Author Archives: Kara

House Hunting: Mission Complete!

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After going back and forth with negotiations for three days, we finally reached an agreeable price and after our financing and home inspection is cleared, Kyle and I will be home owners! (Again!)

We’re pretty happy with the final price – really, we got it for a screamin’ deal! Possession is on the 24th of this month! That’s like, three weeks! So – while we finish paperwork, I’ve been crazy busy cleaning my house and showing it to renters. We’ve had four calls and so far, three viewings, and they seems to be interested, so who knows. Hopefully we get a renter soon, just to relieve some of the stress of paying two mortgages. I’m more paranoid of people coming to my house, casing the place, and then coming back and robbing me.

Some people would probably think we’re crazy for owning two homes and only being 25. I think we’re pretty damn fortunate considering the percentage of people who don’t own homes at all.

Anyway – onto my NEW HOUSE! It’s three bedrooms, three (full!) bathrooms, two stories and has a HUGE backyard. The driveway is flat and there’s a double garage (no more warming the car up in the morning!) Really, I think the backyard is my favourite. It’s MASSIVE for the area we’re in. Plus, it backs onto Crown (a.k.a. government) land so we won’t have neighbours behind us ever, which is great. Annnnd, the elementary school is only 1km away, which will be great down the road ;)

It also doesn’t need any work other than paint and some wallpaper removal (not looking forward to it!). There are two rooms that were kid’s rooms and they’re bright green and dark, navy blue, one of them with musical notes painted on a white wall. There’s a country-esque wallpaper boarder in the dining room which will come down eventually and some nasty pink wallpaper in the laundry room that my mom will be happy to see come down (it’s really hideous!)

Kyle and I are both really excited to move into our new place. We just hope we can get the townhouse rented and packed up in time!

Any suggestions for showing my townhouse to renters? (Either as someone who is a renter or someone who also rents out a house?)

Ten on Tuesday

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1. What is your favourite month?
I would like to say May, because that’s when my birthday is. Greedy, but whatever!

2. What is the best candy to get while trick or treating?
I really like Three Musketeer bars, but I don’t think you can get there here in Halloween size.

3. What kind of pen do you use?
Usually just a ballpoint, usually blue ink.

4. You go to a new Italian restaurant, what is your go-to order?
Something with pasta, probably something with seafood, like shrimp. Or maybe a cheese ravioli. Mmm, pasta!

5. If you could choose to have any celebrity’s hair, who’s would you choose?
I really don’t know. I do love Zooey Deschanel’s hair. I’ll go with that. I don’ thave much for “hairsperation.”

6. What’s your favourite board game?
Pictionary!

7. Do you know how to play poker?
Not at all. I play good, shitty poker and only know what hands I have if I have a little chart telling what the different hands are.

8. What do you think about Old Navy commercials?
They make me want to stab children in the face.

9. What hurts worse- a stubbed toe or a paper cut?
Paper cut, for sure. At least stubbed tow pain goes away shortly. Paper cuts last for daaaaays!

10. What’s your favorite kind of pie?
It’s a toss-up between cherry or rhubard-strawberry. OMG pie. I want.

What I’m Reading: Little Eathquakes

Posted in Book Review, What I'm Reading by

Little EarthquakesClick for image source
By Jennifer Weiner

From the back of the book:
“Jennifer Weiner’s richest, wittiest, most true-to-life novel yet tells the story of three very different women as they navigate one of life’s most wonderful and perilous transitions: the journey of new motherhood.
Becky is a plump, sexy chef who has a wonderful husband and baby girl, a restaurant that received citywide acclaim – and the mother-in-law from hell. Kelly is an event planner who’s struggling to balance work and motherhood while dealing with an unemployed husband who seems content to channel-surf for eight hours a day. Ayinde’s basketball superstar husband breaks her trust at her most vulnerable moment, putting their new family even more in the public eye. Then there’s Lia, a Philadelphia native who has left her Hollywood career behind, along with her husband and a tragic secret, to start her life all over again.
From prenatal to postbirth sex, Little Earthquakes is a frank, funny, fiercely perspective take on the comedies and tragedies of love and marriage.”

This is the fifth Jennifer Weiner novel I’ve picked up and read, and like all her other books, I loved it! This is actually one of her earlier books – I jumped on the bandwagon when Best Friends Forever first came out.

To be honest, when I first started reading the book I found it hard to get into, but once I did I was addicted to the characters and couldn’t put it down. There was something in Kelly, Becky, Ayinde and Lia that you could relate to on some level – trying to erase the past, trying to please, trying to overcome your in-laws, all while trying to raise a child. I think that even if you don’t have children, you’d enjoy this book.

Little Earthquakes’ chapters are broken down by the characters, one of the reasons why I couldn’t put it down. To find out what happens next with Becky, I had to read through the other three characters first. Addictive, I tell you! Oddly, only Lia’s chapters are written in first person, which was strange and I’m not sure if I liked the switch. It seemed to break up the flow of the book, and not in a book way.

Overall, I enjoyed Little Earthquakes, but not as much as the rest of Weiner’s books. I’d still recommend it though – I think it’s a realistic glimpse into life after childbirth!

Are you a Jennifer Weiner fan? Which books have you read of hers? Any favourites?