The Move, so far...

Thanks to my brothers (Albert and Kevin) and Ed, of course, Saturday was moving day. Everything still in my Guelph apartment is now in the Ricebox.

The panelling was sold out at Home Depot last week when Jeff came to help us get that. So everything is done except the floor where the wardrobe was sitting and the path to the laundry room, one coat of trim paint yet, and those pieces of panelling, along with the baseboard & trim to go with it. And a few electrical bits & bobs.

I'll contrast the "what is now" with "what it was" photos.
This is the official "so far" look. It's a MESS!

Remember this? It's my Guelph apartment's kitchen.

See this? This is the contents of those kitchen cupboards.... (ah, & the hole yet in the panelling...)

Remember this?

This is that corner with the wall paint...

And this is that corner nearly done with renos, and almost set up as my bed'room'

This was the last renter's bedroom area. You can see the patch on the wall that was covering a hole which prompted us to remove the panelling....

That panelling has yet to be replaced...but this will eventually be a sitting area....(my painting is in progress...and upside down...)

I'm moving! A Basement Renovation Story.

I am in the process of moving. That process is nearly complete. I even got my driver's license address changed. It should be coming in the mail soon.

Today, as you read this, I will be packing up the remainder of my first-ever apartment, and leaving it forever.

In this process, I discovered Salvation Army too.

But, more importantly, I am moving from this:

Old photos of my apartment. It seems less crowded and wall hangings have changed...

to this:

Furniture is now out. But note the lovely dragonfly patterned wallpaper!

There's my mattress! Surrounded by 1970's panelling. Avant garde by now, I'm sure. (I'd already started stripping the early 90's wallpaper!)

Stairwell

Almost my favourite part of the entire basement....

Granted, my furniture is not yet moved in (everything in those photos is the last renter's - except for the mattress on the floor) but look at the difference in eras. In light and dark. In live-ability. 

And. Stay tuned for what I did, with a lot of help from Ed, and some help from a few others, to make it into a more liveable space.

Cafe Cravings

I just discovered this website today: The Sisters Cafe.

What you really need to do is go to their "Recipe Index" tab and just have a look-see.

Seriously, every ingredient I've seen is easy to find (or substitute) and everything also looks super simple to make. And for the most part they're not too weird or far out. You can tell these ladies are every-day moms.

(I'm not an every-day mom, but I appreciate it! Many other recipe blogs seem to be written by crunchy, vegan, hippie food gurus who have nothing better to do than make fancy, weird food. All day. For hours on end.) (I hope you're not offended by the hyperbolic description!) (It's just that they make me feel guilty about buying pre-minced garlic instead of fresh. And regular unbleached flour instead of organic. You know.)

I am going to go home tonight & search my cupboards for ingredients to some of my choice recipes & then write up a meal plan & grocery list. Because these look & sound delish!

Some favourites so far (I haven't tried them yet, they just have my mouth watering.)

1. Parmesan Roasted Potatoes
2. Oriental BBQ Pork Salad
3. One Minute Salsa & Healthy Baked Chips  (she gives WeightWatchers stats!)
4. Roasted Garlic Brie Bread

There's also a category for cooking with kids (if you've got any) and a super cute meal planner (in 2 formats!)

DIY Green Monster

No, I'm not saying I made a green monster all by myself.

I'm saying this DIY project has the green-eyed monster jumping up & down inside of me, grinding his teeth in frustration because I'm too polite to let him out for exercise.

I've needed good closet/storage solutions for over a year now.

Why can't I have time/money/genius to achieve this?

Domestic Life

I'm not one of those women who feels that doing domestic things like baking and ironing and taking care of the needs of others is beneath them.

In fact, I'm very well aware of the fact that I am often beneath the domestic things.

• The loads of laundry that never, ever, end.
• The dishes that pile up.
• The perma-dirty floors.
• The DUST.
• The scads of store-bought food full of preservatives and food colouring and mass amounts of corn-something, when I could have made my own.

Mhmm. I'm just one person too, so I can't imagine how a mom with a houseful feels (ok, I kinda can, because I grew up in a house of 6, but yet not really.)

But basically, the point is this: When I manage to make my house feel clean & homey, have most of the laundry done & put away, have baked bread, and ironed clothes, and feel like I'm actually half-presentable as well, that's when I feel a sense of strength & triumph.

If doing the housework makes a women feel like she's fitting a weak and dependent stereotype, then trust me: she hasn't done much of it.

That, or she's trying to come up with an excuse for being lazy.