The tarp is covering our foundation from all of the rain and ice we've been getting here in Charleston. But how exciting!!
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Caprese Bruschetta
Today, I left work knowing that I wanted to have a tasty appetizer when I got home. And lo and behold, mozzarella and French bread were on sale at Publix! I knew I already had some basil at home, as well as some sad cherry tomatoes that needed to be used. So naturally, I decided to make caprese bruschetta.
I love Caprese salad. I order it almost anywhere it is offered. I also love bruschetta. So why not combine them??
I don't have pictures of the first few steps, and even had to retro-actively take a few pictures, because I didn't realize that I wanted to blog about this until I was halfway finished. But here's what I did:
1. Preheat the oven to 375
2. Slice up some French bread on the diagonal and drizzle with about a teaspoon of olive or canola oil
3. Pop that in the oven
4. Meanwhile, dice up your sad, wrinkly cherry tomatoes and put them in a bowl
5. Roll up your basil and thinly slice, then slice again crosswise because you don't like big pieces of herbs, unlike your mother.
6. Start thinking about how your mother and you come from different schools of thought on herbs and decide to blog this whole dang thing
**My mother loves using fresh herbs. LOVES. She will clip any and all herbs out of her garden in the front yard for a specific recipe, and then keep the herbs she didn't use in a small brown dish next to the pepper grinder, salt, and butter on the counter next to the stove and use them until they are unidentifiable crumbs. She uses them in recipes where they are called for, where they are not called for, and always always always has a garnish on pretty much everything she eats. I, however, do not do this. I use fresh herbs only when I am told to by a recipe, and do not believe in using a garnish that doesn't serve a purpose. You will never find a fresh sprig of parsley on, well, anything, since I don't like parsley, but you know what I mean. I'm not big on garnish. With all of that said, it's interesting how we all turn out differently, even down to garnishing our food.**
7. Add a teeny tiny spoonful of the oil that crushed garlic comes in because you don't want to eat actual chunks of garlic to the tomato-basil mixture, as well as some salt and pepper
8. Remember you have bread in the oven
9. Lay one slice of mozzarella (love that they make it pre-sliced now!) on each slice of bread, put it back in the oven long enough to clean up the mess you made
10. Take it out when the cheese has just started to get melty and shiny
11. Top with your tomato-basil mixture and enjoy!
I love Caprese salad. I order it almost anywhere it is offered. I also love bruschetta. So why not combine them??
I don't have pictures of the first few steps, and even had to retro-actively take a few pictures, because I didn't realize that I wanted to blog about this until I was halfway finished. But here's what I did:
1. Preheat the oven to 375
2. Slice up some French bread on the diagonal and drizzle with about a teaspoon of olive or canola oil
3. Pop that in the oven
4. Meanwhile, dice up your sad, wrinkly cherry tomatoes and put them in a bowl
5. Roll up your basil and thinly slice, then slice again crosswise because you don't like big pieces of herbs, unlike your mother.
6. Start thinking about how your mother and you come from different schools of thought on herbs and decide to blog this whole dang thing
**My mother loves using fresh herbs. LOVES. She will clip any and all herbs out of her garden in the front yard for a specific recipe, and then keep the herbs she didn't use in a small brown dish next to the pepper grinder, salt, and butter on the counter next to the stove and use them until they are unidentifiable crumbs. She uses them in recipes where they are called for, where they are not called for, and always always always has a garnish on pretty much everything she eats. I, however, do not do this. I use fresh herbs only when I am told to by a recipe, and do not believe in using a garnish that doesn't serve a purpose. You will never find a fresh sprig of parsley on, well, anything, since I don't like parsley, but you know what I mean. I'm not big on garnish. With all of that said, it's interesting how we all turn out differently, even down to garnishing our food.**
7. Add a teeny tiny spoonful of the oil that crushed garlic comes in because you don't want to eat actual chunks of garlic to the tomato-basil mixture, as well as some salt and pepper
8. Remember you have bread in the oven
9. Lay one slice of mozzarella (love that they make it pre-sliced now!) on each slice of bread, put it back in the oven long enough to clean up the mess you made
(Shout out to my best friend Alanna for this bracelet! I get compliments on it all the time)
10. Take it out when the cheese has just started to get melty and shiny
11. Top with your tomato-basil mixture and enjoy!
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
No More Trees
On Sunday afternoon, after an exciting trip to Costco, Ryan and I decided to take a walk in our new neighborhood for some aerobic exercise. As we turned the corner onto our street, we saw a clearing up ahead...then I noticed a big ol' pile of tree trunks...and then I noticed a big square patch of dirt and I turned to my man and said, "Is...is that our lot?"
It was!
Before:
Our lot was full of trees. But do you see that crooked one to the right of my head?
After:
It's still there!
And we have one more tree behind it at the very edge of our property.
We're guessing that our house will have the garage on the left hand side (where the gray dirt is), and the red dirt and clay will be underneath our foundation, just based on how the dirt has been raked out. But we won't know until our Pre-Construction meeting on Monday. At least I think they'll tell us then.
I think the patio is going to go where that CAT truck is.
Look at all of the trees they tore down!
It was!
Before:
Our lot was full of trees. But do you see that crooked one to the right of my head?
After:
It's still there!
And we have one more tree behind it at the very edge of our property.
We're guessing that our house will have the garage on the left hand side (where the gray dirt is), and the red dirt and clay will be underneath our foundation, just based on how the dirt has been raked out. But we won't know until our Pre-Construction meeting on Monday. At least I think they'll tell us then.
I think the patio is going to go where that CAT truck is.
Look at all of the trees they tore down!
Our view across the street!
I hope to have more to report after our pre-construction meeting and walk-through on Monday, so stay tuned!
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Appliances
I realized today that I forgot to post about the appliances we chose at the Design Center.
I have been making Thanksgiving dinner since I was 11 years old, cherish Sunday night dinner, and take pride in my creativity in the kitchen. Thus, I wanted a kitchen that would not only be beautiful, but functional (of course) for sandwich-making, family dinners, holidays where our respective families come together in celebration and joy, and cocktail parties with new neighbors. Ryan told me from the beginning that he wanted to get a bonus room for his musical instruments as his sanctuary, and that I could get a gorgeous kitchen for my sanctuary.
So when we were looking over our options at the Design Center, I was very hesitant in what I got excited over because I didn't want to exceed our budget. We weighed the pros and cons of our options and I guess he could tell what I really wanted because he looked at me and said: "I told you I would get you your dream kitchen." Here it is!
GE Profile Series Energy Star French-Door Ice and Water Refrigerator
This is really cool. All of the shelves and drawers are interchange-able, it has hands-free auto-fill, has a temperature controlled drawer, and an LED display above the water dispenser than we can customize with pictures!
GE Profile Series Advantium 240 Over the Range Oven
This not only a microwave oven, but also a convection oven, uses Speedcook Technology, saves your recipes, as well as has it's own pre-programmed recipes.
GE Profile Series 30" Slide-In Double Oven Gas Range
The middle burner is an oval shape for cooking large dishes, and also comes with a reversible griddle/grill pan. It also has a Precise Simmer Burner and DOUBLE OVENS! Slide-In means that the counter tops/cabinets will not stop next to the oven, but instead, the oven and range will look like they have been "slid in" to the counter/cabinets so that they are flush.
GE Profile Series Stainless Steel Interior Dishwasher with Hidden Controls
There is a chance we got the Cafe Series instead of the Profile Series but I can't remember and the paperwork is in the car and it is late and cold outside. But apparently this is fast, efficient, and super quiet. So I am really excited!!
I have been making Thanksgiving dinner since I was 11 years old, cherish Sunday night dinner, and take pride in my creativity in the kitchen. Thus, I wanted a kitchen that would not only be beautiful, but functional (of course) for sandwich-making, family dinners, holidays where our respective families come together in celebration and joy, and cocktail parties with new neighbors. Ryan told me from the beginning that he wanted to get a bonus room for his musical instruments as his sanctuary, and that I could get a gorgeous kitchen for my sanctuary.
So when we were looking over our options at the Design Center, I was very hesitant in what I got excited over because I didn't want to exceed our budget. We weighed the pros and cons of our options and I guess he could tell what I really wanted because he looked at me and said: "I told you I would get you your dream kitchen." Here it is!
GE Profile Series Energy Star French-Door Ice and Water Refrigerator
This is really cool. All of the shelves and drawers are interchange-able, it has hands-free auto-fill, has a temperature controlled drawer, and an LED display above the water dispenser than we can customize with pictures!
GE Profile Series Advantium 240 Over the Range Oven
This not only a microwave oven, but also a convection oven, uses Speedcook Technology, saves your recipes, as well as has it's own pre-programmed recipes.
GE Profile Series 30" Slide-In Double Oven Gas Range
The middle burner is an oval shape for cooking large dishes, and also comes with a reversible griddle/grill pan. It also has a Precise Simmer Burner and DOUBLE OVENS! Slide-In means that the counter tops/cabinets will not stop next to the oven, but instead, the oven and range will look like they have been "slid in" to the counter/cabinets so that they are flush.
GE Profile Series Stainless Steel Interior Dishwasher with Hidden Controls
There is a chance we got the Cafe Series instead of the Profile Series but I can't remember and the paperwork is in the car and it is late and cold outside. But apparently this is fast, efficient, and super quiet. So I am really excited!!
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
What We Chose!
Since so many of you have been asking, I decided to be nice and not make you wait more than 24 hours to find out what we chose for our house at the Design Center last Friday. Some of these pictures will be duplicates from yesterday's post so as to better explain some thangs.
Exterior:
Overall choices:
Bathroom:
Exterior:
The stone will be at the base of our house all the way around, as well as in a central panel of the front of the house. The siding is a little more green than the picture lets on. And the tiny swatch in the top corner is the color and style of both our shutters and front door.
It's called Bourdeaux :)
We chose the lights on the top left for either side of our garage, in brass.
Overall choices:
Antique White paint. We may decide to paint some of the bedrooms or bathrooms different colors, but this is the base.
We chose the wrought-iron railing!
And this is what the wood of the banister/post will look like, so that it corresponds nicely with....
Our floors! These will be in the entry, dining room, kitchen, living room, and hallway.
*The lighting was a little weird but trust me, the banister is not that red, and the floor is not that gray*
And this will be the carpet for all of the bedrooms, stairs, as well as the study.
And, like the airhead that I am, I forgot to take pictures of the other lighting options we chose. But all of the interior lights will be in brass fixtures, which will match all of our doorknobs!
So we went with the standard sink on the right, but with the height of the sink on the left. These will be in all of our bathrooms throughout the house.
We chose the standard chrome faucets (the top three options on the far left) for all of the bathrooms.
And this is what our bathroom and laundry room floors will look like! Ryan and I think it looks a little like Greek marble.
Kitchen:
We chose this color of cabinets! It's called Sasparilla.
But we got it in the standard cabinet package. So that means, no glass doors or fancy drawer pulls or double crown-molding, but that is A-OK with me.
We chose the faucet shown here...
But with this style of sink!
And here is a close up of our floor, kitchen cabinets, drawer-pulls, and BEAUTIFUL quartz countertops!
This is everything we chose all together (that weren't mounted to walls or large pieces):
And this is what the layout of our house looked like after drawing out where all of the electrical stuff would go. Needless to say, I tuned out during this conversation.
Ahhh!!
AND (this is the last time I'll use that word, I swear!) this is a dining table they had on display that I just fell in love with!
Hope y'all like it!
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Design Center Adventures
Ryan and I went to the Design Center to pick out everything for our house this past Friday. To say that I was feeling anxious and overwhelmed for the 24 hours leading up to it is an understatement. We had no idea what our options would be. I did my best to research the options that each vendor had to offer, not knowing if those same options would be available to us, as well as scour Pinterest, ultimately getting me nowhere and heightening my anxiety.
Come Friday morning, I was giddy. I was so ready to just see what they had to offer and pick everything out, and with a belly full of Egg White Delight Bacon McMuffin, we walked in.
It was beautiful! There were so many styles and options and things to decide on that I didn't even realize (ceiling color? light fixtures? OUTLET locations?!). But Joy, the consultant, walked us through it and explained everything thoroughly, and we were able to make some really good choices!
Just a heads up, this is going to be a picture-heavy post. Here are all of the pictures of all of the things we had to choose from!
Above and Below: Two different options for sinks
Above and Below: Standard kitchen package (single crown-molding above cabinets, brushed nickel basic drawer-pulls)
Above and Below: Upgraded kitchen cabinets (double crown-molding, glass cabinet doors, upgraded drawer pulls)
Kitchen cabinet options
More kitchen cabinet options (top shelves) and countertop options (bottom)
So. Many. Faucets.
Standard sink on the right, upgraded sink on the left
Vinyl options for bathroom floors
Carpet options
Flooring options, both laminate and hardwood
Options for outdoor lights on either side of the garage
Stairwell railing options
Paint options
So. Who wants to know what we chose??
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