being elle

A Growing Mid-Century Modern Obsession

One of the many things that I realized since entering my 30’s is that I’m embracing my inner “little old Italian lady” especially with my choices in home decor. I’m mostly joking but who knows, maybe next year my couches will be covered in plastic?

Growing up, I spent a lot of time at my nonni’s home or visiting one of her sisters and their home decor always stood out to me. Sure, their living rooms was covered in a bunch of rosaries, pictures of Jesus and saints but when you looked beyond that they had some pretty nice home decor pieces. The glass grapes, coloured vases, the record player cabinet and weird looking clocks. For years I had no idea what this style was called but I always had a soft spot for it. Turns out it this style is called mid-century modern.

There’s tons of resources online describing what the mid-century modern style, Mid-Century Coast to Coast has a short summary: http://www.midcenturycoasttocoast.com/history-of-mid-century-modern/

When I became a homeowner I knew I wanted to incorporate as much mid-century modern pieces into the space. I bought my dining table from a thrift shop that has the metal design and legs, I was lucky to get my nonni’s cabinet where I put crystal decor into it that belonged to her sisters and a few other things. The main challenge I found in getting these pieces where I live is availability. While mid-century modern fans on Facebook and YouTube were finding amazzzinnngg deals in their cities, I found the options up here were pretty limited and a bit costly. If it wasn’t for COVID, I would love the opportunity to travel to nearby cities to see what mid-century gems I can find. Whenever a beautiful vintage cabinet came up through Facebook Marketplace or Kijiji it was gone within a day. I think I spent about 4 months seriously looking for a credenza until one night I randomly went on the local Kijiji and the MCM gods heard my plea!

I bought this beauty for $60!

Since purchasing it, I sanded it down and stained it a dark brown colour that I thought would be better suited to my home instead of the teak colour.

This is the most recent photo of my credenza refinish. I put varnish on it earlier this week so hopefully I can finally put it inside the house!

There’s also this piece which I’m still trying to figure out how to decorate for the entryway…I’m open to suggestions!

These are only a couple pieces that I have but I’m planning to get more and maybe even do a bit more refinishing. I would love to refinish a chair but that might be a little too advanced for me at the moment.

I plan to post more about my growing obsession with MCM in the future and what other neat pieces I’ve been lucky to find in my area. Who knows, maybe once this quarantine is over I can take a road trip to a nearby city to see what their thrift shops have to offer – the possibilities are endless!

What are your favourite pieces of MCM furniture? Who do you follow for tips on refinishing these pieces?

Am I still here? What have I been up to?

Me a few months ago: Sorry I disappeared, I’ll post something this weekend

Also me: doesn’t follow through and disappears for a few more months

Ah, so this is embarrassing.

Again, I have no excuses for why I ghosted my own blog but I did and now I’m back to try again. I honestly don’t know where the time has gone and it’s hard to believe that we’re at the end of 2020.

One of my first entries on this blog was about my decision to transition to a zero waste, or more of a low waste lifestyle. Initially, it was going ok with the basics like recycling, repurposing boxes and glass containers, and making sure I wasn’t buying new things like makeup. Then 2020 decided to test me – I’m kidding, but COVID-19 brought on some unexpected challenges to the changes I was trying to make.

Oh and spoiler alert on the makeup, I splurged on four eyeshadow palettes since March. Way to go Elle and your excessive watching of makeup tutorials on YouTube!

To explain a bit more, I was just starting to shop at my local Bulk Barn since they had a “bring your own container” program but they had to stop it due to COVID-19. When I went to support the smaller local coffee shops in my neighbourhood, I wasn’t able to use my own container anymore and instead used one of their disposable cups. At one point, I was told by grocery stores that I couldn’t bring my own bags which led to an accumulation of more plastic bags at home. On the sanitary side of things, I purchased disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer that were single use and not cruelty free.

In no way am I trying to complain, I completely understand why these changes needed to be made. Everything about this year feels so uncertain and it definitely made me curious about how people who have been living zero waste/low waste for years adjusted to these changes.

During the summer months, I was able to redirect my attention back to my zero/low waste plans. Who knew that spending time in your backyard could do that? I made a second attempt at a vegetable garden which was successful in its own way. I learned a lot and I think I have a plan for how I’m going to approach it next year. I intentionally made my backyard mostly a garden space and instead of using a gas or electric mower, I used a manual push mower. My family and partner make fun of me for it, but it saves money on gas and it’s great exercise so actually, I’m winning. When fall came around, I purchased a composter from our local Restore and have been using it to put food scraps in to.

I think what I’ve learned about starting a zero waste (or maybe I should say low waste) is that the small changes I have made are just that – a change. The podcasts and other online resources I have referred to for guidance has reminded me of that.

Going forward, I think I have an idea of what to do while navigating the world of COVID-19. I still have a ton of makeup products to go through and a lot of clothes in my closet that I’m sorting through to create more of a capsule wardrobe. I’ve been watching a lot of content on project panning makeup and decluttering so maybe that is something I can share in a future post. Maybe it’s also a sign to start a “no-buy” for certain items in 2021? Other than that, I’ll be showing some my progress on the other small changes I’m making.

Sorry for not including photos in this post, but I plan to share soon.

Thanks to everyone who popped by to check out my blog. I hope everyone is staying safe and taking care of themselves during this time.

Until next time,

-Elle

Let’s try this again

Not going to lie here – it’s a bit embarrassing coming here after months of not posting anything. I don’t have a following on here or anything, I mostly wanted to start this as something fun for myself and hopefully connect with others through this platform.

I love watching YouTube and I always get a good laugh out of watching influencers who haven’t been around for a while make this “grand” video of why they haven’t been around. I honestly have no excuse. There were things in my life that pulled me away from this and I lost motivation.

When I did start thinking about this blog space again, I really wanted to focus on the things I wanted to talk about. Things that are relatable and maybe make someone laugh like my experiences as a new homeowner and fighting the squirrels away from my garden in the backyard. One of my first posts was about incorporating strategies into my life to try to be “zero waste.” I would love to do a follow up to that, maybe even reference how others are managing to be zero waste during this time of COVID-19. A little fyi about me is that my work background is in social work and there are some topics of interest to me I would like to share every now and then.

I got some ideas brewing…My goal is to have another post up over the weekend and keep the momentum going from there.

Anyways, I’ll leave it here for now and until next time.

Take care and be safe!

-elle

a single’s thing

When I first started decided to start a blog, I originally wanted it to be about my dating life and share stories of being a single. No, I am not trying to be the next Matthew Hussey and share my 4 strategies to texting a guy. I wanted to talk about my experiences dating in this modern world while living in a small isolated city located in Northwestern Ontario.

The small city I live in has a population of about 110,000 people which you think would be a decent number, but when you start to break it down to estimate the number of single, available men looking for a relationship that number suddenly gets smaller – especially when you consider the possible number of men leaving the community because of challenges in the economy and lack of jobs here. Am I overthinking? Maybe a little.

I’ve had plenty of opportunities to leave and move to another bigger city. Sometimes I still wished I did just because of the amount of opportunities that could have come my way professionally, socially, romantically, and personally overall. At the end of it, I made the decision to stay in my home town because I wanted to remain as close as possible to my family. So far, it’s paid off. I have a career I love, I am now a homeowner, I have most of my shit together except for one area: relationships.

Of course in my “know-it-all” ways, I turned to listening to a variety of podcasts and YouTube channels about dating which I found helpful but at the same time I found it geared towards singles living in big metropolis cities. After some time of failed dates and becoming tired of the dating sites and apps with the same men, strong feelings of discouragement. I reached a place where I needed to have a talk with myself about the real possibility that I could be a single person for either a portion or the rest of my life. It’s a horrible thing to think about, but I needed to learn how to be okay with this. If I’m not meant to have the relationship I want, how can I be okay with myself and truly have the life I want where I’m happy and fulfilled?

Most of my twenties and early thirties were spent in school, so having a social life was pretty non-existent. I’ve been single for five years and with age comes shifts and changes in friendships. I wanted to go out and do fun things, meet new people and grow. So I started searching. Events, groups, anything that would help me achieve the things I just mentioned. I would like to share these ideas in case anyone else is in a similar situation to me.

Find out about or join local groups and activities happening in your community: I enjoyed going to the gym but it’s not really a social thing for me. In the winter of 2019 I took a learn to curl course with my sister and ended up joining a curling team later that fall with coworkers. Curling is a social sport where a lot of teams/players will stay behind to socialize – especially during bonspiels! Another sport was squash. I was in a beginners group and right now I am waiting to hear about a womens’ drop in league so I can participate more. Whether it is golf, running, hiking, there could be really cool groups that you can connect with and reap the benefits of as part of combining physical activity and socializing.
Explore your creative side!: I guess this falls with the previous section of joining groups. Growing up I loved art and drawing but when college and university came into my life, I pulled away from it. In the fall of 2019 I heard about a life-drawing class offered through one of the art galleries in town and immediately joined. It’s become a Tuesday night ritual and I’ve been able to connect with local artists and fellow art lovers. Paint parties have also gained a lot of popularity, maybe even attending one could be a positive experience for you to do on your own or socialize with other attendees.
Find the “Reading Rainbow”: One thing that I knew that would involve a consistent meet up place with a consistent group of people were book clubs. This one almost didn’t happen since the book clubs apart of the public libraries had waitlists…but I managed to find one. A feminist one too – I know feminism isn’t a topic that many people enjoy, but for me it is. It’s a group of women I’ve been able to meet with on a monthly basis and talk about a variety of things including social issues which I connect with since it’s the apart of the field I work in.
Two words: Bumble BFF: Did you know that Bumble is more than just a dating app? There’s a portion of the app that women can use to connect with other women and try to create friendships with. So far I’ve formed a friendship with one woman and we get together to check out different events in town. Although I have my main group of friends that seems to be shifting recently, it’s been refreshing to meet someone new.
The world is at your finger tips: Have you considered going on an adventure to explore the world? Many people find will use their time being single to travel and explore either solo or through a group tour. A coworker of mine decided to start travelling after her divorce and says it is the best thing she has ever done. There are groups like Flashpack which although can be a bit costly, they give the opportunity for singles 30+ to travel with other singles in various locations around the world. Or there is the option of solo travel which is pretty popular. I’ve done it once to Italy back in 2012, but I got lucky since I have family over there to stay with. This summer my friend and I are planning a trip for the two of us to go on so we can knock a few places off our bucket list. Not only that, you get to meet other fellow travelers that you might be able to travel with depending on your itineary.

I think this is what I have to share for now. I am always looking for new things I can go out and do in my community. Another thing I wanted to mention that I actually went to see a counsellor. Some people may not want to talk but considering I work in social services, I do see value to the counselling process. If that’s not your thing, that’s okay, to each their own, right? As mentioned earlier, I wanted to learn how to be okay with my “singleness” and going to talk to someone has been helpful in learning strategies on how I can love myself and aim to live the best life I can for myself whether or not I have a special someone in my life.

If there’s a fellow single gal in her 30’s living in a small community like me in a similar situation who comes across this, I truly hope this helps you in some way. It’s definitely a topic I would like to discuss more on this blog. For the sake of honesty, I have recently met someone and started a relationship but I am still very familiar with being in a single’s state of mind.

Considering Valentine’s Day just passed, I know how difficult it can be to be single when everything about dating, love, relationships, being ditched by your friends so they can hang out with their fuck boy is being shoved in your face. What I do want you to know is that you have value. A relationship/significant other does not define your worth. There is nothing wrong with you. You are not broken. You are worthy of love, happiness, friendships, peace, etc and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

I’ll end this post with a YouTube video from Isabel Palacios that I listened to when I was going through a rough patch and feeling discouragement towards my single life. The video is about being a high value woman and reminded me to stay true to myself. Here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F438NE2oCeg&t=3s

Thanks for reading and take care.

-elle

zero what?

Is it just me or is there anyone else that’s worried about the environment and the amount of waste we produce? Not just in regards to climate change and the state of landfills, but our everyday activities that lead to the amount of stuff we throw out?

Recently I listened to a podcast talking about fast fashion which then spiraled into me stumbling onto the topic of zero waste.

What the fuck is zero waste exactly? Good question, I literally asked myself the same thing.

In this current climate products, food, etc are mostly being packaged with plastic and other things that might not be really environmentally friendly and ending up in landfills, the ocean, and in other places where it doesn’t need to be. With that being said, in this day and age we can’t always get away from it since most of our everyday items are packaged in these materials…so it sounds more like low waste or overall reducing the amount of waste in your life. It sounds a little overwhelming at first but when you really think about it, you’re finding other ways to manage waste – just without making a huge impact to the environment at the same time.

In case you haven’t noticed – I am super new to the world of zero waste. By the way, if you’re someone who practices this lifestyle and randomly comes across this blog, please comment and share tips on how I can put this into use in my life! But I really like the idea of finding innovative ways to reduce, reuse, recycle in my home (like what I did there?) So far, I’ve checked out YouTube and a few podcasts on what people have done. Some of these helpful changes have included using glass containers to shop at bulk stores, reusing plastic bags for grocery shopping, or even getting mesh bags to use for produce shopping.

My thoughts so far – this sounds achievable and I definitely want to work towards using these tips. But what can I do with some of the current crap in my house?

Repurpose some of the random items in my home:

I recently ordered some clothes online and was casually getting the box ready for recycling (because that’s just the habit of what I do) and managed to stop myself to ask “what other purpose could this box serve in my home without resorting to throwing it out? Hmm…I do need something to store my plastic bags in, but I don’t want it to look like a regular cardboard box…I do have left over twine from a past craft project that I can use to decorate it. There’s a few other empty containers that I have my eye on so I’m going to have to get creative and find other uses for them.

Going on a “Low Buy” with Make Up and Clothes:

As I already mentioned this whole thing started while listening to a podcast talking about fast fashion. I own a lot of clothes. Like a lot. When there are items that I no longer wear or maybe I don’t fit into anymore (I am working on losing weight at the moment) I put a pile together and donate it to a local organization that will give them to people in need or the funds go directly to the organization as opposed to Value Village, etc. What I’m trying to do now is to go through my clothes every week and make the effort to put together outfits and make use of the clothes I don’t wear that often. If it turns out that I don’t reach for that item – into the donation bin it goes.

Project pans are another thing I came across through YouTube and Instagram where people pick items from their make up collection and try to “pan” or use up by a certain time. Two items I’m currently working on are a foundation from Cover Girl and an eye shadow palette from BH Cosmetics.

So already you can see some progress has been made. One eye shadow is completely finished and I have another 4 on the go. Overall when it comes to finishing up make up, it has made me realize how long it actually takes to use up an item. There are other items I’m trying to finish off right now and I can always post pictures of my progress at another time.

Visit the Local Bulk Store:

A few of the YouTube videos and podcasts I have listened to about zero waste have suggested shopping at a bulk store using containers from home. When I was younger, I used to love going to the bulk store to buy candy but I’m surprised that I never thought to go there for everyday things like spices, rice, coffee, and other essentials. There are three bulk stores in my community and one I know for sure will allow you to bring containers in to reduce the use of plastic bags. Hopefully the next post I do on this topic, I will have done this and I can share the experience of it.

I think this a topic I would like to discuss further moving forward in this blog but those are some of the steps I’m taking as a beginner and I’m interested to see where it goes.

Maybe I’ll leave this post here for now, I don’t want to make it too long for whoever stumbles upon it – and like I said before, if anyone has feedback or advice on what else I can start to to, I am super open to it.

Thanks for stopping by and until next time – take care!

welcome!

Me: looks up “How to Start a Blog”

Google Searches/YouTubers/Podcasters: Just start

Me: Ok, here it goes

I initially set this blog up with a totally different plan in mind…but after some time I wasn’t dedicating as much time writing about what I originally wanted to and found myself wanting to share other parts of my life that others may be able to connect with as well.

Call me elle, I reside in a small city located in Northwestern Ontario…aka the middle of nowhere between the Manitoba border and Toronto, ON. I want to use this space to talk about some of the things happening in my life from my attempt to be more “zero waste” and minimalist, adventure goals, my attempt to be financially responsible adult, discussing a variety of things happening in my community, self-helpish, and even some random musings while I stand in my kitchen boiling potatoes for a potluck tomorrow night.

No joke, that is what I’m doing while I write this.

You (the reader) are most likely thinking “shit another lifestyle blog” and I won’t argue with you – because it kinda is. The only thing I can really offer is that this is all coming from my perspective. I want this to be a place of fun, humour, and positivity…with the odd few curse words that are bound to come out.

If anyone comes across this and gets enjoyment out of reading it and can relate, then that’s great. I’ve done what I wanted to do with this space. If not, then hey – at least it’s something fun for me to do.

Another piece of information I found while researching “How to Start a Blog” is a content calendar. Pretty much setting up a schedule for myself to make sure I am posting consistently and don’t lose track like I previously did. I will do my best to bring new content on a weekly basis and really be engaged in what I’m trying to do here.

Until then, take care and I’ll be back with another posting soon.

Thanks for stopping by 🙂

-elle