I aint seen nothing like him in any amusement hall

Hello homeboys.

Check out our new outdoor area! New BBQ! New setting! Enormous thanks to Wayne, Linda, Brooke and Holly for Puffins birthday vouchers which brought this in it's entirety!! Ready to prepare for steak eating and the drinking of ciders. Yay for cider, by the way. And Moscato. There was me thinking I would never enjoy drinking! Now I can enjoy about 3 in a sitting! 3! Can you believe it? Then I will have to sit down for a while. I am a prime example of why if you're drinking anything at all you really shouldn't drive at all. I struggled to get my dinner at a 50th last night because I'd had 3 glasses of wine. I was concentrating very hard on not knocking anything over at the buffet and I think I fooled everyone. Or no-one. Probably no-one.

And now our new tiles! These will be installed on the 17th of November!

And a new chest of drawers with a side each!! Huzzuh! I'm not sure if we're ever taking the plastic off. Kinda makes it unique, ya know?

Squirrel also has a move in date, or a start to move in date, once exams are over - the 13th of November! Exciting times indeed. Especially since the kitchen is almost nearly very close to being done! And tonight we cooked a meal in it! And everyone ate the meal (thankyou Bennet!)!

They threw outrageous parties, they paid heavenly bills.

Etsy is one of my favorite places on the interwebz. There is very little that this online marketplace doesn't offer - from vintage dresses to custom made leather wallets, it is heaven for someone who likes to be one of a kind. I've been putting together some of my favorite purchases for a while now, with the help of the beautiful Cat, who can always be counted on for a funny t-shirt, awesome print, and some really, really great geekery. 

Etsy is also the first place I visited when Puffin and I decided to throw... a house party! Unfortunately, it's not one of those, 'hey, let's invite everyone to a house party, but it's actually a surprise engagement!' parties. It's just a straight 'let's eat some meat and enjoy some beverages' kind of party. Drat.

There are many things for us to work out first, like...urgh, the invite list. How do people have parties without pissing people off because they weren't invited? By the same token, you can't invite everyone because, hello, money. 

While we work on a date, and if we're going to have a jumping castle or not (probably), and if we will offer a vegan option (probably not), here are some prospective invites! 

Puffin and I are big steak eaters. You just can't go past a thickly cut eye fillet, cooked medium rare (And boy, do I get it perfect every time. I dazzle myself, trully.) with a red wine jus (moreish with a hint of something sweet) and a creamy potato mash (boiled potato's passed through a ricer, mixed with butter, cream and a tiny bit of salt, oh god YUM). I doubt we'll be able to provide that level of gourmet-ness to everyone at the housewarming, we'll probably be more likely to be performing the 'Bunnings special' - over cooked sausages en masse. Invite from here. I really dig the reverse of these being red and white check, like a picnic, by the way.

Bright, happy, cute. Just like Squirrel and Puffin. Invite from here

Oh, Aztec, you are SO in right now. This is actually a hens party invite (I think) but could easily be re-purposed for a housewarming. Invite from here

This reminds me of the opening cartoon sequence of Grease, with the birds doing her hair. Oddly specific reference provided for free. Invite from here

Minimalist chic - but retaining individualism. Invite from here

You know what's also in? Mason Jars. Everyone loves Mason Jars. Don't ask me what Mason Jars are or where they come from, I have no idea. I just see them on Pinterest. Invite from here

Lots of info with some cute fonts. Invite from here

Oh! Vintage keys! Yes please! We'd have to sub out the 'we have moved' since it's technically the first move, but nonetheless, the invite can be found here.

So bloggers, which one is your favorite? And do you have any tips for inviting people? What is the golden rule? 

Why do I have to keep reading these technical manuals - KITCHEN PART ONE

We've all had enough of some things. I've had enough of unsalted butter. Like, why? I know that there is the odd occasion where unsalted butter is required for cooking, but if you serve me up unsalted butter in a restaurant, I will lose my shit.

The other thing I've had enough of: not waking up and having had a beautiful transformation. You know, girl goes to school one day, ugly ducking but cracking sense of humor, comes back after the weekend and hello! Would you look at that transformation! Think Princess Diaries. Or perhaps akin to when that slightly dorky librarian takes out her bun and shakes out her gorgeous glossy locks and whips the glasses off and again, phwahh!

UNIVERSE: WHY YOU NO GIVE ME TRANSFORMATION?!?!

While I may not ever get this transformation, I'm going to take comfort in the fact that our kitchen has got its transformation. For comparison: the old kitchen! Resplendent in mission brown and apple green glory.

Admire the carpet which leads right up to the kitchen; the freestanding stove which was caked in.... *shudder*... I'm not sure... and the weird sections of chipboard attached under the bench on the left there, like, what?... and the fan hanging at a height that is sure to lead to an accused murder trial. And the off-cream walls. Mmm. 

And the mood tiles! Which were permanently green. Which Google tells me means "Active, not under great stress". Well, the tiles might not have been under great stress, but looking at them sure put me under great stress. 

So, we ripped it out. Without doing any research into kitchens whatsoever. Which was, I repeat, not due to lack of protesting from Squirrel, who is risk averse (read: chronic worrier)

Then we ripped out the flooring, including the tiles, and we took the fan down, removed the flouro lighting (industrial chic though it was) and stared at the empty shell of a room we had made. 

It was only then that we sourced quotes. Finally settling on the local Cabinet maker, we put in our plans (with the help from the beautiful Stac!) and sat back to wait!

Then, on the most magical of Saturdays, we were joined by the talented and handsome Mitch and Mr Bennett (who has no compassion for my poor nerves - for you Pride and Prejudice fans out there. Except that he does because he's kind of awesome). The sun was shining, the BBQ was finally assembled (which will most certainly not be a blog post) and they got stuck into it!

Progress shots!!

Everyone knows renovations are 30% work and 70% standing around looking at the work. 

After lunch, things kicked up a notch.

Happy smiling Mitchy! 

It was at this point that Squirrel solved a problem that had been stumping the boys for a bit just re:some electrical work! I knew making all those maps of electrical work would pay off! 

We were then joined by the conveniently very tall Brendon who helped the boys lift the overheads into place - unfortunately this was the point where we discovered that the walls were not square and this required nearly an hour of staring at the cabinets, suggesting things at random, and finally, the removal of the door frame. 

At this point, Squirrel ducked back to her parents house and made some hamburgers, potato bake, and gathered up some steaks and snags. We dined like kings, Mitch did another hours work and we called it a night. So this is where we are at! 

Fridge will move back into that alcove there. So what's next? Well, this week, we will see that the electrical work is completed, and the dishwasher and sink are hooked up by the plumber. Also throughout the week, Mitchy will be stopping back by to complete the fastening of cupboards and attach the bench. Then we'll need a fair bit of beading ran around the tops and bottoms of cupboards and I will add photos Part two! Squirrel will also have to work out how many tiles to order and hopefully these can be picked up in the following fortnight. Having the dishwasher in will be great, so that the various kitchen stuff purchased over the last 5 years can start to be washed and put away rather than all over our kitchen table and lounge room floor.

This week will be particularly brutal, given that the end of semester for Squirrel fast approaches, bringing with it a tonne of work. Add to that the beginning of a new job which requires 50 hours of training over the following two weeks in conjunction with this uni work load. Plus sorting out the tiling, getting ready to move into the house, etc etc. So Squirrel is feeling fairly anxious at the time of writing this. Bring on the next fortnight! Let's get it over and done with! 

Engine, Engine, Number 9

Bloggettes, bloggers and blog-lads - guess what? Kitchen install date is locked in for THIS SATURDAY! Photos to come on Sunday!

Is this a kissing book?

Fear not, sweet bloggers, about our absence from the airwaves over the past week - there has simply been nothing happening! Nothing of note anyway!

Puffin was away until yesterday and apart from the one of two posts made while he was away, the past few weeks have consisted of work for uni, sorting out Squirrels new casual job and shopping! Purchases included a grill pan, a new doona, a new chest of drawers and a BBQ! The BBQ is Puffins birthday present and he is wrapped to have gotten it a week early.

The kitchen is still not in but we hope to have a date for it soon!

So stay tuned bloggers, because the next few weeks hold magical things.

Lots of love,

Puffin & Squirrel.