Kate Spade’s kitchen with antique brass hardware – Source

So we will be building a wall unit bookshelf in our living room soon. I am looking for antique brass hardware (antique brass referring to a more vintage-looking and duller version of the bright brass that was popular in the 80s and 90s) – specifically latches for the cabinet doors and cup pulls for the drawers. Restoration Hardware is the obvious choice since all of our other hardware is from there. I was able to find these antique brass latches but no luck with cup pulls in the same finish at RH. Any recommendations in the Toronto area?

It’s hard to see here but the bottom section of the straw bag is teal-coloured and soooo very pretty.

Yes I know that fall is here, but I’ve always been looking for a straw bag with some interest to it. Lo and behold, my local Homesense now carries Kate Spade handbags and I saw this little beauty. Not only is it straw but it has a teal green-coloured straw on the bottom, with cute black leather handles and a black bow. And it was a total steal at $179.99. I can’t wait to bust it out next summer.

I had kind of a proud moment today, as proud as you can get from a first-world, surface point of view. It was the realization that I haven’t bought a single handbag this year. I bought the Coach Borough bag last summer, and that was it. (Super quick review – it’s a yummy caramel tan colour and has ample room, but I find it’s better as a work bag rather than an everyday bag because it is so big and structured. And the multiple pockets are excessive – I don’t even use or unzip the middle one!)  It was after donating several of my lesser-known handbags (with shock afterwards from my husband) and deciding to sell my barely-used, overly trendy Givenchy Antigona bag via consignment (still haven’t found the time but I’ll let you know the results!), that I realized I’ve probably maxed out my bag wardrobe.

So I not at all in a position to be looking at new handbags, but I do enjoy looking at handbag sites frequently and checking out the new styles. I must say that I really love the look of a tote with a short top handle. The thing that bugs me about handbag designers is how they perpetuate irrational buying by discontinuing styles. These two would be very welcome in my closet but again, I have other bills to pay and neither would be a reasonable purchase right now. It wouldn’t justify adding them to the rotation of my already sizeable handbag collection (I haven’t counted recently but I’ll make a list sometime in a new post, and perhaps even snap a photo of each one of my darlings). So I can dream for now…and maybe one day they’ll end up on eBay. I like that neither of these bags is ubiquitous, and they’re classic with a touch of something different and bit of je ne sais quoi.

The Balenciaga Nude Works Tote Bag in pale gray with snakeskin handles. This bag is soooo very beautiful and elegant in person. The bag below is the larger size but I’d want it in the smaller size.

Just a quick post about our ‘styling’ job on our kitchen shelves. This is one of my favourite views of our kitchen. My husband and I went through many different accessories and tried out different heights and colours. This combination seems to work just right.

We renovated our kitchen several years ago, and the one ‘regret’ that creeps up every now and then is whether we should have put marble in our kitchen instead of granite. So I wanted to outline my thoughts on the marble vs granite debate, to pass on to any of you who are going through the same struggle.

Source

Do you ever find yourself evaluating why you do what you do? My intent was never to get too personal on this blog. I wanted to focus on handbags and home decor, nothing more and nothing less. But if you saw my previous posts on whether I should even continue blogging (so early after starting), I do think about why I’m doing this blog and what it means in the grander scheme of things.

Lately I’ve realized that many endeavours outside of one’s job, aren’t considered worthwhile unless they have some monetary gain. Starting a blog led me to some extensive conversations with my husband about it. I followed a couple of fashion blogs years ago, to learn how to dress better, as I was tired of throwing away clothes that frankly made me look awful. But those same blogs have changed over the years. It’s less about education and more about sponsorships and ads and affiliate links. I hate the ‘business’ aspect of these blogs and how it makes the content less personal and more marketing-like.

So I decided my blog would be like an online journal focussed on a few hobbies that I enjoy. I like hearing from people but I’m not doing this to make money or generate a ton of followers. This blog is more of a quiet space to write in the less than hour of free time I have every couple of days. I’m not complaining as I love my family life.