Growing Up and Growing Old

I seemed to have aged a little faster than I have liked. Don't get me wrong I am not old. I mean I am only 32, but that doesn't matter. What does matter is that I am no longer in my 20's.

I can no longer do crazy things without having to deal with consequences.

Crap, I partied until 4 last night, now I have to get through this work presentation and all day meetings. Or I just had to have that $700 piece of electronics now the mortgage payment will bounce.

Besides the number on your drivers license there are signs that say " yup I'm no longer 20 something". 

For me the first one came when I picked up an edition of Cosmo after not reading them for a period. I used to read them every month, they are the Bible for many woman. Now that I am in my 30's and married with a family I find the contents of Cosmo to be down right comical. 10 places he wants you to touch, what he really means when he says this and 15 sex moves to try. Umm yeah right, If I find time in my day of working, supper and kid duties to touch anything on anyone, it should be celebrated. 15 moves? How about how to do it in 15 seconds while Dora is on. Silly Cosmo. I got further away from my 20's when I bought my first Better Homes and Garden.

Drinking is no longer a game. Once drinking games were a must, what else was the point of drinking. When you get older it becomes more about enjoying what you are drinking and enjoying the social time with another adult human being. Last year was another "ah ha" moment whe we returned a drinking game given to us for Christmas and bought a butter dish. My husband said "I can't believe we just did that." I could, I needed a butter dish.

It's not all bad, you don't just "get old" you grow up. You know who you are and what you want to be, you become more comfortable with yourself. People tend to treat you with more respect like you actually have something to contribute to society.

But I still have that little glimmer of hope at the liquor store check out. " Please ID me...."

Just because I like being in my 30's doesn't me I want to look like I am! 

My Kitchen, My Way

Earlier this year I saw a quote "If you don't like where you are in life, then move." I took that a little more literally than they probably meant it to be and sold my house.

It was a brand new build in a brand new subdivision and I hated it. I now live in a wonderful thirty-year-old two storey house in an established subdivision.  It is not quite as new and shiny and it is a little rough around the edges after 30 years on the earth, I mean so am I right? (My ego is hoping you are all correcting me right now about how wonderful I look).

But here's the thing, I love renovating, I love having a concept and making it come to life, I love when everything in my house is made for me! Not something that was mass produced for profit by a builder.
And I can love this type of stuff because of my wonderful husband who puts up with my visions and ideas and constant plans.

Project Kitchen

Original kitchen

I hated those old light wood coloured cabinets and don't get me started on the fruit tiled backsplash.
Spending $15,000 on a new kitchen was not in the stars for me. Unless I win the lottery, since I don't play that will be never....
But the cabinets were solid so we decided to try our hand at refinishing them. What happens if we ruin them? We have to replace the cabinets anyways, back to square one.





So off we went to Rona to pick up a refinishing kit. This is where I lose my husband. I decide I want a vintage  cream coloured cabinet. He just stares at me for  a minute. See we have always been lovers of dark wood so this is a little out there for me. But my new house has windows everywhere and I have this urge to make everything bright and cheery!
"Just go with it, I have a vision," I say. He shakes his head and allows me to follow my whim. Love that man.

So first of all don't attempt to refinish your cabinets if you are on a short timeline! It is actually a really easy process it just requires about 8 steps and drying time between each one to finish the job. But we did it! I can say we because I did actually help with the painting and glazing. I earned the right!

Ta Da!

I picked out my tiles from the discounted table at Kent. The glass tiles were regular $25 a sheet! Who pays for that! I paid $5 a sheet for two boxes and $10 a sheet for two unopened boxes. the small subway tiles were also on clearance for .75 each.

My big splurge in this kitchen was the new hood vent. We took out the small cabinet that was not being used above the stove and put in a beautiful stainless steel chimney style vent. It may have been my splurge but if it was still online of course! I saved $110 off and another 10% off the $440 price tag on a scratch and save event.

Since the countertop was fairly new we decided to leave it for now. My dream there is corian stone one day. You know when I win that lottery again....

Kitchen Reno Breakdown
Cost to refinish cabinets $225
Cost of tile & grout $390
Cost of hood vent $410
Total for my makeover: $1035

Not bad for a completely different look! I could get another decade of of these cabinets now. Talk about stretching a dollar.

Now what can I move onto next????