[ happy weekend! ]

CAN YOU believe another week has come and gone? At this rate, summer will be over before you know it! :( I hope you get a chance to soak in some rays and maybe sip a few umbrella drinks. As for me, I'll likely be hitting the malls for additional things for our pad. It's a great way to stay cool and who doesn't love shopping? Whatever you're up to, have a great one!

lisa

[gap interiors]

[ bed love ]

THANKS SO much for your sweet comments on our bed purchase! It appears that we great minds all think alike since it seems to have been a majority vote for option #3!

Our bed has arrived and we are working on getting it assembled - time to get that mattress off the floor! I'm giddy with excitement and can't wait to sleep in a real bed. There's still a long way to go getting the bedroom set up - nightstands, lamps, pillows, drapes, art... but it will happen eventually! This starting from scratch thing is a slow process!

lisa

[ bed shopping ]

SO YESTERDAY I showed you some gorgeous inspirational beds. It was pretty tough to narrow down our favourite so it has come down to what we could find around Dubai. We searched all around the city and these were the 3 on the short-list. As you can see, we have made our choice...

option 1

option 2

option 3

Yup, option 3 was the winner. I love the button tufting and the shape of the "wings" on the sides. It's been done in a gorgeous belgian linen and while it's a little darker than I had originally been looking for, I think it will look pretty with white linens and a few hits of pale pink. Which one would you have chosen?

lisa

[ my inspirational bedrooms ]

I HOPE YOU'VE all been enjoying your long summer weekend and Happy 4th of July to all of my lovely American friends! It's been a whirlwind of shopping for this and that for the apartment, and definitely not all exciting things: washer/dryer, cutlery, dishes, toiletries & cleaning supplies... but also keeping our eyes peeled for furniture options.

I've been gathering inspirational pics of bedrooms I love, and the beds all seem to have one thing in common: upholstered headboards. We've had a black 4-poster bed which I love, but since that has gone into storage in Canada, we've been on the hunt for a new bed. I think an upholstered one would be so cozy and one of these would be dreamy:

So with all of this gorgeousness in mind, we've scoured Dubai for something that will give us this look. Tomorrow I'll show you what choices we've come across.

lisa

[white rooms; 2, 6, 10, 11 houzz; emily followill; lonny; decorpad; roomseventeen; 

domicile interiors; belle maison; countryliving; leeann thornton; white company; 

white beige; decorpad; heirloom philosophy]

[ happy weekend! ]

AND HAPPY CANADA DAY to all my fellow Canucks! Celebrating it in Dubai doesn't quite have the same hoopla, but no worries, we'll whoop it up anyway! We also got the key to our new apartment so we'll be "moving" in (well, not quite since most of our things are in transit) but still, shopping for all the odds and ends will make for a fun weekend, even if we'll be sleeping on the floor and camping out on beanbags. Whatever your weekend holds, I hope you have a chance to sit back and enjoy!

lisa

[belle blanc]

[ keeping it cool ]

WHEN THE temperature is hot, all you can think of is how to stay cool. And nothing says cool like white interiors. Like me, I'm sure many of you have embraced white slipcovers and know the comfort, freshness and easy-care that they provide (yes, I said easy-care). I know I'll be injecting lots of white into our apartment when we move in. Are you keeping it cool with white this summer?

lisa

[coastal living; 2, 5 house beautiful; joanna maclennan; better homes and gardens; 

never enough thyme blog; skona hem; country homes & interiors; vogue; 

dreamy whites blog; sunset; thomas o'brien]

[ what I'm loving ]

HERE ARE a few things I'm really loving right now ...

tunics - perfect for hot days and lovely with linen pants and sandals for a put-together look

patterned plates from Zara Home - perfect to make even a simple snack look so pretty and special (or hang them on a wall!)

Boots fragrance free cleansing wipes - great to freshen up at any time of day on these sweaty days

realliving magazine from Australia - I hadn't seen this magazine prior to moving to Dubai and it has quickly become my favourite

dubizzle.com - Dubai's version of Craigslist, definitely a go-to for used furniture being sold by so many expats on the move

Passion Pasta sauce - my new favourite sauce in a jar from Australia is the closest thing to homemade I've ever tasted

espadrilles - when sneakers are too hot and you need a break from flip flops

What are you loving right now?

lisa

[ flashback ]

WHEN I stumbled upon this charming little corner, it brought back memories of childhood. Growing up, I had a bedspread just like that slipcover! And not only was it a bedspread, it became a picnic blanket in the backyard and a "tent" where I giggled inside with my girlfriends and our Barbies. ahh, good times!

lisa

[better homes and gardens]

[ happy weekend! ]

SO IT'S officially here - summer!! And it's the first weekend of it.. sigh. I'm longing for my bike - just to take it for a spin, explore somewhere I haven't been, feel the breeze. It's on a boat somewhere and will arrive eventually (it's too hot to bike right now anyway) and I can't wait. What have you got planned for this first weekend of summer?

lisa

[marie claire; better homes and gardens; unknown; tara donne; dandelion&grey]

[ I love fatboys ]

SINCE OUR new sofa is on order and it will still be weeks before it arrives (as well as our sea shipment on a slow boat somewhere), we needed to find a solution for seating for when we move in until we get our stuff! So we decided to look for something for the balcony that can be used temporarily in the living room. We don't want a table and chairs for outside, we want something to lounge on, read a book ipad on. Well, you would think that in a land of endless sunshine, great patio stuff would be easy to find. Not the case.

[no, not me!]

After what seems like a never-ending search all over the city, we've found our solution! Fatboy beanbags! I know, super retro. But the 'buggle-up' style with the big toggle straps on the sides is brilliant - it allows you to create more of a chair-like shape and with its durable indoor/outdoor fabric and polystyrene microbeads, it will be perfect for the balcony later (when things cool down out there!). We've ordered 2 in this sand colour and I think it will be the perfect thing to keep us comfy until our sofa arrives.

lisa