1 Week Down & We're Making Progress!

Ahhhh! It smells heavenly in our apartment right now! I love summer for several reasons, but one thing I love so much about this time of year is the fresh fruit and veggies you can get at your local farmer's market. Yesterday, Michael and I got up early and headed to the Lakeview District in downtown Birmingham to the Pepper Place Farmer's Market. It was huge, but boy was it HOT!!! Elizabeth, if you are reading this, there was a lady pushing around two Bogarts in a puppy stroller, and they were about to die from the heat! We (or Michael rather) were planning to make our friends Jamie and Eric homemade Eggplant Parmesan and salad for dinner because Eric was awesome with helping us move into our place. We stocked up on fresh tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, and delicious peaches and berries! I can't wait to take my mom to Pepper Place when she comes in July! Tonight we are making fresh Greek salads for dinner with homemade roasted eggplant yogurt dip. Michael is sauteeing the garlic right now, and it smells so good! For tonight's dessert, I made a homemade berry sauce with fresh blueberries and raspberries, and we bought miniature graham cracker pie crusts that I will bake and top with icecream and the berry sauce. I can't wait!!! It feels good to be settled in and to be able to cook and make fresh meals together. Speaking of settling in...I feel like we have made progress, but there is still a bit to be done. Especially in our kitchen! It is white, white, white, and it has no personality. It's just ugly! Michael and I were so upset last Friday when we moved in. Looking back it was no big deal, but the apartment wasn't exactly what we thought we were getting. On top of that, we had already lost two other places that we loved, so we weren't too thrilled about moving back into an apartment with carpet, ugly paint, and people living below us. It was just so dark and dull. There were no light fixtures in any of the bedrooms or living room, and it was dirty. By the days end, we got all the kinks worked out, and management had the apartment cleaned for us, and it is finally starting to feel like home. We picked this place after going through the adventure of losing two other places because it has a fabulous location, and we are close to everything. It's in an awesome neighborhood, and I feel very safe. Our apartment complex is small and has been converted from old condos, so there are lots of trees and we are the only apartments around, so I don't really feel like we are in an "apartment." I am less than 3 miles from 3 great malls, all of which are completely different! We have been here 9 days now, and I wanted to show you some before and after pictures of some of our rooms. Starting with the Dining Room: Living Room: Office and Spare Room (Still a work in progress): Master Bedroom: Master Bathroom: Kitchen: I don't have an "after" picture because the kitchen is still ugly! Though it was pretty dull before, I am glad we picked this place...I'll post a picture when I finish the kitchen.