Year: 2011

sophisticated white marble bathrooms

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Every year I fall in love with one specific color even though I am not particular. Last year it was red  this year, it happens to be white (which is perfect) because, although I had tossed around the idea of  the color white in bathroom and kitchen decor for my dream apartment, I have often retracted my suggestion because I just couldn’t make up my mind. But this year, with me falling madly inlove with the color white, I decided to search online for sophisticiated marble bathrooms to give me  a visuals of what I have contimplated for years. So here are my favorite photos, which I found here:   Enjoy them and tell me what you think?

healthy dessert – woopie pies

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I was first introduced or shall I say, I introduced myself to woopie pies at Dean & Dellucca in Napa, CA.  First time, I only purchased one and savored it all the way home and after devouring it practically in one gulp, I realized I should have bought a couple of more. Don’t worry I made up for it on my second visit. 🙂 Anyway, since I am also a conscious or a healthy eater, I knew I had to stay away from them until of course I found the recipe here. To make it easier on you, I have also copied it below from the Eating Well website. 16 whoopie pies Active Time: 45 minutes Total Time: 2 1/2 hours (including chilling time) INGREDIENTS COOKIES 1/3 cup canola oil 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar 1 large egg 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 3/4 teaspoon baking powder 3/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup nonfat milk FILLING 1/2 cup cold water 2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin …

happy moments and proud parents

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I had forgotten how important a child’s graduation is to parents, until of course, I received am email invite a while back to attend one this coming weekend.  So, I am excited to report that I am off to catch a flight  across the country, so that I can  attend the college graduation ceremony for two of my favorite people in the world. Congrats to you both. My dears, your hard work has truly paid off and you have made your parents very proud. 🙂 Have a truly nice weekend everyone!!!

kitchen floor – a condo remodel on a budget

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Like the home remodeling shows on television ( HGTV in our case), I must repeat my opening statement just in case someone just tuned in. I have embarked on a condo remodel with a friend of mine and it has truly been a learning process but a fun one as well. The benefit of a d.i.y. project on a place that is not your own is easy to do with a tight budget. Because although your main goal is to make it a functional and safe environment for the future owners, it is also easy to opt for a low-end product, which still gives you the warranty, functionality and the look  you want without feeling too attached to the place once personalized. The kitchen floor of the condo is a 6×9 galley style space.  Currently the flooring is self stick linoleum tiles that are stuck together with no gap in between. Although it was a fairly new flooring, I knew we needed a fresh look to compliment the freshly painted cabinets and newly purchased appliances. …

an apartment with a view

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Since I work in the financial district of a metropolitan city and live in the suburbs, I often times cannot decide whether I prefer the view of the high rise buildings from my office window or the view of the ocean from my bedroom window for my future apartment. It’s a tough choice, but one I need to make up my mind about, if I plan to move out by the end of this year.  Help…

condo d.i.y kitchen project – continued

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The only benefit to the fog and cold weather in the city is the fact, you have no choice but to work on indoor projects. So, we did just that over the weekend. As I stated here, we were experiencing small disappointments last week while painting the kitchen cabinets. Now part of the problem was, we were a bit impatient for the end result, so we simply over reacted midway through. Anyway,  while trying to keep the costs down, we opted for a prefabricated formica counter tops, which give the impression of granite but for alot less. At home depot you can actually purchase the counter tops in various lengths to fit just about any kitchen. They come in 4, 6, 8 and 10 feet long by the standard counter top width. They are  easy to cut a hole for the sink and cut  down to several smaller sizes to fit the counter space around a stove area. So while we waited for the 4th coat of paint to dry, we worked on installing the …

summer fog – the downfall of the city by the bay

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Well, we are well on our way into June and practically only two weeks away from the beginning of Summer. Although this year it has been strange, weather wise, most everywhere around the globe,  I know for a fact some parts of the world are beginning to show signs of Summer. This is usually the time I get really sad and unmotivated because for the next three months I will see nothing but fog outside my window. The funny thing is most tourists and a small percentage of the locals think, the fog is beautiful,  mysterious and amazing. But even if that may be the case, in all reality it is the downfall of the city by the bay. Sure, there are many postcards with arial views of the fog covering the city, with the sun and the blue skies above it all, but when you actually live through it, it can be a bit depressing and sometimes overwhelming. Let me explain, most of us will wear sweats in our homes just to stay warm, …

mental escape from condo remodel

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It has been an interesting week to say the least. With work and having to shop for all the necesaties for the condo project. I simply wanted to get the shopping out of the way so I can spend the entire weekend painting, cutting, pasting, well you get the point. Although I enjoy this type of challenge, last night I finally felt extremely tired from all the running around. So, I decided to escape online and find some of my favorite photos of home decor I would love to incorporate into my own fantasy loft.  Click on photo to see more. Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend.

never mix paint with pleasure

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Just in case you are scratching your head with the title, I must explain why I chose it. You see, I have a weird appreciation for painting various areas of a home and feel painting should be a pleasure rather than a chore. I love discussing the options, I enjoy chosing the paint color, the brushes and various other gadgets to handle the project and most of all I truly enjoy rolling up my sleeves and diving right into it. However, when the actual project begins, the fun can sometimes turn into a sad occassion, especially when you realize the outcome isn’t  as wonderful as you had hoped. Take for example our attempts to paint the kitchen cabinets. Although we spend several hours consulting with the paint experts at Home Depot (in this case) and followed their suggestions on how to proceed, the mid-way result has been a bit worrysome to say the least. We were told to prime the cabinets and then paint over them. Which made sense. We were also told that High Gloss looks the …