Christmas Cookies, Kitty and KITCHEN!!!

We had a fantastic Christmas season.  We had many blessings.

One of our blessings was a Secret Santa who did the twelve days of Christmas at our door each night.  How wonderful!  John and Ella were so excited for this everyday.  On the fifth day of Christmas we opened our door to Krispy Kreme donuts..5 GOLDEN RINGS!  This picture was the Eight Maids a milking.

Mom and I did Christmas baking and spent nearly 7 hours in the kitchen on this type of goodness.

And more... we did fudge, crispy chocolate chip cookies...it was fun to share with our new neighbors.

John and Ella wanted to try mussels for dinner.

You wish is my command!

John and Ella asked for money for Christmas.  

John also got a Lego set and my old android phone with a phone plan.  

For the last few years, Ella has been asking for a kitten.  The answer was always NO, NO, NO.  

She gave up asking.

Two weeks before Christmas, Mom and I went off to the humane society.  An on Christmas Eve we gave Ella quite the surprise. 

SILENCE.

GIGGLES.

"She's purring!"  Thank you, Mommy!"

Anything for my Lady Lu.  

(and her broken finger - which she smashed on some weights)

The kitten is a 4 month old female orange tabby/maine coon.

She was originally named Precious - and she is that too.  We just call her everything:

"Precious"

"Kitty Kitty"

"Clawdia"

She is a purr machine and very sweet.  Even the vet said, "You REALLY picked a good cat, and I don't say that often."

We love her already and Adam is quite a pushover for her too.  She gets along well with the dogs and our rescued African Grey parrot.  I am officially Doctor Doolittle.

Adam began painting our front door shortly after New Year's Day- a lovely emperor's silk red.

I live it...and I love slippers.

Not quite finished...the trim, clear coat and new door key hole (which Adam painted red) are still needed.

Can you believe we are also new aunt and uncle to Rich and Treslees' new baby girl??  We visited them in the hospital and we are thrilled there is a new cousin.  What fun!!

And now, some people have asked...

KITCHEN BEFORE: 

 KITCHEN AFTER:

My mom is the key reason we now have a new kitchen and THIS is it!!!

We agonized for months about the layout, colors, materials, prices, appliances...

She really knows so much about construction costs/design/and all the build out.

It has take almost 5 months to perfect.

We chose white slab solid maple cabinets with natural maple slab island and shelving.

KraftMaid makes these and we really like the deeper drawers they have.

All doors are soft closing and have pullouts.

The counters are quartz Silestone in stellar snow and they are amazing.  When the sunlight hits the flecks, it disperses tiny rainbows on the ceiling...very good in feng shui.

The microwave drawer is just outstanding.  I cannot even believe we have a microwave drawer!

The trash/recycle bins are hidden inside that large pullout in the island.

Any ideas for flooring?  Leave a comment :)

The island does not have counter stools yet but can sit three comfortably!

We were working for a very sleek, easy to use, functional family kitchen.  I do not like a lot of molding details to wipe or dark colors.  My style is very Scandinavian, which some people find sterile.  

Adam really likes modern.

I find it blissful and airy, with a touch of edge.

Every detail has been custom fit to accommodate my left-handedness with optimal ease.

I have two full spice rack pullouts, pot shelves and more cabinets than I know what to do with.

We went a little over-the-top with all Kitchen Aid appliances from Spencers TV and Appliances.

This is our five burner gas range with heavy duty vent-outside hood. 

Remember, we couldn't have done this without Mom (she says "It's not too good for the Barrys" quite often!)  Aren't we so fortunate?  It's overwhelming.

The natural maple shelving will soon be accented with track lighting and decor.

That Lladro piece is our wedding cake topper.  I will decorate the shelving soon and probably frequently change what is there because that's my personality.

The refrigerator was built into the wall so it looks counter depth but when you open it, it is full-sized!

Flooring is a long ways away...we still have plumbing in bathrooms to do!

The double oven has auto turn-off and a thermometer that will show the temperature of the food on the screen.  The inside is blue which helps with lighting to enhance an accurate visual of the food.

These ovens have both been used and worked beautifully for the holidays.

The hardware was purchased from Clyde Hardware and is the Schwinn 4135.

I wanted hardware that was heavy duty to make a statement.

Well, that's it!

Happy 2014!

Please leave a comment :)  I don't know if anyone even looks at our blog anymore!