The soundtrack of my summer this year will feature this song by The Radio Dept in heavy rotation.

Heaven's on Fire

And I love this quieter live version.

It's Fab Friday again. Not only that, but it's a long weekend here in these parts, and I am really looking forward to taking that extra day to relax. My three major projects at work are all wrapping up next week, so I'm sure I will be at everyone's beck and call. But it's thrilling to see these spaces come to fruition, and I'm excited to get to share a couple with you soon!

• Graphic designer Beth Chapleau created this great Canadian Winter Survival Kit. Filled with great items of Canadiana to sustain you through the long winter months, it is also beautifully assembled and designed.

• The designers at Vij5 from the Netherlands have created a composite wood like material out of old newspaper, and are using it in all sorts of interesting ways. I love the look of the sliced newsprint.

• I don't know if anyone else has seen this website, and I am really late to the game, but please check out Portable. A great eclectic website featuring all things design/culture/art.

• And finally, I saw Phantogram live this week at the Republik in Calgary. It was one of the best shows I have ever seen here, so here's a tune to kick off your weekend!

When I was in Toronto in January, we happened upon Hollace Cluny, out of pure chance really. The store is intimate, and houses an impeccably curated line of design products. It was incredible to see a Lindsey Adelman chandelier in person, along with many other treasures. In one corner of the store, I found an interesting book, and started to flip through. It contained the wallpaper collections of Tracy Kendall, and was one of the most extraordinary things I have ever seen.

Tracy Kendall is a London based wallcovering designer. Her innovative designs challenge the definition of wallpaper, in which she utilizes a variety of highly textural elements and found objects.

I have focused on the bespoke collection here, but she also offers a line of printed papers as well. See more on Tracy Kendall's website.

I bought some curtains.

These lovelies are the Scattered Chevron Curtains from Anthropologie, and they are going into our bedroom. It is very unusual for me to be drawn to something like this, but I wanted something completely different than my natural tendencies. I really wanted to use coral tones somewhere, and I think this is perfect. Now i'm thinking about wallpaper, grey linen upholstery, and the new bedding.

Blogger is finally back up, so here is my delayed Fab Friday post!

First off, I want to thank everyone who has challenged me to a life list task so far. It looks like it will be an amazing summer. Stay tuned to see what I get up to!

• Love this photograph from dsbrennan on etsy. The photo is of a rare albino bluejay from the Museum of Natural History in Rhode Island, and I have been toying with ordering it for over my fireplace.

• Schoolhouse has launched their next collection of lighting, and this time it is all about lamps! Unique pieces in concrete, glass and metal.

• My favourite Toronto duo, Julie and John of mjolk, have their incredible cottage transformation featured in the June Issue of House and Home. Pickup an issue on the newstands now, and click here to see their full before and afters and their process on their blog, kitka.

• And my new friend Kait linked to this lovely version of Moon River last week. How did she know it's my favourite song?

Happy Weekend, and get out into the sunshine!

image by Garry via Flickr

One thing that I have learned from this online community is that there are people in your network, or just on the periphery that have the same aspirations as you, or the ability to help you get one step closer to your own dreams. My life list has been a bit stagnant lately, and I want to take a chunk out of it over the next couple of months. But we could all use a bit of help now and then. And here's where the Life List Challenge of 2011 was born.

And here's how you can help me.

Take a look at my life list in the sidebar. See anything there that would be on your own list? So lets take the leap together. Let me know what intrigues you, and over the next couple of months we can support each other in achieving our dreams! Email, tweet, text me, or leave a comment and we can knock this list down one item at a time.

And of course, a theme song!

I've been so busy this week, as our alumni board put on our big fundraising party last night, which would explain my absence from these parts this week. It was a great success and I think we raised over $20,000 for the interior design students, which is so phenomenal! And next year will only be bigger and better.

Anyway, despite being so busy, here are a few great finds from this week!

• Beautiful feathered nude shoes from BHLDN, pictured above. Wish I was wearing those last night.

• I really love terrariums and these great geometric terrariums from Assembly New York take a dramatic modern take on the glass vessels.

• Have you checked out the club monaco culture club blog recently? Always full of great inspiration.

• Today is bike to work day! I don't own a bike, but I'm definitely looking at acquiring one in the future. And my bike of choice would be a beautiful Pashley from England, of course.

Have a great weekend!