Becoming a Foodie!

With some major help from my husband, I'm becoming a foodie. Don't get me wrong, I've always liked food...it just wasn't particularly important to me. The faster I could get it done the better, then I could move on to doing something I enjoyed. George has helped to introduce me to the marvelous world of cooking. I'm not just talking about normal cooking either, I'm talking about simple gourmet! I'm learning that it doesn't take a lot of time or a crazy amount of preparation to cook amazing food. Obviously I'm still learning a lot, but at least I've embarked on the journey.

Here is a sampling of some of the dishes we have created so far...and remember presentation is the key to any amazing meal!

Fresh Guacamole with Chips
(garnished with chopped white onion)

Mexican Style Grilled Chicken, Fresh Salsa, Black Beans & Stir Fry

(garnished with green & red onions)

Beef Ribs and Mashed Potatoes

(served with a icy cold Mojito, garnished with fresh cilantro)

Pan-Seared Tuna with Cream Shitake Mushroom Sauce & Mashed Potatoes
(prepared with black & white sesame seeds, garnished with green onion)

Pad Thai with Peanut Sauce
(prepared with carrot, egg, ginger, green onions, garnished with limes)

Grilled Chicken Breast served with Fettuccine Alfredo
(served with white wine, garnished with green onion)

Cheese-stuffed Ravioli with Tomato Sauce
(garnished with mint)

Fried Calamari served with Onion Rings
(garnished with sauce & mint leaves)

It's coming together!

The apartment is finally coming together. It has moved from "construction zone" to "liveable space" again. We've swept up the sawdust and drywall dust, washed the floors, painted everything, mounted new track lighting and it is starting to look like a house again. Our new couch was delivered about a week ago now and it looks awesome. We just installed window coverings in the living room and we set the toliet yesterday. I actually have a functioning bathroom again.

The other day as we layed on our new couch and watched Phantom of the Opera with full surround sound and on our 100" projector screen on the wall, it struck me....our new apartment is AWESOME!!!

I can't wait to have friends over for a full theater night, popcorn and all. Here are some new photos so you can see the progress. I'll give you the whole tour!

When you walk in our door, this is the full view in the living room.

The 100" Projector Screen (our tv) in the living room.

View from the kitchen, nice view of the two accent green walls. The door on the left goes into the office (which is not finished yet, still needs tile) and the door in the far left by the green wall goes to the shared laundry room.

View from the couch, looking into the bathroom on the right, kitchen and bedroom.

Our new couch, it is a brown leather sectional with an ottoman.

It has a built-in bookcase in the arm on one side.

The kitchen, still needs a kickboard down below the cabinets.

New track lighting in the kitchen.

Our bedroom & closet, looking out into the living room. There is one window, just not in the photo.

Apartment Remodel Before & Afters

It seems like we have been working on remodeling my apartment for ages. Finally, we are reaching a point where we have something to show for all of our hard work. Here is the laundry list of items we have already done.

1. Totally stripped the Bedroom, Living room, Bathroom & Office of the horrific 70's carpeting and replaced everything with tile floors. (A huge improvement for the overall appearance and the allergy factors.)
   
2. Mounted the projector and painted an AWESOME DYI projector screen on the wall. One part pink wall paint and one part aluminum automotive paint = the best looking projector screen I've ever seen. We are going to mount a black wood frame around the screen and put a small LG sticker on the frame so it looks like a giant flatscreen tv and fool all our friends. :)
   
3. Moved the old woodstove out and replaced it with a new door to the shared laundry room.
   
4. Ran more wires/cables through our walls than I knew possible. We have cables for audio/surround sound, video, you name it, we have it. George always says, "It must all connect!" and it does.
   
5. That is just the big stuff, we have also done an insane amount of drywall work, painting, etc.

Now here is the fun part...the before & after shots. This should give you an idea of why we have been so busy...

Apartment Before

Laying tile...

Apartment with tile & 1st coat of paint

It is amazing what some hard work can do for a place! We are so thrilled to finally be nearing the end of the remodel project. Check back often for more updates & photos!

I've finally done it...started a Blog!

I never thought I would do it...I used to hate on people who had blogs, back when they were cool and trendy. Now that they have been around for so long...I can justify having one!

I used to keep my website up-to-date with photos, but I have not been keeping up with it like I should. So this is my temporary solution, a blog is quick and easy to update so I will be posting some photos here for a while. I mainly want to show some of the progress on our new apartment renovations. I've taken tons of photos, just haven't gotten them online.

Expect good things to come!