Wash ALL the dishes!

I hate doing the dishes. Hate it. Somehow I always end up with dirty dish water on my boob, the mushy shit at the bottom of the sink makes me gag and I just generally do not like it. I don't like the smell of dish soap. I don't like the noise of a knife scraping the bottom of the sink. I don't like the smell of the dish rag or sponges. I hate drying the pasta strainer.

Solution?

Meet Bertha!

My friend bought a house and it comes with appliances so I bought her dish washer for 75$. Ours is it's third home on the Base as it's been passed around from PMQ to PMQ but it's in top shape! Comes with extra counter space. It's kind of bulky where we have it now but I'm more than willing to put up with a bit of bulk if it means I don't have to do the dishes.

Like right now... I could be washing dishes. But I'm not. Thanks Bertha!

Guestroom Update

For 4 years I've been nagging my husband for us to paint the guest bedroom upstairs or our bedroom - hell, anything really! I totally get that while we live in PMQs there is no real and tangible gain from painting a room or buying furniture to suit a specific room. But there's also even less to gain from living with beige walls, beige carpet and ill-fitting furniture. I'd rather grow to love a PMQ than grow to hate it.

Anyways, he finally gave in and we re-decorated our office/guestroom/yoga room a few weekends ago.

*Please ignore the stretching husband.

We painted the walls Napa Valley green inspired by this little brochure. We liked the mix with blue and the comfy yet bright tone of it. We reconfigured our computer desk, printer table and book cases to have them all on the same side of the room so it looks more like a custom unit or a larger desk. The desk was bought at Walmart maybe a few years ago on sale for 50ish bucks. The bookcases where given to us by Js' co-worker who was moving and didn't need them anymore and our printer table is actually a coffee table from our living room set. The futon is old as dust as is (obviously) the ugly ass chair. All this to say that we just reorganized and re-purposed furniture we already owned to give the room more functionality and to create better use of the little space we have.

The only new thing is the roman shades which are meant to be the focus point. I love, love, love the print and made them myself for a few dollars based on this tutorial. They cost me a total of $23 and I'm quite happy with the results.

Another view. Crouching husband - hidden ugly chair.

I know the poster is a little tacky but I enjoy it and it cost me a buck. You can also see my yoga mat there and Js' guitar. That lamp is from Ikea and I've had it for something like 9 years. :) I have a bit of that curtain fabric left so I'm probably going to do something like a small pillow or something to bring that pattern in to this side of the room. That closet we use to keep Js' uniforms and endless shoes and boots and stuff so we sacrificed access to that door nearest to the wall and gained a whole bunch of usable space.

I'll stop gushing now... but yeah, pretty happy about all our work. I've got a few more projects I'm working on so stay tuned... or not. Whichever works.

Meal Planning - How's it going?

I'm curious to know if anyone's tried to meal plan since my series of posts earlier this month? I'd like to know what you think and steal your tips and give them a try...

I came across this article about Meal Planning by Helen Jane on Offbeathome.com during my weekly catch-up-with-the-internet Friday afternoon session and thought I'd share. :)

Self-inflicted Ass Kicking

My goal for 2012 is to “do shit and stick to it”. Ironically enough it, has been kinda demanding to stick to but so far so good. I’m holding on for dear life to the last shreds of hope at this point but it’s better than nothing at all. Everything just seems so simple when there’s no accountability for how little productivity is expected. I just gotta keep reminding myself that I’m doing this for me and I’ll be successful. I think.

To help restore some self-awareness that I felt had been slipping away from me over the last few months (read: 8-10 months), I decided to take up some Yoga classes at our base gym.

I actually quite pleased with it. It’s reminded me of how important it is to totally suck at something and how fun it is to stick to it. I suck, not gonna lie. This girl is not the most flexible or graceful – ask anyone. I do feel some progress though which is really inspiring. I’ve even found some pretty decent youtube channels with some instructors that I like so I can do some at home during the weekend.

I also took up another fitness class which is totally more kick-butt-wanna-puke-hope-for-a-quick-and-merciful-death type of physical activity. I totally hated my instructor the next day but totally loved her at the same time. I forgot how much I love pushing myself.

I’m lazy and that’s one of my main issues with ... well, pretty much anything. That’s what self-awareness mixed in with some fitness classes and lifestyle changes has thought me in the first month and a half of this goal focused endeavour.

I’m kind of excited for the next few months to see what else I can take on, suck at and then kick butt in.

Namaste bitches.

Meal Planning – Grocery Shopping

After you’ve planned everything you’ll be eating for the week; there comes the daunting task of grocery shopping. Ugh.

Firstly, here are a few shopping tips I’ve come up with to make it easier for you.

1. Write a list. On our fridge, we keep our meal plan menu and our shopping list on separate pieces of paper as well as our “Costco list” on an erasable board. We like to add to the list as we use the last of something to save some time when meal planning time comes. Once we’ve figured out our menu, we like to go over all the ingredients we’ll need then one of us goes searching and the other one writes stuff down. As we normally do our shopping on Tuesday nights, we usually end up doing this Monday right after dinner when the coffee is brewing.
2. Bring your list. Don’t forget it at home, on the counter, in the car or at work. Write it in your cell phone if you have to! I like to keep it in my day planner that I carry everywhere with me.
3. Stick to your list. Don’t wander. Don’t buy stuff because it’s on sale unless it’s on your list. Check everything on your list and run outta there! Grocery stores are made to make you wanna buy more than you came for. It’s not a scam or anything – it’s just good business sense! You’re a savvy shopper, you have a list, and you can do this!

We all tend to stock up for a rainy day when we see good deals on food especially stuff that doesn’t expire. We think, what harm can it do, just sitting there in the pantry? If you look back at your inventory exercise, you’ll see what an impact stock-piling has can have on your house and budget! Yeah, it’s only $5 but you could have that $5 in your pocket instead of in your pantry. Ask yourself this: Would you leave a $20 bill just sitting on a shelf in your fridge? Then leave $50 to accumulate dust in your pantry?

Try to stick to the “outside walls” of your grocery store. Most stores keep all the major items and perishable goods like meat, produce and milk in fridges and shelving that flows along perimeter of the store. Save the isles for last and only go down those you must according to your list then run to the check out! The isles are jam packed with cans, boxes and pre-packaged (and not to mention over-priced!) stuff you don’t need.

You’ll save money, time and a whole lot of guessing out of grocery shopping! You know you have enough food for the week, you know you’re not spending more than you should and you know you can afford a nice latte for the drive home.

This may seem odd at first but trust me, you’ll feel so liberated after a few times doing this, and grocery shopping will become so easy and fun – almost like a top secret mission except your list won’t self destroy – you’ll look forward to it a lot more. I always thought grocery shopping was therapeutic because I was doing something good, something to provide for myself and my family and it was almost hypnotic looking at different items and comparing prices, trying to save pennies! Now, I know for sure that I’m saving money and I feel much better knowing I can go home and I can hang with Js and play fetch with the dog.

I has a happy!

These last few weeks have been INSANE with crazyness. Happy crazy - but crazy nonetheless.

To top it ALL, I got a wonderful phone call this morning from Maggie to announce the birth of her first child! I'M AN AUNTIE! Yes, ladies and gents, I'm an aunty to the most amazing little bundle of joy that ever lived.

Tattoo'ed up! :)

It's done! I got my third tattoo done on Wednesday and it's beyond anything I'd imagined it would be.

I was good and didn't sob like a wee child. It took 3 hours total, including all the sketching and forms to fill and stuff. Well worth it, every second of it! The artist was the same guy who did my foot last year so it was great feeling comfortable and confident that he'd do an amazing job. I ran into him today and he asked to see how it was healing. He said she was healing beautifully and of course, if I need touch ups to just give him a call. Nice man. :)

Anywhos... I haven't had the guts to post a picture of it on Facebook just yet but... I think I'm ready to post one on here.

Without further ado :

Lost Season 6 - ALL MINE!

Guess what comes out in stores today... ... SQUEE!

All calls and emails will be returned when I'm done. Kinda like a cheap date.

Nick, if you get random texts during the evening, you'll know why. Kinda like a cheap date.

Bachelorette on the loose!

It's a bit overdue but the photos are just finding their way on Facebook now. My fabulous, fabulous friends organized me the bestest best bachelorette party a girl could ask for the Saturday before the wedding. I wrote a bit about it here but I figured you would all enjoy some more pics and deets!

First things first, there was a surprise-shower part of it which family attended - more like the traditional wedding shower where we did funny games and ate cake. It was great to see family right the next day after my arrival in Ontario. We made some toilet-paper wedding gowns and I completed a "how well do you know your groom-to-be quiz".



When it was all over, I was kidnapped and decorated with balloons and some Bachelorette gear and forced to go downtown Ottawa for dinner and some good times (and by "times", I mean "drinks").





We headed out for dinner when I realized that I forgot my ID at Js' dad's house. LAME! My bridesman, Jf had been invited to join Js' bachelor party too so he knew where the guys were and when. We got a hold of them and asked Js to drop off the keys so I could go get my ID in case my "I got kidnapped this morning and I don't have my ID - plus, I'm old enough to get married you tool!" didn't work.When Js showed up at the restaurant, I truly enjoyed what I saw :

Js had a to-do list on the back of his t-shirt - pretty much all the boxes where checked by the end of the night.

The dinner went on with much fun, drinks and laughter. We made "male organs" out of napkins (just request it in a comment and I can post a tutorial), I got a t-shirt and some colorful gear to get noticed - and get free drinks - at the bar.

Yay!

The bunch at the restaurant - before things got soaked with alcohol.

Cheers to a great party with great people!

I made a wee-wee out of a napkin and my cousin got carried away.

Then, we hit the clubs - yes that's plural. We went a bunch of different places and finally settled on Whiskey bar. It was amazing how much fun we had - drama-free. Everyone got along and everyone was boozed up just enough not to care. It was nice to let loose and go nuts with my friends like when we were young (-er!! younger!!).

Throughout the evening, I kept thinking that it was awesome how Js was out with his buddies at the same time and kept hoping they were having as much fun as we were. I didn't worry for one second that he'd do something stupid or call me from jail asking me to come pick him up at 3am.

My party-party! :)

Love!

A picture of pure class.

That last picture is of one of my bridesmaid and me. If you look really closely, you'll see that she's holding a mickey of Malibu rum and I'm holding a shot glass. If you look at the photo again, you might notice that we are at an unnamed bar. Yes, throughout the night, she would not-so-discretely take out her bottle of rum and pour me a shot. Pure class! :)

Overall, it was an amazing night and official goodbye to Singlesville! :)

PS: All photo credits go to Maggie.

FRUIT! We have FRUIT!

No, Nick - not you! *shove*

My very pitiful attempts at gardening have finally been recognized by the gardening gods. Behold, our 2 first raspberries!

So the picture is a bit blurry but you can forgive my excitement, I'm sure!

We bought a hopeful little twig of a raspberry plant and now it's grown a couple branches and we're looking at probably another 5 to 7 raspberries before the end of the summer.

We didn't expect anything to come of it at all because we planted it so late in the season and well... I fail miserably at keeping plants alive let alone grow something that has an actual (and delicious) purpose. I'm quite the nurturing person... I promise. *faint smile*

Voila, my latest gardening success story!

PS: We totally ate the raspberries and they were totally delicious.