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Bathroom Shopping

This past Saturday, Joe and I went tile and bathroom fixture shopping in Flushing.  There are tons of tile and home improvement shops conveniently located near each other in Flushing, but our friend Simon warned us about what an exhausting experience tile shopping was for him.  While it was tiring, it wasn’t so bad because I actually found the EXACT tiles I was looking for within the first two minutes I set foot into our first stop at Tile World.  I think it really helped that I knew what I wanted.  However, Joe, being the frugal man that he is, would not have peace of mind unless we visited at least a few other shops as well as Home Depot.  So that’s what we did.

Tile World, a wonderland of tiles

We also visited swan tile and other shops. Swan tile was actually really expensive compared to Tile World

In the end, Tile World was the cheapest so we ended up buying the first tiles I saw that day.

Standard white subway tiles for the walls

Penny tiles for the floors

We bought the glossy white penny tiles

My tile choices were inspired by images I’ve been collecting from various design blogs.  I really want to go for a very clean, white look.  But I also want it to look old and classic – like old New York or Paris or old New England or something.  These are the main two images that inspired my tile choices:

On Sunday, we finished up our supply shopping at Home Depot.  We bought nine cans of paint for all rooms, halls, doors, and trim; a bath tub; a toilet; a medicine cabinet; shower fixtures; charcoal colored grout; a sink; and other odds and ends requested by our contractor.  I’m especially excited about the sink we got.

KOHLER Memoirs Pedestal Sink Combo in White

Its exactly what I wanted.  I am sooo excited to see everything come together.  All we have left to buy is a mirror and some light fixtures – our goal purchases for next weekend =)

Home Owners!

Today Joe and I closed on our apartment – we are officially home owners!  After 3 long months of not getting our hopes up, I officially have permission to start thinking about renovation and decorating!  I’ll try to keep updating about all of the projects coming up.  First to whet your appetite, here are some “before” pictures of our bathroom.

Thoughts on Cooking

My plan for this blog when I first started it was to continue it beyond the wedding and to share about our married life and all of the DIY projects that come with starting a new life together.  Unfortunately, purchasing a coop is a much more lengthy process than I had anticipated …meaning all of my projects have been on hold in order to spare my mother-in-law from the insanity and mess that can sometimes result.  Thus the blog has been neglected for far too long.

So I’d like to share with you another marriage related hobby I’ve been taking on.  I’d say the biggest change in my lifestyle since getting married has been cooking on a regular basis.  I went from cooking maybe once every other week to cooking 3-4 times a week on average.  Its so much more satisfying to cook when you have someone to cook for, and like they say, practice makes perfect!  I’d say I’ve come a long way in my cooking skills and although its totally different from crafts, (my mind comprehends the construction of objects so much more easily than it does the mad scientist chemistry that is food preparation) I now actually get a similar enjoyment from it to what a get out of my art and craft projects.

One of my most proud new dishes is pork chops!  The amateur gourmet blog has been most helpful to my food education, and I found my pork chop recipe from that site.  My success with this recipe also lead to the purchase of my favorite new kitchen tool too – my brand new cast iron skillet!!  It requires a bit of maintenance, but its worth it because it makes a huge difference.  Once I switched from a regular pan to the cast iron, the chops came out much more moist and flavorful (I think the same will be true for steak).  For sides I like to serve Spanish yellow rice with some sort of steamed veggie or a mixed green salad.  Maybe later I’ll post some pictures =P

Check out these tips for cast iron skillet care =)

how to clean cast iron

how to season cast iron