Your FIRST look at my new kitchen in Canadian Living Magazine.

The last time I was this excited over something it was covered in gravy.

Here's your first glimpse of me in my new kitchen.

The October issue of Canadian Living magazine is on stands now!  And if it's not where you are in Canada it will be in the next day or two.  I know.  It's September.  Early September at that.  But that's the way magazine work and since it gives  us all a chance to see my kitchen in print a month earlier than I thought I'm O.K. with it.

And yes.  That is my dear little Cuddles sharing the spotlight with me.  When Cuddles came close to dying a few weeks ago I thought … I won't even be able to open the magazine.  It would be too much to bear.  But that little Cuddles made it through her mystery illness and lived to see her magazine debut.

To recap:

In March of 2013 I decided to rip up my horrific kitchen floor and install VCT tiles.  Black and white check.  While the floor was up, I decided it would be stupid not to install heated floors while I was at it.  With such a good lookin' floor I was suddenly embarrassed about my sink.  Why had I never noticed the horror that was my sink?  I should get a new sink.  That one from Ikea with the apron front.

Only the sink didn't fit because my counters weren't deep enough.  I could maybe get new counters to accommodate the new sink so as not to embarrass my floors.  Floors are very sensitive that way.  Everyone knows that.

Cut to a year later, my entire kitchen is ripped out, a new ceiling is going in, cupboards are being hoisted over fences, the fella has left and I'm pooping in a bucket.

WTF?

How did THIS happen?

I'll tell you how it happened.  I'm like you, you're like me, we're all nuts.  And that's O.K.  That's how it goes in this world and the people who aren't nuts are boring.

I lived through a kitchen renovation and even though people told me I was going to forget all about how gross it was once I had my new kitchen I didn't believe them. In fact I pretty much silently cursed those people until I started cursing them out loud.  With big, new curse words that only a kitchen renovation can pull out of you.  But they were right.  I don't remember any of the pain and every time I walk into my kitchen I still gasp and sigh and smile.  Then I cook something and leave the dishes to clean up in a week or so.

When I realized this tiny little kitchen update was actually going to turn into a  full blown renovation I emailed someone I knew at Canadian Living.  Brett Walther was someone who I worked with when a different magazine shot my house a few years ago. I told him what I was doing and asked if he'd be interested in featuring it in the magazine.

He said yes. I said good. He told me I couldn't show my kitchen until it was released in the magazine, I said bad.  But agreed, because I could understand his point.  Canadian Living wanted the big reveal to be in their magazine.  Who could blame them.  The only problem was I couldn't take any pictures, or do any posts or videos that revealed my kitchen for a year.  A YEAR.

That year is up. I still can't show you my kitchen but I CAN soon because the Canadian Living article is out now.