Just got back from a six day trip to beautiful British Columbia, Canada, my former flagship locale. My boyfriend and I flew up to Seattle from Atlanta, then took Amtrak (train) to Vancouver, BC.

Vancouver is a the la-la-land of the Pacific Northwest. Beaches, snow-capped mountains, and an industrious city of skyscrapers/grey condos all in one cherry blossom and tree-lined viewscape. One moment you are hiking up Grouse Mountain, the next you’ll find yourself shopping at the trendy boutiques in Yaletown. In downtown Vancouver there is a sushi bar on every corner, and Indian, Korean, and plenty of other cuisines all lined up next to each other. And of course, being on the West Coast, there’s no shortage of organic food markets and restaurants. And BC loves Starbucks. At Granville and Thurlow, there are TWO of them, one on either side of the street. So if you want to meet someone at the Starbucks, please indicate North or South!

If you plan on visiting Vancouver in the near future, and flying out of the south eastern United States, I highly recommend flying to Seattle and taking the train. This was my first trip ever on a REAL train — one with assigned seating, a snack car, and bathrooms. It was a great experience. The tracks flowed along the gray Pacific Ocean, with the waves on once side and coniferous trees on the other. The only annoying part was the highly inquisitive customs officer that greeted us at the Canadian border — and who proceeded to search and x-ray all our belongings. There was also a dog there, sniffing around for perpetrators. Apparently smugglers like to travel by train, so railway borders have to be extra careful.

Vancouver is the most laid-back city I’ve had the pleasure of living in. Stay tuned for pictures from Kudzilla, he took quite a few while we were there

We might be crazy.  We are embarking on a major kitchen remodel.  Like, tearing down walls, moving plumbing, buying all new appliances kind of crazy kitchen remodel.

Our kitchen is fine.  It functions pretty well for our current needs, but given our growing family, we could stand to spread out a little.  I envision this wonderful, bright, wide-open space where I can move freely and keep an eye on the kid(s) in the adjacent keeping room. 

Currently the room is outdated, kind of dark and cut off strangely in the middle by a wall that probably used to separate inside from outside, but then that area was at some point incorporated into the house without taking down the wall.  The result is that it has been a big waste of space ever since.  Remember those old ovens with the mechanical clocks whose numbers slowly roll up and whose timers start with an imperceptible buzz and grow to a fever pitch until someone mercifully races to turn them off?  No?  Did I mention my appliances are outdated?

Well the destruction began yesterday and we couldn’t be more excited!  We hired Raymac Remodeling who did a great job on our basement remodel a few years ago.  We looked at sites and magazines for inspiration – Kudzu has a good gallery to check out here.  We ended up going with cream cabinets, a stained island and a light multi-colored granite with lots of movement.  We’ll top it off with bright green walls and a few red accents.  I can’t wait to see the finished product!

Here is the before picture (with a garbage bag on the window as construction had just begun by the time I got around to taking this shot).  After picture to be posted, well…after, obviously.

Bring on the destruction!

My husband and I are dog people. Our two mutts are beloved members of the family who just happen to walk on all fours and drool a lot. In that way, perhaps we are well-trained to have a baby join the clan.

 

Emmy is a seven-year old bundle of energy and enthusiasm.  When I rescued her in 2003, she was a smart girl who knew how to look gentle and sweet in that cage and carried on the charade of shyness once we got her home by hiding under the dining room chair for 3 days. What a quiet  little angel, my then roommate and I thought. Little did we know.

 

Emmy blossomed soon after into her fabulous “look at me” personality and hasn’t switched into a lower gear since. She is a pouncing, licking, cuddling, top-of-her-lungs-howling, furniture-sitting, stuffed animal-tossing machine but we wouldn’t have it any other way. She has brought so much joy and laughter into our lives.

 

In 2004 when my husband and I were first dating, he decided to adopt a dog also. I went with him and seeing cage after cage of rambunctiously friendly dogs, we came across one pretty little black lab mix with light brown eyes who was scared to death, literally shaking in the back of her cage. I encouraged him to check her out and we took her outside to play with a ball.

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What a doll! She retrieved like a champ and was calm, sweet and happy once out of that confined space. Thus, he adopted Kahlua who is almost 7 now. Kahlua is many wonderful things – she is playful, affectionate, gentle but protective and often quite goofy, but you know what? From the moment we got her home, that dog would not retrieve to save her life. Again, the old bait and switch!

 

In a sense, it’s like having a child. We don’t know what he will be like at all – will he love basketball like his dad, or languages like his mom?  Or will his interests lie completely outside ours?   Will he embrace or reject the love for music that we both share? Will he be reserved or talkative?

 

Forrest Gump was right – you never know what you’re gonna get. But what Emmy and Kahlua have taught us is that whatever he is like, we will love him just as he is.  As long as he is a dog person, of course. 

Hi everyone it’s me Kudzilla again! I have the best life ever — every time one of the Kudzu peeps go on vacay, they let me tag along! Most recently I went to Florida, and here are some pictures! Next I’m going to Canada. Wanna take me on vacation with you? Let us know, I’m sure we could arrange it

This one is my favorite. I think i'll use it on my Facebook profile. Me at the beach!

What did I do this weekend? I burnt my skin to a crisp.

I was a bit cocky. The combination of growing up in the high altitude of the Canadian Rockies and having a naturally dark skin color, makes me think sometimes that I’m immune to the damaging effects of the sun. So on Saturday morning, after slathering on a single layer of SPF 20, I laid out by the pool and proceeded to read 200 pages of a great American classic, The Moonflower Vine by Jetta Carleson. It was a wonderful, engrossing book (you really should read it). And by engrossing I mean I did not move for about four hours, except to jump into the pool for a quick dip every 30 minutes.

I started getting a few stares — I just assumed that I just looked extra good in my bathing suit that day. Seriously! Not for a second did I think to myself ‘maybe my skin is turning a strange, crispy shape of crimson.’ I felt great — the sun on my skin, bottles of cool water at my side. Not a worry in the world.

When I finally went back inside, I was greeted with a look of horror from my housemate. His eyes widened to big blue Os and asked me if I wore sunscreen.

“Of course!” I hollered, as I skipped off to the bathroom to shower and admire my newly tanned skin.

I looked in the mirror to see myself a nice, shiny shade of tomatillo. Habanero salsa. My eyes and the few millimeters of skin underneath stood out like little white moons.

After a whole Sunday of slathering on tea-tree oil and aloe vera, I’ve toned down to an awkward, muddy-red color that I hope peels/wears off before I leave for vacation in two days.

I’ve made an appointment to see a dermatologist to make up for this foolish day of sun-bathing. I also bought a can of SPF 60 spray to tote along with me on vacation. This happens about once a year — I burn, and then vow never to lay in the sun again. But then the next summer comes around, and there I sprawl, open to the mercy of the sun.

What are your sun-bathing horror stories? And why are Americans so obsessed with achieving that perfect bronze in the summer?

I have been a good student of the Internet over the last two weeks, gathering pictures from Google Image search and all my favorite baby websites to try to find inspiration for the baby’s room. After concluding that none of the premade nursery sets were really up my alley, I undertook the difficult task of designing the room from many disparate elements, and hoping all the colors and patterns match. This all for a room the baby couldn’t care less about being cute and coordinated. Is there a place to sleep? Check. That will be the extent of his standards. So why do we torture ourselves with finding just the right window valances, crib skirt, the cutest glider and matching ottoman (red with contrast piping – for an extra charge of course)?

 

Here is my position – it’s for our own sanity as parents. I will be spending a whole lot of time in that room in the coming months and years and I need to love it. Call that shallow, materialistic, whatever, but it just has to be pretty and that’s all there is to it!

 

So after much research in a fantastic, lifesaving book called Baby Bargains, this week I decided on and ordered a Munire crib, dresser and bookcase in black.  Progress!  I also found a picture of a room online that serves as my inspiration room (pic above).  We’ll paint the walls a pale, sky blue and add elements of lime green and bright red to the room.  I am not much of a “theme” person, but I may include some cute little touches around the room – wall hangings and maybe lamps – that include animals to give it more of a little boy look vs. the flowery girl look of my inspiration room.

 

So now as I wait the approximately 800 weeks it will probably take to get my furniture (backordered!  I fear it will arrive just in time to see my child off to college), it is time to clear out the room, hire a good painter from Kudzu and get started bringing all those fun little elements together that will make this room the best little nursery I, um I mean my little boy, could ever ask for.

“Your ring is on the table.” This is the worst proposal, in the history of proposals that I’ve ever heard of. After months of talking about getting married and choosing a ring together, a New York City bride was told these six, simple words, thinking they were good enough, and meaningful enough to provoke a “yes.”

Sorry! Try again. Luckily, that bride wasn’t me (fingers crossed!) but it has made me wonder — where have the doves gone? Practicality is always in style, but so is romance!

Last Monday, three pictures of a beautiful antique gold diamond ring were sent to my email inbox from my boyfriend’s mom. It was her grandmother’s ring, she said, that her late husband had re-set and given to her after they were married. Now she wants to give it to us, to use for my engagement ring and wedding band.

OK, so you must be thinking — how exciting! Getting engaged. Yes, indeed — however, I am not said “engaged”. Yet. I would rather not count an email from my future mother-in-law as my official proposal, so instead, I am in a strange state of dating/engagement limbo. I am designing my engagement ring and reading reviews of jewelry designers on Kudzu.com (based on reviews alone, I’m leaning towards Bradley T. Harris so far), but I am still waiting for the unexpected popping of the question. Is this even possible? When I told my BF his mom had sent me pictures of the ring, he brushed it off and said “oh yeah, I told her to. Just design the ring and send it to me.”

So I’m doing my part — I am browsing ring designs on Etsy and trying to picture the ring I will be wearing for the rest of my life. I can only hope when the day comes, I will not hear the words “Your ring is on the table.” Or worse, “There’s a picture of your ring in your inbox!” However, I’ll probably be so excited that all else will cease to matter.

What can I say? I’m a sucker for diamonds.

This past weekend I was in Florida to help my mom celebrate the big 6-0.  Her idea of celebrating in style?  Going parasailing off St. Petersburg Beach!  Of course, I was happy to oblige and participate in her chosen activity, and it was a blast!  We also took a tour of the downtown area and beachfront on segways, another fun activity (although it was a little warm in June in Florida).  This tour is run out of the St. Petersburg Museum of History and takes you by some some cool architecture, a garden of palm trees from around the world, and to the St. Petersburg Pier.  To top it all off, we went on a dolphin watching excursion as well — highly recommended!  See video of the dolphins jumping in the wake of the boat by clicking here.

And check out the photo of Kudzilla’s first trip to the beach!