Canadian Thrift Store Finds!

Going to antique markets, thrift stores & junk shops is something both Aslan and I love to do!

 It's even better when we do it together because there are two sets of eyes!

Aslan and I have similar, yet very different tastes when it comes to second hand items.

Sometimes I love what he chooses & other times I have to give him the stare down (ladies, you know the one)..

We didn't actually do too much thrift store shopping while in Canada, but there were a few things we just couldn't resist!

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We even made a youtube video about it!

Onto the first item,

            

    A schnitzel-shaped vase!

I'm still almost positive this is called milk-glass.

I love the look of white décor.

In fact, in Canada my entire room is basically white!

This little guy was hiding at the very back of the shelf.

This is why ample time & a lot of searching is necessary if you want to find some treasures!

If you're not in the mood for wasting a day away, I suggest you go another time!

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I was really attracted to the little bobbles for some reason (haha)

& the shape is pretty hilarious as well. SOLD!

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Next up is a wooden box! Pretty standard, really.

I have no idea why I wanted this. 

For some reason it caught my eye & I thought for a couple of bucks-why not!?

I'm still not sure if I should paint this, or just leave it.

Maybe put some blushes in there? Hmm, I don't know.

What do you think?

 My new coffee filter bowl! ($0.99)

This has got to be one of my favourite things (aside from the fruit bowl coming up next)! 

I've already set it up on my makeup table. It's filled with eye primers at the moment!

It's quite weird really because I don't actually drink coffee.

Maybe I'm a coffee lover at heart.

(I had an issue with drinking at least 6 cups of coffee a day from the ages of 16-19. Now I can't even look at the stuff).

 FRUIT BOWL! ($1.00)

Whenever I'm scouring the housewares section in thrift stores I put myself into my "future home" mode.

You may have heard of Pinterest? A place where dreamers can come together (that's cheezeeee)..

My advice is to imagine your perrrfect home (Pinterest has helped me think of new ideas) when going through the aisles.

Ask yourself, "does this suit the vision I have?"

THIS is one of my favourite houseware items I've ever come across!

& let me tell you-there have been MANY!

A little silver polish thanks to my Grandma & it's sparkling!

Currently holding plenty of clementines!

It does the job & looks great doin' it!

Silver  Tea Tray ($3.99)

Another beauty related item! Yes, I am obsessed. 

As I said in the video, I plan to put my perfumes on this try & whatever else I think might be useful.

Now I just need to find the space for it!

One day I'll have all the space in the worrrlldd. Oh, to dream.

Anyway,

I used to go to MUJI for all of my beauty-related storage, but I've learned.

Not only is it a bazillion times cheaper, but it's so much more interesting! 

I would love to walk into someone's house & see all of their hand-picked items!

Especially the functional ones!

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I'd love to know of any interior focused blogs you read!

I really enjoy seeing different styles & getting some inspiration (especially storage!) (and if it involves makeup storage EVEN BETTER)!

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Note: Aslan is not interested in beauty storage.

x

Estée

What We've Been Up To:

 Good morning ladies and gents. It is a beautiful sunny Sunday over here in Canada, and being the cave dwelling hermits that Estée and I are, we decided to stay indoors and give you guys a little update on my trip to Canada. 

Here I am at Heathrow Airport in London, and this was pretty much one of the most taxing flights I have ever taken.
My flight was early in the morning on the 1st of January and I had to a stop-over at Paris as well so I couldn't really get any decent rest. 

Goodbye England, you soggy grey land.

Hello Canada, you cold (very cold!) yet bright land.
It was freezing when I got here and it was snowing quite a bit too! I'm glad I packed my long johns. 

I got to Toronto in the late afternoon and was picked up by Estée and her lovely Mum.
I was pretty beat so I just wanted to get some rest, but we managed to sneak in a quick visit to Harvey's where they make some of the most delicious burgers!

This was one of my christmas presents from Estée's Grandparents: a HUGE jar of peanut butter, and by huge I mean obnoxiously large.
This thing weighs 2kgs!!! The biggest jars of Sunpat in England are like only a quarter of the size of this heart attack in a jar. 

On the road. Estée is driving me around here which makes for a nice change. 

A quick pit-stop. Tim Hortons is a Canadian hot spot best known for it's delicious coffee, donuts & let's not forget Tim Bits (the donut holes). 

On the road again, but now fueled up. Estée cannot get enough double doubles! (Double double=two creams, two sugars when ordering coffee).

Talize- a local thrift store.
Let me tell you, British charity shops have nothin' on the sheer volume & size of North American second hand stores.
This is bigger than the average Sainsbury's!

The view from the inside. Denim anyone?

Lost in the sea of second hand goodness. 

Saw this funky shirt. It made out this material that felt like chain mail.
We did make a little video of me modelling it but unfortunately we had some technical difficulties with that. 

Estée's still workin' on that double double believe it or not! 

BAM! Nostalgia

Canadian Problems. Frozen slush/future rust.

This is a standard sized portion for a burger over here.

And this is a standard sandwich. 

Estée looking a little uncomfortable after that burger.

A little gem we found in another second hand shop called 'Value Village'.
Estée looks a little like Baba Yaga here. 

Eric (Estée's Brother). Red eyed & dangerous.

Me looking like the Asian version of Bubbles from the Trailer Park Boys. 

Picard's Peanuts!
We're not too sure if this is a one-off, but Estée remembers coming here on the regular as a kid.
Ontario grown nuts! How can you go wrong!?

Some lovely Mennonites in the peanut store.
We were tempted to buy them, but at 30 bucks each we had to say no way!

Speaking of mennonites, we took a little trip down the road to the St. Jacobs farmers market to take a look at some salves & ointments.
If you want to read more about these-their uses & the history, take a look at Estée's LONG post on her beauty blog HERE!

Here we are in DOLLARAMA!

Limited Edition French Canadian Corn Flakes from the dollar store!

The chip aisle in one of the larges Wal-Mart stores either of us has ever seen.
It probably takes about 15 minutes to walk from one end of the store to the other.

A&W.
I warn you now-do not get Estée going on the topic of A&W.
I never knew one woman could love one fast-food place so much.
There's a lot of history behind this place, though!
Her grandma tells us she remembers going on dates to A&W with Gramps- pulling in, rolling the window down & waiting for the waitress to rollerblade out & place the tray on the car window!
There's also retro music that plays from outdoor speakers as you pull in! 

Of course we had to go skating!
 Luckily Estée's brother's skates fit me so we didn't have to buy a pair.
(Almost impossible to rent skates in Canada because if you're Canadian you're BOUND to own your own pair).

There you have it!
Don't worry there will be MUCH more to come!
Next week we're going to Toronto & Niagra Falls!
xx
Estée & Aslan

Late Christmas Present

I have been thinking about getting Estée a little ring for a while now, and what better time to surprise her than Christmas right? This is not an engagement ring or anything serious, but I just wanted to give her, what I suppose most people would call, a 'promise ring'. So here it is:

 Initially, I was thinking about going just for a plain silver band but after hours or scouring the web I realised that they are all exactly the same and somewhat uninspiring. Once I understood what I was looking for it was quite simple really because I knew instantly where to look. Estée showed me an amazing blog a couple months back called junkaholique, which is run by a husband & wife team who also create rustic/artsy pieces of jewellery that they offer under the guise of Rust. As far as I am aware, I believe all their jewellery is handmade in their little workshop in London, which is something quite special in the age of mass produced 'alternatives' that you see on the British High Streets.  

 The ring that I settled for in the end is a little silver oak leaf mounted on a simple band. It was quite hard to make up my mind which one to go for; in the end it came to down to between this and the bay leaf equivalent, but that was only available in gold and I am not really a huge gold fan (probably something to do with early childhood memories of being kissed in a very slobbery manner by my golden grill'd Grandad).

I just chose the one that I thought Estée would like best. With the benefit of hindsight I suppose I could try and pretend I saw some symbolism between the oak trees and things lasting a long time (Estée hoped that was the reason for my choice) but to be honest I just like the way it looks (yes I am a horribly shallow person). 

What do you think? Hope you guys like it. 

Ta ta,

Aslan