It's Been A While. . . (Sorry about the Staind Reference)

Well Blogland I am back, and I have to say I've been taking advantage of my increased amount of free time; catching up on Mad Men and Californication, traveling to Cuba and even looking for work.  I have also had some time to do a little decorating around here; the living room and dining room are almost complete - my plan is to find fabric for window treatments this week!

. . . But without further adieu I give you our kitchen reno!

The before images, in case you have forgotten the mess we had gotten ourselves into, and because these pictures make the afters so much more impressive! (Please click on the images for a closer look)

My inspiration!  Clean, crisp and white.  Nothing modern, but nothing to traditional - "Farmhouse Chic".

AND NOW FOR THE GRAND REVEAL. . .

Ta Da!

Really overall I think everything has turned out perfectly!  I couldn't be more pleased; although there are few small things that I think would finish things off. . . 

Hope you enjoyed, let me know what you think or if you have any questions about where we found things!

...Insert appropriate Monty Python quote here....

I could not decide on a title for this post, but at the same time believe it should be Monte Python related.  For some reason I think of Monty Python when I am in transition, and that is what I am.

So it turns out that I nave been super busy at my day job for the past few months (my excuse for lack of posts), as I have been apparently been preparing for my own lay-off.  Boo I know!

But I'm trying to stay positive ("alway look on the bright side of life"), and in doing so I have started to prepare to close this chapter and start on the next ("so long and thanks for all the fish" - see where I'm going with this?).

So there is no "CON" column to my "I have no paying job, now what?"  list only PROS.  So, I have no paying job, now what:

1. Time to update my killer resume and portfolio!
2. Time to get organized and maybe even finish unpacking!
3. Time to invest in my own start-up (?)
4. Time to take and post pictures for my completed kitchen!
5. Time to blog.
6. Time to be creative and thrifty!
7. No more 2 + hour commute (= more time to do the above)!

Getting Back into the Groove

Hello friends!

I know it has been a while since my last post - but don't think I have forgotten about you.  Like many I think I may be affected by a touch of the mid-winter blahs.

House renos didn't pick up as quickly as we thought they would after the holiday break and now we are having a hard time finding our groove again.  Not to mention that living in a sporadically  furnished and finished house may be starting to wear on my enthusiasm.

The kitchen is ALMOST done, the back-splash is in and is waiting to be grouted. . . I'm hoping that we will be finished with all of our pre-Christmas endeavors and we will be well into phase two by the end of the long weekend next week.

But for right now I am enjoying a quiet and sunny Saturday morning with the cats and some laundry!

Happy weekend everyone!

I Cussin' Love This!

I saw Fantastic Mr. Fox a few weeks back and absolutely adored it.  So when I saw this on my daily blog roll today I thought I would share it with y'all:

                        

http://www.designspongeonline.com/2010/01/living-in-fantastic-mr-fox.html

So much time and detail are put into the tiny sets of the film that create such a warm and cozy world.  Just makes me want to curl up with a cup of cider and a warm afghan.

Thank you Wes Anderson for bringing me yet another whimsy saturated world for my thoughts to wonder to.

Monday, Monday, Monday, Monday

Happy New Year Blogland!

I want to take a quick minute to apologize for my lack of posting over the holidays.  Of course my two weeks off flew by and only a few things on my to do list were crossed off.  Sorry!

Today, is Monday and this Monday seems particularly weighty; it is after all, the first Monday of the decade, the year and the month.  Today feels a little more crisp and promising to me than other Mondays past; maybe it is because I have a relatively easy day at the office today or,  perhaps it is the little glimmer of new possibilities that come with the new year or, maybe it is the freshly fallen snow that has covered everything over the last few days, or maybe, just maybe I'm still a little drunk from new years eve (just kidding)!

So I thought I would put together a small list of things that help me get into my week and my Mondays.  I hope you enjoy what's here and let me know if there is anything you do on Monday to lessen the blow?

1. Desire To Inspire - A design blog written  by a Canadian and Australian with a special Monday feature:   Pets on Furniture.

2. Sweet Paul - Recipe Monday. Yum!

3. Go Fug Yourself - This particular blog is a favourite any time or day of the week, see what is going wrong in the world of celebrity fashion.

4. Smashing Magazine - More of a beginning of the month favourite. . . Smashing Magazine is an on-line web development magazine who showcase some really cool stuff and have free monthly calendars for download.

Here are some other blogs and websites that help me get through the week:

Apartment Therapy
Decor8
Design*Sponge
Living with Lindsay - Featuring "Teach Me Tuesdays"
Corrupt Camel :)

'Tis The Season?!?

A few days ago I began a culinary adventure that I had never really planned on taking.  On October 30th I purchased a rather large and beautiful pumpkin from a local farm with great plans of carving it and displaying it on our front porch.  But, as things often go when you are in the middle of a renovations,  I just never got around to my great plans for my great pumpkin.  

And so, my pumpkin sat and sat and sat. Being nicely preserved in my garage the pumpkin was still stilling there (in perfect condition) when I came across it last weekend.  "So," I thought to myself "I guess I'm making a pie".

So I got to work  Googling and going through my cookbooks and cooking blogs; and Wednesday after our first snow storm of the season I tackled my great pumpkin.  I chopped and scooped and baked. . .

. . .and then I scooped and mashed and blended and strained myself to 9.5 Litres of pumpkin puree!

Needless to say this week has now become an adventure in how to put pumpkin in everything!

Anyone out there in blog land have any ideas with what I can do with this pumpkin? 

So far I have made Pumpkin-Apple Soup and Pumpkin-Cranberry Bread.  This weekend I'm planning on baking some Pumpkin cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Icing and maybe a pie or 4!

Baby it's Cold Out Side

Today is a "work from home" day due to the yucky road conditions;  so I thought it would be a good day for post number two.
To be perfectly honest, I started this blog in order to qualify for a design blogging course, but later found out that the course is not free like I had originally budgeted for. . .
So, I thought, on this snowy and blustery day that I would post some pics of the reason why I cannot afford to pay for a course on something that I can do for free :)

Enjoy!

The living room - please keep in mind that all the "stuff" in these pics belong to the previous owners of our house.

Living room II.

Dining room.

Kitchen I.

Kitchen II.

Office I.

Office II.  This is where I'm Sitting right now - for those of you who may be concerned by this nothing in these pictures looks like this anymore.  Thank God!

This photo was taken about a week or two after we moved in. . . needless to say this is one of the reasons we bought the house.

All of these pictures are of rooms that we have now renovated and completed.  I will try to take the after photos this week and I will post them shortly!

Happy snow day!

Lisa