Why?

Why is everything cool from the UK?

Look at these!! They're tile decals! Stick them on over top of your ugly existing tile and voila!!

Sigh. I need more money...

Best cleaner ever...

Are you looking to scrub 50 years of grime and grease off of your vintage stove?

If you are then we at Sarah's Blog highly recommend Nature Clean's Kitchen and Bath spray.

It kicks butt and takes names.

F**k ya!

Thanks for installing the sink twice Gerry... you rule!

Samantha...

You're all totally right. My new stoves name is Samantha!! :)

My new stove...

So I can't believe that just a few days after declaring that I wanted a Frigidaire Flair stove...I find one in a warehouse in Burnaby. Crazy.

She looked a little rough in the warehouse but after some intense inspection I realized that she was just really dirty. I spent 4 hours last night scrubbing 50 years of grime off of her... I think there will have to be at least 2 more rounds of cleaning to get all the nooks and crannies but if you know anything about me... you know I love to clean!!

The man I bought it from assured me that it was working before he unhooked it from the wall (it's hard wired) and I have a guy here in Victoria who can re-wire her if she needs it ... but he says they're work horses and rarely need any maintaining. I'm going to have him come over and check her out and put on a plug so we can plug her in right away.

Yes. She's a she... what's her name? I wonder... I wonder.

So let's just look at some of the features of The Flair. It's really staggering how much thought they put into the design of this thing. First... the burners. Yup. You pull them out like a drawer and when you're done cooking you push them back and the stove is all closed up neat and tidy. AMAZING!Next. The ovens. Not one... but two ovens that are above the burners so you don't have to break your back when you check your cookies. Not only that but the doors open like a Lamborghini!
Totally mirrored amazing shiny fun inside the oven. You can check your cookies and your lipstick all at the same time... Below is a cabinet for your pots and pans and best of all the shelving pulls out so you don't have to break your back searching around for things. Great design!
The dashboard is pretty groovy as well...
I can't wait to get this girly a new plug so I can use her. Now... a name. What is her name? Anyone?

Now I need to find a Frigidaire Flair griddle that isn't $150. Yikes!!
Keep your eyes peeled my thrift store friends!! I'll make it worth your while if you find one!

OPRAH was right!

You put something out into the universe and it answers you. Guess what I found in Vancouver?? More on this later...
But first... my trip.
I went over to hang out with Gerry while he did a guest spot at Lotus Land Tattoo. I think it must be the worlds smallest tattoo shop.
Gerry took me out for dinner to East is East which is across the street from the tattoo shop.
I had high hopes for this place as we walked in. The food smelled great and the atmosphere was groovy. The menu was really expensive and the food was just so-so. The flavours were there but my food was luke-warm but I was WAY too hungry at that point to send it back. I noticed that my food came from the front of house and not from the kitchen in the back. As we left ... I realized that all the food was up front being warmed in a hotplate type setting. Ick. I also noticed that the server who took our money then turned around to make food... um... wash your hands, Dear. Money is dirty.

The next day Gerry and I had a lovely brunch with my parents. I can't remember the name of it... Booby? Boogly? Burgy? It was in N.Van and I had a yummy cup of soup with some hummus and pita. I forgot to take a photo ... but I did get a photo of me and my parents. My Dad has recently quit smoking and I tell ya, he looks great!! It's only been a month or so but I think he looks so much healthier. I'm so proud of him. Yay! Now we just have to get my Step-Mum to quit. :)
Then Gerry and I went to Ikea.
WHAT??
I know. I'm a contradiction wrapped up in an enigma. *laugh* Look. I'm not mad at Ikea the store. I'm mad at Ikea-online....

Later in the evening Gerry and I went for dinner with our house hosts Adam and Sarah who run Tattoodles.com It's a great website if you're looking for tattoo inspiration and I highly recommend it.

We went to The Foundation for dinner and it was fantastic. I had a great black bean burger.
Gerry had a peanuty pesto pasta... yum!
My only complaint is that the music was so loud that I felt like I was in a rap video. Perhaps I'm getting old... *laugh* but I went out for dinner with friends and I want to be able to talk to them not yell at them like I'm in a club.

My other complaint is this... are you a vegan/veg restaurant or not... cause I can't tell. The waiter told us that everything on the menu was vegan unless it said Cheese. Ok ... but when my friend Sarah ordered food she got a side of Sour Cream and it was real sour cream. ummm... I think they need to clarify what the deal is on the menu, because the menu was really confusing.

Adam and Sarah have a menagerie of fur-babies and Bunny, the cat really took a liking to me.
Then we rented a truck and picked up MY NEW STOVE!! More on that later... I have to leave you wanting more or you won't come back! :)

YAY!

See ya!

I'm off to Vancouver for fun and frivolity with my hubby...

Drowned

Drowned my sink sorrows in a nice long walk with Fergus along The Selkirk Waterfront. Garsh I live in a beautiful city don't I?
Fergus and I came up with a new game on the bridge. It's called "wait and GO!" I make him sit and wait as I walk away about 20-30 feet. He's not allowed to follow me until I say "GO!" then he runs after me like I'm the best thing since sliced bread. So much fun... garsh he can run fast.
I also drowned my sorrows with some retail therapy. I've been looking for a swanky lamp for the corner of the living room and I found this great mid-century dome lamp that is similar to my dining room lamp. I think it looks posh! :)

Woe is me...

Still no sink.
Called Ikea again. 45 minute wait. After talking to 3 different people I finally asked to talked to the manager. Almost lost my shit ... tried really hard not to swear and to just be polite but assertive. I told her I was told my sink would arrive on Monday. She said that nobody at Ikea ever promises when/times that things will be delivered. I told her I was promised... and that the mis-communication with Ikea has been a disaster from day one. etc. etc. blah blah blah.

She apologized etc. etc. blah blah blah.

Anywhoo...Purolator has picked up my sink and it is in transit. I have the tracking number... and all it tells me is that it's in transit. Great. Just great.

Suck it Ikea.

Pick up only!!!

Ahghhhhhhh!

NEED!!

I've decided that this is the stove/oven I need for my kitchen. Anyone have a Frigidaire Flair in their basement that they don't want anymore?? :)

I figure if The Flair is good enough for Samantha on Bewitched... it's good enough for me!

Vagina

Went to my first rehearsal for The Vagina Monologues tonight. I was really nervous to read my monologue but I think it went ok. Most of the woman in the show are in the same boat as me in regards to not a lot of performance in their background.

I'm lying.
I have lots of performance in my background... my parents were actors, I grew up in the theater and I perform every time I'm on tv or do a cooking demo... but this is different. I dunno. I guess I'm feeling shy. I even convinced myself yesterday that I shouldn't go, that I should not perform and just help with the planning aspects. Then I gave myself a smack on the butt and said "get out of your way!" and got in the car and went to rehearsal and I'm really glad I did. I had a lot of fun and all the woman in the show seem really cool... this show is going to be awesome.

Dear Ikea...

So they finally answer the phone and guess what? The dude I talk to tells me that my order just went through TODAY and that I should have the sink by the end of the WEEK!! Jesus Murphy. The woman I spoke to last week told me I would have it by Monday. Well it's now Wed... and my order is JUST being taken care of? WTF? I'm f***ing livid. I will never order anything from Ikea ever again... I hope Ikea chokes on it's stinky cheap hotdogs and dies...

Oh harsh...Where did that come from? I mean chokes on it's stinky cheap hot dogs and thinks it's going to die and then realizes how it's done me wrong, spits up the hot dog and gets on its knees and begs me to forgive it. Then I will say "I want to forgive you ... and I want to forget you." ** and then walk away leaving Ikea feeling broken and devastated.

Repeat after me... This too shall pass. This too shall pass...






**I love The Hills

Woe is me...

So we may not have a kitchen sink to install ... but that doesn't stop Gerry from getting all reno crazy. This weekend we (and by we I mean he) took down those horrific fluorescent lights...

The horror....
The not so horror...
He added some sexy under the counter lights...
oooooh...sexy....And also installed some globe lights...
Yes yes!! There is still some ceiling drywall we need to address but we ran out of time so we'll have to tackle that once he's back from Vancouver.

The lighting in my kitchen has changed my attitude about it 10000%. It's no longer like standing in a supermarket or highschool cafeteria. It's actually nice feeling... Now if only MY F***ING SINK WOULD SHOW UP!! I've been on hold with Ikea for 40 minutes... when are they going to answer the phone?? Grrrrrrrrrrr......

Sinkless

Still no sink... Ikea lied.
Cross your fingers that it arrives today...

In other news. Check out this fantastic new interview with Jane Wiedlin. It's full of all sorts of fun facts!!

Ummmmm....??

So Gerry and I were in the hardware store today buying some supplies to do some lighting renos in the kitchen when I stumbled upon these leather work gloves. The font was what caught my eye because it's so Jew-y... and then I took a closer look. Ummm... I think this might be offensive. Thoughts?
Secondly we've been talking all week about whether or not we could run the dishwasher without having our sink installed. I was worried that the water would overflow everywhere when it drained but then Gerry surmised that the water doesn't come up into the sink when we do the dishwasher... so ... we tried it AND IT WORKED!! No overflow. YAY! No more dishes in the bathroom sink!! I just wish we had tried this out sooner. Let me tell you... there is nothing more terrifying then wondering if water is going to gush up and out of the pipes.

Noshing...

What is a girl to do when she has dinner party plans but no kitchen sink?? Buy everything in plastic... that's right. I bought our entire dinner in plastic containers.All we did was nosh. Veggie sushi, Amy's Frozen Pizza, hummus, olives, chips and salsa, veggie platter. All pre-made ... no dishes!! Only recycling!!
Gerry hates being in the blog, can you tell? That's the famous Auntie Bonnie in the background. That's right... THE Auntie Bonnie from the cookbooks. Oi! What I would do for those cheekbones...

Thanks for the fun night family!!

Control

I'm also stoked about this...

Is this out yet??

Did I miss it?? Anyone?? ANYONE!!

There is...

...something so wrong about doing your dishes in the bathroom.

Dear Ikea

You suck...
Now I have to have a "finger food" party with my family this weekend rather then a dinner party.

Apparently I'll get my new sink on Monday...
Bah.

Dear Ikea...

I'm still waiting for you to call me back... I think I'm going to break up with you when this is all over.

Dear Ikea

... having people look at my file then putting me in the cue for someone to call me back doesn't work... just send me my GD sink!

Dear Ikea

Seriously... I've been on hold for 45 minutes. You gotta come up with a better system.

Hi E.K.

How are you?? :)

Veganomicon!!

If you buy one book this year... make sure it's Veganomicon!!
I am so thrilled for my friends Isa and Terry... Congrats guys!!

SHUT UP!!

THIS makes my heart explode with excitement!!

shop local...

I should never buy things like sinks from stores that aren't local... ugh...

I guess we're having a Amy's Frozen Tv Dinner party tonight. ALL RIGHT!

Ikea part deux

Ummm... Ikea came to get the sink... but didn't leave a sink. WTF?

I've been on hold with Ikea for 30 minutes. I wonder if they're ever going to answer the phone or just keep ignoring me like a bad boyfriend.

Comox part deux

More of my photos were used in an article about The Cheesecakes in The Comox Newspaper!! WOOT!

Uh oh...

Why is my sink disassembled? Because after 2 weeks of use... it started to get rust. RUSTY!! I called Ikea and they are sending a new sink today and taking my old one away... Thanks Ikea. I appreciate your customer service.Let's hope the new sink doesn't rust either... or Gerry is going to lose his mind.

Year

I was born in the year of The Monkey... can you tell??

mac people

Ok all you iMac geeks... I need a little help.

I am trying to make an iMovie with some tivo files. I know how to turn them into mpegs... but iMovie won't let me edit them.

So I also have the ability to turn them into other files for editing such as avi, mov, dv, etc... what is the best quality file to use when editing for iMovie? Anyone??

ah ha ha ...

When you ask Anna the Ikea on-line assistant about sex ... she makes such a funny face.

It's these small moments in life that make it worth living. :)

I'm a flibertygibit!

Watched Joe VS The Volcano for the bazillionth time tonight... Gerry had never seen it.

What a weird and wonderful little movie.

The shower

So after Gerry went to work this morning, I got back into bed because I terrible sleep due to a sore back.

Anyhoo... I woke up because I heard the shower running... scared that someone else was in the house I ran down the hall, threw open the bathroom door and yelled "WHO'S IN HERE?" The shower was empty but the water was running... I thought "Oh shit. The ghost is back." and I turned to look in the mirror and said "Am I dreaming?"

It was then that I realized that my hair was really really long and I had bright red lips.

Long story short... I was indeed dreaming.

Attention Pacific North West!!

Gerry will be doing a guest spot in Vancouver from Nov 21st - 27th. Please contact Gerry to make an appointment.

Act now... he books up quickly!

Psssst. You Americans... take a trip across the border and Gerry will take your dirty money at par... what a deal! :)

Uh oh...

Seems that I was cheating yesterday...
Had some serious snuggle time with Suzi.

Don't be blue Fergus... you'll always be #1.

The Google

The many faces of snuggly...

In other news... Gerry and I spent Sunday riding bikes around by the seaside and then Monday we bought closet organizer stuff for the bedroom and had a gay old time using power tools and drywall plugs.

Before:
After
Still need to do a bit more tweaking but we have SO much more space now! I love organizing things, maybe that should be my new job.