Life as we know it.

Hello.

My name is Emily and I live, with my boyfriend of 1 year and 4 months, in a 1 bedroom 2 storey terrace at number 22. I currently work as a bartender and my boyfriend is a chef. I studied English Literature, Classics, Religion and Fine Art at university. My current career aspirations are to become an interior decorator. I live in Sheffield in the United Kingdom but was born in New Zealand.
I'm setting up this blog to chart the development of both our house, my design knowledge (which will hopefully expand) and also to cover our combined kitchen creations. I adore sharing a home with such a talented chef and I must admit, I'm a little bit proud of what he can do.

Matt's chicken & prosciutto salad

We moved into number 22 in April 2010. April is also our Anniversary so of course, this month is very special to us. When we moved in the positives about the house were thus:

- It was cheap
- Location: We live in the beautiful Sharrowvale suburb of Sheffield, full of independent businesses and parks. More on this later!
- We were given free reign by our landlord as far as decoration. Literally, when I asked the agent what the 'House rules' were she looked at me blankly and said "No smoking?" Pets? yes. Painting? yes. She even mentioned that the previous tenant changed the bathtub!

Basically, it's a do-er-upper. And oh how we will have to do it up. Talk about cutting edges, the ceiling isn't level! We're pretty sure we want to live here for a couple of years (until we can either a) afford our own house or b) afford better accom) so I'm planning on redecorating. This will be both my first real experiment in redecorating (work on my parent's homes don't count I figure) and my first real experience with English housing in all it's complicated glory (our house has a coal shoot for godssake!). I want to repaint all the rooms and renovate as much as I can afford. We've also started work on reworking the small back garden. I will hopefully use some of the work as a portfolio and fingers crossed, will learn and grow from this experience.

At the same time we are both actively trying to challenge ourselves in the kitchen. When I first met Matt he was very ho-hum about his abilities and his creativity in the kitchen. Oh what a difference a year makes! Now he's still ho-hum but he relishes every new recipe he takes on. His 'originals' are becoming more and more breathtaking to me and his enthusiasm is truly catching. I wanted to document these experimental dishes for both reference and to of course cause extreme jealousy in the eyes of my family and friends (ha ha! I wake up to a chef every morning!)

My next post will have the 'before' pictures so you can really see what we are dealing with. I hope you enjoy the journey!