The Organizing Bug: Episode 1: Kitchen

A couple of times a year it hits me. The organizing bug. I start to get a little more antsy in our house. The amount of "stuff" we have around irritates me. I feel like I can't FIND things... and if I let it come to a head, I start to want to just pitch everything. Usually it's about this time of year that I start letting the organizing bug take over - and this time around I thought I would chronicle this little bit of wackiness and share it with you.

I started with our kitchen. Our kitchen is.... irritating. When we bought our house I thought - this is awesome, it's big enough for a kitchen table, has a big window over the sink... fabulous!

Then we moved in and it started to sink in that I only had 2 drawers in the whole kitchen. 2. Drawers. That the corner had a cupboard that was basically completely blind and in order to get at anything in those corners you'd  have to take practically everything out and then perform some kind of contortionism to get the things from the corner out. That the floor was SO not level and that the tile that I actually kind of liked wasn't actually marbled... it was really dirty - and had a TONNE of little nicks, nooks, crannies and such that just were magnetised for dirt.

There didn't seem to be a way that made sense for putting things away... and as such, every now and again, when I let the bug take over, I go "deep clean" mode. It started with emptying out all the cupboards and the 2 drawers. Absolutely EVERYTHING came out. I cleared off our counters completely, and then with a bleach/dish soap solution every counter top, bit of molding, cupboard, shelf, etc got scrubbed and wiped down. Then the purge.

At this point I need the hubs to come in and slow me down. Left to my own devices we'd have 2 plates, cups, bowls, and set of cutlery each ... and that'd be it. Honestly, I'd just started throwing everything out. The rule that I abide by is: if it hasn't been used in a year OR we have more than 1 of an item, it can probably go. There are exceptions of course. I only kept 1 peeler, but I kept 2 pizza cutters.

Now - I apologise, I don't have any before pictures... I was honestly far too embarrassed by the state of our kitchen to even consider taking any. I DO, however, have after pictures to share with you. Yay!

What Mama Wears: Tea Party

I was invited a tea-party at my best friend's neighbour's house recently. First of all - obviously I couldn't pass up a tea-party! I mean, who would I be?!  Secondly - I got to find out about a great, Canadian loose-leaf tea company based in Hamilton called Steeped Teas.*

The consultant who gave the presentation was super-friendly and she had lots of great teas, including my all-time favourite tea blend: Monk's Blend. It's a black tea with vanilla and grenadine flavours - fabulous! And since Teaopia got bought out by Teavana (and they stopped carrying Monk's Blend and stopped actually educating their staff about tea - more about THAT in another post) and I've been more than disappointed in them lately, I was psyched to find out about another tea company that was Canadian!

In any case - what does Mama wear to a tea party with a lot of people she doesn't know? Well, it was a Saturday afternoon, so I felt safe wearing jeans, but I wanted to dress it up just a little bit. Add a really pretty lace inspired cardi, my fave white tee, and some fun accessories and I was ready to go!

Cardigan: Ricki's / T-shirt: Joe Fresh / Jeans: Reitman's / Belt: Giant Tiger / Necklace: Designs ...By Patricia / Earrings: Designs ...By Patricia

Milk free?

So... while dealing with a few digestive issues, my doc has suggested I go lactose/dairy free for a couple of weeks. At first I thought, okay no big deal, that's a good idea to try and see if it makes a difference... then it struck me.

No. Milk.

No milk... in my TEA.

AGH!

So, I'm kind of a tea-snob. I'm not ashamed, I like what I like the way I like it. And that's tea. Tea with milk in it. Not all teas. Herbal teas require no milk (actually, that's kind of gross - no milk in chamomile, green or peppermint tea). Black teas require no sweetening (unless it's chai, then it's okay to put honey or agave in it, but NOT sugar). And I hate, HATE, the taste of soy. Ugh. What am I going to do!?

Thankful....

Thanksgiving.

I love thanksgiving. It's one of my favourite holidays in the whole year. Here in Canada, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday of October. It's a great time of year - the leaves are starting to turn, pumpkins are ripe, the fall harvest season is at it's absolute peak and the farmer's markets around our town are packed with squash, carrots, parsnips, potatoes, corn and so many other great fall vegetables. Thanksgiving makes me think of life as being warm, and golden. And Thanksgiving weekend is a weekend absolutely packed full of great food and family and laughter. All things that make life feel full and ripe like the earth around us.

Things I'm Thankful for this weekend:

 - My family. I love my large extended family, and am so blessed to have a tight knit, hilarious, loving fam. My in-laws are wonderful, loving and an integral part of my life. But I'm especially thankful for my wonderful Hubs, my two wacky kiddos: big'un and littl'un, and even my silly fur-baby. Only 4 months after losing our latest angel baby I find myself feeling a little twinge of sadness at what might have been, but being surrounded by my little family makes me exceedingly grateful for the blessings I have.

 

Thanksgiving Weekend walk at the cottage

Stuffed Zucchinis!

About 2 months ago, a Clancy's opened up near us. We went in the first couple of days and splurged (and I mean SPLURGED) on two zucchini boats to have with our dinner. Well, at almost $4.00 each (for half a zucchini, people!) I knew we'd never be buying them again - but they were too good to not try to recreate. And I think I did a pretty decent job.