Christmas at Ikea

I'm heading off for a little Christmas shopping trip today with my girlfriends.  We're heading to Port Perry and I thought I better share some pictures of our last little jaunt to Ikea a couple of weeks ago before I take more photos!

Anne----Sandy-----Cindy

Three of my Besties...my partners in crime.

Welcome to Ikea!

Most of their Christmas seems to be in black and white but every now and then you are jolted by a hit of colour.

Traditional Red and Green always looks right.

Ohhhh, I'd love a new kitchen but I'd also like it to be twice the size!  Like these!

Grey seems to be the bedroom trend this year.

I don't really know why but this light fixture has always intrigued me.

Julie

A Vintage Christmas

I spent yesterday doing a little "antiquing".  My friend's nephew, Lindsay is a "picker". He posts his ads on Kijiji and displays his finds in his Dad's barn.  I made an appointment to go out to poke around the barn and buy a couple of Windsor back chairs.  I've always wanted Windsor back chairs painted matte black so I'm half way there. They are going to go in the dining room when they are finished.  I got some cute napkin rings and a couple of Christmas cookies cutters and an old rusty tin box, absolutely covered in flowers.  I'm thinking it will look great with my McCoy pottery.  I'll share these things with you later but right now...

I wanted to show you some Christmas pretties that I bought at Craftworks. I love old Christmas decorations.

I've really been wanting some bottlebrush trees but everything I've found is in bad shape and very expensive so I broke down today and bought some cheapos from Walmart.  Hopefully I can make them look better in a vignette.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here....

Julie

Random Thoughts on a Monday Night

I was hoping to have some dinner pictures to share with you from my Chinese dinner on Saturday but with three dishes in the oven and four woks on the go, I didn't have enough hands to stir and take pictures.  My niece sent a camera shot of her plate...

I did take some pictures of the dining room before dinner.  I was able to set up three tables and seat 16 for the meal.  After I was reading Brenda's post, I thought I'd share my little bistro too.

Can't wait to get my chandelier installed.  This room is quite dark without lamps.

Two romantic tables for four in my dining room.  My lovely nieces, Morgan and Britt brought their boyfriends.  My niece Allyson and her new boyfriend, Dave and my nephew, Eric and his lovely Sable sat at the other table.  That girl, Sable is a keeper!  She washed the dishes after dinner.  I don't have a dishwasher and hate washing dishes so she was much appreciated as was my brother, Howie for drying.  It was funny listening to Howie and Connie's (my big sis) stories.  I think the kids were a little surprised at some of them.  Things really have changed in the last 50 years since they were kids.

We all had a great time and it was the first big dinner I hosted in my new dining room.  Everyone approved and it was nice to be able to seat so many, so comfortably.  I'm loving the blue and white and with a few more touches, it will be done!

Do you like my new jug?  I saw this white cable knit jug in the grocery ad and just had to add it to the shopping list ;). I just love it!

My brain's been busy the last few days.  Dinner for 16, grocery shopping, laundry; oh and planting tulips this weekend.  I've never planted them so late.  Hopefully I won't lose my yearly battle with the squirrels.  I also got my paperwhites and amaryllis potted up. That is one of my favourite things every Christmas.

Today was a great day!  I hosted Rummycube today.  Every Monday afternoon, I get together with 3 girlfriends and play this game for the afternoon.  We take turns hosting...a little lunch, a couple of spritzers and a whole lot of laughs.  Girlfriends are the best.

I got great news today.  My friend, Heather became a Grandma today!  I need to finish her quilt now that I know Iyla's birthdate.  She must be feeling jubilant and joyous!

Tomorrow, I need to make some chili sauce and get those tomatoes out of the freezer.  It's just too packed and we need to get eating out of the freezer so I'll have room for Christmas cookies.

Some personal decisions about my future and my life are weighing on my mind but I'm not ready to talk about those right now.  They are still keeping me awake at night but I'm working through the issues.

Finally I need to say that I am terribly preoccupied and excited by Christmas this year.  Not the presents, but the decor and spending quiet time with friends and family.  I plan on taking December off.  Really relaxing, lots of books and magazines, tea and hot chocolate, homemade goodies, some handmade gifts and no pressure.  No big parties are planned. I'm hoping for spontaneous joy instead.  Slow walks in the snow and the smell of pine wafting through the house.  I wonder how Eilish will react to her first Christmas.  

My friend, Rose's tree last year

I also have a trip planned to Port Perry this week.  I'll take pictures to share with you.  I went to Toronto with the girls a little over a week ago.  I'll download those pictures soon and show you how beautiful the stores are looking in their Christmas finery.  It gets me very excited to see all the glitter and the lights.  I'm ready to start pulling the decorations out now.

Julie

Frugal Friday #13 - Party at Home

Make the location of your next celebration your own home sweet home.  Better yet, make it a potluck and at least in my family, people bring their own beverages to share as well.  Instead of celebrating in a restaurant or bar where the price tag can add up quickly, we have cosy dinners at home for family and friends.  Almost everything is made from scratch as well so that saves too.  We find it much nicer than going out - comfortable, familiar and everyone can be included regardless of their means.

I come from a family of cooks so we consider it fun to try out new foods and recipes but there are a lot of very simple things you can make.  Master a dish everyone likes and make it your specialty.

Tomorrow night we are having a Chinese themed dinner to celebrate my sister Connie's birthday, C and B's 40th anniversary and H and M's 40th anniversary.  Today I'm doing some prep - chopping, cooking rice, and marinating beef.

Sorry no pictures today but I'm busy cooking and tidying the house.  I was planning on making my own egg rolls (which would have been cheaper) and I was going to post those pictures but I couldn't get all the ingredients I needed.  I will post some pictures after the party.

Instead I went to our tiny Chinese grocery and picked up some of Mrs. Minh's homemade spring rolls and pork wontons.  I did have to spend about twice as much but I didn't have to spend hours making them.

Julie

A Special Shower

I had a great time last evening.  I went to a Grandma's Shower.  I bet you haven't heard of that before!  That's because my friend, Linda invented it and I predict it will become the newest craze.  During one of our Wednesday knitting nights, we were discussing our friend Heather who is poised to become a Grandma for the first time.  Linda wanted to make the baby something and Cindi and I agreed.  That's when Linda suggested a shower for Heather.  Perfect suggestion....we don't know the Mom and the Dad is Heather's son.  They aren't our contemporaries and it wasn't a case of just wanting to have a gift passed along.  Grandma needs to have baby supplies at her house too, right? Some toys and blankets and clothes and we wanted to have a party, a surprise party. Martinis and wine and lasagna and salad and buttertarts...oh boy!  Thanks Linda.  And Heather was surprised, really surprised....until it was explained to her.  Of course, she hadn't heard of a Grandma's shower before!

I decided to make a quilt.  We knew the baby will be a girl (she was due last Sunday but hasn't made her appearance yet!) so I chose bright pinks and greens, made with random squares.  Originally we were talking about a shower after the baby was born.  So I wanted to embroider a piece on the quilt with her name and birth date.  A personal touch, just for her.  Then it got moved up so...

So I laid out random squares (it's hard to be random) and decided to applique a butterfly (something I've never done before).

Epic Fail.

So back to Plan A and I'm going to finish my quilt when the gorgeous girl arrives...hopefully by next week.  Check out Cindi's baby blanket here and I'll show you my quilt when I can finish it.

Julie

November 11, 2013 - Lest We Forget

In Honour of  My Father and Grandfather

My Father, Howard

My Grandfather, Hiram

Julie

Frugal Friday #12 - Listen to the Pros

I'm not advising you to make an appointment with your local financial guru.  I have no experience with financial counselling so I wouldn't presume to suggest you spend money on something I know nothing about.  However, I can share a little personal story (don't worry it has a happy ending).

The Tale of the Indebted Princess

About 14 or 15 years ago, I was deeply in debt.  I lacked any kind of financial know-how and I had shopped myself into credit card purgatory.  Maybe I can blame it on my bipolar disorder because running up your credit cards is a symptom but I really don't need an excuse.  In fact, I was so deeply in debt that I made no attempt to pay much more than the minimum.

I was living in a cheap apartment that I loved but I never had any money, zero savings, and no hope of ever owning a house.  Then something happened and it was like the universe was talking to me.  I was going to come into a lump sum of money (about $20,000) as a result of a human rights settlement through my employment.

The way I saw it; this money could be a godsend or I could use it to pay off most of my credit card debt.  Does that sound contradictory?  Let me explain.  I could accept the money like many of my co-workers were doing, pay the taxes on it and I would be left with almost enough to pay off my credit cards. Then I would be back at square one and I guarantee I would have just run those balances back up.  Or it could really make a difference in my life and I could realize my dream of home ownership.

In Canada, we have a nifty program that would let me deposit money into a Registered Retirement Savings Plan, pay no taxes on it, borrow money back out of my plan to make a downpayment on my first house and allow me to pay it back over 15 years.  This is what I wanted but I had the millstone of credit card debt around my neck.  My other concern was Could I afford a mortgage payment every month?

So I knew about 8 months prior that the money was coming.  I knew I needed to get rid of my debt and I started watching a Canadian TV show hosted by Gail Vaz-Oxlade.  This woman tells it like it is.  No sugar-coating - just practical "get you through the week" advice.  I put myself on the tightest budget I could.  She uses Mason jars now but back then I had envelopes.  They were labeled and filled (maybe not so full) with money every pay day. The labels said things like rent, groceries, gas, parking, cable, phone, electricity.

This is Gail

There were no envelopes for clothes or entertainment or magazines (that one was hard!).  I gave up spending anything that wasn't absolutely  necessary and every penny I saved (about half my wages) went towards paying off the credit cards.  When my first payment of my pay equity settlement was coming, I had about $3000 balance left on credit.  I had paid off over $10,000.  I took the first payment and paid a little tax.  That way, I was done with the credit cards.

Now, stage two commenced.  I got $15,000 that I put into a RRSP.  It had to stay in there for 90 days before I could withdraw it to buy a house.  So I got myself pre-approved for a mortgage and found out how much my mortgage payment would be.  I started looking for a house.  The smartest thing I did was live for those months as if I was paying a mortgage.  The difference between the mortgage payment and my rent was put aside.  That way, when I moved in to my house, I knew I could comfortably live and pay my mortgage.  The money I had put aside paid for my new appliances and lawyer's fees and all those last minute "I just bought a house" surprise expenses.

The moral of the story is I would never have been able to buy a house if I hadn't found Gail.  She made me believe I could get out of debt, her practical advice gave me the tools I needed to succeed and her words of wisdom gave me the confidence to take charge of my financial independence.  The best thing I learned from Gail?  "You earn enough money".  No matter what I earned, it was enough to realize my dreams.  The amount of money didn't matter.  What mattered was what I did with it; what I was willing to sacrifice; how hard I was willing to work.

So, find your own financial guru.  Maybe it will be Gail or David (Chiltern) or Suze (Orman) or Jean (Chatzy) or Dave (Ramsey) or your neighbour, Joe.  Find someone who you can trust and learn everything you can!  Good luck

Julie

Meet "Stick"

When I went to the garden show in the spring, I bought a plant.  Well actually a small branch that when planted (after following many convoluted instructions and procedures) was supposed to root and grow...lots of leaves and pretty flowers and turn into a tree.  It should look like one of these.  (From E-bay- thaiperfect_gems)

Most of the summer, it was a just a stick, no leaves...nothing.  We affectionately call it "stick".  We say "looks like nothing is happening with Stick but he hasn't died so that's good news".  Finally we got to say that "Stick is finally growing.  Look at all the little leaves starting".  Then we worriedly watched as Stick lost his leaves. Now I've brought Stick in the house.

Poor Stick.  We're not sure if he's going to make it but I'm going to repot him this week in some nice fresh soil.  Hopefully that will help.

Julie

Keeping It Real

I was reading Claudia's post yesterday Decorating is Not a Competitive Sport and the mists cleared. Sometimes reading that wonderful girl's blog is better than therapy (thanks Claudia).

I've been sitting here each evening thinking about posting a blog and I feel creatively stunted. None of the pictures I've taken look "good enough" (I'm a terrible photographer and always have been) and the rooms I am decorating aren't "finished". Even then, will anyone be interested?  I know I'm suffering from some depression.  It happens every fall which seems strange because I love autumn and things are working out for me personally so I should be happy, right? Not so much...

But after reading Claudia's wise words, I came back to reality.  I'm not competing with anyone else.  I love all the blogs with perfect colour co-ordinated rooms and cheery messages and everything painted white and creative vignettes everywhere, but I wouldn't actually want to live that way.  I want to be comfortable.  I want to put my feet up and honestly, a little mess and clutter doesn't bother me at all.  I'll get to it... someday.  No sense of urgency here.  Fun and friends will always take precedence over housework.

So here you.  Some shots of my dining room right now in all its' unfinished glory...

This is the view of the new dining room, standing in the kitchen doorway.  It is an overcast day and this room is quite dark right now.  Just a tiny light fixture but I'm replacing it with a great chandelier that I bought from Kijiji.  Just need to make a date with the electrician.  I'm still trying to decide about a rug - yes or no?  What do you think?  The wall colour is Farrow and Ball's Lulworth Blue...a clean mid-tone Regency blue.

The drapes are from Ikea and I LOVE them...

The smaller window is getting a roller blind that I will cover with the Ikat fabric below.  I love the way it works with the Ikea print and the grey helps bring in my kitchen decor.

My next project will be dressing the bar cart...

Here's some of the things I will use...

To the right of the window, I have put up my plate rack. The red transferware plates go back into the cupboard...

I'm happy with the bottom plate...

and the one on top (it's Ralph Lauren)...

but the one in the middle is temporary.  It is one of my china dinner plates Royal Albert Memory Lane. When I find the right plate, back to the china cabinet it goes.

The bookcases just inside the door need a lot of work but I'm a bit disheartened.  I really wanted to paint them white and distress them.  It would make such a difference but the thought of it really upset my mother (who lives with me).  Not painting them really upsets me but it is what it is.  I have to say that my mother gets very stressed out when I am trying to renovate and redo and reupholster.  It's unfortunate and I do try to do things quickly and keep the mess to a minimum but I have to change things.  I always have...even as a kid, I would move the furniture around my room regularly.  I would "shop" the house and change things up constantly.

When my house is almost "done", I start planning another room to change.  I'm always amazed on real estate shows when people say they've never painted the house they are selling.  The colours on the walls were there when they moved in?!?  I've lived in my house for 13 years and I've changed my bedroom four times!

Today has been a good day.  I cleaned out the shed and put away all the outdoor furniture.  It's getting cold here and I'm behind schedule.  Some laundry got done and dinner is in the oven.  A nice autumn meal - ribs, twice baked potatoes, kale salad and warm apple crisp with vanilla ice cream for dessert.

By the way, I'm watching the news here right now.  Watching Rob Ford the mayor of Toronto admitting to using crack cocaine and apologising.  Too little, too late.  I'm so sick of this buffoon who has besmirched the good name of Toronto all over the world. Sounds like he's not stepping down.  We have some pretty terrible politicians at all levels running Canada right now.  I love my country and I never want to live anywhere else but it's hard to watch these people destroying the reputation of this great country. Next up, the Senate scandal.....

Julie

Frugal Friday #11 - Get It For Free!

I know they say nothing in life is free but that's not always true.  I always try to take advantage of free offers. The trick is not to fall into the marketing ploys.

For example, I received an e-mail last week from Fruits and Passion (my favourite bubble bath) that they had free shipping for one day only.  My stock pile of bubble bath is almost gone and I definitely needed more.  Bubble baths are one of my big indulgences but I'm allergic to most brands so I can't buy something cheap at the buck store.  Their website is beautiful and I could easily get carried away and order all kinds of things but that defeats the free shipping.  By the way, the closest store to me is an hour drive away so I try to stock up for a year at a time.  Instead of ordering all the lovely gifty things, I ordered the industrial size refill litre bottles and they were on sale too (yahoo).  So my bubble bath is about $6.50 a month instead of $15.

I recently had Ikea offer free shipping so I ordered some drapes I wanted.  It's a couple hours drive from here and we are going next week but I wanted to try them out.  If I needed to return something, I could take it back to the store next week.  Luckily, both sets of drapes are great.  Will give you a sneak peek of them on the weekend.

One of the tricks I've learned about ordering on-line is to place your order but not hit the final submit button.  Fill in all the info on your cart, including your name, address, e-mail but don't complete the transaction...then wait.  I have often had the site contact me within 2 weeks and offer free shipping or a discount if I complete the order.

Give your e-mail address to stores when they ask.  You will have to spend a few minutes each day deleting things you are not interested in but you will get offers coming to you.  Bath & Body Works just sent me a coupon for $7.50 free gift.  No strings attached but I needed to use it this week.  The e-mail came with the title "Please Say It's Not Over!" because I haven't bought anything there in over a year. I got some lovely lemon scented soap for the kitchen - gratis!

I make a point of looking, especially on-line, for coupons or free offers on things I regularly use.  I haven't bought a razor in years.  I just got another free one with a box of cosmetic and personal care goodies from Elle magazine. The catch - I had to write a review for the things I was given. No problem as I'm always ready to give my opinion.

So while you need to be cautious about con artists on the phone offering free holidays, sometimes you can get something for free.  I once got some good advice from my boss.  John said Always ask for what you want.  The worst that can happen is you are told NO.  Then you are in the same boat as you are now but people can't read your mind.  If you don't ask, you may never get what you want.

Sometimes it works when you aren't even trying.  I was calling around for insurance quotes to see if I could save money.  I didn't end up changing companies but I did receive a $10 gas gift card as a thank you for asking for a quote....Bonus! Off for my bath now,

xo Julie