New Dwell Studio Pillows to spruce up the living room...

Since our summer weather has been less than ideal here in Vancouver, I needed to "self-medicate" with something new to look at in the living room (we've been spending WAYYY too many days indoors lately...UGH!).

So....on yet another rainy morning, I packed up the boys and headed for a super-fun trip to Fabricana :) 

I know...I know.....not your typical summer's day activity.

Don't worry....there happens to be a ride-on horse in the store that goes forEVER on a quarter. It's old-school, and fairly dodgy, but the boys love it.

Anyways....they happen to have very reasonably priced fabric, with a good selection of Dwell Studio (by Robert Allen) patterns :) I had a hard time choosing one or two, but ended up with the "Gate" pattern in Charcoal and the "Vintage Blossom" in Jade. LOVE THEM!

I whipped up 3 very simple pillow covers, added some trusty IKEA down inserts, and plopped them onto my sofa. Isn't it great how a couple of new cushions can just make your day that much better :)

ok..maybe that's just me.

I paired them with an adorable birdcage pillow that I bought from Raggy Girl Vintage at the Ivory Vintage Market. 

I have 4 ratty old dining room chairs that are half-painted in my garage, waiting to be rescued and spruced up. My goal is to have them finished in the next 2 weeks. 

We'll see how that goes. Judging by my current track record...it's not looking too promising ;)

Strawberry picking....the epitome of summer!

Once upon a time, in a small dozy little town called Ladner,

...there were two boys who loved strawberries very much.

So...on a very sunny, early summer morning, they headed with their chronically-exhausted mum and dad to a wonderful place called the Westham Island Herb Farm.

(if you live around Vancouver, and feel like a little dose of the country....it's only about 25 minutes from downtown on Westham Island in Ladner)

There were SO many beautiful juicy strawberries...you could smell them in the air!

This was their first time picking strawberries, and they were PSYCHED!

What a beautiful place to be on a sunny Saturday morning!

Just look at that view across the farmland!

(hard to believe you could be in downtown Vancouver in under half an hour, right?) :)

Once the taste-testing started, it was hard to quit....

There is just nothing quite like freshly-picked local strawberries. Those big huge "white-in-the-middle" things that get shipped up here from California are not even remotely comparable. 

It's like a completely different fruit.

And the Westham Island Herb Farm is very into organic farm practices (they're not certified organic, but use integrated pest management principles to minimize chemical pesticides, etc)

You know me and pesticides. YUCK! Sorry...just not into eating chemicals.

Obligatory cheese-ball grin shot :)

My goofy boys :)

Just look at how cute this place is....

Bird feeders made from china cups/saucers...

The boys loved playing on the driftwood furniture

Our strawberries turned into jam, and strawberry sauce...and a nice stash in the freezer for our morning smoothies :)

Nothing quite like it!

I hope you're all enjoying the summer so far!

xoxo

ps...I was not compensated by the Westham Island Herb Farm to write this post....we just really love this little place!