I love...

1) getting a new plate or mug with a trendy print or pattern. The mugs I use for my favourite hot drinks, or as a pen holder and if I find a cute plate I can’t say no to, I try to get very creative as to find a good use for it, in order to justify it of course. These have been known to hold tea lights or candles in our home.

2) lemonade from a carton

3) baths -the candle burning, wine or hot chocolate sipping, good book or magazine in hand type of bath. I have these nightly. (ok minus the wine, I couldn't afford that nightly, I have better things to spend my money on)

4) getting into my soft, beautiful aqua gifted robe after said bath

5) a clean house. I love a clean house. Who doesn’t?

6) candles burning. It makes everything cozier. I love cozy

7) getting into my favourite hoodie and yoga pants after a long day at work

8) cuddling with my husband on the couch

9) accessorizing myself. Especially of the scarf and bracelet variety

10) scarves. They deserve their own category, I love them that much. I wear all different colours, all different patters, all different types. And I love wearing them in different ways. I could wear a scarf every day, and I often do.

11) change. I thrive on change. Don’t worry hunny, I wouldn’t change YOU for the world though (you too Max!)

12) decorating. I love it. I love beautifying my home

13) helping others with ideas of furniture placing, decorating and accessorize their homes. I only offer my humble advice when they come to me mind you.

14) shopping. I love it as an activity. I could shop all day, and come home with nothing and have had a very satisfying, enjoyable day.

15) looking for good deals. This is part of why I love shopping. I love the hunt. I love getting a bargain. I enjoy going out with having nothing in mind but simply to look to see if I can find something I love at a good price. This is also why I love stores like Winners. Winners is for people who love shopping.

16) purses. I’ve been a purse and bag lover since about the age of three. It isn’t going away anytime soon. I have learned to control my desires though. As much as I would love to get a new purse every single time I go out, I don’t. (ok that and the fact that I live in a little northern town with no good purses to be bought for km upon km away)I maybe get one new one a year. Ok, with maybe a cheapy thrown in here or there for good measure. But they don’t count if they’re under $20 right?!

17) blankets. If I'm sitting on the couch you can always find me under a blanket.

18) 5 cent candies. Yes, I know I’m almost 25 and I still get as excited today as I did 20 years ago to go in to a variety store, get a little baggie and fill it up with all kinds of candy goodness

19) going out for coffee or lunch with friends.

20) renting a good chick flick, getting into my comfiest of clothes, curling up on the couch with regular crinkle cut chips and diet coke. BLISS

21) when I walk through the door as I get home and I am greeted by my sweet smiling, soft hearted fur baby, Max.

22) the way Max will come over to the side of the couch, and sit up and gaze at me with his big, brown eyes, and sweet little smile and will put his little paw lovingly up on my knee. Not in a dominant, I am controlling my master kind of way (there is nothing dominant about him) but in an affectionate, I adore you kind of way.

23) babies. The sweet scent of the top of their heads when they are nuzzled into your chest. Best. Smell. Ever.

24) people. I love getting to know people. Hearing their stories. I love loving people.

25) my polka dot Denby mugs. Everything tastes better in them.

26) new tea towels.

27) spending a whole day in Ikea looking at everything and dreaming and imagining in my head what I would buy if I had an endless budget and a husband who didn’t mind if I changed the interior of my house every 6 months. Not Realistic. Thanks goodness I married someone rational, but who still appreciates a beautiful home.

28) décor pillows. Love them. A relatively affordable and easy way to switch out colours and the feeling in your home as the seasons change.

29) Christmas -I want to cozify my place and bake, and curl up on the couch while the smell of mulled cider, and cedar candles waft through my house. A crackling fire in the background wouldn’t hurt.

30) the mountains. Taking trips to Jasper and Banff. Hiking, going into coffee shops and window shopping and dandering into the little boutiques. Love Alberta for this.

31) crawling into bed with newly laundered sheets.

32) The Denby dishes we got for our wedding. I love them and use them every day because they are too beautiful to sit in a cupboard.

33) the lazy days when nothing of much importance is planned other than staying at home, doing home things with my man and little Max. Those days are heavenly to me.

34) Brie on good crackers, like the long, 7 grain Presidents Choice ones.

35) getting two magazines every month in the mail. My mom gifted me subscriptions to Flare and Chatelaine when I first moved out here. (I think she was scared I would drive myself batty with having nothing to do!) I also treat myself to Style at Home or Canadian House and Home every once in a while. I love a good home decor magazine almost as much as I love chocolate.

36) getting email from my mom almost every day. Two provinces and thousands of kilometers separate us and it’s her way of making sure I’m alive and well and feeling connected. She would send them even If I didn’t send any back. She is that kind of person. (incase you were wondering, I do send them back, I adore my mom and if nothing else I love the opportunity to tell her I love her every chance I get)

37) the friends I have far and near. I have some of the best friends in the world, and I have learned to treasure their friendships. I am so grateful for the friends I have met since moving here and I love them like family.

38) my brothers. They are so special to me, and since having moved away, I miss them, and wish I saw them more often.

39) my education. I am grateful for the opportunity to have spent four years in university, to have parents who believed in the importance of it and to support me through it. Mom and dad, I am forever grateful for the money you spent on my education.

40) my mom and dad- the best parents a girl could ask for. I almost don't even know what to write with out writing a novel about them. They are that special to me.

41) Creativity.

42) my Northern Irish background. I was born there and lived there till a month before my tenth birthday. It's who I am.

43) my husband. He is my rock. I adore him. He is hard working, smart, good looking, practical, down to earth, friendly, loving and never fails to make me laugh. He has this knack to do so at the most inopportune times too..say when I'm slightly annoyed at him, he will know exactly what to do to make me laugh. It' s hard to be mad when you're laughing.