Barkitechture

Hi! So I know the title of this post is "BARKitechture" yet I'm holding a cat ...? Well let me explain: This furry creature is my rambunctious, spoiled, crazy-yet-cuddly 9 year old Kitty (real name: Prints Whiskerson Sultenfuss The First.) When I was asked to be a part of Barkitechture, a unique media challenge teaming Edmonton's movers and shakers with renovation experts to help design a dog house (or in my case, a cat house since I don't have a pooch) to be auctioned off at the Edmonton Renovation Show this weekend with all proceeds going to the Humane Animal Rescue Team (HART) I jumped at the chance!

Life, Lately

Clockwise starting from top left: The dress I got to wear while hosting the JACOB Shopping Event, the Whirling Dervish Quinoa Salad at Noorish, horse-ing around at my brother's ranch, my favorite pair of shoes (tap shoes!) for International Tap Dance Day

Kitty being silly, my new necklace from IN PINK, filming a commercial at Coup Boutique, a wine glass in a cup! BEST INVENTION EVER! Although I don't drink wine...

The Laughing Buddha Bowl at Noorish (can you tell I love that place?), my new business cards designed by my good friend Andrew, 3 of the six kittens we rescued at work, my coworker holding my favorite one. So more on the kitten rescue: a coworker of mine noticed them trapped underneath a heavy piece of pipe in our yard, next to a bunch of other heavy-duty material that needed to be moved. We got a bunch of strong guys to lift the pipe up and pulled all 6 kittens out, to safety. (We were afraid the pipe was going to squish and kill them.) The poor little things were malnourished and lethargic and the mother wasn't around. A couple of ladies from HR took them to the vet and they were all deemed healthy. I emailed a few pictures out to everyone in our company, telling them about the rescue and how the kittens would all need caring homes to go to in a couple of weeks. Well they were snatched up in a heartbeat! We had to feed them with a syringe and formula for a few days but now they're eating solid food and have so much energy and spunk! 

all photos taken on instagram @ mariealamode

I could not end this post without thanking my readers for all the positive feedback on my last post, as well as for sharing your struggles and stories with me. It's nice to know I'm not alone ; ). I was really overwhelmed by your support, so THANK YOU so much!

Lately...

Clockwise starting from top left: 1. Nicole Campre's A/W 2013 show at Western Canada Fashion Week. 2. More of her gorgeous designs. 3. I was featured in this month's Where Magazine along with my friends Janis and Vickie. 4. I had a goal of doing Yoga 3-4 times a week (and I was meeting it!) but last week my hip came out of place and now it's off to physio I go! : (

1. I bought a Breville juicer! I love the juice I make but it's a pain in the ass to clean! But it's so worth it. 2. I received skincare from GM Collin and Yonka, I'll be doing reviews of both lines so stay tuned! 3. Funny story about this shovel: My 4 year old nephew had scribbled on his parents' garage with permanent marker so to hide it, he put a snow shovel over the graffiti. Smart kid! 4. Breakfast for dinner!

1. Breakfast Television (click here to read more about it and see the clip.) 2. Wearing my Zara necklace for Western Canada Fashion Week. 3. With my friends Janis and Jessica at Malorie Urbanovitch's A/W 2013 fashion show last week. Click here to see my coverage. 4. Malorie's beautiful designs.

My silly cat, Prints Whiskerson Sultenfuss The First. Such a weird, feisty, at times hostile and vicious yet lovable, silly and cuddly furry creature! Basically, she's schizophrenic. I'm 100% serious.

Have a great long weekend and Happy Easter!

Kicks 2

faux leather jacket - Winners, hoodie - old, jeans - Hudson, wedge sneakers - Aldo also worn here, 

bag - Marc by Marc Jacobs (buy here), rings - H & M

I'm a huge fan dressing comfortably so this combo is one of my go-to outfits when I don't feel like wearing heels or putting a whole lot of effort into getting dressed. It's not like I'm lazy, I just like feeling relaxed in my clothing ; ).

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Mine was spent eating good food, doing some Yoga, visiting my nephews, reading, and watching documentaries on Netflix. (Nerd Town, population: Me.) I also got to spend time with the newest member of my brother's family, Morkie! Or Stewy, he kind of has two names right now. He was my sister-in-law's Grandmother's puppy but she recently passed away so they took him in. Isn't he sweet?

Look at that face! I die!

Insta-Moments

Clockwise starting from top left: 

1. Me in a commercial on TV which I still haven't seen. My friend took this photo of her screen.

2. Kitty found a new spot to lounge in. (Our entertainment unit.)

3. Sour soothers re-entered my life thanks to my coworker who brought in a tub of them.

4. I finished reading 'Front Row: Anna Wintour The Cool Life and Hot Times of Vogue's Editor-in-Chief.'

1. My pal Harvey. We went for a hike and got lost.

2. Makeup Artist Nickol Walkemeyer did my makeup for a photo shoot with 3Ten Photo

3. Vegetarian dinner at Blue Plate Diner

4. Dinner at Famoso. My favorite pizza is their margherita, it's to die for.

1. Road trip essentials: a slurpee and a tabloid magazine

2. Kitty sleeping peacefully

3. Photoshoot with Harvey

4. Boat ride on the lake, before a nasty storm. Luckily we got to shore in time!

My cousin's cat gave birth to six adorable kittens a couple of days ago and I went over to see them yesterday! Aren't they the sweetest? This is kind of a gross story but my cousin and his girlfriend were sleeping in their bed and the Mama cat was in between them and all of a sudden my cousin wakes up and the Mom is giving birth in the bed. I guess she was comfortable enough right there to pop out her kids one by one ; ). It scarred my cousin for life however! Anyways, I just realized this post has a lot of pics of cats. I swear I'm not a crazy cat lady! I only have one cat. And I'm allergic to her so I couldn't have 10-plus cats even if I wanted to.

 All photos via instagram @mariealamode

Thank you to those of you who voted for me in the Vince Camuto Canada's Step Up & Style contest. (You can vote here if you haven't and would like to, all you have to do is 'Like' my photo on Facebook. Thanks guys! I appreciate your support!)

And thank you to The Backseat Stylers for featuring me in their lookbook last week! You can check out that post here.

Happy  almost-weekend : ).

Christmas Break: What I Did and Happy New Year!

         Spent some some much-needed time with my two best friends I've known since I was in a training bra.

Too much information?

Celebrated Christmas with my family

Enjoyed precious time with my goofy nephew. He poses like that for every picture now. Fortunately, I don't.

"Awwed" over animals (not mine)

...and more animals (unfortunately not mine either)...

...and more (this one is mine.)

Shopped 'til I dropped! I took full advantage of all of the Boxing Day sales. Not just on Boxing Day but also on the 27th, 28th and 29th. I told you I have a shopping problem! Don't act surprised. I bought this Co-lab bag at Winners. I'd been looking for a bag like this for months! It's the perfect size.

My friend Jenessa did my makeup. She does the best eyes!

I got my hair colored at Ponytails + Horseshoes

D. and I took in a very exciting Junior World Hockey game with his work. Czech Republic won 5 to 2 against USA. Here they are singing their national anthem at the end of the game.

And I relaxed and read books and watched movies. I took a break from work and blogging and just enjoyed my time off, recharging my batteries ; ). I hope you all had a wonderful holiday spent with family and friends and had some time to relax as well. Happy New Year! I wish you the absolute best in 2012! Thank you to all of you who read my blog. Thank you for your clicks, your comments and all-around love this past year. You don't know just how much I appreciate it.

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Things That Make You Go "Awww"

dress - Target  jean jacket - thrifted  wedges - Walmart bag - Winners  bracelet - Aldo  necklace - F21  rings - H &M and Free People

I picked up this colorful floral maxi dress in Phoenix last month from one of my favorite American stores - Target! Canadians: Did you know over 105 Canadian Zellers stores will be converted to Target by 2014??? Can't wait! Back to the dress: I spotted it on the rack for $27.00 and after I tried it on and found it fit perfectly I had to have it. This is what I wore all day Friday, to work and then out for drinks and dinner. I love casual outfits you can wear during the day that transition easily into the evening.

How was your weekend? On Saturday I went out to my brother's acreage which is quickly turning into what I like to call a 'story book' farm because of all the cute animals out there. While I was visiting, my nephew introduced me to his new "pets." Meet Diego:

New friends. Does this picture not melt your heart? FYI: The cat is very pregger's and due any day now!

And this is Dora. (My nephew named them after his favorite cartoon characters 'Dora the Explorer' and Diego from 'Go Diego.')

Cute, right? Literally two seconds after this picture was taken the little turd peed all over me! But I quickly forgave her. After I changed my clothes. 

I hope you all had a nice, rejuvenating weekend. I'm not happy it's Monday but let's look at the bright side: we're 5 days closer to the weekend ; ).

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Arizona Part Deux: Pup and Purchases

When I was on vacation in Phoenix last week I fell in love with this ADORABLE maltipoo. As soon as I heard our neighbors had 5 five-week-old pups in their home I was knocking on their door like a Jehovah's Witness to ask if I could see them. I had a connection right away with the runt of the litter (pictured above) and the owners were nice enough to let me take him to the house we were staying at for a few hours so we could spend some quality time together ; ). Pup and I cuddled and I fell more in love with this cuter-than-cute fur ball when he snuggled up right into my neck and fell asleep! Sigh. When I heard the neighbors were traveling to Canada for a visit this month (and could bring a puppy with them, hint hint) my wheels started turning and I tried to convince D. we really needed a puppy.

He was not convinced. How could he say no to a face like this??

Anyways, since I couldn't buy the pooch I went shopping for accessories instead! Here are a couple of my favorite purchases I picked up when I was in the states:

I snagged this wicked ring from Free People in Scottsdale. Thanks and hugs to Carrie who let me know where FP was!

When I saw these cute heels in my size on the clearance rack (the last pair!) at Target for $14.99, I giddily snapped them up! $14.99!! They're not as cute as the puppy but they will have to do ; ). I bought a lot more clothes and makeup, etc. that I'll be posting about next week. To see the rest of my pics from my trip that I posted a couple of days ago you can click here.

Happy Almost-Friday!

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Leftover Holiday Pictures

My best friends Jenessa and Kristin

My mom made those butter tarts. They're my absolute favorite Christmas treat!

Our cat, Prints Whiskerson Sultenfuss The First aka "Kitty." She's nice when she sleeps!

My  nephew and D. playing with his new train set on Christmas Eve.
(We open our presents on Christmas Eve, it's a European thing. My Dad's from Poland.)

Winston, D.'s sister's pug

My Aunt and Uncle's huge Christmas tree at their cabin

Is anyone else in denial about the holidays being over??? I find January is kind of a let down because not only is the excitement of Christmas gone, we have a few more months left of short days and extremely cold weather which makes me seriously contemplate hibernating until Spring. Oh well, on the bright side it's a new year, I have new goals and a new winter coat to keep me warm ; ). I bid adieu to the holiday season by putting away our Christmas decorations while weeping and posting these pics. I hope you have a great weekend!