Declare to the world, or at least your closest friends where your “happy place” truly is. Perhaps it’s your bedroom, craftroom, studio or kitchen – it doesn’t matter where but it’s just yours! Stake your claim and snag a sweet custom embroidered hoop on Etsy in the merriweathercouncil shop >>

October on the I AM blog is all about “standing a stand against cancer” – So why not in your favorite pair of shoes!?

Snap a photo and send it in to Megan! Each photo will help raise money for cancer research and will be donated to Stand Up 2 Cancer.org (remember – 1 only photo per person this month! You’ve got to encourage your friends to submit!). Let’s show off those shoes everyone!

We don’t drink a ton of soda but we do keep our outside fridge stocked so we always have access to some in case of emergency (e.g., last-minute BBQ, movie night). Plus, you gotta have root beer with your pizza and a carbonated, caffeinated beverage around 11pm when writing product reviews. Those are givens!

I’ve been intrigued by the SodaStream home soda system ever since I first heard my sister-in-law rave about it, but I wondered if it really was worth the investment in the system, bottles and flavorings. Yes, it’s more environmentally friendly than cans, but if that’s it’s only selling point, I’m not sold. (Sorry, it’s true.) It would have to make really good soda—and a lot of it at a reasonable price—for me to place one on my kitchen counter.

Guess what? I now totally have one on my kitchen counter and we absolutely LOVE it!

SodaStream sent us their Genesis Soda Starter Kit plus a selection of their flavorings to see if they could win us over…and win us they did. Here’s a video of us giving our SodaStream Genesis a test run. Yes, it’s about 10 minutes long but every minute is worth it because you’ll see:

• Me trying to figure out how to put the thing together.


• Me being a smarta** to Nathan.


• Madison learning how NOT to shake a SodaStream liter bottle to mix the flavoring.


• Madison and I learning just what the “buzz” sounds like when pressing the button.


• Me trying to figure out how to open the single serving packet of root beer flavoring.


• George equating his tasting the root beer to “living in heaven” or some such craziness.

The video had me laughing out loud when I watched it (and wondering why Nathan didn’t tell me my shirt was all tucked up in back). He’s never going to be a professional videographer at this rate!

Since our first test run, we’ve sampled quite a few flavors from the variety pack and enjoyed every one. I have yet to give the diet cola flavor a taste test, but Diet Coke is a hard habit to break. Of course the fact that SodaStream diet flavors don’t have aspartame helps. (They use Splenda.)

SodaStream offers 30 regular, diet and caffeine-free flavors. Oh, and their regular flavors contain no high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). The lack of HFCS and aspartame makes me feel better about giving my kids diet soda for sure. Other benefits? No heavy cans or large 2-liter bottles to store in my fridge. (That means more room for string cheese, Slim Fast and yogurt.) This image pretty much says it all:

Oh my heavens! Wendy and Tyler of Blue Lily Photography came to Alberta before our move to The Island and we were able to snag a family photo session. I “patiently” awaited on our session for a year knowing that they would be coming to the Calgary area and we could finally meet in person and capture our family in photos.

On the day of the session it was crazy – we weren’t sure we could even make it in time driving up from Lethbridge. But made it we did, and in spite of reports of possible rain we had beautiful evening light. The only major issue were the millions of biting and nasty mosquitos threatening our very lives. I joked with Wendy that she would have to spend hours photoshopping them off of our faces.

Between the travel time, and the time of night our kids were crazy monster children ready to pounce. Lola wouldn’t stand still and was constantly escaping and running down the paths yelling “RUNNNNNNNN” Noah was freaking out about ants on his shoes, and Joshy and Brigs were trying to behave but couldn’t sit still or resist trying to parent the other kids. It was a gong-show comedy playing out right in front of my photography blog icon friends! I could die! Wendy in spite of all the chaos was cool, collected and darling – all the time telling me how precious my children were and how perfectly we were dressed. I love her!

Seeing the images today brought tears to my eyes. These are the last family pics of our family in Alberta, they are treasures to me. I love and stand in awe of how Wendy was able to capture such beautiful shots of our family. We love each other and she was able to get that, despite all of the chaos. I can’t tell you how much I recommend the Blue Lily experience, they are the travelling vagabond photographers who just might be in your neck of the woods next. I have many more images I couldn’t share on here, but I love them all – the shots of my individual children are beautiful too. Come over and I’ll show you all the shots! Thank you Wendy + Tyler – we loved being “Blue Lily-fied” and can’t wait to do it again. XOXO - Daria, Nathan and family

You can catch up with the photography and travels of Wendy + Tyler (and their adorable insanely well behaved children) at Blue Lily Photography Blog here>>
Join in the Blue Lily family of the happily photographed on their Facebook page here>>

Enjoy some of our family shots here:

Hello everyone, I have arrived safely to our new island home and am busy unpacking and organizing our family. It’s a huge undertaking to settle into a new lifestyle and I could use your help. If you have ever wanted to be a guest blogger on Boutique Cafe this is the perfect time for you!

We’d like to invite a few of our readers to share your favourite project, craft or DIY idea on Boutique Cafe this month. Posts should include clear photos, and will link back to your own blogs. We also require a mini bio about you (and a headshot – say Cheese!).

If you are interested in strutting your stuff on BC simply email me your idea. We are so excited to see what you come up with to share with our readers, and it’s great exposure for your blogs and businesses as well.

Email your ideas to: daria@boutiquecafe.com