Between stress management and diet, my colitis has been fairly under control, but I sometimes find it difficult to eat properly. A lot of really healthy things actually make my stomache hurt. Like raw broccoli or red onions. I've only just discovered this, and knowing this now, it would have saved me a world of hurt! 

This new "raw" food fad diet sounds great and everything, but please don't push it on me! It would probably kill me. Not literally at this point for myself, but for others, it could be a serious health setback if they were to try that diet. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying there is anything wrong with certain diets, 
but it is very important to know and to do what is best for your body.

After some serious tears over the onions, I started off cooking the garlic, shallots and onions 
over medium heat in the olive oil. 

One they were browned, I threw in the red pepper with the balsamic vinegar to sweeten the peppers. 
Then I threw in the carrots to get a little extra cooking time. 

There you have it- my favourite soup recipe. 

What's your favourite soup recipe? Which of the variations would you try or what are some other ideas? Feel free to add ideas in the comments. I always love hearing from you. 

Here's to a healthy soup! 

xo Jena 

Honestly, this bathroom was pretty low on the priority list, but once it got finished, it was really nice to have two full bathrooms. After some fixing up, it had a working sink and toilet, so for the longest time, it was just our other half bath. When we bought the house, it came with a brand new shower that had never gotten installed, and with all the other renovations we had going on around the house, the shower sat in the box  for a very long time. 

Besides painting a small bathroom such a dark colour, the next craziest thing we did was salvage the hideous wall paneling that was in our basement. After a coat of primer and then painting it with Benjamin Moore Trim Paint in Calm, the fake wood panels turned into classic wainscoting. I also re-used the old baseboards to top of the wainscoting. This made for a cheap feature in the bathroom!

So, when people tell you that you can't paint a small room in a dark colour, you can go right ahead and tell them, 

I love my black, small bathroom, and because I went so bold with this bathroom, 
it's actually become one of my favourite rooms in the house. 

Playing it safe with design can actually keep you from really expressing your true style, so I challenge you to break any design rule you like. I'd love to see your before and afters, and get your opinion on how it turned out for you.
 Do you love what you did?

Happy Rule Breaking! 

xo Jena