Progress: Kitchen

One of the biggest projects we knew we'd have to tackle immediately when we moved in was all of the cabinetry. Somewhere along the line, the previous owners had taken it upon themselves to paint all of the cabinets in the kitchen, den and laundry a very dark espresso brown. It made everything seem like a cave! Not to mention, they did not do a good paint job.

Here's what it looked like when we were looking at the house before we purchased it:

 These cabinets (below) are on the side of wall behind the countertops above. All of the twelve drawers had seen better days. Many were broken and they couldn't slide easily in and out. 

 We asked my mom's cabinet maker to fix them for us. He made all new drawers, just using our drawer faces on the front. When they're back in, we'll wax the sides so they can glide in and out.

 This past Monday, the painting began, much to our surprise! Our painter called us Monday morning and said they'd be there in the afternoon to get the process started. (Commence heart attack) I came home at lunch and we immediately started throwing what little we had out of the cabinets and off the countertops. 

Here's what the kitchen looked like after plastic went down and doors came off.

 We went with Alabaster by Sherwin Williams. (We're lucky to have saved hundreds of dollars by using my brother-in-law's employee discount. He works at the industrial division of SW just south of here.)

First side got painted and were super excited to see how our color turned out.

 After the kitchen got sprayed:

 Almost done, which some of the doors back on:

Can't wait to have everything back in place! They'll be touching up doors and painting the walls and trim on Monday. I can't tell you how ready I am to be able to have our plates and cups in a permanent spot. Being a control freak, I've had to really calm down about having everything in boxes for weeks.

Progress

Phew! Time flies, but we're making progress on our new house. We closed just over two weeks ago, but a lot has been done since then. 

An hour after we closed, we already had paint purchased. We said that if we did anything before we moved our stuff in the next day, it was to paint the back living room. With the help of almost all of the my family working at once, we got it done in a few hours. It's nice to have that done.

 Next day was moving day, which was really smooth because of our wonderful movers. I sat at the other house and just walked around.

 I tried to document just a few of the flowers that were blooming in the back yard. It doesn't hurt that we bought our house from a Jackson Garden Club member.

 We finally got things moved in and in place, so here's a "in progress" picture of our back living room. Since then we've hung art on the walls and done some other small things. We aren't putting anything in the bookcases or drawers yet because everything that's brown will be a crisp white in about a week or so!

 We also experienced our first homeowner jitters when a string of really bad storms came through. We were still without cable and internet, so we had to watch a live stream of the weather forecast on our iPads.

 We also had some fun with Arts, Eats & Beats. Such a good time in the neighborhood!

 The next weekend we went camping on Enid Lake. Such a pretty place.

 KT is enjoying her new space. She has so many windows to look out of and so many spots to lay in the sun. She has to prioritize!

 We've had a few people over, including my whole side of the family (and then some) for Mother's Day/Brody's baby dedication. It's so nice to have a whole front living room to fit all 18 of us comfortably, with room to spare. This is definitely why we bought this house!

More to come, including progress pictures of various parts of the house.

Spring Fever

Time flies when you're having fun, right? It's been a packed couple of weeks. I'll be happy to have a few days off for Easter next week to pack, because we close on our house and move in two weeks!

New favorite thing: Pineapple and mango salsa from Whole Foods. I can't get enough. I've had it on chips, fish tacos, you name it.

 Last weekend we had our annual girl trip with my mom, sister, aunt, cousin, and, for the first time, Brody! We spent a few days in Bay St. Louis and had a great time. Here was the few of the canal from our back deck.

 We explored downtown Bay St. Louis while we were there and stopped in the old depot which has been turned into the visitor center. They had Mardi Gras costumes displayed and, yes, that is a hamburger and hot dog suit.

 After walking around, we made our way to lunch near the beach. Mom got a pretty impressive Bloody Mary.

 That afternoon Brody got to take his first steps on the beach. 

 We realized we were really close to the Lazy Magnolia Brewery, so we decided to take a brewery tour that afternoon. It was very fun to see where all the beer is made. Surprisingly, the operation itself is not in a large area like you'd think!

 After I got home from the beach, we finally got a sold sign on at our house! This weekend they replaced the roof and had another crew doing other work to the house. I'm so ready to move in!

 We've had a good laugh lately among our friends that Rachel, who is Jewish from Connecticut and doesn't have children, got tapped to plan the neighborhood Easter egg hunt. Not knowing anything about egg hunts, Southern finger foods, or much about children in general, it's been hilarious to see her reactions to everything. Here she is with her first Easter egg ever this past Saturday.

For lunch yesterday we headed over for Broadmeadow Neighborhood Association (the top part of Fondren, just across the street from us) for crawfish. These bugs are HUGE this year! One wanted to tell you guys, "Hello!" 

Have a great week!

Oh, hi!

Oh, hi! It's me, Sophie. Remember how I said how I was excited to buy a house? Yeah, well, that shiny new-ness has worn off. When this is all said and closed, remind me not to buy and sell real estate for a long time, OK?

Let's just say this: it hasn't been a walk in the park negotiating with the sellers. We finally found out yesterday that our final negotiations were accepted. They can now initiate repairs to the house (electrical panel, HVAC ducts, new roof), while we wait for a closing day. Fingers crossed, we'll close by mid to late April.

A few photos, shall we?

A highly anticipated barbecue joint in our neighborhood, Pig & Pint, finally opened last week! The guys who started it have won barbecue contests around the country (including Memphis in May), so everyone was excited to try their competition style meat. We've been a few times and we've enjoyed it. I can't wait to try the boudin burger next.

First up, pork belly corn dogs. 

 Nothing like a good pulled pork sandwich.

 My favorite menu items (not pictured) are the tacos. I got the sampler, which included smoked chicken, brisket, and pulled pork tacos. Tasty!

The other day I got to go over to MG's house and we always like to poke fun at her dog Daphne and her photographic qualities (or lack there of). Look at her looking at the camera!

 Speaking of animals, this weekend was perfect cat-on-the-back-deck weather. She loves being outside in the sun!

 Mild weather makes me think of the beach and shrimp, so we had ourselves a "shrimp boil" this weekend. Can't wait to have the real, fresh thing at the beach.

A Little Announcement

A part of me is even nervous to talk about this, since we haven't signed on the dotted line, but, we bought a house!

It's been a crazy ride of a week, but we should be closing in the early part of April. We could not be more excited. I had to chuckle when Paul said last night, "I have a feeling your blog is going to go from what you ate to what you painted." It's probably true, considering there's over 2,200 square feet in this new house to paint. All. of. it. 

Fingers crossed for our home inspection this week - it's the only thing that's really standing in the way of our closing date!

Update

The blood orange loaf cake turned out great! It was labor intensive, but it was a lot of fun to put together.

 We've had a busy couple of weeks, but the weather is finally getting a little warmer, so we've had to take advantage. Last weekend we decided to go walk the multi-purpose trails down to the Overlook. Such a nice day!

Next week we actually have highs in the 70s!

Pinterest Inspiration: Citrus

Ashley's Pinterest post inspired me to write about something that I've currently been trending with on Pinterest lately: citrus. Since Christmas, we've come to find out that my lactose intolerance has ramped it up a few notches, so the past few weeks I've found myself looking for every alternative to dairy.

When it comes to sweet things with dairy - ice cream, etc., luckily more citrus and fruit flavored things are dairy-free. It's also the time of year that blood oranges, one of my favorite fruits, pop up.

Here's a few citrus recipes I can't wait to try:

Blood Orange Loaf Cake 

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Lemon Rosemary Cake

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We've also had a few mild days recently and I can't help but think of spring days outside drinking this:

Frozen Coconut Limeade

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I'm already dreaming about spring, gardening, and time outside. What about you?