Small Kitchen Upgrades & a Couple Others

Jessie jots...

We welcomed in a few newwwww items for our kitchen this week. You'll see the progress of us slowly upgrading it as we go. Crate & Barrel announced their sale for the weekend and I couldn't resist checking it out.

We wrote down a list of things that is needed vs wanted for the kitchen in order to stay on track with budget and of course, facilitate the cook! One of the things I've alwaaaaysss dreamt about is having a nice, big, sturdy chopping board to protect my knives from getting blunt.

And we found this: big and sturdy End Grain Chopping Board. The color is rustically gorgeous and it is non-slippery with rubbery legs underneath. I've chopped on it a few times now and I don't know how I survived this long without it. Makes everything I chopped and sliced look so pretty!

Here's a tip, to protect your wooden chopping board from getting dried out and keep deep scratches at bay, rub some olive oil on the surface with a dish cloth from time to time.

It was a little cold last night, hence the cloudiness.

Am I the only one that get thirsty before bedtime? I usually have a bottle of water next to me before I sleep and it's getting a little embarrassing that I was just using my bottle containers for it. The next thing we need are two water jugs. One for upstairs now that the kitchen is downstairs. And we found this to do the job for us - the 2 in 1 Bedside Carafe - a glass in disguise as the cover to block all dirty, flurry furs and a water jug under it. It's sleek and sensible, and it serves what I need. Check!

And another water pitcher for downstairs! Must have lid on, fur is everywhere... this cat is shedding like it's Fall. So this Acrylic Pitcher is perfect! This may not look like it's anything special to any of you but everytime I look at it, I just want to drink more water. It gives off the fresh water feeling of being at the Spring where we spent our vacation once.

I've also always wanted a Microplane/Grate Zester. I see them on Food Network all the time and I thought, do I need that? I shrugged, I can do with the knife. Haha Apparently, I can't... after finding myself in need to zest lemon peels, parmesan cheese, ginger and garlic for certain dishes. I desperately needed it, especially when I make salad and wanted grated parmesan cheese and zested lemon peels. Now I can save more not buying the grated ones. Getting the whole block of cheese and grate them with the microplane saves me a few bucks everytime. Anything that is prepared already charged you in the price tag. I was glad I got it. My lovely neighbor just gave me a baseball size lemon yesterday and I quickly zest the peel with my newwwww microplane. This thing work like a dream!

I also got the Knife Sharpener due to my knives getting blunt. I save at least a few hundred dollars from not tossing the old knives away. Two strokes of magic with the sharpener and the knives work like super professional chef! I can't believe it. I know, I'm so annoying. I get happy with stuff like that. LOL One good thing though, yesterday none of my basil leaves came out bruised anymore and all the chopped scallions are chopped - they are not connected! Yeowza!

But guess what? The things we bought here?

None of them were on sales. Pfft....

Moving on...

We resisted buying these Glass Jars with Lids from Crate and Barrel. Not because they weren't on sales but because they were $3 more expensive than the one in Target. They look similar anyway and we went back to Target to get it for my rice. Yes. How did I survive without it??? Again, I've always only leave them in their plastic bag and snug it between other canned food like it doesn't matter until I need too cook rice. Then the pain begins. Unwrap it and wrapping it back, looking messier and messier each time when the bag doesn't take a form. Now, with this sleek Glass Jars, my brown and white rice has a place to go. They are beautifully display on the countertop and they can be accessed easily when scooped. So happy! :)

LASTLY

Am not done yet. I did go get something else that is not quite needed. I fail to stay on track but I have an excuse. The cook need to stay pretty right? I have not have the perfect pink lip gloss and my last blusher was bought when I celebrated New Year's Eve in 2007. Yeah, the shade has now caked up, harden and god knows the amount of bacteria grew in it. So I chose Origins this time because they were non-comodoge, the packaging is made with recycled products and the shades look natural. Only with these two products and a good foundation on - I have transformed to look very refresh.

Have you gone shopping lately? If yes, what did you get? :)