DIY Day!

Monday was spent doing some DIY projects that have been piling up which included:

• painting chairs for the kitchen
• painting a small side table 

So I went to Rona to pick up some spray paint and sandpaper for my projects! Mr. Rona suggested getting paint instead of spray paint since my items, ie: the chairs, had lots of slats so most of the spray paint would miss the actual surface. So I got regular paint in black and white and headed home.

I took my items out on the balcony and sanded 2 chairs and the 1 table...I sanded the first chair pretty good but then my arm got tired so the rest of the items weren't sanded well at all. I later found out I didn't sand anything properly because the surface varnish on the items was so glossy that the paint wasn't sticking and I did like 4 or 5 coats on each item! AAAHHH!!! (Note to any DIY'ers out there, sand sand sand and the painting will be much easier!)...And omg it was so windy outside that all my stuff kept flying all over the place! Luckily I did NOT get paint anywhere else besides the items to be painted (well and in my hair and on my arms but story to come hehe...)

I started with the chairs that we had inherited from beforehand...this is a before shot of what they looked like:

The kitchen chair before I painted it

And this is the AFTER:

The new kitchen chairs after a few coats of fresh paint!

Those slats were the bain of my existence! I painted from about 10am to 3pm non-stop!!! But we were very happy with the result! They look really fresh and match our kitchen which has white cabinetry.

And here is the table which I saw and knew I could refinish to make it look prettier (unfortunately the table is in two pieces at the start so it may not look so different from the finished product):

A vintage table in need of some paint

And voila...the after shot...after like 4 coats of black semi-gloss:

Super cute after painted black!

Oh and here are the new chairs in our kitchen :) I am SO excited about the way it turned out! Still need to mount the mirror but I love it:

Our cute little eat-in kitchen!

The mirror that will go above the table

The freshly painted chairs in the kitchen

Those roses in the vase are from a mehndi I went to a few weeks ago...and they are still so fresh! Talk about good quality roses!! 

Ok so now to the hilarious story of paint in my hair...I took a quick shower after the DIY projects because I was picking my friend R's little sister Z for bridal shower planning! Turns out my shampoo and conditioning did not get paint out of my hair and I later realized (that evening...after I had hung out with Z and also went to the mall) that I had a white streak in my hair! Kind of like Stacy London from What Not To Wear, but less cool and less natural haha!! How embarrassing! People probably thought it was just a white hair but yuck! Anyways I got it out now!

After my DIY projects I had a white streak in my hair, like Stacy London's! Except mine was paint and her's is natural. She looks like my sister in this picture haha!!

Another funny story - when Z came over we were working in the living room on our laptops. My hubby, A, and I have a pet bird Rocky...well Rocky was out of his cage and eating his feed and just chilling. I kept telling Z not to be scared when Rocky flies because, well, he won't fly on us, he just wants to go to A. So she was cool for the most part and we both just got startled a few times. Then it was time for her to go and I was going to drop her off back at school...she was a little scared of Rocky so she went to stand by the doorway and wait. I told her that I would protect her from Rocky. Gosh. I think Rocky heard and was offended because he flew at me in the kitchen, above my ducked over head, and then back to his perch. I was screaming and Z was standing with her laptop over her head for protection LOL. Then I went to tell A that we were heading out and Rocky flew back again and this time I screamed and sat on the ground. In this position...this is my usual position when I hear flight lol but my hands are on my head and my eyes are closed lol:

The position I take when I hear Rocky flying

So in conclusion, I should not have said I would protect her LOL or anyone for that matter...because I am still terrified myself and I think he heard me... LOL but seriously I'm not as scared as I used to be! So much better now :) Baby steps!!!

R's bridal shower planning is going really well! It's a Coco Chanel inspired theme....she has some awesome quotes like this one:

R's bridal shower theme is Coco Chanel and going to be totally awesome!!

Tomorrow I'm going to mount some mirrors and maybe paint some more projects (smaller projects!!) and MAYBE check out a zumba class at the gym! I got one of those deal find vouchers a long time ago and I should probably use it before school starts.

Let me know what you think of my DIY projects!

Au revoir!

PS: I caught a glimpse of one of those "Housewives of Beverly Hills" shows or something and all they do is go to parties...so not realistic...all I do is...go to HomeSense :) hehe

S

Just another rainy day!!

Ugh today's weather was SO LAME!!! It was POURING practically all day! However, this did not stop me from running some errands in my old home town and visiting my mommy at work with some Timmies yum yum! Also caught up with some work friends on the drive back home wow it seems like I worked there SOOOO long ago but it's just been a few weeks...the best part is when I was bragging on the phone about how there are now so many hours in a day and it's ridiculous the amount of things one can get done, if they are not going to work. LOL! For real though...one day I did so much stuff that even I couldn't believe it was still daylight outside!! But it is WAY more exhausting than work!

The WiN conference was awesome as usual :) Met some really cool people and lots of interest was generated for GEMS so I hope to explore that further! Wendy Mesley was one of the speakers and she did a fantastic job!

Wendy Mesley was at the WiN conference as the keynote speaker

Most hilarious part of my day - I was telling another WiN Board Member about my new life as a housewife:

C: So how are you enjoying your time off?
Me: OMG being a housewife is way more difficult than going to work!
C: Oh?
Me: I don't even know how people do this? Like there are so many things to do and so many things to learn! And worst of all there is no paycheque! Like how did our moms do this? I have a much bigger appreciation for housewives now! Doing housework and raising kids, man even with a nanny that would be tough. I wish I could have a nanny just for me, you know, help with stuff.
C: Well what did you do with the kids before when you were working?
Me: We don't have kids.....
C: Oh stop complaining then!!!

I think C *maybe* thinks I'm a domestic diva...but I'm not! Just new at the gig!

BAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAH
Oh gosh! That was jokes! But I do see mom's out shopping when I'm running errands during the day now. I have no idea how people shop with babies in their cart. Or holding their hand. Like are you supposed to be able to hold your shopping bags AND the baby? And how would you even load your car properly? Is it better to just get that thing that you strap onto your body with the baby in it so you don't actually have to hold the child? Anyways, my sisters probably have a better method but I don't need it lol

After the conference I drove straight to E&W's (my niece and nephew) swimming lesson. In my conference business suit. I didn't want to embarrass the babies so I at least took my heels off before I entered the pool area. I was over dressed. But anyways it was super cute watching them "swim" except for the part where I thought W was going to drown every time the instructor turned around. His cute little head kept going under and he was scared :( I think that was the last swim lesson I will go to.

Weekend is finally hereeeeeeeeeee
I'm going to try my new cooking skills this weekend!!
I have currently attended one of three of my cooking classes from cookingmatters.com
Chef Suki is transforming me into a South Asian cooking expert!

I made garam masala from scratch!
No biggie ;)

I also made chicken tikka, lamb kebabs, chick pea chaat, samosai, pakorai, tamarind chutney, and puri's.
ALL from scratch!!! And let me tell you...each and every item was DELISH!
Oh yah and masala chai which my hubby loves :)

I am going to attempt a few of these dishes again this weekend without the help of chef Suki and see how it goes! Here are some pics from my first class....merai moo mei paani a raha hai (my mouth is watering) LOL

Me with Chef Suki! Displaying the samosai, pakorai and delicious puri!

I am so excited to EAT :)

Eating on the deck at Suki's after a long day of cooking!

Share your recipes if you have any good ones!!

Enjoy your weekend :) I was going to say long weekend. It's because every weekend for me is long..well never-ending..it' just ONE BIG WEEKEND FROM NOW until school starts hahaaaaaa!!!


S

WiN Conference in...8 hours!!!

Tomorrow is the WiN Canada Annual Conference!
And I'm still up! Why?! I don't know!! TOO MUCH CAFFEINE I think :)

We're having a board panel discussion and I wanted to make some points to talk about when I'm asked questions - my topics are networking and continued education. I wonder if education in cooking counts ;) I'm going to talk about how networking took GEMS to a whole different level! And what I plan on doing with my MBA!

Here's my Women on WiN posting...it's out of date but it gives you a flavour of my old job...and the pic is just too HILARIOUS: http://www.wincanada.org/women-of-win/suddufwyne

Wish me luck, it's going to be a LOOOONG drive!
Will let you know how it goes :)

*S