You Can Be The Ripest, Juiciest Peach In The World...

"You can be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world and there's still going to be somebody who hates peaches.."-Dita Von Teese

I spent the last day trying my hand at promoting Shabby yet Chic via social media. I am utterly incompetent when it comes to computers, so much so that it must almost be endearing (I  hope and wish) to see someone struggle with something other people find as easy is walking (just one foot in front of the other). I was however, borderline successful (!!!). I managed to add a few tricks....

Shabby on social media!

- If you look in the left side bar you will now notice an aggressive "follow on pinterest" button. Click this and you can follow all of Shabby's boards on pinterest!

- If you hover your mouse on the top left hand corner of ANY picture on this page, a magical little "pin-it" button will appear. Click this to add any images you like to your own personal pinterest account!

- At the end of each post you will see five small icons that will light up when a mouse hovers over them. These allow you to share a post on facebook, email it to someone or share it on twitter (look at me go, I am on a roll!).

- Finally, you can follow Shabby on facebook for blogger updates, pictures and inspirations! Search "Shabby yet Chic" and "like" the page to follow/subscribe! Feel free to share this page with anyone who may like it!

Thank you all for checking me out! Happy weekend!
-m

A Woman's Mind Is Clearer Than A Man's....

"A woman's mind is cleaner than a man's: She changes it more often."-Oliver Herford

I do change my mind...a lot. Yet I can be very decisive when I need to be. No fuss and no muss.

I like to thrift and breathe new life into things that are old and discarded. I hunt at flea markets, yard sales and thrift stores. I like changing my surroundings and I enjoy looking for ways to improve the things I already have. Pinterest, damn pinterest is also constantly tweaking me in all kinds of new directions, and inspiring me (while wasting blank number of hours...).

Two years ago I bought a sturdy vintage table from Value Village. It cost me a whopping twelve bucks. It was a non-descript brown and I quickly slapped on a coat of cream paint. It lived as my television stand for about a year and continued to do so until I found an awesome turquoise one that hid a multitude of sins (wires, digital cable boxes etc.). At that point my little cream table moved to the entry way to act as a catch all, housing a basket for mittens and a bowl for change and keys.

Last week it poured, I was bored and looking for a project (I am ALWAYS looking for a project!) and I spied my thrifted table. The paint was peeling off the top, it still looked fine but was a cluttered mess. I popped to the basement and found my light aqua paint from my kitchen and put a quick coat on my mirror and then a coat on the top of the table. A little varnish later and I couldn't be happier with the result! Happy thrifting and happy rainy-day-creativity everyone!
-m

What Garlic Is To Salad.....

"What garlic is to salad, insanity is to art."- A. Saint- Gaudens

I eat salad a lot, almost daily. Spinach, mixed greens etc, etc. I have been meaning to mix it up. As good as it is for me, I get a little tired of leafy greens. One of the ladies at work had a quinoa salad and it looked delicious so I decided to try my hand at it using her advice.

Here is what I came up with! It was delicious, filled me up (quinoa packs a major protein punch) and made the best lunches for those long twelve hour shifts we nurses subject ourselves to routinely. It was lemony fresh, tasted like summer and would be delicious with barbecued anything and corn on the cob (why is corn on the cob so great?!). Happy Canada day !
-m

Mediterranean "Summer" Salad

You will need:

-1 cup quinoa ( most boxes are about a cup..but bulk barn sells it for cheap!)
- ~2 cup chicken broth
-1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes halved
-1/2 cup of green pepper (or your fav pepper!) chopped
-1/4 cup of red onion
-1/2 cup feta cheese (cubed or crumbled...cubed gives a little more ka-pow!)
-1 can of chick peas drained and rinsed
- 2 tbs of balsamic vinegar (I used white, but what you got will work..red wine vinegar would be ok too)
-1 large lemon
-1-2 tbs of olive oil
-pepper and salt to taste

In a sauce pan bring chicken broth to a boil, add quinoa and reduce heat to low simmer. Cook for 12 minutes then remove from heat and let sit for ten minutes (or you can follow the instructions on the box, just use broth instead of water...more flavour!). Fluff with fork and allow to cool fully before mixing salad together (or it will be slimy....yuck!). When cool add veggies, feta and chick peas. Drizzle olive oil and vinegar over your salad and squeeze the juice of entire lemon (watch out for seeds!) on top as well (you can add more if you love lemons!). Sprinkle with pepper and with a little salt and toss until contents and liquids full mixed. Cover and return to fridge until you are ready to serve! This may also be good with cucumbers! Enjoy the simple ingredients and fresh flavours!

I Have Had So Much Plastic Surgery...

"I have had so much plastic surgery, when I die they will donate my body to Tupperware!"
-Joan Rivers

As you can tell I pulled Joan Rivers, Shabby yet Chic got a face-lift today. Everything is exactly the same, just a little more modern with cleaner lines (and less wrinkles..har har).

Just a friendly reminder- you can click "follow" on the right hand side of this page and blogger will notify you of new posts etc. You are also welcome to suggest this blog to your friends, co-workers and pet dogs with technical wizardry etc.

If you are looking for an older post, say for a recipe, just type some key words into the search tool bar on the right hand side and related posts should "pop" up. You can also use the categories under the title to narrow down interests or topics.

Shabby yet Chic can also be found on Instagram, just search @shabbyyetchic and hit "follow"....

That is about as much self promotion as this little lady is capable of. I am now going to go wallow in a bottle of wine...Happy Following all!
-m

The Halifax arm, taken from the dingle !!!!

A Real New Yorker...

"A real New Yorker likes the sound of the garbage truck in the morning."- R.L. Stein

Picture this, here I am on a walk with one of my favourite people and her two babies. It's hot, we are sweating and it is spring cleaning day in the city. What do I spy on the side of the road, an Adirondack chair in need of some minor repairs and a little bit of love. Mer and I decide there is no way it couldn't possibly not fit in my car (my VW Golf can fit anything!). Keep in mind, Mer and I are also the people who were CONVINCED my new queen mattress and box spring would fit in the back of her mini-van. Needless to say, her husband rescued two hot babes and a real baby at Costco with his cube truck. This chair went no where near my trunk. I am buying us both purse sized measuring tapes cause our "size estimation" is very off. Good thing she has a mini-van, her husband didn't have to rescue us this time!

A couple of screws, some wood-glue, a little sand paper and a whole lot of pink paint and that chair was nursed back to health. It is the perfect spot to read in the sun and to enjoy a fire on a warm summer night. Thanks for not thinking I am crazy and thanks for feeding into my frugal side Mer! Happy do-it-yourself everyone!
-m

What Good Is The Warmth Of Summer...

"What good is the warmth of summer without the cold of winter to give it sweetness?"
- J Steinback

It has rained for what feels like years, or at least in Halifax. The grass is green and the gardens mucky. April and May were grey, June threatened to be and just as all of our seasonal affect disorders were gearing up with a second wind, the sun shone and summer hit us with a bang. Short skirts, short shorts, heels and sunnies are embarking like a plague. I am not complaining, my gardens are edged and mulched, I have a beginning of a tan and I am blogging on the deck with a cup of tea enjoying my twinkly lights and my table top fire pot. I can smell lilacs and it makes me happy to live in a beautiful city, full of mature trees, green spaces and friendly people. Let summer commence! Enjoy the outdoors everyone!
-m

I Dream Of Painting...

"I dream of painting and then I paint my dream."- Van Gogh

I dream of renovating my house. In my dream, I have an bottomless bank account. I also have a handsome handy-man running around making all of my renovation dreams a reality while I sit back and watch with a strong cup of coffee.  It is the best dream ever! My reality is looking at my awful, afterthought of a kitchen, reaching into my pocket and pulling out a five dollar bill, two pennies and some questionable looking pocket lint. Champage taste on a beer budget, maybe even a fountain pop budget. A small budget means getting creative.

My kitchen is officially half renovated. Here is what I did in order, how much everything cost and how-to's. Prepare for a long post my friends.

Walls:
First off, my kitchen, as you are all aware is the size of a postage stamp with ZERO storage. It was also nicatine yellow. I am sure that must have been the name of that hanious color. So I booked off to my paint expert and bought a gallon of "tide pools blue". Paint is the most bang for your buck. Clean, fresh trim and a bright cheery color and you are half way there!
Total cost: $50

Working with what cha' got:
My cabinets (the whole three of them) are fake oak. "Foak" I will call it. Cheap, pressboard hunks of junk someone threw in as a cheap "upgrade" or maybe they had a kitchen fire?  Well I obviously couldn't afford all new cabinets, those suckers pricey. When I caught myself repeatedly going to home depot and drooling over the cabinet and counter combos, I knew something had to be done. I grabbed some TSP, some BIN and some cabinet paint in creamy white. I also bought sponge rollers, rubber gloves and a big red bucket and I went to it.

If you are debating painting your cabinets, I highly reccomend it. My mother gave her kitchen a massive upgrade just with some cabinet paint. If you can, a professonal will save you time and stress but if you can't afford one (like me!) here are the steps for you!

1) Get TSP and mix it in a big bucket with water as per instructions on carton. Wear gloves and meticulously wipe down all of your cabinets and drawers then rinse with water. You will be amazed at how good they look when you are done!
2) Give a light sanding and wipe off dust when finished.
3) Get your bin tinted to the same color of your paint. It will save you coats as it will both prep the surface and act as a primer!
4) Roll bin on with a small sponge roller, using an angled brush to get in any corners. You can choose to take off your doors if you want...I cheated and didn't, I was just very careful around the hinges. I really didn't know if the cabinets could withtsand any drilling! I put two coats of this one cause it made the surface smooth and even, but my paint expert said one would do. Bin is horrible smelling, be sure to have a door or window cracked.
5) When your bin is dry, repeat step four with your cabinet paint. You will be amazed at the change! I ended up with two coats of paint on two coats of bin.
  Total cost: $120

It's all in the details: 
My cabinets had no hardware. I love the cup drawer pulls and I think brushed nickle and creamy white are dreamy together. The problem is that like always, I have expensive taste. The pulls I liked were $9 bucks each. I waited and hunted and waited and hunted and ended up finding them discounted for $0.63 each! I obviously did a happy dance in my paint clothes at Canadian Tire! My cabinets now feel modern and finished!
Total cost: $8.24 

Enlist help:
My neighbors are the bomb. Seriously, I couldnt have better ones. Jim accross the street just so happens to be a finish carpenter in his spare time. With his skill and my lofty dreams, we drew up two new upper cabinets that would have enough storage space for all my stuff. Remember I only had two small, awkward upper cabinets. I wanted to leave them open, I have pretty things and I felt it would make my kitchen look bigger. He wheeled them over within a week and I was painting and sanding, painting and sanding for what felt like weeks. We threw them up and I am postively thrilled with the finished product. He trimmed them in pine incase I ever decided to put doors on but I love the open concept, it is a little old fashioned and suits me and my house to a tea!
Total cost: $400

As you can tell, they are modest renovations. I am far from any type of professional (except a health care professional) and I still have lots of work to go. Anything can be accomplished, even on the tightest of purse strings. Next up I plan on tiling my own backsplash and investing in a polished concrete counter top (oooo!!) but not until my budget allows! For now, here are some before and after pictures ! Happy renos! Excuse the poor quality of pictures !!!

-m