House Renovation: More Kitchen Pics...

This is the kitchen with the counter tops and handles installed.

Pantry

Drawers


Base Cabinets

I'm Moving On...

So after 11 years 8 months and 2 weeks of working for the same organisation (not that I was counting or anything), last week Friday I tendered my resignation.

After many months and several interviews (not that I was counting) , this one just fell into my lap and two days after the interview I was called back and offered the job. And I took it.

I gave two weeks notcie, so officially my last day will be next week Friday 6th June. :)

My resignation has prompted people to of course ask the inevitable "So where are you going?"

For those of us who value our privacy and just don't want the maccos all up in your business I have done this list (in no particular order) of

"What To Say When You Resign and Are Asked, Where Are You Going?"

1. I'm staying at home and my spouse is going to take care of me

2. I'm going back to school and get my degree in Cricket Studies/Cubicle Management (or any equally obscure field)

3. I'm going to open my own business training eels to jump through hoops

4. I'm going island hopping for the first two years and I'll see how that goes

5. I'm taking a year off to try and break the Guiness World Handshaking Record (or any equally ridiculous world record)

6. I'm going to work as Scott Adam's muse.

Feel free to add to the list! :D

House Renovations: Kitchen is finished!

Well almost.

On Friday morning bright and early, 5:35am to be precise, the Kitchen Concepts team came to start my kitchen installation.

When I called them from work at lucnhtime, they were finished installing the cupboards. The only thing left to do was for me to go back into them on Saturday and select my countertop, which I did and they came back on Monday (yesterday) to finish that up.

So here are some before and after pics.

BEFORE - Getting the kitchen ready for painting

BEFORE - Afro Chic and Daddy Chic priming the wall

IN BETWEEN - Almost there

AFTER - My cupboards installed

AFTER - Cupboards installed and waiting on countertop

I have to choose a tile/desing for the backsplash still, but that will come later.

Renovations Update: Kitchen

It's been a while since my last update and the reason for that is there was nothing really going on and things were generally just at a standstill.

I have gone through FOUR, yes I said FOUR 'cupboard men' who have all promised to "get back to me".

Is a good thing I was not holding my breath cause allyuh woulda read about me in the papers...

"Woman Dies Waiting on Men to Install Kitchen Cupboards"

Anyhoo...

Two weeks ago, I saw an ad in the newspaper for a company in Chaguanas that does kitchens by the name of Kitchen Concepts.

I visited their website and saw some stuff that looked interesting, so I made a call for directions and visited their showroom two Saturdays ago.

Sample kitchen in showroom

Sample kitchen in showroom

Sample cupboard doors in various finishes

The cupboards are made of MDF board and fused with a PVc, which makes them termite free and water resistant.

My kitchen was measured and I saw the design last week Saturday. It's a basic L shaped kitchen and it'll be a mix of light (maple) and dark coloured (tobacco) wood. Before installation though, I had to arrange to have my floor surface finished and my walls painted.

After I visited their showroom to make the final arrangements, I visited Roopnarine Tile Mart which is right down the road, and purchased tiles for the kitchen area only.

I had to make an emergency call to my tile guy to have him come and complete the tile work so that my cupboards could be installed this week.

Kitchen Concepts has promised installation in 2-3 days, which means by this weekend, I should have my kitchen installed!

Marvin the tile guy came on Monday afternoon and by the time I got home later that evening, my tiles were laid down and work was done!

My FAB! kitchen tile

View from the kitchen into dining area

I love the tile I got at Roopnarine (it's a wood finish 18 x 18 tile), so yesterday I arranged to get some more tile to complete the living room area and Marvin the tile guy is scheduled to come again this evening to finish off that part of the house. WHOO!HOO!

Tomorrow is painting day and yesterday during my lunch hour I made a trip across to Agostini Interiors to purchase my kitchen/living/dining room paint.

Many months ago, I had already picked the colours I wanted as I knew the colour scheme I had i mind, so these are my colours:

The darker shade (Rural Green) is for my focal wall where all my photos will be displayed and the other shade (Sassy Green) is for the rest of the room.

My favorite part of the renovations is coming up and that's the decorating!!
I already started purchasing some accents pieces for my kitchen and dining area, as well as looking for upholstery to cover my sofa set.

I am hoping...no, make that determined to move back into my house by the end of this month, come hell or high water!

Hair it is...

I have been meaning to post an update on my hair for the longest while, but I just have not been feeling to write.

But after posting this picture on Facebook I received lots of compliments as well as some messages on what products I use in my hair and the usual "how did you get your hair to look like that?"

So hair it is...

My hair now is not much longer than it is in that pic now with the longest strand reaching the top of my top lip.

My usual hairstyle for during the week is a ponytail or a very neat afro puff, and for the weekends I just let it all out like how it is in the pic. The routine below is for my "weekend hair."

My hair essentials

SHAMPOO & CONDITIONER:

I recently changed from Pantene Shampoo & Conditioner that I used to use as it provided colour protection for my hair (I colour kinda often...LOL).

I am now using John Frieda Curl Around Shampoo and Conditioner which doesn't give me colour protection but I am it liking so far as it brings out the best in my curls with more defined curls.

While I do wet my hair on an almost daily basis, I do not shampoo my hair daily.

I shampoo once a week, but squirt a little bit of conditioner in my hair most mornings, as this is the only way for me to comb out my hair.

I use my plastic Afro pick and comb through the hair while still in the shower and the hair is still wet, then I rinse out the conditioner from my hair being careful not to get it tangled up again.

I never even attempt to comb my hair out when it is dry, because that would only result in me getting a huge headache and a sore scalp.

Once that part of my routine is finished I then move on to moisturising my hair.

MOISTURE:

I use a variety of moisturisers.

While my hair is still wet, I apply Pantene Relaxed & Natural Daily Oil Cream Moisturizer and sometimes I'll also add some IC Shea Butter Oil Moisturizer or Organic Shea Butter Hair & Scalp Softening Lotion.

I apply these products very liberally to my hair from roots to ends.

Once this is done then I move on the the "other stuff".

THE "OTHER STUFF":

Some days I apply all, some days I just use one or two of the other stuff.

Most times I just finish up with the Soft & Beautiful Botanicals Sculpting Foam. Four pumps of this applied through the hair and I'm good to go.

The thing I like about this product is that it gives great curl definition, especially when your hair is shorter. What I don't like and it's not necessarily a bad thing, is that it really shrinks my hair.

Makes it just disappear into itself, so I try not to use more than the four pumps. It also gives your hair a sort of crunchy feel to it which again is not a bad thing, I just don't like that.

Which is why some days I stop at the moisturising and just add some IC Hair Polisher Sculpting Gel. There is also a great local brand called Eternal and that smells really nice too.

The John Frieda Dream Curls™ Curl Perfecting Spray is a new one I'm using since I started with their line of shampoos/conditioners. This one is also applied to my hair when wet and so far I like it.

For my ponytail or afropuff styles I usually leave out any products that give extra curl.

COLOUR:

Last but certainly not least is colour.

Disclaimer: The colour of my hair in the Facebook pic is enhanced. But my hair colour is along those lines.

One of the things I like about being natural is that I can colour my hair more often than I could have when I was relaxed. I get more opportunities to experiment with colour too.

My favorite brand of hair colour is Clairol Textures and Tones. And my favorite colour combination is their Flaming Desire and Cherrywood.

But it seems as though everyone in Trinidad knows about my special mix so it's very hard to find those two colours these days.

The last two times I've coloured, I've used Dark & Lovely, which is much better than when I first used it many years ago. The smell is much better now and not as strong.

And yes, most times I colour my hair myself or sometimes my mom does it for me.

So there it is, my hair/hair products update.

Grammar Lesson for the Express...

The media (print, radio, tv) in Trinidad & Tobago disappoints me on an almost daily basis, with the inaccurate reporting, outlandish and misleading headlines and apparent lack of spell/grammar checks.

While I do not profess to be Miriam Webster, sometimes the errors are just glaringly obvious and jump out at me.

The Big Question in Tuesday's Trinidad Express for example.


FYI Express...

their
–pronoun
1. a form of the possessive case of they used as an attributive adjective, before a noun:
their home; their rights as citizens; their departure for Rome.

there
–adverb
1. in or at that place (opposed to here): She is there now.

Postponed or Cancelled?

can·cel
-celled, -cel·ling, noun
–verb (used with object)
1. to make
void; revoke; annul: to cancel a reservation.

2. to decide or
announce that a planned event will not take place; call off: to cancel a
meeting.


post·pone
–verb (used with object), -poned, -pon·ing.
1. to put off to a
later time; defer: He has postponed his departure until tomorrow.

So were the CAPE exams in Trinidad were POSTPONED or CANCELLED?

From what little I could remember from school, I think the correct word to use in this instance is postponed.

What do you think?