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 ;)

My Birthday Wishlist

My Birthday is this Wednesday, April 11... for fun, I did a little online window shopping and made this wishlist :) Don't need any of this, but it's fun to dream :)

1/Vintage Enameled Heart Bowl  2/Spring Dress  3/Ciiclo Khaki Neon Bike Bag  4/Oval Ceramic Brooch  5/Lightscoop  6/Bayside Hoodie (v.Kelly)  7/Bogs Boots  8/One Man Wolf Pack T-Shirt  9/Colored Mini Locket  10/Vintage Glass Pyrex Dome  11/Vintage Sunglasses  12/Lacquered Drawer Box by Borge Mogensen

Winnipeg >> Steinbach

Lola and I went on a little road trip to Landmark and Steinbach recently... I took Lola to the "beauty salon" ;) While she was being shaved, bathed and pampered at Waldenway, I drove 'into town' to Steinbach and had a nice date by myself. I had breakfast at a diner, went to the mall, played with animals at the pet store & picked out a new blonde-yellow collar for Lola, and visited the Canadian Tire to buy myself a sleeping bag. Everyone in Steinbach was super chummy (friends running into each other everywhere) and it was a nice little morning in a new place :) Lola is so velvety with her haircut, I love it!!

My Spa Spree

I went through a stint a month ago where I was spa'ing it up. It started with a haircut & blow-out, then went to a wax, then a serious back massage because my back was o-u-t and ended with a fancy facial. I was painting my nails every few days and feeling real pretty with some new make-up I picked out. And a skin regime ;)

I'm pretty much back to being a tomboy, but it was nice to spoil myself for a few weeks and relax under someone else's care. The massage was the best part!

When Kennedy and Olivia visit, we always have a nail painting party... it's the best spa around :)

Guys, thanks so much for all the supportive and loving messages you left me this week.... you are all so amazing and it means a lot to me! I hope that those of you going through similar things have a lot of support and hope too. I'm with ya!

talking down a wall

I've been having a really hard time sharing lately. Every night I say I'll blog tomorrow and when the day comes, I feel frozen. I talked with Kyla for a long time today about how I've been feeling in general and it was a very good conversation. When I pour out my heart, she helps me explore the aspects of my feelings, the why's, the victories, my power, the concerns, the pain and ultimately, the options.

Right now I'm dealing with 'hiding mode'. My depression has made me very tired and it's hard to not wanna nap a lot. The other aspect of my hiding mode is that I don't want to show how weak I feel or that things are hard right now. I'm discovering that I have a bad personal definition of strength and tend to share difficult things only once I've got through them and overcame them like a warrior. I don't see strength in others that way but I hold myself to that secrecy until I can have a good 'moral of the story'. I'm currently in a longer struggle than usual and I'm seeing that hiding mode is more like isolation mode. I hide so much that it makes me live two versions of my life and it's really not helping things.

I think this is one of the reasons I've been having a hard time blogging. I want to be the exciting, strong, inspiring Leigh-Ann (in life overall) and that isn't very natural right now. Don't get me wrong, I'm still laughing lots, having good days and following my heart like I always do, but at night when I'm alone... I have a really hard time and it taints things. This is a stage though and if I work through it, I think it will get easier. I'm gonna try to open up and expressing this here is my first step (and it is hard!).

I really miss loving my blog. It's frustrating to check my own blog and be annoyed that she didn't blog again (um, I check my own blog like a stranger sometimes). And, I miss connecting with you and being real.

Instead of wanting to be really happy and fine as my ideal day, I'm going to work on pretty alright as a healthy goal and balance. I need to renegotiate my definition of strength and stop trying to be bulletproof.

Thanks for listening and sticking around... hopefully sharing this will make it easier to post and have pretty alright days with you :)

Love Leigh-Ann

ps. On a lighter note, I'm going to a bachelor party with Kyla and Amber tonight-- will Ben choose Courtney or Lindzi?? and why is her name spelt that way? so much talking at the tv will happen! I do that a lot and got Ky & Amber in the habit ;) Let's girltalk about it here tomorrow!!

Family Weekend at the Cabin

While at the cabin a few weekends ago, we went tobogganing onto the lake. I'll try and make a gif of me and Lola going down together, it was so fun!! The weather was perfect, we all played like kids and the Olivia and Kennedy loved holding Lola's leash (she's a puller and kept getting away from them-- "LOOOOW-LA!"). 

I've been spending a lot more time with my family since my break-up at the beginning of the year. They've been really incredible and are helping me heal up. It's the big and little things... a weekend at the cabin, coffee with my sister, knowing I can call them if I'm sad, my mom randomly emailing me "I Love You" :) My friends have also been so awesome, thanks guys!!

Family, Spa, Eames, My Work, Portlandia, Gold, Home.

I've been away for a little while. Suddenly I felt very private and needed a break from sharing my life. Just a phase but one I let myself have... and it was nice.

To get me back in the game, I want to share my next 7 blog topics:

• Family.
• Spa.
• Eames.
• My Work.
• Portlandia.
• Gold.
• Home.

...these are the things I've been recharged and inspired by since early January and I'm looking forward to sharing more soon :)  xo, LA

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?

My Goals and Changes in 2012

1) I quit drinking Coke Classic on January 4th and have been drinking a lot of Lemon Water instead. I feel a lot better already and on Monday, I'd already lost 5 pounds!

2) I'm making handmade again! Our design business has been so steady over the past two years that I stuck to the computer a lot more and really missed my handmade hobbies. Last week I spent some time making albums and it felt like I was catching up with a long lost friend!

3) It's the year of Day! I'm waking up earlier and getting to work by 10 and in bed by midnight (ideally, lol)... I'm not working through the nights anymore and am trying to take more time off to enjoy life :)

4) This one is hard to share... but I'm now a single woman. I broke up with Keith a little while ago (amicably) and I'm moving on. We were together for four years and will remain friends but even with all the love we have, there were big things we just couldn't meet on or fix and it played a regular role in our week to week. I think it would have carried into our longterm happiness and I made the hard decision to stop going before we were married or having children :( It was extremely difficult to do and I'm mourning right now, but with this one life, at nearly 31, I want to be in the right life for me.

xo

Learning to Dress-Up, Christmas Party

We had our first annual Freckled Nest Christmas Party this week and I wanted to get festive! I wore my new thrifted dress ($7 score!), purple tights from We Love Colors, Yellow Flats from Target and Thrifted Purse, Belt and Cardigan :) Kyla, Amber and I exchanged gifts and went for a super yummy supper & cocktails at Earls :) Lots of laughs, exciting talks about our year ahead, and much needed time away from our desks-- our first Christmas Party was a hit!

• I love playing with Color!
• I used my secret pins to keep the buttons safe.
• This was my first time wearing lipstick (since grade 4) and it was neat! Felt like the final touch to my outfit :)
• Open-toed shoes are bad in the snow ;)

Hope you're enjoying the week before Christmas-- I have a little more shopping to do, but I'm realllll excited about upcoming time with my family :) xo