While there are all kinds of beautiful things I could share with you today {inspiration is endless!}, I thought it was time I let you all get to know me just a little bit better. Makes the conversation more interesting when you know more about the person behind the computer screen, right? So, I’ve decided to dive into what now seems a rather daunting task and offer you 30 things you may not know about moi. Here goes!

1. Before starting my own interior design firm {Sarah Walker Style + Design} 10 years ago, I had my own floral design business and was privileged enough to freelance for some of the most prestigious floral design studios in Toronto. I still love arranging flowers but would never go back.

2. My favourite colour is green. Coral comes in at a close second.

3. I started swimming at birth {literally – my parents dug their own pool the summer I was born}. By the time I was 3 years old, I was diving in and swimming the length of the pool. I was a total water baby!

4. Second only to my love of swimming was my love of horses. I was obsessed with them from the moment I first laid eyes on one. I used to sneak out to the field across from our house and ride bareback on the two horses that lived there. As a side note, it was really random that there even was a field with horses across from our house as we lived in the city!

5. When I was 10, 11 and 12, I actually trained with a member of our Olympic swimming team! I was pretty serious.

6. At 13 I had a bad horseback riding accident that ended my swimming career far too early. No, this was not while barebacking the horses across the street. *grin*

7. I have a wicked case of wanderlust. I’ve had it since spending my first summer in South America when I was 16. My bucket list is huge, but so far I’ve travelled to: Peru, Bolivia, Mexico, Turks & Caicos, The DR, Cuba, lots of the US, England, Scotland, Wales, France, Denmark, Israel, Egypt, South Africa and Zimbabwe. So much more to discover! I just need one of those free flights around the world for me and my family. Anyone?

8. Friends have told me for years that I should be a foot model. I’m not sure if this is a compliment or similar to being told you have a face for radio. *giggles*

9. I adore California. It is the only place in the US that I’ve spent time in so far that I could move to with very little hesitation. The only debate would be: northern or southern Cali? Wine region or surfers? Yeah. Probably wine region. San Francisco is one of my favourite cities in the world!

10. I am first generation Canadian and most of my relatives still live in England, proving that I come by my “very pale shade of paper” skin tone honestly. Same goes for my love of Devonshire cream. I could bathe in that stuff!

11. When I was in high school I was filled with the romantic notion that I wanted to be a marine biologist…until I took biology and hated it. Then I just wanted to swim with the dolphins one day.

12. Graham, Noah and I swam with the dolphins for the first time on our trip to Cabo this past March! It was amazing. They are so much smoother than you expect them to be, and so smart! We loved it and I’m so glad I got to share that experience with my guys.

13. I started playing the violin when I was 2. I went on to be really serious with it and was even offered a scholarship to a highly regarded university for their performance string program. In the end, I turned it down and decided music was best kept alive as a personal passion.

14. My husband and I met in university and got married as soon as we were done. We were babies in hindsight, but we thought we were so grown up at the time! So grateful we found each other and that I get to do life with him by my side.

15. I am a singer/songwriter. Some of my songs have been nominated and won awards, and I have even sung on some records {including one of my own}. Fun stuff.

16. I was on an HGTV Design show about 8 years ago. I did quite well, but I’m still grateful that those were the days before they posted all of the episodes online. I learned that the life of a TV design star is exhausting! The ratio of footage to final cut was on average an hour to a minute. We worked crazy long days and barely ate or slept! It was definitely an adventure – one I’ll chock up to “been there, done that, won’t be doing it again.” I got to meet Stephen and Chris on that show and loved them.

17. One of my dearest and most talented friends went on tour with Sting as one of his backup singers. She invited me to a soundcheck a few years ago where I got to sing backup with him on a song or two! I met him afterwards and he was the loveliest. Called everyone “darling” in the most perfectly unaffected way. We watched the whole show from behind the side stage curtain. It was incredible. Still pinching myself over that one! Didn’t take a single picture because you just don’t do that when you’re invited into the inner sanctum of someone that famous. Etiquette. It means something.

18. This July 30th I will be celebrating the anniversary of my 33rd birthday. I loved being 33, so why not savour it again, right? Every woman is entitled to a little bit of mystery. *wink*

19. When I was born, I had thick, black hair that stood straight on end. It was pretty crazy! Then it all fell out and came in blonde and I’ve been blonde ever since. Weirdo, right?

20. I am seriously grossed out by {OK, probably phobic of} snakes. Unless of course they’ve been turned into a great pair of shoes or a handbag. That’s where they belong as far as I’m concerned!

21. I feel like a bad Canadian because I have not yet visited the East Coast. It’s definitely on the bucket list!

22. I did not try poutine until about 2 years ago. I know! Again. Bad Canadian. And on a recent trip with my guys to Montreal, I had the most life changing poutine ever at Poutineville. Since then, I’ve sworn I won’t eat it again unless it’s from Poutineville. Their smashed potatoes are insane! I’m cured.

23. I have tried all kinds of eating philosophies in my liftetime: raw vegan, vegan, vegetarian, lots of meat, lots of carbs, no carbs…oh help! I’ve decided that healthy foods need to outweigh the less healthy foods 2:1 and that almost all things are alright in moderation. That said, I’m still gluten free and have a very strange list of food allergies that make me an unintentionally high-maintenance dinner guest!

24. I do not have any tattoos, but in an act of “rebellion” I had my left ear pierced a second time when I was 19. Woah. I know. Crazy rebel. Clearly I was out of control.

25. According to my Mum, Princess Diana’s flower girl Clementine Hemming is a distant cousin of ours. Remember the sweet little one who sucked her thumb while she walked down the aisle? That’s her. I have yet to confirm the validity of this purported connection, but it’s fun to at least pretend you’re a few degrees separated from royalty, right?

26. I can be a creature of habit, but I also balk at too much structure. For example, I can eat the same breakfast most days {fat-free Greek yoghurt with maple syrup, chia seeds, hemp seeds with raspberries or blackberries} but resent being told I have to subscribe to a particular schedule every day with no variation. I’m a free spirit in that way I guess! The creative in me needs variety.

27. My great-great-grandfather founded a part of the Okanagan valley – a town called Penticton – and I have never been there. Also on my bucket list.

28. I’m a coffee snob. I would rather go without than drink Tim Horton’s. To me it just tastes like cigarette ashes steeped in hot water. Blech.

29. I started this blog just over a year ago after having two severe car accidents 6 months apart that stopped me short. I couldn’t take on design projects anymore because physio and recovery had become my full time job, so I started The Curated House and nicknamed it “my sanity project.” I’m so, so grateful to have begun this journey and am still so open and excited about where it might take me! I’ve learned that life is full of unexpected plot twists. The best thing to do is embrace them and find the opportunities that lie within!

30. The most unexpected plot twist I’ve experienced in quite awhile is definitely worthy of #30. After all, I love finishing off with a bang. Here goes… I. AM. PREGNANT!!! Oh. My. Goodness. I’ve been dying to spill the beans to you for awhile! I’m now almost 3 1/2 months along and starting to feel a bit more human. Noah is beyond thrilled that he is finally going to be a big brother and instantly teared up when I told him. To see your child brought to tears of joy knowing that there will be another family member added to your little trio is pretty darn special. Can’t wait to share in the journey with you all!

Well, there you have it! A little bit more about me. Can you relate to any of my quirky and unusual story? If so, tell me about it! I’d love to hear about our common {or uncommon} ground.

xo
s.