Before and Afters

Although we have had a full schedule lately, we took a few minutes out this morning to look at the pictures we took of our house when we first bought it.  Here are some before and after pictures for you (and for us to look back on so we don't forget our first home).
The Living Room Before:

The Living Room After:

The Kitchen/Dining Room Before: *excuse the inspector in this pic:)

The Kitchen/Dining Room After:

Guest Bed/Bath Before:

Guest Bed/Bath After:

Master Bed/Bath Room Before:

Master Bed After:

Master Bath After:

Office Before-I only have one picture of the office shelves that were a PAIN to take down:

 Office After:

Most of the things in our house were hand me downs, refurbished or garage sale finds.  I am very proud of what we were able to do with little money and a lot of love!  Other things I love and am going to miss about our first home.  Our yard!
Big fenced in back yard that Ryan and his dad built themselves.

Peonies, cherry tree, peach tree, herb garden and flowers.

Our First Home:

2 weeks notice!!!!!

So I don't have a lot of time for this post, but had to fill everyone in.  So as you know we put our house on the market 2 weeks ago....and drum roll please.....we SOLD our house!!!  Only catch is we have to move out.....in less than 2 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We agreed on a deal late yesterday afternoon, and by the time we went to bed last night we had called family and friends, begged for boxes at local grocery stores, completely emptied out our attic, cleared out a few closets, listed half our furniture on Craigs List to sell and of course did a little celebration dance. 
So now we just need to pack up our whole house, find a place to live in Charlotte for me, find a place in Chapel Hill to live for Ryan (since he still has 2 months of school left), change our address and cancel utilities and the to do lists keeps growing...it seems there is one other big thing going on....on yeah...Ryan has his state Dental Boards this weekend...ahhhh!!  So yes our lives are a little crazy right now, but I know we are so blessed to have this house sold and that selling our house too quickly is a good problem to have.
Right now Ryans feels like this:

I feel like this:

But together we are so excited and celebrating our unknown future:)

And on a quick note we took some time out this weekend from selling our house to visit with friends.  My college sorority had its anniversary party and I got to see all my college friends:)
Me, Caroline, Jennifer, Page and Virginia.  We all lived together in college!  Love and miss my Canterbury girls:)

Marilyn and I...she was my big sis in the sorority:)

Altogether we had a very exciting weekend, but my break is over...back to packing!

Wonderful Weekend

Ok so I know it is Wednesday...but we had such a fun weekend that I had to document it!  We went to Charlotte to see friends and family.  Friday night (although two weeks late) Ryan and I celebrated my MIL's b-day.  We made a wonderfuly simple Mexican dinner.  For dessert I made some more cake pops:)

Ok so yes these cake lollipops are cute...but I have to tell you they taste good too!  Check out the inside...

We had a wonderful time catching up with Ryan's family...I can't believe we haven't seen them since Christmas! We are moving there soon though and they will get to see us on a weekly basis:)  Once again Happy Birthday Miriam!!!!
On Saturday The Lee's came up to spend the afternoon with us.  We got to play with baby Ryan and have lunch at Dean and Deluca.  Here is Ryan and baby Ryan at lunch.

We went shopping!  Rachel and I spend a lot of time on the phone together and a lot of time discussing our styles.  I run all purchases by her before I can commit...so it is nice to shop together in person:)

We also drove around Charlotte and did some house "window shopping"!  We had such a good time with the Lee's and can't wait until we live closer.
Saturday night we went to see this little guy...

This is baby Clark and he is the cutest, sweetest little boy.  He was wide awake for a few hours at just a few weeks old!  He has such a wonderful personality.  When we first arrived I was holding him and he just stared at me.  I love this picture, he is so sweet and it shows a little bit of his personality.

Jennifer and I with Clark.

Baby Clark and Ryan...

Congrats Morrisons and happy 1 month to Clark!!!!
Sunday we drove home and made a stop to see our friends Blake and Lindsay who just bought and are currently renovating a house.  Lindsay is doing a lot of the repairs/updates herself and I think she will be a great resource once we buy our next house:)  So we are home now and back into our routine, but had a great weekend celebrating birthdays, friends, babies and new houses!  I am looking forward to seeing a lot of you girls this weekend at the reunion!

Things I Love

With today being Valentines Day I thought I would share some things I love:)

A. One of my new favorites is Udi's G Free Bread.  It is the closest to "real" bread that I have found. They make bread, pizza crust, bagels, muffins, cinnamon buns, granola....just about anything!  They sell it at Trader Joe's, Whole Foods and specialty stores. Also Jason's Deli is now serving some of their sandwiches on Udi's bread!!!  Love that!!

B.  Burt's Bee's Lip Balm.  This particular type has a little color to it so it helps moisturize your lips, but leaves them looking beautiful.

C.  J Crew:)  Love, Love, Love this store!  Right now they have several cute dresses and tanks that I would love to add to my closet.  Most of all I love this Timex Watch with a peach strap:)

D.  My favorite flower....Peonies.

E.  Magazines are one of my guilty pleasures.  Right now I am craving spring time and look to my Coastal Living magazine for some warmth and inspiration.

F.  Pandora Radio.  I have this playing in our house at all times.  We can create our own stations depending on our mood.  A little Michael Buble while cooking, Eric Hutchinson while doing housework, B.O.B. while getting ready to go out...the choices are endless.

G.  Red Box.  These DVD rentals are only $1 per day!  We stop by one of these at least once a week.

H.  Kuhn Rikon knives are our new favorite kitchen tool.  Ryan got several of these for Christmas and we love them!  First of all they are great knives, but they also all come with a cover so its safe(great for all those moms out there that have little ones who like to open kitchen drawers and pull everything out!).  We have found them at Marshalls and Home Goods for cheap too!

I.  Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Covered Almonds with Salt....the combination of salty and sweet is amazing!

J.  Modern Family on ABC.  This is our favorite show.  Great for all ages and super funny!!

K.  Oxford shoes.  I have been searching for some new shoes and finally found them...oxfords.  They go great with jeans, shorts, skirts and dresses.  My shopping expert helped me find them...thanks Rachel!

L.  Essie nail polish .  My favorite color right now is coral, great for spring time.

M.  Capri Blue Candle in Aloha Orchid.  Both my MIL and I love these candles...although she likes the Volcano scent.  You can find them at Anthropologie in two different sizes.  They smell amazing and there are several different scents.  These also make great house warming gifts!

Happy Valentines Day!!!

Celebrations

This past week has been full of fun and celebrations!  First my roommate for three years in College, Page, got engaged and Ryan and I went to her engagement party Saturday night.  Page was there for me when I got engaged, at all my parties, showers, and most importantly helped along the way with all the decision making while I planned the event.  I could not be happier for her to have found someone to spend the rest of her life with and am so excited it is finally her time to be celebrated!!  She also has a blog where she helps you live a fabulous life for less, which you can find here.
Page has a wonderful group of girl friends and one of the things I admire most about her is she always makes time for them:)

Here is a shot of Page and I...

Page's parents gave the sweetest/funniest toast to Justin and Page during the party....cheers to the happy couple!!!

 The next day we drove to Clayton to celebrate my Dad's birthday!

My Bonus Mom made her amazing Lasagna (with rice noodles for me).  She made a hearty meat one and a veggie one since my dad is a vegetarian:)

I took several pictures of the meal and Zach kept asking if I would take a picture of his plate because it looks the best!  I guess my family is used to seeing me going around taking pictures of all of the food before we eat.  He sat patiently and kept turning his plate for me while I took the pictures...haha too funny what they pick up on!  So here you go:)

Even though my Bonus Mom made dinner tonight, Dad is usually the cook in the family, so we bought him lots of new cooking gear/gadgets.  The boys all crowded around to watch him open presents...I just thought this picture summed up the night well...

My dad kept saying this was the last birthday I would be at for him....my family thinks that since we are moving to Charlotte soon we will stop coming to these events.  Dad I will always celebrate your birthday, just next time you will have to put up with me for a least 24 hours and give me a bed to spend the night and not just dinner and a 4 hour visit:)  Happy Birthday!!

Carbonara Pasta

This is one of our favorite recipes!  We had a few dishes that involved eggs this week and this is one we wanted to share...Who said eggs are just for breakfast???

First gather your ingredients...

1.  Cook pasta according to directions.  Reserve 1 cup of the liquid to use for the sauce later.
2.  Heat a pan to medium heat and add oil and the chopped pancetta.  Cook the pancetta 2-3 minutes or until it is starting to brown.

Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Last add the white wine to the pan and stir in order to get all the good flavors off the bottom of the pan.
(Ryan was doing this part while I took the picture...he moves very fast in the kitchen and this picture shows his lightening fast speed)

3.  In a separate bowl whisk 2 egg yolks.  Add the reserved pasta water slowly so you do not scramble the eggs. 

4.  Drain pasta and add straight to the pan with the pancetta and wine.  Add egg mixture while tossing to combine.

Add cheese and toss until completely combined.  Serve with some salt and pepper and more cheese if you please:)

We have made this dish twice in the last few weeks and decided to add baby scallops the second time...it was so yummy!

 I would also recommend blackend chicken or shrimp with this pasta dish!  Hope yall enjoy it as much as we did.  Also today is my Dad's birthday...Happy Birthday Dad!!!!!