The things that make a house a home...

Sorry it's been so long bloggies!!! I know you've all been DYING for me to update you all with a post - hahaha I kid, I kid (actually I don't kid - I hope you are all dying, waiting for me to post)

On to more exciting (house) things... now before you say anything - YES, I know that love and warmth and all those mushy things are what make a house a home but there are also the actual contents of said "home"... contents which I am stressing over.

Now Justin will strangle me with his bare hands for saying this... I don't really need to be stressed - overall, we're in pretty good shape. HOWEVER, I think I am just a stressy person anyways and kind of fixate and dwell on things... Once I figure out one thing I move on to the next item to stress over.

Seeing as we're first time home buyers - like many, funds are tight. We'll have to be that couple who finds fun in DIY projects (me, this will actually be fun - Justin's attention span.... not so much). We'll need to get hand me downs from family (we love you ALL very much and if you have any furniture or other house hold items you're getting rid of... you know where we live :)). That being said, there are a few items I don't really want to skimp out on - mainly appliances.

Becuase the house is brand new we will need to purchase all 5 major appliances. There is a great store close to home that has some pretty awesome deals on major appliances so we've been in there to check stuff out - I was expecting a much higher bill so I'm very pleased with price. We want a pretty modern feel to the house so we've opted for all stainless steel (believe it or not, they do still make black and white appliances). We've also agreed on features like built in water and ice and french doors to the fridge, stackable washer and dryer (our laundry room is upstairs and these are really the only models that will fit in the space), double oven, and a range hood microwave (to free up some counter space). Turns out that our builder will customize our cabinets and counter tops to fit our appliances so we need to make a decision pretty soon on the fridge as that is the only major appliance that has some real size limitations.

We're picking out our colours on December 4th!!! We're sooooo excited (and I mean I'm sooooooo excited, Justin has not expressed the same sentiment however, I will assume he too is sooooo excited). We've gone back and forth on the upgrades we'd like - going back to the whole limited funds business, we really need to stay as close to the $5,000 allowance given to us by the builder. We've already agreed to oak stairs (unfinised - yay first DIY project); we'd also like a door into the house from the garage, breakfast bar, and upgraded underpadding to make our carpets feel plushier. We'll be finalizing these details at our colours appointment.

Additionally, despite these house centric blog posts I do have a life (well... kinda) and the only pics in this post come from my sad semblance of a life...

Went out downtown with my friend Melissa

Justin and I took a trip to Pacific Mall
This is a real live dog in the store that fixed Justin's phone

How I spend my days working from home...
Chauka asleep in my arms

Justin's new look... courtesy of his 8 year old cousin, Ava

Looking back at these few pictures it truly depresses me how small my sad life is. As Justin once told me "Babe, we need to work on being cooler" - I couldn't agree more sweets.

My next few weeks are actually VERY busy. With Christmas stuff ramping up, trying to get together with friends as well as work and shopping before complete holiday chaos - I'm one busy lady! (I'm really not making the point I think I am here...)

In other news, I'm not sure how I feel about the new design of the blog. What started out as a food blog is quickly turning into a home blog. Therefore, I think I will continue to post recipes (when I'm proactive enough to actually cook something) but I will also make this blog about DIY project for the house as well as other day to day, "life" things.

Any feedback on the new layout?? If I'm being totally honest - I have NO clue what I'm doing so there are elements like the title and top of the blog that I'm not crazy about but have NO CLUE how to change. It's a work in progress but if you can think of fabrics or patterns that go with burlap (I really like the burlap background) send your suggestions my way!

Seeing as I started writing this post over a week ago and am just finishing it now - lots of updates to come in another post (that I will likely start today and finish 2 weeks from now)

Until next time....