125| window shopping, cake.

it's been a few weeks since i've gone window shopping--mostly because i've been too busy with life to actually stop and look at what is in the windows. today, i might actually buy something {my quarterly sales tax refund came today in the mail}.

today's also my sweetheart's birthday. except that in three years together, i don't think i've ever called him my sweetheart. but he is. andrew is also a cake monster, according to his mother--and i can agree with that sentiment. so, i made his birthday cake this year, and i made him three small cakes as well to snack on this afternoon {they're cupcake sized}. i'll post pictures over at butter-and-patience later today {for fear he is checking the blog}. anyway, as if i haven't spent enough time with cake this week, i'm going to share with you some of my favourite "cake" things.

milk-glass cake plate, eddie ross, $35

elephant wedding cake toppers, $75

pyrex mixing bowls, vintage

99| window shopping, butterflies

it seems only appropriate on an up-and-down kind of day to shower you with beautiful butterflies
{or, as i called them when i was little...flutterbys}.

flutter, $15
silver mobile, $58
cupcake stand {i'm a sucker for these}, $44


it's quite possible that i have a case of the fridays. or maybe butterflies were meant to come in small packages. either way, three seems to be my magic number today. happy friday!

93| china, the dinnerware not the country

is it friday yet? let me start off by saying that i have been so inspired by so many pretty things to covet this morning. who the heck introduced me to shoestring? ah, yes. rachel, thank you...*sigh* so many pretty things, where to begin?

right, with last night's great china debate. andrew + i thought we had decided on our china {see above}, but over the past week or so i convinced myself i wasn't sold. i visited the company's website, and discovered that they fall into the "nice, but i question the quality of your product" cateogry of things, and really i don't want china that only lasts five years.

we went back to the place we registered and took a second look. i winced. andrew accepted defeat, and i tried to convince him of a lovely set that had birds on it. if only i were snow white.

it felt a little like wedding dress shopping. everything had to be "just perfect", except that i will be using this china for the next twenty-five or more years. which means that i should be able to:

• dishwash it.
  
• feed a crowd for a variety of different events on it.
  
• not fret too much about my child{ren) carrying it
  
• scrape it with a knife without mortal fears.
  
• dishwash it again.
  
• be able to pull it our for the day that real simple visits our house to do a photoshoot {ha} without panicking that it was completely in style when we received it, but lord does it look kitschy now.
  
• place it in multiple houses without it looking "off".
  
• dishwash it yet again.

i spent the morning on macy's website. why canada does not have a macy's is beyond me. i will in fact be making every effort to stop there when i go to new york. anyway, i have it narrowed down to four, which are below...

top left: martha stewart by wedgwood
top right: red blossom by mikasa
bottom left: gardner street by kate spade
bottom right: june lane by kate spade

so, faithful readers, which do you like the most? why? and do you know of anywhere in ontario that stocks kate spade?

89| window shopping, weddings

i know the world loves weddings. so do i. but i've also been coming across a few quirky things that made me go "wow, i want that at our wedding". and for the most part, andrew agrees. exhibit #1: a comment from nicole on 2000dollarwedding about her options for RSVPs:

____ Will attend with bells on
____ Will attend, free of bells
____ Will attend, undecided on bells
____ Will not attend, heard there will be people wearing bells
____ Will not attend, regardless of bell controversy

i couldn't stop laughing, and almost contacted our design guy to see if this was an option {even though the invitations already arrived}.

anyway, without further ado, a few things that i *really* would like to see at our wedding, which you won't find on theknot

galvanized buckets from ikea, for drinks, $10

vintage flash cards, for table numbers, $5

jam, in this case from julianas jam {but we will be making our own}, $4.50

bird, to be our ring "bearer", from BrooklynRehab, $14

81| window shopping. for the kitchen

vesselsandwares, $18

alittlebitkitsch, $20

acerostudio, $28

michellebrussegard, $20 for four

the marvelous thing about these, is that i can justify the purchase of every. single. one.

69| window shopping, spring fling

this weekend, the gap brand {old navy, gap, banana republic and piperlime--for those in the states} is running its family & friends weekend, with 30% off everything. i went to old navy and gap yesterday and picked up some springtime lovelies. thank heavens my office is heated.

do you think i could pull off the american eagle dress for the wedding?

banana republic, $59

havaianas, $20

american eagle, $44.50

pursecution, $25

60| window shopping, sacks

some girls love their shoes. their earrings. their dresses. not me. i'm a bag whore.

made by hank, $30

rupertandkrista, $8

drikab, $99

retrofied, $84

49| window shopping, jewelry

it's friday, and fridays are often very big and important shopping days for me. actually, that's a complete lie, but often times i do find myself in a mall on a friday afternoon, credit card in hand {debt be damned}.

and while i do still love shopping on fridays, i also love window shopping on a variety of different websites while i should *actually* be doing work. therefore, fridays {already being such a painful day to get through at work} will be filled with little lovelies found online. trinkets and toys and things to wear. and things that are just downright pretty.

enjoy!

tryst by kerry, $18

shlomitofir, $18

rdmdesign, $12

envejewelry, $53