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I have been making my own fresh guacamole for years now. It's one of my favourite snacks. I thought I would share how I make it, as it's a lot better than any store bought version, and with no preservatives! The only problem is you have to eat all of it right away, yet that hasn't presented to be much of a problem in my house!  Guacamole Three Ways Number One! The actual guacamole recipe: You can leave it just as it is. It is quite delicious all on it's own.
Number Two! Once you have made the basic guacamole you could also add a couple of spoons of sour cream or plain yogurt to make it creamier. Then enjoy! Number Three! Or once you have added the sour cream or plain yogurt, continue by adding chopped tomatoes, onions, and grated cheddar cheese, or any combination you like. This makes it into a yummy Mexican dip!
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 We have started a large, time consuming project, painting the stairway banister. We pick a nice light grey for the small spindles, and a rich dark grey for the hand rail and large end pillars. So far we are have only painted a few of the spindles with the light grey, but it looks amazing! Can't wait to see it all finished.
We choose Behr paint, in a semi-gloss, from Home Depot. The lighter colour is called Ashes, and the dark is called Asphalt Grey. We are using a small paint brush for the project, and applying at least two coats. We will have to see if it needs more layers.  Like everything else in our house, the banister was white. It kind of disappeared into the walls, but I really wanted it to stand out on it's own. More posts on this project later, once we are finished, but I think it's going to look quite dramatic and more modern by the end.  
Check out this neat post from Comtemporist Blog of this amazing hotel in Macau. This unique building was designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. Project Description from Comtemporist: Melco Crown Entertainment, a developer and owner of casino gaming and entertainment resort facilities in Asia, has unveiled the project details and design of the fifth hotel tower at City of Dreams, the company’s flagship property in Cotai, Macau. The design combines dramatic public spaces and generous guest rooms with innovative engineering and formal cohesion. The rectangular outline of the site is extruded as a monolithic block with a series of voids which carve through the its centre of the tower, merging traditional architectural elements of roof, wall and ceiling to create a sculptural form that defines many of the hotel’s internal public spaces. 
We managed to tackle the big wall over the stairs this past week, and finish painting the downstairs hallway. My father came up for a visit and the three of us, and a very large ladder, got the job done. The colour looks very subtle, just like it does downstairs, but the large photograph that sits on the wall seem to pop even more now. 
We borrowed this ladder from a good friend. It's amazing, it can go extremely tall or create any kind of A frame you need. This was perfect for our job as we needed to be creative when it came to placing the ladder while painting. At times it was a little precarious, including having the ladder resting on the far wall over the stairs. However, in the end it work well and now the hardest, and biggest, wall in the house is painted! 
Next up we need to change the last indoor gold knobs on the french doors that lead into the games room, and I'm going to start to paint our stair railings. Can't wait to see how different it all looks!
I came across this interesting post of a long exposure photo taken of a tram car in Budapest, that has been lit up with 30,000 LED lights. Itlooks like it is almost invisible in the photo, amazing! Found on Colossal: The twinkling lights, when photographed with just the right exposure, creates a marvelling image that resembles a futuristic vehicle speeding through time. This beautiful tradition of decorating trams was an initiative by the Budapest Transport Company, which kicked off in 2009. Prints of the long exposure images are available from Krisztian Birinyi 
Just thought I would update you on our Nest. It's been a few months and we have gotten used to it and it us. So far, my favourite function is being able to change the temperature from bed using my cell phone. No more getting up in the middle of the night to turn down the heat. It also lets you know when you are saving more energy than other Nest users around you with the green leaf symbol. Overall we are quite satisfied with it. The Nest is basically just a thermostat, but with some extra fun features. Here are a few of our favourite things about our Nest! Top 8 Things We Like About the Nest
Our huge garden is just blooming these days, it's amazing to watch how it changes from week to week. We are slowly learning what we have inherited from the previous owners. The garden, both in the backyard and in the front, are just full of flowers. Including a ton of lilacs, which are my favourite, and they smell incredible. Here are a few photos of the blossoming flowers in our garden, some we know the names of and others we have no clue. So if you know what any of these are, please let us know!! 
This huge white thing is called a Bridal Wreath. I feel like it's taking over the upper half of the garden, but it is quite something to view. 
We have two large rose bushes on either side of the backyard garden. They are just starting to come out, so pretty. 
These flowers grow down on the path in the picture below, along with a few other neat bushes. These flowers, as my good friend Irene from Reenie's Roost, told me are peonies. They are so beautiful, and many still have yet to bloom. 
This is the front garden, we actually have no grass to mow. Every week is gets more green and filled in with flowers. Here are some of the highlights from the front garden. 
Lilacs! We actually have these in the back and front, however, you can really smell these guys in the front every time we step out the door. Amazing! 
We have lots of these soft flower beds in the front yard in place of grass. Now that they are flowering I can see how pretty this front garden is. We have only ever seen it in late fall and winter, so it's a nice treat to see the garden in all it's glory this spring. 
Meet the whimsical furniture design company, Duffy London. It was founded in 2002 by Christopher Duffy, who started out by creating objects for his own kitchen. I really like the fun, yet modern, designs that this company produces. About: Duffy London’s designs are ideas-based, combining art and function and playing with the concepts of gravity, geometry and illusion. The innovative and quirky designs spring from the mind of Chris, however, he also draws on his talented designers and manufacturers to turn these concepts into quality products. Boasting strong eco-credentials, everything is handmade to order by skilled craftspeople in the UK, using sustainable wood and other eco-friendly materials and mediums. Duffy London is used to being in the spotlight of the press, having appeared in top interior design magazines, and you may have even seen his Glo-Canvases featured in the backdrop of several TV programmes. Some particularly noteworthy designs are the Shadow Chair, that appears to defy gravity by standing on only two legs, and the incredible UP Tables, which are a playful trompe l’oeil, giving the impression of a glass table top being suspended by balloons. Then there are the LAB Lamps, looking like something a mad scientist put together with bits of lab equipment, and the delightful Swing Table, which will transport you back to your childhood. 
We really needed a place to put all our little things you have when you come in the door, such as keys, wallets, mail, etc. I decided to use these little square shelves I saw at Home Outfitters, and then later at Bouclair. I used six shelves in total, three are in a flat finish and three are shiny, which adds a bit of texture. 
Above, are all the cubby shelves lined up ready to be constructed. For a couple of them I added a few extra items, like hooks for keys, and a net of string that will be used to hold mail and paper. 
We made a template out of paper and hung them on the wall. We actually played with them for awhile to figure out which way looked best. Using a template like this also made drilling the holes super simple too! 
They are up on the wall and look really great over our bench. I still need to add to some of the cubbies as they are still empty, but overall I'm really happy with the end result! They look like a piece of art on the wall, that's actually very functional. Can't wait to start using them! 
I have been doing a bit of planning for our master bedroom. The look for the room has completely changed since our first thoughts for it. I guess it really does take living in a place for awhile to figure out what you want! I'm actually starting to like the open airiness of our room, and the white walls. I'm thinking a slight beach house theme for this room will look amazing. 
Current Bedroom
I would like to get a big wooden bed frame, as we are still sleeping on only the mattress. Our room is so big it can take a large frame without it looking huge. Maybe even a reclaimed wood look, like you might find down by the beach. Below are a couple of examples I liked, both from Crate and Barrel. 
I still would like to paint the walls a different shade of white then they are currently. One of the main reasons for repainting is because the walls are in rough shape, so they need to be fixed up anyway. I'd like to pick a warm white, with a bit of brown in it, like sand. However, I really don't want it to turn out looking light pink, so this will be tricky. I see lots of paint samples in our future! Here is an idea of a warm white paint colour. 
I also would like to get a big comfy chair for the corner for cuddling up and reading. I really like this one from EQ3! 
For over the bed I'd like to blow up some of our own photos from travels and frame them, all water or beach themed. I think the overall effect will be light and airy! It will be a great place to escape to at night, and during the day. Can't wait to get started!
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