LA

my Kitchen

When we flipped my house in 2002, the kitchen was not intended to be part of the flip... we were just going to clean it good and make do. But then, with the rest of the house fresh and modern after the flip, the existing kitchen kinda spoiled the recipe and it was added to the projects list. THANK GOODNESS, that old kitchen was sick and I would have hated it. And I don't use the word hate lightly ;)

I drew out how I wanted the floor plan to look (i totally used graph paper to make it more official) and my dad and I asked a family friend to help us make it happen. He did the cupboards and install for a little over $3000 and that was the only part of the flip we handed off to someone else. Money well spent and I love my kitchen a lot!

I had a dark brown stove for the first few months of the new kitchen and it was a really awkward match with my orange walls... the white stove was a gift from my parents that made me freak out. I was so excited & shocked and posed for picures with it like it was my prom date!!

The kitchen's going to be painted in the near future so I wanted to document it's original look before "Turtle Dove" takes over. Turtle dove is the new color I picked... it's a soft cream-grey with a turtle dove feel. Paint color names easily sell me ;) 

I have a lot of candy in jars around because of a blog design I'm working on... and my sister is a candy addict. She comes over every Wednesday morning and eats a lot of these mints, so I put a little note in it for her next visit :)

I love colorful kitchen gear ;) Since I took these pictures, Jill gave me a cool utensil jar for my birthday! Gotta show it off soon, I'm in love with it :)

Last fall, my Uncle Wayne finished the trim work on all my windows (an unfinished part of the flip in 2002). I love this photo because everything is finished, no more raw edges!

This is a little corner near the back door and washroom. That's my sister Amanda and Nathan, the little boy I nannyed for 4 years. She was my maid of honor and he was my ring bearer when I was married. 

And this is Lola's two main positions when I'm in the kitchen... begging over or under the gate. That grey face gets lots of treats, I can't resist her ;)

The Paper Monster

When I rescued Lola at 4 months old, she came with a bad habit that I've never been able to break... just work around. She eats paper at any chance possible. Books, Kleenex, Money(!!), Cardboard, Receipts, Mini Albums, etc.

I keep everything tempting hidden or out of her reach but it's always amused me that for 9 years, she's never realized that when she walks through the bathroom, the toilet paper roll is right there. Till now!

All of a sudden, she's figured it out... and she's either eatting the paper like a fruit by the foot, or worse, like an apple. In chunks!

She's funny about it and it actually makes me laugh more often than not... but once she apple's a TP, it can't be used and it's wasted. 

If you have any proven suggestions for how I can teach Lola to stop eating paper (other than just hiding the TP or locking the bathroom), please share!

Broiled Grapefruit - Loved it!

When I'm on Pinterest, I turn into visual recipe collector and it tends to make me a little more adventurous in the kitchen :) I love citrus so when I saw "Broiled Grapefruits" showing up a few times (on Pinterest), it seemed easy enough and I gave it a try :) I used this recipe, added a few blueberries on top and it was delcious!

They smell like jam and taste like mouth-watering citrus candy! I will definately be making these again, hope you might try it too :)

Retail Therapy

I don't shop often but when I have the time to wander home & kitchen aisles, I'm kinda dangerous! Last night I stopped at Canadian Tire to buy a new mop, and I came out with all these little Starfrit and Joie gadgets plus a toaster, coffee maker, rice cooker and flat frying pan. Then I went to Costco to buy more lemon juice (for my water obsession) and I also got a lamp, cabin bag, hair accessories organizer, compact luggage scale and lots of fruit. I really need to get blinders ;)

What are your danger aisles when you go shopping?

good morning

A peek in my house :)

Social Hall - total dream home!

Jesse & Arla Marlow's home in Melborne via Heather Nette King (awesome blog!)

I love everything about this room! I want to live here really bad and think this might be the inspiration for a home makeover of my own! I'm gonna brainstorm :)

The Sweet Little Moments...

Keith and I officially moved into together at the end of August and we're loving every moment of it! I'm so happy for our family to be all together (though Tom lives with both us and Keith's parents because they would miss eachother if he only lived with us). Looking up to see Keith nuzzling with Lollie last night and her taking it all in made my heart melt :)

Come back later today for a quicky & homey DIY!

xo, LA

Weekend Work Mode

(click image to enlarge)

I'm a bit of a gadget girl... I love buying electronics & equipment and I love the perfect set-up when I work! This weekend, I duplicated what I have at the office and faced it at the tv... I'm in some kind of heaven! Hehe, Rachel Ray was on ;)

Lola moves around a lot trying to find the perfect spot to nap... she's usually on the little couch or by my feet. Love her so much :)

PS. Tomorow I'll share an easy DIY for keeping your computer & electronic cords organized!

"it's a beautiful morning..."

Roofing supplies were delivered yesterday but I was still waiting for the "we're coming" call sometime this weekend. Turns out, my phone is broken so I missed it and got a hot tip when I woke up to what sounded like 100 squirrels ripping my roof off (funny, because there is a family of squirrels IN the roof right now. not for long).

I've had "Replace Roof" on my reno list for at least 5 years and kept putting it off. My sister forced me to do it this year (b/c it's that bad and shouldn't be inviting animals to cohabitate with me) and 4 weeks later, it's happening!! I think it will be done today!

Soon, Keith and I are going to paint the porch windows a fresh white and I want to change the stucco to a Butter Yellow with a Kelly Green Door (+ Screendoor). Pretty pretty excited to like the outside of my house for the first time ever! xo

And it's fun opening the door to this ;)