friday recipe . . .

I a really quick and easy dish the other day and wanted to share this easy summer recipe with my readers. It worked out well!

Shrimp and Mango Cous Cous

Ingredients:

-garlic and olive oil

- shrimp

-mango

-veggie blend (I used asparagus stir fry blend)

-cumin

-coriander

-fruity hot sauce (we used "Sauce Bitch") * their name, not mine... ;-)

1. saute garlic in olive oil

2. add veggies and cook a few minutes

3. dice a mango and put it in the pan to soften

Helpful Hint: I always find it hard to cut a mango because they are so slippery. This time I used a little corn holder (the little thing you put at the end of an ear of corn) and it totally kept the mango in place and my hands mess free!!

4. season with salt, pepper, cumin, and coriander

5. add shrimp

6. cook until shrimp are pink and remove from heat

7. make cous cous according to package

8. mix it all together and enjoy hot or cold! I like it cold!!

before and after . . .

Today is the big reveal of the Berra's Beach House. I hope you are ready for this!

Timeline:

Closing: June 29th

Official "Move-in": July 14th

Finished hanging pics and decorating: July 29th.

It took us 1 month to get everything squared away! We only have the Dining Room yet but who uses that anyway? Just kidding! The chairs are still out of stock at Ikea so we are playing the waiting game with that room. It will be finished by Thanksgiving. :-)

I think we worked rather fast considering I had a friend visit for a week that put it on hold (except the weekend Matt took care of pool, washer/dryer, lawn equipment, etc. . .). I painted the whole time Matt was in Costa Rica for a bachelor party, and we went on a 7 day cruise to the Caribbean! Padraic (a friend from NoVa) arrived last night for an extended weekend so I had extra reason to work fast.

Although these pictures show before and after shots I have realized that a home is a work in progress. The project list will never end as the family living there evolves. I think my to-do list will take us well into the next five years but for now- here are the goods!

Formal Living Room now known as the Library

Before

After

Family Room

After

Kitchen

Before

After

Bedroom

Before

After

I did not include the guest bedroom as I never took a before shot and our guest is currently sleeping. I don't know that he would appreciate me barging in this morning to take a picture, "for my blog." I also didn't include the mess, I mean, the music room/office. Everything needs a bit more organization before my OCD will allow for a photo to be taken.

I hope you all have a great day today! I'm off to an earlyish spin class and will come home and make some breakfast for myself and Padraic. It should be a beautiful day!

:-)

yummy . . .

Our new neighbors are so kind! The next door neighbor, we will call her M*, collected our paper for us while we were gone on vacation. I know, that's the neighborly thing to do but she only knew us for 2 days before we left! Across the street live A and K. A big storm came on our second day of vacation and blew our mailbox open. Apparently the post office had found our address and the mailbox was full. A collected our mail without being asked. He delivered it to us after we got back and asked about our trip. Both of these neighbors wave from their driveways and smile all the time. I love knowing that there are kind people around our home.

Now that I have a HUGE kitchen I needed an excuse to bring out all of my baking stuff. The KitchenAid Mixer has been BEGGING to come out and play. I thought that the best way to fulfill my selfish baking needs while showing how thankful I am to the neighbors was to bake a batch of Black and White Cookies.

flour mixture

mixing

goodness

just needs icing

finished product

I noticed I had quite a bit of chocolate icing leftover. Instead of devouring it with a spoon I drizzled it over some pretzels.

I hope they enjoy the cookies as much as I enjoyed the baking!

:-)

* initials are used to protect their privacy

critters . . .

Matt and I have had many new adventures since moving to the Berra's Beach House. Matt's favorite adventure has been learning about the pool and taking care of it. Matt LOVES his pool. He is always finding *something* to do with, in, or at the pool. I can't complain though- the pool (now known as the Lido Deck) looks fantastic!

Good job Matt!!!

Yesterday Matt went to check something in the pool and he was surprised to see my little friend Kevin in the water! I found Kevin (yes, named from the movie "UP") in the fountain my first day in the house. Matt found Kevin in the pool.

Kevin

Kevin decided to be a naughty little kid and invited a friend to the pool without asking . . .

Kevin's friend

I think that guy run with the wrong crowd. I told Kevin he can't invite that guy over again. He's a bad influence. Kevin's "friend" obviously runs with all sorts of seedy characters especially mosquitos. Kevin was mad at me for that but I proved to be right about bringing the riff raff over. At first we could hardly notice that the riff raff (mosquitos) had taken over but then Matt came inside the house. The evidence was clear. . .

What the mosquitos did to Matt

>:-/

Don't worry, I had another talk with Kevin. He understands that he is the only cute critter allowed on the Lido Deck.

where's the buffet?

Seriously,

For the past 7 days I've woken up at my leisure and strolled over to the buffet and had my coffee, eggs, yogurt, bacon, honeydew, toast, and ice cream (what?) right there- WAITING for me!

THIS morning I wake up to 2 angry cats who are clearly traumatized after moving, getting shipped to the border/vet for a week, and back yowling as if they were on fire (Bill howled ALL night) and I had to *gasp* MAKE MY OWN COFFEE!!

***evil glare at kitchen***

The cruise was fantastic! I would do the Carnival Liberty again. The ports of call were fantastic and the company was the best. Seven days is a long time though. I don't know that I'd go with just one person. Having a lot of different people to hang out with made it more fun.

Here are some highlights:

Day 1: Boarding in Miami

Day 2: Half Moon Cay: I LOVE this port. We snorkeled at the little wall at the beach and saw so many little fish! They were the mini versions of the adults that cover the reef. We had fun playing with Jenna and Zachary and had a BBQ lunch.

Day 3: Day at Sea:

Day 4: St. Thomas: Jen and Brian's Wedding! The ceremony was beautiful and the cake was divine. The iguanas LOVED the cake too.

After the ceremony we did a sky tour of the island....

Don't Panic:

Day 5: San Juan, Puerto Ric0: We spent the day looking at old forts with Kateri and Drew.

Day 6: Grand Turk: We were supposed to go diving with the group but somehow our reservations was lost ***more evil glaring*** but we had a lazy morning on the boat followed by Margaritaville and the swim-up pool bar with friends.

Day 7: Day at Sea

Day 8: Off ship and back to everyday life.

Today we are going back to the old apartment to finish moving all of the last items and throw away crap we don't want anymore. I think there will be a Home Depot trip to get a spa vacuum and some lamps. Afterwards perhaps there could be some swimming in the pool.

Ok- off for a run!

:-)

carnival liberty . . .

We are leaving today for a cruise on the Carnival Liberty! YAY! I'll be back on the 25th!

:-)

prime real estate . . .

Not only have Matt and I found our dream house . . . the cats have too!!

Here is a picture of the kitchen. Pay close attention to the cabinet above the fridge.

This is where I found Jackson yesterday afternoon.

Jackson is the "adventurous" cat so we weren't too surprised. Bill is much more cautious so imagine my surprise when I woke up to this. . .

I see many cat fights in our future. :-)

Have a good one!

it's here . . .

It's MOVING day!!!!!

:-)

d'oh . . .

Quick post today as I'm in a rush to go furniture shopping. I had my first major "d'oh" in home ownership yesterday. I was painting the dining room. I did two coats of the paint thinking that would be enough. I left the room and went back later to touch up some spots. I was so mad because there were all these lighter patches! I thought that I was going to have to do a THIRD coat! That was NOT in the plan. I got out the paint and started trying to "touch up" the parts that were light. NOTHING was working! I was so frustrated.

I left the room and turned off the light. The lighter spots went away. Hmmmm. I turned the light on and they came back.. Hmmmmm again. After turning the lights on and off like a little kid who just found their first light switch I looked at the chandelier and I saw what was making the lighter spots. Stupid etched glass on the chandelier. It was just a shadow.

*smacks forehead*

At least I don't have to do another coat. :-)

it begins . . .

After Megan's week long visit it is time for me to get back to the real world. Today is the day that I have been waiting for since I started living on my own out of college. Today is the day that I get . . . wait for it . . . MY OWN WASHER AND DRYER!!!!!!!!!

*jumping for joy*

*throwing confetti*

Seriously, to be able to do laundry at my own convenience without having to pay $3.00 for a load will be HEAVEN! (It's the little things folks). LOL! Ironically enough I am typing this as I wait for a load to come out of the dryer here at the apartment. Whatever- I had $6.00 left on the card.

Today's agenda:

-take a car full over to the house

- put in Sex and the City DVD's

- clean the kitchen and line the cabinets

- clean the floors

- drool over the new washer and dryer

- clean some more stuff

- drool over the washer and dryer

- clean more stuff and line more cabinets

- go pretend to wash stuff in the new washer and dryer

you get the idea.

Tonight we are buying the paint and tomorrow the painting will begin! I'm sure I will have some painting adventures to share as the week goes on.

Have a great day!

last day . . .

Today is Megan's last day. Boo! We've had so much fun. We are so tired!

Agenda

Day 1: Dinner and drinks at the Pelican on the Pier (tiki bar). Typical!

Day 2: Early morning run at the beach, met Matt and Brian for Cuban food in Doral, mani - pedi's, dinner and drinks at the Hard Rock!

Day 3: Recovering at the beach, enjoying the sun and water, new house, Ikea, and a Chinese buffet. Early to bed!

Day 4: Up at 5, drive to Key West, lunch, drinks, shopping, drinks, shopping, drinks, Southern Most Point, Mile Marker Zero, hotel, drinks, dinner (of drinks), sunset at Mallory Square, drinks, drag show, drinks, dancing, jello shots, dancing, BED at 4 am. We *almost* made it a full 24 hours!!

Day 5: Sleep in, :-) , breakfast/lunch at the Turtle Kraal (awesome food and view), shopping, pie, Parasailing, drive home.

Day 6: Up at 6, snorkeling at Pennekamp, lunch at Snappers (yummy), home for pizza and rest.

Day 7: still TBD. Probably a walk or run on the beach and relaxing. Megan leaves at 3:45 for the airport so we have a few hours!

off to have some last minute fun!!!

She's Here!!!

YAY!! I couldn't be more excited!! My BFF Megan is here!! YAY!!

I picked her up at 2:45 at Ft. Lauderdale and we came straight back to the apartment. Megan gave us her anniversary gift. . . TONS of bachelorette pictures, rehearsal pictures, and wedding pictures! They are the FUNNIEST ones from the wedding. It was so fun to relive the week by looking at the pictures. Especially all of the funny ones.

:-)

Then we went off to the tiki bar (of course), and the Porterhouse.

Before:

After:

Today is cuban coffee, manicures, and maybe a cuban lunch over at Matt's work- or possibly just beaching it- we'll see!!