Let the fun begin... :)

Tonight we got our keys and began the fun/laborious process of moving into the new apartment. Everything looks great and I know it's going to be so perfect for us. Here are some pictures of the empty apartment and our painting/furniture progress. We're going to do another coat of paint and move in the big furniture this weekend. More pictures to come later!

View of the dining/living area of our new apt

Kitchen!

One of the bathrooms... love the big bathtub!

Our gorgeous view of the pool... It feels like we're at a resort!

Unpacking some of the wedding gifts in the kitchen... messy!

New counter stools :)

First coat of paint on the wall and some of the new furniture.

Our new TV!!

Picking up the Keys!

Today we're picking up the keys to our new apartment. I'm really excited about this! We have a lot of stuff to move in, but we're going to do it gradually and move the big stuff later this weekend. I can't wait to finally get to use all of our wedding gifts which are still sitting at my parents' house!

Tonight, we'll start by painting the living room. We haven't figured out if we're going to paint anywhere else yet. We'll decide that later after we have a better idea about how we're going to decorate/arrange furniture. We picked a really pretty light blue/green color. The color we're using is Tide Pools (the middle swatch) and I can't wait to see what it looks like up on the wall.

I'll post pictures later of what our apartment actually looks like and of the process during the transformation!

Apartment Decor

Today we bought a new loveseat to go in the living room of our new apartment. We have a dark greenish colored microfiber sofa and we decided it would be best to coordinate a love seat instead of trying to match the color. So, we got a taupe colored microfiber loveseat by Broyhill. It's cute and super comfy. Plus, the great thing is that it's in stock so we won't have to wait weeks for it to be delivered! :)

We also ordered some new barstools for the counter-height bar. I'm really excited to see these, I ordered them from Target.com, so I hope they turn out nicely! They are actually a really dark brown/espresso color, even though they look like almost black in the picture. I'll post pictures once we get everything set up!

Moving! :)

We pick up the keys to our new apartment next Wednesday! We're both really excited about it and I can't wait to have more room and space for storage!

We bought a new TV on Tuesday to go in the new apartment. We got a 40" Samsung LED-LCD TV that will go over the fireplace in the living room. We compared so many of them at the store and this one was awesome! The LED technology is still pretty new, but we wanted to invest in a TV that would look really great for a long time. The picture is amazing, I can't wait to see it all set up in the new apartment.

I've started picking out some items for decor too. We're going to paint some of the walls to make it more home-y, so I've started collecting items and figuring out a design, so we'll be able to pick out paint this weekend. In the living room, the color palette will be seafoam/light greens and blues, taupe, and chocolate brown.

So, I went to Target and got some coordinating pillows, placemats & napkins for the dining table, a shower curtain, and bathroom accessories for the 2nd bathroom. I got two of the pillows below and a chocolate brown, ruffly one, to tie all of the colors together on the couch. I haven't decided on curtains yet, but I think I'll wait and figure that out once we're in and have painted the room.

I can't wait! There's still a lot of stuff to do/order, but I know it's going to be a fun and exciting process!

Wednesday's Dinner

Tonight we decided to break out our new panini press/grill to make dinner. So, we made grilled pork chops with smashed potatoes and grilled zucchini.

I started with the smashed potatoes. I was inspired by a recipe by Giada de Laurentiis, but I didn't want to go to the grocery store to get specific ingredients so I just used what I had in the pantry. I boiled red potatoes for about 20 minutes on the stove. Then, I "smashed" them using a glass. Instead of frying them in a pan, I decided to bake them in the oven to make them crispy. So, I took the smashed potatoes and placed them on a baking sheet. I drizzled them in a mixture of olive oil, garlic powder, and Italian spices. After baking on high heat for about 10 minutes, I switched the oven to broil and browned the top of the smashed potatoes. Then, I flipped the potatoes with a spatula and broiled them for a few more minutes.

Before cooking, I marinated the pork chops in a tomato, basil and garlic marinade made with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I used thin cuts of pork chops and this was good because they didn't take forever to cook on the grill. I cooked them for about 5 minutes on each side until they had carmelized grill marks and they were done on the inside. I also made grilled zucchini that was seasoned with garlic, spices and olive oil, simple flavors to compliment the rest of the food.

I think it all came out pretty well. The potatoes were an interesting experience. I used red potatoes that were pretty big, and it was hard to smash them thin enough without them breaking apart. Next time I'll use smaller potatoes, which should hold up better in the smashing process.