N'S OBSESSIONS ... TAKE 3

this post has taken me a few months to put together because exciting progress on the house conveniently got in the way :)

here is a list of n's current obsessions again in no particular order:

1. dior rain sunglasses ... last christmas n went to hawaii and had saved up her money and wanted to get some sparkly designer sunglasses ... n got a super sweet deal on some beautiful diors

aren't they pretty?

2. dior show blackout mascara ... j'adore dior ... the sunglasses n recently bought definitely biased the purchase of this mascara ... but it is something amazing ... thick black luscious lashes ... tinted with kohl pigments ... so super black ... what more could a girl want?

3. coach nikole winter boots ... christmas in hawaii had been kind ... another fabulous purchase ... my beautiful sparkly silver and black coach boots at 50% off... being surrounded by snow for so long it is crucial to have the feet warm and toasty and of course looking beautiful and fashionable ... and how many people can say that they bought winter boots in hawaii to bring home?

4. glee ... yes n knows that glee is on a hiatus because of a certain other singing show but n was able to catch up and has officially become a gleek ... the breaking out into song and choreographed dance, the high school drama, sue silvester (need i say more) and the cuteness between mr. schuester and emma keeps me watching and wanting more ... can't wait until april!!!

5. sherlock holmes ... yes the movie came out at christmas and n thought it was great but n's current obsession is with the sherlock holmes stories ... a fun who-dun-it mystery before bed is awesome

6. bosu class ... yes it is the blue half exercise ball and n absolutely loves taking the class ... a great cardio workout plus strength training, push ups and ab work ... a fun way to pass 50 minutes of working out and burn a lot of calories

cheers ~n

FEBRUARY ... HOW I LOVE THEE ... LET ME COUNT THE WAYS

february you are one of my favorite winter months ... let me tell you why:

1. your days are numbered ... i know that you are only shorter by 2 or 3 days but there is something optimistic about having a month that is exactly 4 weeks long

2. you bring a change in the weather ... whether the groundhog is right or not about an early spring or extra winter ... living in canada the winter season drags out for 6-7 months and usually by the end there is a hope of warmer spring days to come

3. you brighten my day ... nothing makes my day better than going to work and the sun is coming up and leaving work at 4:30 and the sun is still shining

4. 100 days of fun ... as a teacher of the littlest ones i get to acknowledge all our hard work and celebrate the 100th day of school and spend the entire day having fun doing things the hundred way

5. family comes first ... you break up this month by providing us with a day off to spend with our families

6. you are all about the love ... kisses, hugs, flowers, chocolate, cards ... a day to tell someone you care is pretty sweet

7. you let me learn some more ... teacher's convention ... 2 days for myself to be a student again and take in a whole bunch of learning and professional development is priceless

8. you lighten the load ... because of all these wonderful things, you allow me to work a shortened work week of 3 and 4 days which is rejuvenating

cheers ~n

THERE'S NOTHING MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN AN ORGANIZED KITCHEN

the other night j and n made the trek to the local ikea to pick up a few more supplies to finish organizing the kitchen cabinets ... because the store is so big and we left so late we were there right until they kicked us out ... with our recyclable boxes in hand we came home and set to washing the supplies to ready them for their use the next day ...

n being way too excited and a bit nerdy about organization decided to reorganize the kitchen with j at 10:00 pm (usually n's bedtime but i was just too excited about the organizing that i probably wouldn't have slept anyways)

everything found a perfect place and by taking the time to put food in proper containers and quickly move things around so the kitchen flowed better we actually gained a ton more space in our petite kitchen ... we were debating whether or not we should put in a pantry on this one wall but both of us agreed that it would just make the kitchen feel crowded and squishy ... we've worked really hard to open up the space and make the 600 square feet on the main floor seem bigger and we are happy that we don't have to cram more stuff in for the sake of storage

one side of our kitchen ...

in love with the sunlight streaming in

from the garden doors

... still need to find the tile for the back splash

(i would show you the other side but

the capping on the half wall is too ugly right

now once it's fixed you can peak at the

other side with the dishwasher)

my favorite dishes cupboard ...

organized mugs and new cups :)

the new coffee and tea spot and cookbooks ...

love the frosted glass jars ...

so clean and organized

this corner cupboard was a disaster stuffed with all our food and appliances

... hated going in there to get stuff out

now all the baking supplies and containers have a home in here ...

i feel like i can breath when i open it up now

the new spot for the food

all our baking supplies tucked in the drawer at the bottom of the oven

all the mixing bowls, cutting boards and pasta bowls

cutlery ... all bright and shiny

pots and pans

my absolutely favorite cupboard

(and the whole point of the trek to ikea)

look how beautiful the spice cupboard looks

even though most of the kitchen has been reorganized there are still a few spots that need some major help with being organized

like the utensil drawer

under the sink ... notorious for being disorganized

the new appliance cupboard ...

not quite sure how to help this one?!?

all that tucked away in our little kitchen and with some room to spare :)

cheers ~n

p.s. new dining room table is going to be delivered next wednesday ... can't wait to show it off

BRIGHT SHINY THINGS

so this past weekend j and n decided after french class to venture over to the west end of the city and look around at a specialty lighting store ... we had scoured every inch of the home depot, rona and totem hardware stores and a few smaller specialty lighting stores but nothing really inspired us for the basement ... well after french class we took a trip to park lighting ... outside it didn't seem overly big but inside the store went on forever and as soon as we walked in it was magic ... so many lights to choose from and so many that fit the square modern design we were looking for

of course we also had some very specific obstacles to overcome ...

the lights for the bathroom couldn't be taller than 3 1/2" from the top of the box to the ceiling because all the furnace ducting jogged down right at the spot where the vanity would go

the lights for the stairwell, gym and living room could go up to 9" high in the living room but in the hallway it couldn't be higher than 5" again because of the furnace ducting ... and of course it is such a small space n didn't want different lights in the hallway and the rest of the basement

walking around was reminiscent of picking out an engagement ring or a wedding dress or i guess even finding the one ... sure you see lots of ones that are nice and they would do but then there is that moment where you turn the corner and instantly you just know that this is the one ... well we had that moment on saturday when we were picking out lights ... in one short trip we found all the lights for the entire basement and i must say they are perfect for the design look that we want to achieve (and they came in under the price we set for our lighting budget and we even added in 3 lights for the dining room upstairs ... score!) ... and anyone who knows n knows that she loves anything that has a hint of sparkle and shine to it and she also got that

so enjoy a peak at these beautiful shiny things ... sadly the only ones to not show off yet are the living room, gym and hallway lights because they are special order and we will be seeing them in 2-4 weeks

here's what we had to work with in the bathroom for space

here's what we found

good things really do come in small packages

also totally love that the light shines both up and down through the glass

we bought 3 of these beauties to hang over top of the new dining room table

time for a close up

just the right amount of sparkle

cheers ~n

p.s. cannot wait to show off the rest of the lights for downstairs

SOMETIMES 2 IS BETTER

well here is a quick peak at the bathroom to be ... over 3 and a half years of living with one bathroom we are super pumped to have a second bathroom almost ready to be drywalled and finished ... yeah for the house soon to be with 2 bathrooms

the entrance to the bathroom ...

where the sink and mirror will be

(the laundry room on the opposite side)

toilet and corner shower ...

every square inch being used

nice level base for the shower ...

the difference from the wall to the end of the shower had a 1" rise in the floor

definitely not cool for water drainage

now nice and level :)

the shower fixtures finally found after driving around all day

totally in love with all the squareness happening here

cheers ~n

JUST FOR FUN

so very recently n was sent on a little adventure of finding a new haircut courtesy of j ... well here's a peak at the new do

flashback to a few weeks ago:

here's the inspiration:

here's the new do:

(why so serious n?

well it's because she is just trying to concentrate while taking a picture of herself in the mirror)

a smile just for j :)

cheers ~n