Nothin' Suits Him Like A Suit!

*Swoon* 

Self-Tip Of The Day: We should totally go to more weddings.

Friday's Musing! - Random Memories

Aren't random memories weird? I've been contemplating this for the last couple of weeks. When I was in high school I started keeping a journal of all of the random childhood memories that were triggered day to day. I let the journal fall to the way-side because I always assumed that these memories would be easy to recall - my mind was sharp in my first 20 years of life, and I took my amazing collection of memories for granted. When looking at miscellaneous photos taken on family road trips across America, I was always able to recall the name of every small town, every pokey little diner, every hotel and motel. I kept travel journals, and would sometimes let them go for weeks without writing in them because I knew I wouldn't forget a single day's activities and I could go back and fill it all in later. I think I'm a little more dazed as an adult than I was as a child! I just wonder why I can still remember in great detail the picnic trip we took where my sister Steph, still developing her fine motor skills at the time, took a great swig out of the family's only bottle of water and released a massive backwash of bread crumbs and ham back into the bottle, and yet I can't remember visiting the twin towers in New York. Why can I remember a lady in a lift remarking to my parents how glad she is that 80s clothing isn't back in fashion (har har), and yet I really struggle to recall many of my childhood birthday parties? The things that leave impressions on us do not make sense, people!

I'm thinking I might start keeping that journal again... it's a pretty fascinating read!

What I Did 365 - Day 167

Easter Sunday. I dragged myself out of bed at 5.30 yesterday morning to join my Paradox family in a short hike up a hill in Kwinana in time to catch the sunrise. It was magical watching the sun appearing through the clouds. We could actually see the rays start to shine through first - amazing. I've never actually seen sun rays coming up over the top of a cloud before. It was a really beautiful, peaceful time to pray and reflect. We are so incredibly blessed. After a while we went back to Brad and Lisa's for a family breakfast of chocolate hot cross buns, croissants and cereal. What a great start to the day, I loved it. Unfortunately Chris was working from 8am until midnight so I really missed him, but it was still a nice time. After breakfast was our Sunday service and communion, and then I went to the grocery store to FINALLY stock up our hungry fridge! I spent the evening at my parents' with my family, my cousin Sophie and my Nanna. We had a BBQ feast! It was a really fantastic day, although a little exhausting - I was in bed by 9.30!!!

What I Did 365 - Day 166

Awwww. What a happy Saturday! On Saturday morning I had brunch with the two greatest besties in the world! We so love brunch! We headed to Crumpet in Vic Park and just about died over their amazing breakfast options. The highlight of the menu at Crumpet, unsurprisingly, is their home-made crumpets with honey. Although I ordered mushrooms on ciabatta with asparagus and poached eggs, Kat shared a bite of crumpet with me. Good grief. I can't believe that at the age of 25, I have never eaten a crumpet that hasn't come out of a packet. My life and perception of crumpets has been changed forever. Drool.

After breakfast we battled the post-public-holiday crowds at the shops for a while and then headed back to Hatti's where I took a lot of photos. I know you want to see them. So I will oblige!

"We are the 3 best friends that anyone has had!"

"Psssst! Don't tell anyone, but I think Hatti would look great in a tiara!"

"A tiara you say? I mean, I guess I am pretty royal!"

"Come here, peasant. Her highness deems you worthy of a tender back-pat."

"Well... that was less fulfilling than we imagined! Crumbs!"

"I think the only way of saving this situation from being awkward is just to walk away..."

"No! Come back here you! I'll show you!"

"Auuuurrrrggghhhhh!"

That last picture makes me chuckle...

What I Did 365 - Day 165

There are many things that I love about my job - but one thing that is a constant source of teeth-gritting is the fact that I have to work public holidays. Ewww. Last Friday was Good Friday, and while everyone else in the world slept in and then had a great day, looking forward to a freakin' FIVE DAY WEEKEND, I was at work by 8am. I know, many people work public holidays, so I won't dwell any more. Breathe in, breathe out.
Good Friday at my work is a massive day. We host a huuuuge family fun day, and on top of the usual amazingness of the amusement park, we bring in extra rides and entertainment and stuff. Out in the park, everything is go-go-go. But in the office after about lunch-time... it's pretty darn boring and quiet!!! Luckily I got given a free cupcake by the event organisers. Vanilla cupcake with gooey chocolate icing. Nom.

Unfortunately my Good Friday ended on a huge low, when upon deciding to go to bed early, I took the dogs outside to get them to pee, and I trod on a wayward piece of an old kitchen cupboard, and managed to get 2 rusty nails stuck in my foot. What was going to be a 9.30pm bed-time ended up being a midnight tetanus shot at the emergency hospital. Believe me, the irony of having my foot pierced by nails on Good Friday was not lost on me!! *Probably not funny....*

What I Did 365 - Day 164

Hahaha. I know this photo editing is incedibly cheesy... but some things can't be helped! I can't believe it's taken me 164 days before posting one of our guiltiest pleasures of all time... the Frozen Coke Date. Sometimes after a really long day, or just for fun, we'll duck out to McDonalds for frozen cokes. Ha. It's more special than it sounds! There's nothing more excitement-inducing than being interrupted from some mundane task by the words "Frozen coke date?" Sometimes we're so separately busy that after a few days we realise we've barely seen each other. Even if we're at home, Chris has loads of computer work to do for clients and I always have uni stuff going on. Our frozen coke dates are a fun way of taking a few minutes to hang out. We kind of love them.

What I Did 365 - Day 163

Oh, I have way too much fun with this little guy! On Wednesday night we had BBQ Thai fish with grilled asparagus, mushroom and potatoes. Pretty freaking delicious!! It was an assignment night for me, but we did chill on the couch to enjoy our meal. And then I just couldn't help teasing Cupcake with a little tiny bit of left-over fish. I have a whole series of pics just like the one above! Terrible parenting, I know. But you know, for him it was worth it because he did eventually get that piece of fish!!!! I just love his gruff little teeth. Hahaha. I'm so smitten with our dogs! I can't even imagine how things will be when we eventually have kiddos...! Eeep!

What I Did 365 - Day 162

Tsk-tsk. Chocolate lounge two Tuesdays in a row? After I've just signed up for a gym membership? Sometimes you just need a chocolatey boost to get you through your 3-hour break before class at 5pm. Coffee helps also. I've discovered that these guys do THE MOST fantastic mocha, which makes me very happy indeed! I feel like there aren't many out there who understand the art of a good mocha, and there is no coffee worse than a crappy mocha! I also checked out Burger Edge, the new burger joint near campus. It's pretty good, although I think I ended up wearing more tzatziki than my Bombay chicken burger did... It was an 8-serviette job! Yikes!

What I Did 365 - Day 161

Oh bless! Ducky on my desk! You know your day's ending on a high when at 4pm, a co-worker walks in and plonks a sweet little pair of 1-week-old ducklings on your desk. Right??? Their names are George and Frank and they announced their arrival in my office with the sweetest little cheepy cheeps ever! Eeeeep! I've always loved ducklings. I think eventually they'll be part of our wildlife at work, but for now they're being shared all around the food and beverage staff and are getting to experience a whole variety of little homes in order to domesticate them. So sweet! And appropriate for Easter this week... or is that chicks? Hmmm!

What I Did 365 - Day 160

Yesterday (Sunday) was everything a Sunday should be. We slept in, had a lazy start, and then headed to Warnbro Fair for the greatest kebabs in the entire universe. There's this pokey little shop front, it's called Kebab Kitchen, and you step inside and you're transported to Turkey! I wanted to take a photo of Chris standing amongst the pretty little display covering an entire wall, but the problem with the Kebab Kitchen is that it's always so dang busy!! You generally have to wait a while for your deliciousness to be prepared, but it's so freaking worth it! The special thing about these kebabs is that they toast them so they're all crunchy on the outside. Nommmmmm. We took our kebabs on a little road trip to the beach front at Safety Bay, and even managed to avoid the rain which was spitting down in patches all day. Best little kebab date ever!
The rest of the day was happily productive - we grocery shopped, I finished my assignment, we washed every dirty dish in the house, Chris filled some holes in the walls with spackling in preparation for our big upcoming paint job, and then we enjoyed a super super super yummy dinner of korma lamb skewers with a fresh tomato mint salsa and delicious garlic rosemary naan bread (a little experimentation of mine that paid off)! Best Sunday ever!

What I Did 365 - Day 159

Nawwww. How lovely is this? On Saturday morning we trekked out to the Margaret River Chocolate Factory in the Swan Valley for a sister/mother breakfast. Despite Steph's moans of "I'm hungryyyyy" for the entire trip, it was well worth the 45 minute drive! After breakfasting, and then wolfing down wayyyy too many free chocolate samples, we decided to go exploring for a spot of market shopping in Midland. Our discovery of the day was that the Midland markets burned down years ago. So there you go. We then got ourselves kind of lost in the expanse that is Midland, which was more fun than you would think! Thanks to Dad's excellent knowledge of whoop-whoop, one phone call later we were finally headed toward familiar territory! We headed to the E-Shed markets in Fremantle which weren't exciting, but we still made some fun discoveries such as a shop filled with creepy mannequins that looked like dead children! Then it was time to part ways, so I headed home to work on an assignment (it's my life at the moment! Gah!) I LOVE spending time with my family. Now that I don't live at home with the rest of them, I really do miss out on time with them, especially my super-busy sisters. So our scheduled breakfasts and sister-drinks (so overdue!) are really uplifting and lovely!

The only other exciting part of the day was that Chris and I headed to the gym with our brand spankin' new memberships at 9.30pm! We signed up at a new 24-hour gym that opened up around the corner from us... here's to getting fit? Wooooo!

What I Did 365 - Day 158

Icky. Look at that carpet. Eww. OK, now let's focus on the fun in this picture - my insane tie-dyed legs! Woop! A few weeks ago I happily discovered We Love Colors, and am vowing myself to be a regular customer! Australia hasn't quite gotten into the coloured tights trend which is a crying shame! Thankfully, my problem is now solved and I can shop to my heart's content for tights in EVERY colour of the rainbow! On Friday my incredibly-anticipated order arrived, and my heart leapt! I know that these rainbow coloured ones aren't exactly practical, but I couldn't resist them. Who knows, there'll be some kind of fun occasion for me to pull them out I'm sure! I also purchased some more practical colours - charcoal, brown, and a gorgeous minty green that will look so lovely with a white dress! Now that I know I'm happy with their tights, I definitely plan on heading back there sometime soon before Winter hits to splurge on a few more *less practical* colours! Woooo tights!

What I Did 365 - Day 157

Moment of truth - I kind of LOVE this picture! It may not be high quality but it's of three people who I love so so much! Last night I headed out to see some comedy at the Charles Hotel with Chris, Nahn, Steph, Felipe and Rachel. As is often the case at the Charles - some acts were great, some not so much. Chris and I were stoked to see one of our favourites from Raw Comedy a couple of years ago, Brent, take the stage and do a pretty bizarre routine! It's always fun to just hang out as a group and laugh together I reckon. It made for an insanely late night, naturally, which made the getting-up-for-work process this morning suck. Thank goodness it's Friday!!!!!!

What I Did 365 - Day 156

Most of the time I'm a pretty diligent student. Sure, I fall behind on my readings, and I submitted my most recent assignment at 11.56pm for a midnight deadline, but overall I'm a decent kind of girl. Yesterday morning though, I didn't quite make it to class. I only have one class on a Wednesday. It runs from 8-10am, and involves me driving almost an hour and a half in peak traffic, only to race out of class less than two hours later to be back on the other side of the world in time for work. I definitely didn't pick the most convenient uni. Anyway. Yesterday I got up at 6am and got ready for uni. Then I glimpsed my registered post "sorry we missed you" card on the table. And smelt my disgustingly dirty hair. And tripped over the giant pile of laundry on the bedroom floor. And remembered the sum of money we owed the mechanic. And considered my dire need to get some items at the shops. My resolve vomited in its mouth a little, and that was that. Instead of lugging my backpack out the door, I declared Mundane Madness and got to work. By the time I skipped through the door at work (10 minutes early, I might add!) I had washed my hair, done 2 loads of laundry, picked up my registered mail at the post office, paid our mechanic, and shopped at Rockingham for some essentials. It felt amazing to get on top of the little things that had been piling up!

Oh, and the relevance of the photo above? That would be my registered post - a $4 wig I picked up off eBay! And you just thought my hair had grown insanely since December, didn't you? *wink*

What I Did 365 - Day 155

Oh, the sweet life of a student! I love my Tuesday breaks between classes just soooo much! I always end up making some kind of social plans - my 2-5pm break is a particularly coveted slot! This week I got a double whammy - I spent my 10-12 break with my Mum at the shops, where we lunched and coffee'd, and I acquired a killer leather jacket!! For my 2-5 break I met Kirstin at a new chocolate lounge which has opened up across the road from campus. Interesting vibe! I think my general idea of chocolate lounges is that they are kind of trendy and upmarket. This place has some of that vibe, but also a cheap, student-y kind of feel as well (I think the chocolate drizzled croissant and the menu shown in the picture above are a perfect example of this juxtaposition!!) It was a really excellent time of catching up and brainstorming with Kirstin! She's playing around with some ideas of starting up a new blog, and although I certainly don't have the most riveting example, I'm also an avid reader and I have some ideas as to what works and what doesn't, particularly in the field of indie art businesses (which is Kirstin's industry, as luck would have it!) I think we both came away feeling pretty inspired - her with a page of notes from our brainstorming, and me with a renewed passion for breathing life into my blogging! Yay!

What I Did 365 - Day 154

Welcome to my favourite class at uni! The class is about creative arts in early childhood education, and every week we have a lesson, then play with different art mediums. A few weeks ago we drew flowers (that's mine above) and this week we were given free reign to paint them while the tutor went through the lesson of the day! How fun is that? I haven't painted with a box of water colours since I was a little kid - just opening the tin and smelling that familiar smell was amazing! Seeing as the class runs from 8am - 10am, it's really a great way to start the day! After painting we moved onto wire sculpting, and I had a total primary school moment when the tutor stopped by my desk and said "Wow Klara, what an intricate sculpture you've made there!" Tehehe.

What I Did 365 - Day 153

Cringe. What a crap photo. Now I love my iPhone... but sadly its lack of flash can leave a lot to be desired!!! Chris and I had a beautiful coupley cruisey day at home on Sunday. It was so needed. We don't argue, fight or have any problems at all as a couple, but if we don't get enough quality time together we start getting a little empty. So, problem solved by a day at home together!! We decided to head out to Mandurah for dinner at Sunbreakers restaurant. It's such a beautiful place to sit and eat - it's a stunning venue and there are lots potted palms and booths dotted around the room in order to create a whole bunch of private little nooks. Chris ordered a very manly serve of ribs, and I think his eyes about popped out of his head when the giant plate was brought out from the kitchen! Excitingly, there was even enough for his lunch the next day! I ordered a much classier main of stuffed chicken breast, wrapped in filo, atop garlic mash with asparagus and a roasted red pepper sauce. While it lacked flavour a little, it was a pretty darn good meal! I splurged and got banana crepes with butterscotch sauce for dessert. It was the perfect way to wrap up a pretty blissful day!

What I Did 365 - Day 152

Three besties, as represented by their coffee orders at brunch! I LOVE brunch with Kat and Hatti. We're finding that when we catch up at night time, or late on a Sunday, we're just such a blah little bunch - tiredness wins. Which is lame and old of us, but there you go. Get us together over brunch though, and you can't hold us down! On Saturday we headed out to Blend and it was DELICIOUS. I can't believe I've never been there before! I got an open beakfast sandwich, and am drooling just thinking about the onion jam and provolone. But the company was even better. I am so blessed!

Oh and if you were wondering - I'm the foolishly-indulgent vienna, Hatti's the best-of-both-worlds mocha, and Kat's the simple-things-in-life latte ;)

What I Did 365 - Day 151

Do you see that tiny bit of rainbow behind the yellow sign? Admittedly, I snapped this from the car, hence the blurriness. But I couldn't help myself - this rainbow I spotted on my way home from work on Friday was the most intense, brightly coloured rainbow (double rainbow in fact!) that I've ever seen in my entire life. By the time I decided to take a picture, it was pretty much faded away and off in the distance, but at one point it was so close and stunning that I considered pulling over just to marvel. Who has ever done that before?! I love rainbows almost as much as I love rain - mmmm colours!

What I Did 365 - Day 150

Oh, praise God!! After 64 long, hot days without rain in Perth, last Thursday we were finally blessed with a small taste of what we've been missing out on. Even crazy lovers of Summer were singing praises for the change! The world is so beautiful when it's all rainy and cloudy. This is the view from my desk at work - it could definitely be worse!! One interesting thing that I noticed was that the moment the weather turned Wintery, I was in a serious mood to watch Master Chef. How funny is that? Apparently watching it every night through Winter last year has conditioned me to associate cold weather with my favourite reality show!

What I Did 365 - Day 149

A very happy recent discovery of ours is that the Chinese Restaurant around the corner from us ROCKS. They have super delicious food and are our new favourite takeaway - a bit of a worry because it's not a cheap venture, but there are always left-overs for the next day which is exciting! Last Wednesday night I was drowning in an assignment and Chris was being swallowed by a bizarre peak in client work, so Chinese was the obvious solution! I'm beginning to realise that comfort food comes in many different forms lately... Um. Yeah. Ha.

What I Did 365 - Day 148

Ohhhh. Yay. For shoddy photography in the dark. This was a happy Tuesday! I had uni through most of the day, then got home to discover that my super tacky-but-fun pink wig had arrived from China! Test-drive time! After a little bit of styling, I headed out to Rockingham shops to meet my fab bestie. We coffee'd and gauged the reactions of the locals, then it was time to head back home. On my way home I was waiting at a red light, and a car full of people pulled up next to me. Everyone in the car began "woo"ing - eeeep! I was too shy to look over! I might be able to wear the hair, but I sure don't have the full personality to pull it off! Lol. After dropping in quickly at home, Chris and I headed out to Challenge Stadium. The plan was dinner and a show (Carl Barron!! Yay!!!) but we got stuck in traffic for over an hour, so dinner was off the cards.
The photo above is us sitting in the stadium, waiting for Mr Barron. The show was great! He's a funny man, and the fact that the tickets were a surprise gift for Chris made it extra fun - he was a happy camper! But let me rant about the venue for just a moment. In order to look at the stage, we had to swivel our necks 90 degrees - imagine doing this for an entire show. The seats are too small and packed together too tightly to be able to swivel your whole body, so by the end we had big ol' neck and back aches. Challenge Stadium is a sports stadium, not a suitable event venue. Two thumbs dowwwwwn!

What I Did 365 - Day 147

How good is coffee on a Monday morning???! Our office has a pretty great coffee machine, and thanks to the bit of barista training I had when I was 18 and flipping pies at Jesters, I can froth milk like a pro! Mmmmm. Sometimes this bites me in the ass, as I'm often the go-to person when some people want a coffee. But it means I can make me a killer coffee when the occasion calls for it! And Monday mornings always seem to call for it!

Friday's Musing! - SLEEP

Today's musing doesn't fall far from my scope of immediate needs today! Sleeeeeeep. With all the late-night assignment work I've been doing, I'm not ashamed to admit that when I imagine having a hot shower and crawling under the cozy layers of blankets and sheets on my bed, my heart breaks out in happy little butterflies. The anticipation is amazing!

HOWEVER

It's taken me a while to get to this point! When I was in high school, I truly believed that sleep was a chore; a waste of time when I could be doing so much else! I looked down on friends who slept until 1pm regularly (OK... maybe I still do a little. Depending on the circumstances). If I slept past about 9am on a weekend, I was disgusted with myself. Crazy right? Especially because I was staying up till the early hours of the morning each night. Even school nights. As a result, I was nodding off in classes. Real smart. I have noooo idea why I was so adamant about getting as little sleep as possible!

These days, I still hate over-sleeping too long on weekends, but I'm also woman enough to admit when I need to be in bed by 9pm on the odd occasion! Sleep is AMAZING. It's such a happy comfort to me. I love the cosiness of it. Mmmmm.... sleep!

PS In relation to my last Musing... I totally became inspired and bought a pink wig that day! So now I can whip out pink hair whenever I want to. Problem solved!

What I Did 365 - Day 146

Ha! I love this picture! Amy was very generous on Sunday after our Paradox gathering, and let Kat and I go nuts on her bizarrely style-able hair and... this was the result! 1990s-style spikes! Sunday was, in general, one of those spontaneous fun days. We all decided to head out to the foreshore for lunch, and from there Amy & Aimee invited me back to their place to hang out (so excited that Amy has moved down our way recently!!!!!) It was so fulfilling just bumming around and chilling with these girls. Amy and I scrutinised a Novo shoes catalogue (what's with peep-toe boots this season?!?!) and Aimee showed me dozens of beautiful paint swatches she's been flicking through lately. So cruisey, and so great. I love opportunities to spend time with Paradox girls. They're a good bunch!

What I Did 365 - Day 145

Midnight BBQ!... I want to make this a thing. Seriously! On Saturday I was knuckling down on an assignment, and suddenly it was 11.30pm and Chris came up to me and said "So... what's happening with dinner?" Bless! Many may have ducked out to McDonalds at this point, or tackled the old vegemite on toast. But not us! We set to work shelling prawns, I soaked some bamboo skewers and whipped up a marinade, and in no time at all we were enjoying delicious thai prawns with a herb and apple salad. The recipe came from Master Chef magazine and I'm nuts about it! I feel all gourmet when I make it because the marinade uses ingredients like coriander roots, and you paste it up in a mortar and pestle. Definitely best served at 12.30am. I really got so much enjoyment out of the smell of prawns on the BBQ at midnight!

What I Did 365 - Day 144

Yummy-yummy-yummy-yummy-yummy! That was the best way I could describe Kirstin's delicious strawberry tarts! On Friday night I went to my beautiful bestie Hatti's for dinner with a group of girls. Not only did Hatti put on the most mouth-watering meal of chicken pie, wedges, salad and rolls, but Kirstin smacked dessert on the head with these delicate, perfect little tarts. What a freakin' feast! It was a perfect, happy night of board games and lots of talking. Hatti is the queen of putting on dinner parties. Hopefully I'll be as committed as her when our kitchen is finally ready to go...

What I Did 365 - Day 143

Welcome to my life of late. It's assignment crunch-time at uni, and I'm finding myself a little bit addicted to the old Word Count function. Seriously, when I'm making slow progress, I actually will do a word count after writing two or three sentences! Obsessive? Yes, yes a little. The thing is, seeing my assignment grow in length, however short that length might be, is a real boost - a reminder that I'm that much closer to the end! When I'm feeling particularly achieved, I even text my word counts to friends and family. I'm the same about checking the weather report for Perth - I check it after each regular forecast (yes, I know the times that the website gets updated). So there you go... one of the weirder pieces of the Klara Puzzle!

What I Did 365 - Day 142

Tiny, but so sweet! Strawberries at the shops are past their prime - they're expensive, and terrible fruit for what you're paying. Here comes a perk of having a little garden - home grown strawberries! Now my strawberries have never gotten much bigger than this, but when it comes to taste they deliver! Yum! I've been pleasantly surprised to find that my strawberries are still growing well past Summer, and they still taste amazing - the only drawback? My dogs have also discovered the deliciousness and have been sneaking the odd berry here and there!

What I Did 365 - Day 141

Thank goodness for helpful little sisters with too much time on their hands and a big love for painting!!! Last Monday night, the walls were finally prepped to Chris's satisfaction and we were able to peel open the paint buckets and get started! Oh, the shenanigans involved with painting. Before even picking up a brush, Steph had paint smeared up her arm. And while sugar-soaping, I managed to not only stumble backwards onto a paint tray and coat my foot with Blush Mauve, but also absent-mindedly dip my sponge and hands into the bucket of paint instead of the bucket of soapy water. Good grief. Because we're ripping up the floors we opted not to put down a drop sheet, but in retrospect we probably should have! I think Chris had to choke back man-tears when he got home from his soccer game to find puddles of wet paint smeared all over the floor, and nothing to do except wait for it to dry before the dogs came inside. Yep, some lessons were learned that evening. But excitingly, I now have 2 beautiful walls that aren't the horrific rental-beige that the previous owners slathered all the way down from the cornices to the skirting boards! Small steps!

What I Did 365 - Day 140

Ewww. Right? This is our alternative to the modern kitchen sink when washing dishes. A trestle table and crate set up under the faucet. It reminds me of washing dishes at camp. Right now we're doing OK at keeping up with the dishes, perhaps because this method is a bit novel! But I'm pretty sure the novelty value will wear off soon. Oh, how I can't wait to have a dishwasher!!

What I Did 365 - Day 139

Reason why Steph is the coolest kid in town: who am I kidding? You can see her coolness emanating, without me giving you any reasons at all! Ha! It takes a special type of person to wear a ham mask...
The ham here marks the very first meal prepared sans-kitchen. Deli meat and salad sandwiches. Yum! Steph came over on kitchen-removal day under the impression that she would be painting with us, but that's not entirely how things ended up panning out. Instead she was put to work sugar-soaping and putting spackling in the walls. Not even slightly fun! She was a trooper though, and we got a lot of work done. I was so grateful to have her there, even if she did smell like meat...

What I Did 365 - Day 138

Friday night was spent doing last-minute kitchen cleaning... dish-washing, space-clearing, that kind of fun stuff you do when you're preparing to rip it all out. It was a shame really - the kitchen was the cleanest it's been in months!! But do you see the tacky wooden cupboards? The ridiculously matched teal bench top? The crazily old oven/stove-top combination (which has broken twice in the 2 years that we've lived here)? This is why we're doing what we're doing. It's time for a fresh new look and loads more functionality than this beast of a kitchen can offer! Yay!

What I Did 365 - Day 137

Yep, I just posted a picture of a lizard stuck on a window sill. I'm cool like that. In my defence, walking into the bathroom to brush my teeth was made a LOT less boring by this site through the bathroom window! A sticky creepy little lizard, with no idea that there was a very mature 25-year-old woman laughing and snapping unflattering pictures of it. Our house is like, lizard central. We're constantly finding little lizards inside and outside, more than the average person does I believe! A few weeks ago, I was drifting off to sleep only to be rudely awakened by the sudden movement of a lizard scurrying up my leg... in my bed! I mean, come on!

What I Did 365 - Day 136

Mmmm. Spackling goodness. Here's another glimpse at our painfully slow renovation process - Chris filling the walls with spackling last Wednesday night. Something that has been a constant source of pain for us is that our house is an ex-rental. An abused ex-rental. It needs a whole lot of love! The walls in our kitchen/meals area are COVERED with holes and dings and huge plaster faults that the previous owners chose to just ignore and paint over. And though the slow-ness of this process is frustrating and overwhelming to me, thank goodness Chris is a perfectionist. He wants to do it right, which means the process is so drawn-out... but we'll never have to do such a huge fix-it job ever again. I married a good and patient man!!!

What I Did 365 - Day 135

I MORE THAN LOVE this lady! Hatti and I got to catch up between my uni classes on Tuesday last week. How fun! She was sick, but she still managed to be fun - that's how you know you've got a great friendship right?? We rocked the local doctor, tackled food court kebabs and replenished our energy supplies with coffee and cake. You could say we're a little crazy. Ha. I'm loving my 3-hour break on Tuesdays - it's certainly proving to be an adventurous little time slot!! More than that though, I love Hatti. She's uh-mazing and I am so blessed to call her a bestie!