Sunday, June 25, 2017


I have to be very budget conscious nowadays and try to eat at home as much as possible, and my pup's dinner also made it to the spending cut.  I've switched them on kibbles plus part of cooked food instead of all homemade food to keep costs down, but anyhow, still I think they are getting a good amount of fresh veggie and meat.


This recipe is what I call the "poor dog's meal,"  because it's relatively cheap and better than having a pack of sad dogs chewing dry bland kibbles while looking angrily at me.

So the easiest store with the cheapest option near me is Target, they have a produce section that often have eggs or meat on sale for very cheap, sometimes a pack of 80% lean ground beef only cost $3, and a bag of coleslaw mix is about $1.60, so for about $5 I can cook a batch of fresh meat and veggie mix meal for my pups.  I don't know what is cheaper than that, I mean a latte at Starbucks cost just as much, a medium sized one... not even a large latte, and all you get is one oz of espresso and frosted milk.

I usually cook one package of ground beef with 2/3 bag of coleslaw mix, adding a little water until the veggie is soft and meat is cooked through.  Some people feed their dog raw meat with cooked vegetable, I feed my pups cooked meat and that's just how I have it done at my house.


So I serve dinner with a mixture of kibble and the meat and veggie meal, sometimes if I'm feeling extra fancy I will add in a spoonful of whole fat organic yogurt.  After all that I will have enough left over for another batch in the morning for their breakfast.  My pups look forward to their walk and meals all day long so I try to supply as much as I can.



I've been looking at online pictures for some creative home renovation ideas.  The last time I did anything to the house was over three years ago, and I'm really looking forward to do something creative with the house again.  There is actually a large amount of work that still needs to be done.  Some of them include three bathrooms that badly needed renovation, a new kitchen, exterior paint, repairing the badly cracked drive way, and probably a complete rebuilt of the garage at the different spot of the backyard.

 The tv room in my 1923 cottage was originally a tiny bedroom.  Over time the previous owners pushed the ceilings and walls further out to make the room bigger, but the ceiling had low beams and weird layout.  And since there's no definition between the kitchen and tv room, this part of the house just looks like a huge long hallway.  This is probably the most heavily used room in my house and I'm never quite comfortable in it.  Lately I've been thinking about some renovation ideas like reconfiguring the ceiling and windows to make the look more consistently "vintage."  Or doing some kind of wall beam to make this open space a bit more defined.

Anyhow, lots of ideas and not enough time and energy to get it done, but a girl can dream right?


I really like the little round window idea.  I have a couple of half round windows from the 90s that I was never too fond of, and I would love to replace with round shaped windows or somehow tweak the framing to make it look more vintage.


The frame work of this bedroom is pretty much what I want my tv room to look like, albeit my room is not nearly as wide, but I think I can achieve that vaulted ceiling look complete with vintage chandeliers.

Anyhow, my renovation plan probably won't happen for quite sometime, but having some ideas is a good start!


Friday, June 23, 2017



Took this picture as I was walking out of late dinner at a local Italian restaurant couple nights ago.  I had just finished work late and whenever I'm tired and hungry I have no willpower to cook something healthy.  I ordered a plate of spaghetti and a glass of wine and finished my dinner just as the restaurant was closing up and all the guests were leaving.  It was very nice to step into the cool breeze of the night and the streets were sleepy and quiet.  Moments like this make everyday life feel like a bit of adventure. 

Wednesday, June 21, 2017




I have a small collection of antique books that I found over the years, I've read them many times but I don't think I will ever get rid of them.  I mean, you can't judge a book by its cover but this one sure is pretty! 

Sunday, June 18, 2017





Summer is approaching, though I have no time to do any of the fun summer activities.  It's come to the point that life has no more stories except work, work and work.  I would love to go on a couple of road trips this year and just improve my overall quality of life and be more active and healthy, in fact, I think that will be my resolution for the second half of the year.


New Year Preparation

I always like to do a bit of preparation at the end of each year to welcome the new year, although this year things were very challenging, I...