Kitchen Makeover!

So our kitchen cupboard makeover is complete!  We took all the doors off, sanded them down, and used our electric spray gun to paint them.  (That's the simple version of the story...)  It took most of the weekend.  It wasn't that difficult, but definitely time consuming!  And as with any project we hit many moments where we thought it would never end.  But it did, and I'm so happy with the result!

I have a slight obsession with white, especially white kitchens.  I love how much brighter everything feels!

Before:



After:

And here's a full shot of the kitchen area - that table was a Kijiji find.  Can't wait to re-upholster/re-stain it very soon...

Bake Shop Hop

I feel like this post should come with a warning - possibility for some mouth-watering action ahead.  My sister is totally into baking.  And she's becoming quite the pro; she makes her own peppermint patties.  And homemade ice-cream.  I recently tried her personal-sized S'more ice cream cake: graham crust with fresh toasted marshmallow ice cream and chocolate ganache on top.

So for her Christmas gift it only seemed natural that we would do our own little tour of some bakeries around Kitchener-Waterloo.

First stop: Honey Bake Shop on King Street (Uptown Waterloo).  We shared an apple fritter and a maple bacon cupcake.  Both tasted amazing.  Price was decent, but not cheap ($2.50 for the cupcake).  The best part about Honey is the atmosphere.  I'm a sucker for good graphic design and colours and this place is A+ in my books.  Also, call me weak, but I was already feeling a good sugar buzz after this.

Therefore, we felt it necessary to make the next stop something savoury.  Vincenzo's.  More of a gourmet market - but the sandwiches are seriously amazing.  Only $5, which is really good considering they slice whatever meat you want right then and there.  And the toppings range from the typical lettuce, onion, tomato, to bruschetta (hello!), artichokes...  So we shared a sandwich.  But definitely stopped to check out the bakery there - baklava, cannoli, macarons!

But back to the sweet stuff.  Right beside Vincezo's is the Bauer Kitchen.  And beside that, the tiny Bauer Bakery.  At this point it was time for coffee/tea, which they had.  But some tarts to go with it, of course.  Ferrero Rocher and white chocolate pistachio.  I can't remember how much they were - but definitely not much for a gourmet little treat.  Unfortunately there's no where to sit, so we sat outside until we couldn't stand the cold.  Consider me officially sugar-buzzed.

Alas, we must go on.  So we wander downtown King Street to scout out some more bakeries.  We see Nova Era, a Portuguese place that Jody's heard good things about.  Their signature item is the custard tart - sign us up!  And we decide to get something we've never seen - a "rice cake".  More like a tall lemony muffin.  Both amazing.  Price was the best (it's straight up homemade, no frilly gourmet-ness to drive the price up).  Atmosphere - meh, we didn't really want to stick around.  But I'm pretty sure we've both thought about that custard tart since.

At this point I'm ready to crash, but we figure we should squeeze in one more - City Cafe Bakery.  A bright colourful place.  Kind of cool inside - you can pick what you want, then pay on your own.  Totally on the honour system!  We had their signature item: deep dish pecan tart ($2 I think?).  Consider me officially over the edge in sugar-ville.

Oh Bake Shop Hop, you did me in!  And there are so many more, I know we've only scratched the surface.  Until next time...

New Lamps!

Hey there!  So lot's has happened since my last update - including a move!  Yes, I mean moving houses.  It was a big one too... we moved all the way ... across the ... street.  Alright, so it wasn't that big.  Still, all of our personal belongings were paraded across the street for the neighbourhood to see (fun!)  But it is a bigger place, calling for some more DIY action.  We're loving it so far.

And of course, we just don't leave anything untouched.  I think we've been covered in dust/drywall compound/paint since February from all the hole filling, sanding and painting we've been doing.  Even now, we're in the middle of a weekend long cabinet painting adventure...again.

In the midst of it all, I've also managed to do a bit of thrifting.  I had been on the hunt for a nice big pair of matching lamps for our bedroom.  They had to be big.  And they had to have a good shape.  Oh, and they should work too...

When I laid eyes on these beauties in the Bibles for Missions store in Guelph (worth the drive to Guelph!) I knew it was meant to be.  And by that I mean I practically threw myself over them to fend off the others who might be interested.  Actually, who am I kidding?  After the moment of thrill I started to second guess myself.  Should I hold out for something better?  Was $12/lamp too much?  I would have to buy new shades as well, which can be pricey.  So I wandered over to Target (also worth the drive to Guelph!) to talk myself into/out of it.  But when the perfectly sized lamp shades were on sale at Target, I snapped.  I bought them, hurried back to my car and prayed the whole way that no one else had seen the lamps and snatched them up.  But as I said - it was meant to be.  In total, they ended up being $30 each.  But that's a steal because even at Target the lamps were $50 + you still had to buy the $15 shade on top of that!  Here's the makeover!

We have a headboard for that bed, it's just not up yet!  Soon...