It’s Friday! How was your week? Mine was busy, juggling family and the store, but I don’t think that’s going to change any time soon! I’ve always admired working moms and have jumped into this new “normal” without much forethought. I feel like I’m winging it in a lot of areas these days and I really need to get organized with planning ahead for meals, etc. My house is finally somewhat clean and tidy but I suppose I should get regular cleaning days on the new routine too! Do you work outside of the home? Have kids? A husband? A dog? Any life balancing tips will be gratefully accepted! It will take a bit of time for us all to adjust to my days at work but I think we’re on the right track and I am so thrilled to be living my dream as a store owner. Someone who has been a big supporter, helping this dream come true, is my dad and today is his birthday…Happy Birthday Dad!!!

Secret Holiday & Co.

Rachel and I have always hesitated accepting items in exchange for product reviews but this one from Firmoo was too good to pass up and I’d love to share it with all of you! The online eyeglasses store, Firmoo, contacted me with an offer of free prescription glasses in exchange for an honest review. I was a little skeptical until I looked through their site and saw the wide range of stylish glasses at incredible prices…we’re talking really affordable, like $8-$40 per pair! I’ve been putting off getting new specs for years, despite the fact that mine were really old and had been bent beyond repair, due to the looming cost of a new pair so this offer came at perfect timing. My new glasses arrived within 2 weeks of sending Firmoo my prescription and I was really impressed by the high quality of the frames and the fit…I didn’t even need to get them adjusted!

But the free pair aren’t just for me to enjoy…Firmoo recently launched a program offering free eyewear to first-time buyers in order to make more people try Firmoo?s quality products & excellent service. Want to have a try? Just go to http://www.firmoo.com/free-glasses.html to get your FREE pair! Yes, that’s right, FREE GLASSES!

And, hello! Here I am in my new specs! They are a little bit bigger than I pictured but are super comfortable and give my eyes a much needed break from my contact lenses. Wondering which pair I chose? With free glasses on the line, I really splurged and picked this $8 pair in Tortoise. Firmoo paid the shipping for me this time but even at regular price with shipping costs, the expense would add up to far less than what I would normally spend on a new pair.

Today I Love This

So, what do you have planned for the weekend? We’re enjoying some glorious fall sunshine here and it looks like there’s more in the forecast for the next few days. Brad lucked out with a four day weekend so I’m hoping to tie some quality family time in between a good garage sale or two! We’ve been steady in the shop all week so I’ve got even more of an incentive/excuse to keep shopping. Have a great weekend 🙂

Brad and I are finishing up our beach time with the kids and friends in Birch Bay right now but I thought this would be the perfect time to introduce you all to a new company with our first sponsored post. Rachel and I have hesitated featuring any sponsored products until this point but we hope that you’ll agree with our thought that Fashion for Home would be a great fit with our readers. Although they are based in the UK, they do have an American eshop (with free shipping in the US!) and customers can buy direct from the manufacturer, keeping price tags very affordable. The main challenge with decorating on a budget is always finding well designed pieces that are built to last. Fashion for Home’s key concept is to build made-to-order pieces (this skips costs associated with storage) sustainably and to fit every budget. I love finding companies who are thinking outside the box and making good design available to everyone! But not just good on paper, their furniture is what really caught my eye so come take a peek at a few of my favourite looks from Fashion for Home….

I’ve fallen pretty hard for the Grand Sofa in the last picture and can picture curling up in it as we speak! With plenty of modern and more traditional designs to choose from (and some great nods to Mid-century classics too) , I really like how versatile Fashion for Home is for all decorating styles. Any pieces that caught your eye? And how is your week going so far? Hopefully you’re soaking up some sunshine like we are! The Spruce girls and I pick up the keys for our new shop tonight and I cannot wait to get inside and start planning the layout, etc. I have a feeling the next few weeks are going to get very busy! With Rachel on a break, I likely won’t be blogging every day and it might take me some time to get settled into the new routine…please be patient with me 🙂

*Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by Fashion for Home. Birch + Bird will only feature sponsored posts from shops/products/services that we would share with you all anyway. Anything we feature will always be because we truly enjoy the way it looks and we will always disclose when we have been paid for a feature. This is our first sponsored post.

After a very long day of travelling, we made it “home” without any major issues.  The girls were fabulous and I’m so proud of how they kept up with me through the airports while pulling their own suitcases.  I hope our trip home will be as easy.  Before we left, I was granted Mother’s Day off to go shopping.  Pure bliss.  Of course, I stopped in at Anthropologie to have a look around and came across the lovely stationary of Quill and Fox that I’ve been eyeing on Etsy.  The Terrarium Postcard Set came home with me because my stationary stash hasn’t been replenished in a long while.  Who wouldn’t love to find any one of these in their mailbox?

All images by Quill and Fox

Pretty, right?

As you can imagine, we’re still glowing from our weekend at Fieldstone Vintage Market. Many of you wished you could have been there so we asked the very talented Sharalee Prang to document our day and, boy, did she ever! Sharalee captured so many poignant moments of our vendors and customers alike, not to mention each of the incredible displays that our vendors worked so hard to put together. It was extremely difficult to choose which ones to post today so be sure to check out our Flickr account for many more stunning photos of our day in the field. Also visit our Fieldstone blog for another batch of Sharalee’s pictures…they’ll make you feel like you were actually with us at the EcoDairy last Saturday! In case you missed it, be sure to also her slideshow on vimeo.

Our morning started out with the field (and all of our tents!) wrapped in a heavy fog, making things just a wee bit damp. But after a beautiful sunrise, the fog lifted leaving nothing but blue skies and sunshine behind! It wasn’t long before the parking lot was full and customers were eagerly lined up for our 9am opening…

Look at their smiles! We saw a lot of smiles all day and I know that my cheeks were hurting by the time we packed up. Customers began pouring in and the hunt for treasures was on! You could see the EcoDairy and all of our tents for miles, from the freeway and beyond and, despite several hardworking parking attendants, cars were soon lined up as far as the eye could see!

The best part of my day was having the chance to see peoples’ eyes light up and even hear them gasp when they walked through the gates into the field. Many had never been to the property before and it was truly magical, with the open fields, horses and mountain views beyond. Our vendors went above and beyond to create the most gorgeous displays for their goods…

Like I said, their were happy smiles everywhere, our EcoDairy partners Helinda and Tanya included! Our only regret of the day was that Rachel and I were too busy scurrying around the property and manning our own booth to take any time to shop. But it was so fun watching customers triumphantly carry their new finds around the pathways…

See what I mean about all of the smiles? The kids all had tonnes of fun too…from pony rides, to live music, to a fantastic art station hosted by The Reach gallery, there was more than enough to keep them entertained while mom and dad shopped…and shopped!

We had live music performances by Hanna Williamson on the violin, local band Old Mare, and singer/songwriter Anna Vandas. They’re all so talented and it was fun watching people dance while they shopped or take a break and have a picnic lunch while enjoying the music…

Be sure to check out our list of all of our Fieldstone Vendors…most have links to webpages or online shops so you can continue your market shopping from home. The networking opportunities on Saturday were amazing, with customers coming from Victoria, Vancouver and beyond and we’ve been so excited to watch our vendors grow and expand their small businesses. After all, they’re the reason we chose to host another vintage and handmade market!

All photos by Sharalee Prang Photography for Fieldstone Vintage Market.

Yes, that’s Rachel and I looking a little melted at the end of the day…but still smiling! We’d like to take a moment to say a HUGE thank you to the Bakerview EcoDairy and our lovely partners Helinda Vanderkooi and Tanya Curtis for hosting such an amazing market and working so incredibly hard to have everything ready for our big day! Another HUGE thank you for our husbands, families and friends for patiently helping out behind the scenes on the home front and the odd building project (or 2)! More thanks to Canuck Place for manning the front gate and raising funds for the much needed children’s hospice in Abbotsford. If you forgot to give on Saturday, please help support this wonderful organization and visit the Canuck Place Children’s Hospice here.  The City of Abbotsford and Tourism Abbotsford also lent a hand, generously printing off hundreds of rack cards advertising Fieldstone and several other local business…thank you! And last but not least, another HUGE thank you to our amazingly talented vendors and thousands of happy customers…we could never have done this without you!

All photos by Sharalee Prang. See more at our Flickr page here and please always give credit where credit is due 🙂