a peek inside the fishbowl

We have a winner! Thanks for your entries!

When you are very close to something it’s sometimes hard to see the warts. Or perhaps it’s just easy to pretend that they’re not there. I think this is especially true about our living spaces. We arrange the furniture in a certain way, organize things in a certain way, and are pretty much blind to the options until (1) someone points it out or (2) we hit a breaking point.

I can’t tell you how many people I’ve spoken to this past year – during the writing and research of many home reno type articles – who have reaped big dividends out of making fairly small changes in their homes. There’s so much we can do with our space that does not involve major renovations, and a well-designed living space can actually make our lives easier and less stressful.

If you’re a busy mom (like me) it’s hard to take the DIY route. The best thing is to get a fresh and informed point of view of a professional. And this is your chance! This giveaway is for one free Big Picture Consultation from Fishbowl patron Moneca Kaiser Design Build. I’ve had this service, and trust me when I say that it’s totally eye-opening. I’m so thrilled to be able to give someone this opportunity too. It’s design help for when you need it most! Like right now. :)

Here’s a recent email from a young Ottawa family that had Moneca do a Big Picture consult recently:

Hi Moneca,
Thanks for all the great advice. We realized after you left that many of our immediate problems could be solved just by moving furniture around, you were right:) We brought the cushions downstairs to create a low seating area (as you had suggested) and have created a study space upstairs where the cushions used to be. We looked at TV benches at ikea, but decided to first get rid of the furniture we didn’t need. This has made things so much more comfortable that we can wait on the renovations till we feel a little more financially secure as you also suggested.
Thanks again for all the tips.

Here’s how the Big Picture Consultation works:

We show up with a tape measure, tracing paper, and a calculator.

You give us the grand tour and your vision of how you want to live, what your needs are, what’s working and what just isn’t.

We need to kick around all the ideas to discover the really brilliant ones and we will!

We leave you with, the big picture of options for what your home can be when it grows up. Possibly some brilliant ideas, some sobering advice, a few messy drawings, and some budget estimating will come out of it.

Guaranteed, we will listen and share our most inspired ideas and best advice and expertise with you. This will give you the big picture and allow you to make decisions with confidence.

Eeep! Don’t you love it? The regular price of a Big Picture consultation is $300.00.

Want to win? Read on.

• This giveaway is open to anyone residing in the Ottawa area, but it is void where prohibited in Quebec.
• For your entry to qualify, use the comments below to tell us why you’d like to win this giveaway. What room(s) in your home need help? I would love to hear about it.
• One entry per family please! We want lots of people to have the opportunity to win.
• If you can’t post your comment here for whatever reason, you can email it to me for posting. Send it to andrea at quietfish dot com … however I cannot be responsible if your entry is misdirected or gets stuck in my Spam folder.
• Good karma goes to those who tweet or post about this on Facebook. I bet you didn’t know this but it actually increases your odds of winning! Really. Do you know someone who could use this service? Forward this post to them!
• I will do a random draw of all qualifying entries using Random.org at noon on Friday November 4, 2011.
• BONUS: everyone who enters this giveaway before the draw is eligible for a Big Picture design consultation at a reduced price of only $150. You’ll have to book it before Jan 1, 2012 though!

Sound good? Now over to you! Good luck!!

This is a continuation of yesterday’s post, written as I bask in the glow of my Litebook. ;)

Before I go much further I would like to clarify that here at Casa Fishbowl we stress the importance of healthy bodies, not skinny bodies. We appreciate that good health comes in all shapes and sizes, and good health is many things: eating right, good physical health, and good mental health too.

Last night I took the dog for a long walk. I realized a few things:

1. 1) Although I completed the Couch-to-5K program last summer (and I struggled) I really do prefer to walk. Fast. I think it might be better for me, and it’s less punishing so I’m more likely to keep doing it.
2. 2) When I take the dog out for a walk I need to ditch the fancy footwear and opt for running shoes instead. They’re lighter, better for my feet, and help me walk faster.
3. 3) I need my music. Having music with me keeps me going faster for a longer period of time. Just walking to the rhythm of the music makes a huge difference. My secret love: bass-pumping pop tunes. And sometimes I’ll dance out loud. I’m sure I look totally ridiculous but it’s FUN.

This is one of the tunes I’ve had on repeat. And I don’t really even know what it’s about but I LOVE IT.

So anyway, yes. I had my music and Piper was trotting beside me and we were totally CHEWING UP THE SIDEWALK. I was out of breath. I felt awesome, it just felt so good to be here. Confession: I think I may have cried a little bit … it just felt so great to be alive, cutting through the night air with music in my heart.

–

I came across this image on Pinterest recently. And you know what, it was exactly what I needed to motivate me to get off my rear end. It’s quick and easy, something I can do at home to get my blood pumping in the morning. And it won’t even take me that long to do it.

My idea (which I alluded to yesterday) was to undertake a series of actions to help me get through the next 100 days. And I’m going to strike it off a calendar I will make just for this purpose.

During the next 100 days I have promised myself that I will do the following:

• 40 jumping jacks, 30 crunches, 20 squats, 10 push-ups every day (it adds up to 100. Handy eh?)
• Drink one extra glass of water.
• Take my Vitamin D.
• Drink more green tea. Can I do one a day? Instead of a coffee or black tea in the afternoon? Hmm.
• Give myself a dose of light using my Litebook every morning
• Remember to eat breakfast before 9:00 a.m.

Baby steps, right? And anything above and beyond what I’ve listed here is pure awesome.

Anyway, that’s the plan. Care to join me? Obviously your list might be different than mine, but that’s ok. Let’s see if we can bust out of those moody blues this year!

Edited to add: I started a page for the 100 Club. It has a Google Calendar on it. Every day I finish my 100 I’m going to write my name down. Anything above that; the water and the Vitamin D etc. is a bonus. And I’ll write that in too. You can use it too! Just send me a note with your email address and I will give you permission to edit it. :)

I often joke that my body is solar-powered, but it’s not really a joke anymore. It’s pretty much the truth. My body can tell when the sun hides behind clouds for extended periods of time and it’s getting worse as I get older. I know what things to look for, and how to prevent the worst of it, but I still have to drag my butt out of bed every morning.

A lack of light means that I’m run down and tired, unmotivated, and easily stressed and snappish. And I don’t like that about myself.

Do you do anything different to cope with the darker months? More coffee? A gym membership? What? I need to do something more than mope around the kitchen and make tea and toast.

The big thing that’s missing from my life right now is exercise. (I’ll be writing more about that tomorrow. I have a plan!) I am taking my Vitamin D again and I will be starting up with my Litebook too. (I wrote about it previously here. I love that thing. It really works!)

While I was at Blissdom Canada there was a special room sponsored by Philips that become a cool place for conference goers to sit and chill. There were manicures going on, and electric toothbrushes being given out (I think) but I was mostly there for the company and the fantastic espresso. :) Anyway, it was there that I noticed a really interesting version of my Litebook. It’s called a Wake-Up Light, and it’s basically a dawn simulator… an alarm clock that wakes you up with incremental bits of light. Have you seen this before? I think it’s such a neat idea.

It reminded me of a video I saw awhile back. I’m reposting it here because it’s hilarious, and so well done. You have to watch it all the way through. Makes me smile every time.

Anyway, yes, excercise. I’m not doing much outside of walking the dog anymore, and I know it’s affecting me on many levels; physically and mentally. That’s why in tomorrow’s post i’m going to lay out a new plan of action. Come back and see. Maybe it’ll move you to join me? :)