Painting, running and crockpots

 Well, yesterday was a whirlwind of a day, as all my days seem to be lately. I painted the bathroom after work. A task I assumed would be easy but oh gosh was it ever not. This is why I have always hired painters and will continue to. I am not cut out for that work! Now I have to repaint parts of the ceiling and baseboards where the painters tape either ripped off the paint (isn't that what it's supposed to prevent?) or failed me. Good times. The good news is that the bathroom looks way better now. The colour we had looked terrible with our new shower (bad planning on our part) and this new colour brings everything together nicely. I found a cute little roller that reaches behind the toilet which I ended up using for the entire room because it worked so nicely. Dollar store for the win!
We are also meeting with a realtor this week (thank goodness I was able to convince husband that his working full time, starting a side business AND doing comfree for our home was taking on a bit much). Things are finally happening!! I can't wait to get out of there and into a house. I'm so tired of living in a condo. It was nice initially just to own a home, but it sucks having someone determine when you can rip up your floor, when you can receive deliveries, how loud you can be (and when you can be loud), how many pets you can have, what pets you can/can't have, the colour of your curtains... It drives me mad. The day after we got possession, we went in and tore up the carpets (because they were disgusting and soaked with cat pee -- wish I was kidding) -- the following day we were threatened with a lawsuit for not asking permission. Granted, that property manager was a bit of a dictator but seriously. He broke a bunch of his own rules by entering our unit without permission and leaving a threatening note on our wall. So we have mostly asked for permission since then to avoid the drama.

Ah the moving debacle continues!
On the up side, my zoo race is coming up this weekend and I think I feel ready. I went for an 8k run after work on Monday and aside from some knee tightness around 7k, it felt good. My speed increased km by km, which I've missed lately and by the end I wasn't breathless or exhausted. I was tired, but that's normal. It was a good feeling. The run didn't feel as long as I expected it would. You know how sometimes you're just thinking - "Am I really only at 2k?". I did an out and back route and it felt like I was turning around before I was even nearing tired-ness. I'm probably going to try and squeeze a shorter run in on Thursday and maybe just do upper body at the gym on Friday. That way I'll be ready to go for Saturday. I'm kind of annoyed at how early they request people to be there. I think I'll have to leave around 6am. I'm not a morning person, so that sucks. The nice part is that I won't be there all day. I'm really excited for the medal - it's a panda bear. I'm all about medals!

Can't wait to add this baby to my collection!

 

 It's funny that as I was getting ready for my run, I felt as antsy and nervous as I used to before setting out on my 20k+ runs. I guess it's all about perspective. I used to run 8k and then go to a pilates class on weekdays. Then I moved cities, wasn't close to my favourite pilates class (which was now about 45 minutes away) and wasn't familiar with the area. I joined a running room group which definitely amped up my running but now I'm back to running (mostly) solo and slowly finding my groove. I loved running in my parent's neighbourhood and that made it easy. Where I live now is basically just hills and inclines, stoplights, highways and crazy drivers. Another score for moving! I'm glad that I'm starting to enjoy running again, because there's nothing quite like getting out there and running to sort out your mind. I'm trying to register for more races to keep me motivated as well. Nothing like my own money on the line to keep me going :)

Oh and my Monday crockpot meal turned out great! I was worried that the potatoes would go gross overnight, but they didn't (maybe the olive oil helped?) and aside from not setting the warming function properly, it worked out perfectly!  Now I'm just paranoid that when I set it today, I set it for 8 hours on high. I hope not. Might have some scorched chili to content with. My goal is to use the crockpot twice a week for dinners. Seems manageable and definitely makes evenings easier! Tonight we have Rosh Hashanah dinner, so I didn't actually need to cook, but I figured I can freeze some and use the other half for lunches.

Well, that's all for now. I'll be back Friday for some of my favourite things!

Fall decor and crockpot dinners

 Happy Monday!

Another weekend has passed by so quickly that there was barely any time for enjoyment. My parents came over and while my mom and I got manicures and pedicures, dad and husband worked on the condo. Ha, so fair of me :)
I've been waiting for the day that I could get grey polish -- apparently it's just not appropriate for summer ;) So I was happy to get a beautiful grey on my nails. It just screams "fall" to me!

This is going to be a busy week (as always) with celebrating Rosh Hashanah on Wednesday, and finding some time to paint the bathroom, clean all of the windows, buy a smaller desk chair, put up and steam all of the new curtains, move the last items out that are cluttering things up and make it all cozy and minimalist at the same time ;) Not sure yet how that will pan out. I've finished the dining room (aside from the pile of boxes) and the second bedroom. I am in love. Wish I'd done this while I could enjoy it more, but it will be how our new home looks for sure. Husband has finally seen how delightful fall décor makes the home ... maybe I can buy more while it's still on sale (haha, he'd kill me for that one!)
Here are the dining room back table and the second bedroom photos (terrible lighting -- it was dusk).

 

Gosh that lighting ... but check our my gorgeous curtain work with the sheer in the middle!

 

My favourite part of the room. Fall, antique furniture and pumpkins!

 

Pumpkin spice and everything nice! I also added a little pumpkin beside the sign later that day

 

 

For the bouquet on the dining thing, it will go on the table. It's just waiting there for now. I couldn't find anything at Michaels that I liked (and that my picky husband thought was acceptable), so I decided to make my own bouquet. The guy in the floral department was kind enough to cut the flowers down for me, so it was all ready to go once I made my choices. I feel like these colours can be acceptable for any season, even though they have that rustic fall feel to them.

 

 

Pretty pretty flowers

 

Before I go, super proud of myself today. I set up the crockpot last night, and just whipped it out of the fridge this morning and it's ready to go! I'm not sure how it will turn out, but here's hoping! I had potatoes that were seasoned with the big Italian 3 (basil, parsley and oregano) and mixed them up with some evoo and minced garlic, then on top I put chicken with the big 3 plus onion powder and garlic powder which had been seared for a couple minutes on each side. When I get home I will add some kale for the last 30 minutes or so. I haven't used the crock pot in ages, so I'm a little worried but the convenience is huge so I hope this works and can become a regular thing!

Have a great start to the week! Happy Monday, friends!

Moving drama and a trip to the beach

I missed Monday's post! BUT that was because I took a long weekend off work, sooo technically I missed nothing.
I am currently in the midst of becoming obsessed with doTERRA essential oils. I went to a learning session on Friday evening with some lovely ladies and was blown away by all of the things these essential oils can do for you. So needless to say, I've ordered a starter pack and can't wait to start diffusing! I'll document my experiences with all of the different oils as I go. So far, while I wait for my diffuser, I've been using a sample of lavender before sleep which has been helping me to sleep deeper and wake up less frequently. I just put it on like war-paint before bed. I've used the peppermint to combat some ants that can't take no for an answer, and that has worked well as a deterrent (hurrah for Pinterest!). I'm most amped for Cheer, which I'll be ordering in September. It does exactly what it sounds like!

 

So things are progressing on the moving front. We did a bit of painting on the weekend, some staining (wrong colour, oops!) and some bed-construction (anger, bed now only half-done). I also picked up some boxes from my brother and his girlfriend so we now definitely have enough boxes to move! I was really not okay with paying for boxes.
I have filled my parents basement (aka my storage locker) with way too much stuff, and more to come (sorry mom and dad). So thankfully we haven't actually had to rent a storage locker.
There's just so much to do. Honestly, I wish I could just pay someone to pack my home, stage it, sell it, and unpack in my new home. There's too many stories of moving trucks going rogue for me to even consider using one, so I'm already anticipating the nightmare that will come with renting a certain truck we all know and love (to hate). Sure they only charge a minimal fee to rent the truck, but believe me, they find other ways to get their money back. Oh the drama!
I'm going to aim to get a lot of packing done tonight so that tomorrow I can go to the gym. It's really a toss up right now between exercise and moving and with how much we hate this place, packing is winning.
We have enough issues with the building that I won't bother going into, but now my mail has started going missing. I had two packages in less than a month say delivered and never show up. Luckily both senders have replaced the items, but I am absolutely shocked that someone is getting my packages and keeping them! I don't even know how they are getting them since they are addressed to me, but twice in less than a month is no longer just a random occurrence. I'd rather not think my mail person is orchestrating this, but not getting my Ipsy box has made me slightly jaded. Props to Ipsy for asking no questions and immediately sending out a replacement! Love that company!

Tomorrow, since I'd like to gym after work. I'm going to attempt to use the slow cooker. Now I just need to find a good recipe. Good thing I haven't packed my cook books yet!

I finally made it to the beach  -- It was so nice to get some colour, feel the warm sun and relax with my dear friend! I did burn a bit (that will happen to pale people who haven't sunned all summer), but overall I have a nice glow.
I just love going to the beach! It wasn't crowded either, which made it all the more enjoyable. They have five sections of the beach and we went to the area that isn't too close to the boardwalk (as in, you would need to drive there). We drove to that area after to walk the boardwalk for a bit and that part of the beach was jam-packed. It's nice that you can kind of choose the beach-day vibe you're going for and select a number based on that. It's funny because I really don't like sand, and when I go on vacation I always choose pools in lieu of the Ocean (I know, shame on me), but for some reason when I'm here, I don't mind sand as much.
I took one photo of the beach, but at least it's something pretty to look at! I don't know why I have so much sand in this photo. Talk about needing to aim better.