hair journey I went on recently.

- Ivan and I added a new member to our kitty family!

- I tried out crewel embroidery.

- We went camping with Kaylah and Kevin.

- New kitten update.

- A little video of our August camping trip.

- Started and finished another afghan. I couldn't mention it at the time, but this one was actually a wedding gift for awesome friends of Ivan and I.

- Another outfit post with Kaylah with a behind the scenes video.

- Kaylah and I made a video of our trip to Chicago.

- My hair made it all the way back to pink.

- I fell in love with the jellyfish at Shedd Aquarium.

- I papered our kitchen cabinet.

- I took the cutest photos ever of Pinny.

- I shared a few more pretty aquarium photos as well as some photos from the Field Museum.

- I got to review Crochet Boutique and I made a ton of crochet goodies.

- Took some photos of pretty fall colours.

- Farva shakes a paw because he is a cat genius.

- I made delicious kale chips.

- I shared the pattern for making a chevron afghan.

- New decor related thrift finds.

- I showed off part of my squished penny collection.

- Fall flowers around the Distillery District.

- Penny collection part two.

- Pretty new hair colour.

- We got a piano!

- Andrea gave me some adorable little fur balls to review.

- Ivan made the cats a very upscale cat fun house.

- I talked about one of my favourite hair products.

- Got a cute little Foldable Me.

- I shared some photos of the Black Lodge Room. Good thing I did because Ivan is demolishing it as we speak and it is almost completely bare! Like, no ceiling, floor or walls bare.

- Kaylah and I took awesome foggy outfit photos.

- My favourite outfit photos to date.

Wow! This took a long time to put together but it was totally worth it for me. It was great to take a look back on the year and see what happened. 2013 is going to be a very exciting year (more on that later). I am feeling fresh and recharged and I can't wait for the new year to begin!

♥elycia

5 Fave Friday

5. I need a bright pink dress!

Honey-Dipped Cookies Dress in Magenta from ModCloth

This one is pretty perfect. I love the shape.

4. Oh my gosh, these two swinsuits are awesome.

AlexSandras

Can you tell I'm daydreaming about warm weather? Although, we got a bunch of snow the other night and it does look really pretty.

3. This tote bag is really cute.

Spotted Moth

2. I haven't worn a watch in years but I might make an exception for this one.

The Time is Bright Watch from ModCloth

1. I am such a sucker for cute little figurines.

Today I am off to get some blood work done. I don't mind it as much as I used to. When I was a kid they always had a really difficult time finding my veins and I even fainted once afterwards! Definitely not so bad now.

A little off topic, but does anyone have any good recommendations for 2013 planners. I don't have one yet and I really need to change that. I need one that has a full month view calender for each month. Any suggestions?

Have a great Friday!

♥elycia

2012 in Review :: Part One

I had so much fun putting together a year in review post last year (part one and two) that I decided to do it again this year. It is a really good reminder of all the things that happened...and all the hair colours I went through. Here is the first half of the year.

- Made some pretty art out of old posters.

- Posted about Paying it Forward. I totally didn't realize it was that long ago. I still haven't sent my packages because I am the worst!

- Found the cutest paper dolls ever.

- Started & finished my first afghan.

- I showed off my sexy mullet.

- I wore my rainbow sweater that was once on an episode of 'What Not to Wear'.

- Scored a huge collection of cameras from a very sweet gal.

- Started my 52 weeks of instax project. Promptly stopped my 52 weeks of instax project when I realized I was very short on film.

- Chantilly & I started a fun vlogging project together.

- Chantilly & I also hosted a craft night where we made plush cameras. That was really fun!

- Kaylah and I shared a thrifting video that we made. I still love it so much!

- Shared a really awesome Ohio thrift haul.

- Kaylah and I did our first ever outfit post together. I'm so glad we did, this has become one of my favourite things ever! We also shared outtakes from the shoot.

- Started my granny square afghan. Still working on that one.

- Shared a tutorial for zig zag nails.

- I made a fancy heart display on my wall and did a little GIF of it.

- Kaylah and I did our first vlog together. So funny.

- Made a cute little pouch for carrying around used and unused film.

- Ivan and I reached a milestone: being together for 10 years!

- We visited my Dad in Florida. I can't wait to go again this year.

- Vlogged the 11 meme, part 1,  2 and 3.

- Shared a few peeks around our bedroom.

- Kaylah and I shared a video of a fun day we spent scooting around Cleveland.

- I did one of my favourite things and wore lots of one colour.

- Kaylah and I made another sassy vlog together.

- A second What We Wore! This time with a behind the scenes video to go along with it.

- I restyled some suitcases.

- Started a series about thrift finds that I left behind.

- Drew some cute bloggers.

- I was stencilled!

- Our fruit trees started blooming and I was really excited.

- Astrid came to visit and we explored Hamilton.

- Visited the Cleveland Natural History Museum and took lots of photos.

- Kim and I had a vlog conversation.

- I shared some info about how I use my indoor lighting for taking outfit photos.

- Shared a bunch of cute cat videos.

- I toured around Toronto as part of ModCloth's Travel Bug series.

- I challenged myself to become a bit more self sustaining and to minimize the number of things that I buy. I still did buy some things here and there but this challenge really made me think about the purchases I was making.

- I started overhauling our front garden.

- Ivan and I visited the lilac gardens.

- Official best friend status!

- Chantilly & I bake a crazy cake.

- I admired the teensy fruit in the backyard.

- I showed you what's in my bag.

- I shared a super cute lampshade restyle with yarn.

- Farva & Anakin were looking really adorable and were pretty into having their picture taken.

- I got a really awesome birthday present from Ivan.

- I fell in love with Flapper Girl lady ties.

- I showed you what's in my camera bag.

- Kaylah and I took more fun outfit photos together.

- I yarn bombed!

- I found a robin's nest with some eggs in it in our grapevine.

- I wore one of my favourite dresses and was super bright.

- Shared some photos from an afternoon of beer brewing.

- Developed some film photos from around our backyard and some from the beach.

- Ivan and I celebrated one year of marriage and took some photos.

- I organized some of my instant photos.

Doing the first half of this review reminded me how fun vlogs are and that I haven't done one in forever. I need to change that! I will post part two of my year in review on Saturday morning!

♥elycia

Sponsor Feature :: December

I hope everyone had a great Christmas yesterday if you celebrate and a great regular day if you don't. We had a busy day as usual but it was so nice to spend time with family.

If you haven't met any of my fantastic sponsors this month here are two of them to introduce themselves. If you have a few spare minutes go visit these lovely ladies!

blog :: facebook :: twitter

etsy :: facebook :: pinterest

Thank you so much to all of my December sponsors. If you are interested in sponsoring my blog in January you can do so at any time by visiting my sponsor page. For the last few months I have been using Passionfruit Ads and they make sponsoring very easy and convenient. You can purchase ads here at any time but if you have any questions or just want to chat, please email me at loveelycia[at]gmail[dot]com.

I hope everyone has a nice relaxing day! I'm off to eat some clementines (my new favourite food).

♥elycia

What I Wore :: Fancy Purple

:: head to toe ::

glasses :: Tenley from WarbyParker
dress :: c/o ModCloth
cardigan :: Old Navy
belt :: You're a Natural Belt c/o ModCloth
ring :: c/o OASAP
tights :: Walmart
shoes :: Iron Fist

Christmas is a really busy time of year for Ivan and I. Both of our parents are divorced so that adds up to a lot of Christmas events to attend and get dressed up fancy for. I wanted to take photos of each of my Christmas outfits but then I missed the first one because of poor planning. I plan on snapping a few outfit photos of the rest of them though. Maybe I'll even put the first one back on because I liked it so much.

My fancy outfits aren't really so different from my normal everday wear. Usually the fanciness comes from me pulling out shoes I don't normally wear. This time, I actually ended up changing my shoes after I took these photos. I had this weird feeling in my ankle like it needed to crack but wouldn't and I was worried that I would end up face planting if I didn't put on something a little lower to the ground.

I hope everyone has a really great Christmas Eve!

♥elycia

5 Fave Friday

5. I love the colour of this dress.

Teal Twirl Dress from ModCloth

Also, I bet it is nice and twirly!

4. These prints of RuPaul's Drag Race contestants by Chad Sell are so cool!

Aren't they awesome?!

3. I love my dreamcats calendar from last year so I'm tempted to get this one to replace it for 2013.

This colour would look pretty great with our walls.

2. This Diana from ModCloth is so cool!

1. I love this outfit that Katherine recently wore on her blog.

Such a good combination of colours. 

I have a super busy day ahead of me with no time for slacking off so I better get moving. I'm pretty excited because I see some snowflakes falling and it almost looks like it might get a bit sunny today.

Have a great Friday!

♥elycia

What I Wore :: Mint

:: head to toe ::
glasses :: Coastal

dress :: Milkshake Things Up Dress c/o ModCloth

cardigan :: Target

brooch :: thrifted

tights :: Achilles' Zeal Tights c/o ModCloth

shoes :: c/o Blowfish

I'm kind of excited about taking indoor outfit photos this winter in front of my favourite wall. Although, I need to reevaluate my lighting situation. Last year when I used these lights I didn't get shadows but this time, as you can see, there are some shadows behind me. I decided not to figure it out this time because Pinny was really into the shadows and I liked that she was in the background of the photos.

After Kaylah reminded me about my genius nail design I decided I needed to try it again myself in a different colour. I love these shades of green all together and I hope they don't chip anytime soon because doing four colours is time consuming.

That last photo was me trying to get Pinny in a photo. I took one that was so cute but it was a total blur and anytime I tried another one Pinny was not in the mood. She is such a butt. No, not really. She's so sweet. I just like to call my cats butts.

I hope everyone has a good Thursday. If you think that tomorrow is the end of the world then make sure you really live it up today.

♥elycia

Christmas Time & a repeat recipe (vegan candy cane ice cream)

There are a few things I do no matter what around Christmas time. Even though I am
still not super feeling Christmas this year I am definitely in the mood for my favourite yearly rituals.

Thing one that I always do: watch all of the South Park Christmas episodes. This year it is even more convenient because there is a compilation of all of them on Netflix.

Thing two that I always do: make my favourite ice cream of all time. Candy Cane Ice Cream. Yeah, you can buy it but only if you eat dairy which I don't. So, I make my own! I shared the recipe last year but it is just too good to not mention again and risk that some of you will never try it.

I have already made and demolished one batch this year so I think that I need to make it one more time. My best advice when making Candy Cane Ice Cream is to buy a non-dairy ice cream that you know is delicious and some dark chocolate that you know is delicious. The more delicious all of your ingredients are, the more delicious your finished ice cream will be (duh). Oh and, the longer you leave it in the freezer the better it gets. After a few days the candy cane taste really spreads out and it is amazing.

Have a great day! I get to hang out with Andrea today so I'm excited.

♥elycia

PS. Thank you for the nice comments about Anakin feeling better :)

Photos :: Anakin

The other day I caught Anakin laying like this and I thought he looked so adorable. As you may remember, Anakin is quite the diva about having his photo taken so I had to pull out my camera very quietly and snap this shot before he caught me.

He caught me! Anakin must have been pretty sleepy though because he didn't get up and leave because I took his photo without permission.

I mentioned a while back that Anakin wasn't doing too great but I'm happy to report that he is doing much better. We changed his food and not only did that solve the original problem he was having, it seems to have made him more social. Anakin used to follow me around all day and he is kind of back to doing that again. I love it.

Right now I am completely surrounded by kitties. Farva on my left, Anakin behind me and Pinny on my right. Life with cats is pretty great. Have a fantastic day!

♥elycia

What We Wore :: Excuse me, what are you wearing?

:: head to toe ::
glasses :: Coastal *they still have their first pair free deal if you are looking for glasses*
dress :: What's the Lineup? Dress in Cobalt c/o ModCloth
cardigan :: Charter School Cardigan in Orchid c/o ModCloth
necklace :: Freshy Fig
tights :: WalMart
shoes :: Forever 21

I am well aware that I shared way more photos than you are probably interested in looking at but it was so hard to choose and I went a little crazy. I just love the way all of the colours go together, so bright, fun and happy.

What? What's that? We're wearing the same dress?! Oh, how embarassing. I'm pretty sure I remember someone requesting that we do an outfit post wearing the same thing and that person just got their wish. Kaylah and I thought it would be pretty fun/funny/awesome/ridiculous to wear the same dress and style it our own way. Well, "our own way" turned out to be pretty similar in this case, right down to both wearing fox rings without realizing it. I love the way the photos turned out and it was pretty funny to walk around all day wearing basically the same thing. Full disclosure: Kaylah wore a long coat to hide her dress so we didn't get funny looks all day long. Oh yeah, and looking at these photos, I totally think Kaylah should wear glasses more often. You look so cute in them Kaylah!

Just in case you weren't satisfied with the number of photos here is one more...

Did I mention this photoshoot was so much fun?

♥elycia