She Makes Cocktails

I've got some good news, I'll be writing a regular cocktail column for She Does the City. My first post went up last night so please check that out! (link HERE)

All the recipes will be developed and styled by myself and photographed by my brother Michael Morris. I'm going to focus on recipes that are fresh, simple to make and creative. Think lots of DIY elements and no recipes with 15 ingredients, because who can afford that or even bother.

I've been wanting to write for She Does the City for a long time so I'm really pleased with this new development! Mike and I worked on these photos in December just for fun and I really wanted to find them a good home. I think this collaboration with She Does the City is a perfect fit. Stay tuned xx

Wanderlust

It's -30 out, I'm still sick and wondering how I'll spend my day. I think a trip to the doctor is in order. I also want to go through my hard drive and pick some pictures to print out. I'm feeling the need for a tangible place where I can cement my memories. 

Speaking of wonderful memories, when I was in high school I spent two summers at a youth leadership camp located on the southern most tip of Vancouver Island and I absolutely fell in love with the landscape, the air and the people I was lucky to meet there. I've been tossing around the idea lately that 2014 will mark my return. I would love to travel around British Columbia and then make a quick stop in Portland. 

I found these pictures on the Kinfolk website. It's a portrait of Fortress Lake in BC and a few friends who took a remote camping trip out there. I want to stand on the edge of the water and breathe in that fresh air. How about you? Is the New Year making you want to wander too? 

All photos from Kinfolk website (source)

My Favorite Blogs of 2013

In 2013, I got pretty obsessed with checking design blogs. My New Years Resolution should probably be to limit the amount of times I check them in a day. But that will never happen so my real resolution is to fine tune my morning routine. Make my bed, take at least ten minutes to apply some makeup and choose a nice outfit each day and leave for work on time. Simple stuff!

 Here are my top picks for blogs that I can't get enough of...

A Beautiful Mess //  Frequent posts with creative content and beautiful photography. They make every project seem so fun and easy but I know the truth! This is back-breaking work. But who can resist the idea that we can create a beautiful life? Obviously, I cannot. 

Favorite Post There is one project that I fully intend to do one day, and it is to make this hand painted clementine accent wall. I wanted to do it in the hallway but my brother said no. #partypooper

Style by Emily Henderson // She has influenced my style the most this year.  The thing that got me hooked: Emily is obsessed with eccentric vintage touches and loves thrift shopping. I also really enjoyed watching her show Secrets from A Stylist. 

Favorite Post: The Kurbly House sunroom makeover. If there was one room I would copy to a T it would be this one! The amazing thing is the table is from IKEA. I also loved her tips on succeeding at a design internship. I definitely used some of her tips when I was getting my sea legs at Idea Couture. 

Little Green Notebook // I really like Jenny Komeda. She's an interior designer who writes for Domino and does the most incredible vintage furniture makeovers.

Favorite Post: The concrete credenza post. I'm not in LOVE with the piece itself, but I found it so interesting to see the materials she worked with and how she customized the credenza to suit her personal style. 

Apartment Therapy // New content every day and I love me a good house tour. They also have tons of food and cocktail content on their sister site The Kitchn.

Favorite Post: I featured one of the home tours on this blog HERE. 

Design Sponge// This site is similar to Apartment Therapy but I find the articles more carefully curated and personal.

Favorite post: I wrote about the home of Bev Hisey on the blog. You can read my post HERE. 

Decor8 Blog // Where Pinterest came to life in a blog. Holly Beckers talent is corralling inspiring images from the internet into her carefully curated posts. She is also an interior designer and has that bright and cheery sense of style (and personality) that I adore so much!

Favorite Post: Anything from her color inspiration category. 

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas! I hope everyone is having a nice morning with their families and that my Toronto friends and family have their electricity and heat back! I'm at my parents sitting by the fire. Even though I don't celebrate Christmas, it is so nice to be here nonetheless! I just wish I wasn't sick today but things could be much worse.

If I DID celebrate Christmas this is what I would ask for. It's from IKEA and I love it! 

I also made an extravagant list of all the things I've been coveting the past few months that I will never buy. From Kate Spade, Swedish Hasbeens, Rifle Paper Company, J. Crew etc...Check it out here. A girl can dream, right?  

Creepin' Peoples Homes

This video shows the design process of Tara McMullens downtown Toronto condo designed by Tiffany Pratt and herself. I watched it sometime last winter and haven't been able to get the space out of my head. I love how simple and creative it is, especially the pops of yellow and the plants that are hanging from an old wooden ladder attached to the ceiling - such a good idea! I love that Pratt found that beautiful dining table on the curb and painted it white. I love how all the builder basic touches that came with the place were ripped out and washed white.  I want it all! 

Since I couldn't get the place out of my head, a year later, I've done some detective work. Who are these girls? McMullen is an incredible photographer...her wedding photos are hauntingly beautiful. And Pratt is a stylist/designer who approaches design, in my opinion, the way an artist would. Her spaces are unexpected, not overly designed or thought out (ex. the collage wall in Tara's space) and whimsical. Here are some pictures of her apartment featured in Rue Magazine (more pictures are on her website) and it's shot by guess who, Miss Tara McMullen. Talk about good collaborating. 

Okay, so the case has been solved and now I'm excited to see what they do next! 

Tipsy Holiday

Happy Holidays my friends! I for one, plan to make bad choices and have one too many. Just kidding. I did that last week. Does that stop me from buying the cocktail shaker from Target that I've had my eye on? No! My appreciation for gold bar ware is endless! I like that the glass is clear so you can see the cocktail as you're making it.  Surprisingly rare to find. 

Here are my top picks for holiday libations 

 I'll drink anything so long as they have these adorable stir sticks in them

 And anything with fig in it. What can I say! I figgin' LOVE FIGS!

Cranberry Margaritas, I've got my eye on you. 'Cause I want to drink margaritas year round. 

Classic egg nog. It would be so great to have this only in a popsicle version. Idea credit: Gwyneth Paltrow. 

And hot toddies. 

Happy drinking and have a great holiday <3

What I've Been Up To

I've been working at Idea Couture for three months now! I thought I'd share a bit about the place since I plan to go into more detail about the DIY projects I take on in later posts.  So what do I do? The short answer is I was hired to make the space prettier and more functional. How I do this changes from day to day - this coming week I'm building a new storage unit from scratch, putting together lots of IKEA furniture and meeting the co-op student with an interest in interior design who I'll be advising. Heres a collection of random pictures I took during the fall. 

Picking up orchids for the office and being vain! 

This is my lunch! Haha. I made a beef stew in the old crock pot and threw some chips on it. BAM! 

Fall decor: I painted these pumpkins and got my friend Jen who was recently hired to be an illustrator to write the letters. 

I got the vases from the dollar store and filled them with dollar store things and pine-cones. I also taped off the little pumpkins and spray painted half of them. 

I was asked to be the artistic director for a publication by IC. I'll give more details once its out! I was playing around with all the white furniture we could find to get some good arrangements for people to sit in.

The view from my desk.

Sitting on top of a bunch of ikea furniture! Right before the box slid forward and I fell on my face. Awesome.

For halloween I was Miss Frizzle. Educating the youth! 

A lot of these pictures have already been on Instagram, follow me to stay tuned.