The Tour

The apartment is pretty well the way that we want it now. There are a couple of final touches that we need to decide on, but it's finished for the most part. And we love it. The whole place is just cozy and comfortable. Quiet and refreshing. All around awesome. For these pictures, I didn't get everything just perfect, but I figured it was good enough for a start. If you want to see it perfect, you'll have to come for a visit. The room that we spend the most time in is the third bedroom/office/family room. It's in the back of the condo and shares a bathroom with our bedroom. We took our old guest bed and turned it into a huge day bed. Since taking this picture, I have covered the whole mattress set with a canvas painter's dropcloth. Now it looks must better. Really just like a huge day bed. But you get the idea here.

There are two areas that I am most excited about in this place. If you have known me in the last two years, you have known how little I enjoyed our kitchen in the old place. This kitchen is like a little slice of heaven. Plenty of storage, new and functioning appliances, great countertops and lots of light. I love it. I might actually do some cooking in here. That has yet to be seen.

The other area that I'm excited about is our deck. It's not huge, but it's dedicated outdoor space. It's nicely kept and very usable, so we are looking forward to some cooler temperatures so we can give it a try.

Our dining room and living room are orange. And I really love it. The walls are warm and inviting and very fun. Here is our dining room.

And the living room. No TV. Just great windows and a fireplace. I think I'll make do with those.

Sophia's room is just the right size to fit all her books, toys and huge bed. We have already had a lot of fun playing in here.

Our room is nothing special. Kind of small and minimal, but we like it. The bathrooms are nice. Showers are awesome. All in all, this place is just right for our family. The longest we will live here is three years because the owners move back at that point. For now, we will definitely be enjoying this space.

Apartment Gardening

As I mentioned earlier, Sophia has been asking for a house with a garden. Since we are most likely going to be in an apartment/condo for another three years (more on that later), we needed to find a compromise.

We had planned on two large round pots with a mixture of veggies and flowers in each. What happened was way cooler. My parents came on a visit this weekend and brought with them a garden planter that my dad had created for Sophia from lumber harvested from the Illinois timber my mom played in as a girl (right, Mom?). A pretty special development indeed.

Sophia was thrilled with the planter. I should have taken a picture of my dad, Sophia and the planter, but I was too focused on the task. That will happen another day. As it happened, my dad was taking pictures of us instead.

 

Sophia is intent on taking care of her garden, and I can only hope that she has more fortitude than I do when it comes to watering...

 

Today, we worked on the second round pot, but what fun is gardening without a song?

 

Right now, our pots are on two different levels of the stairs behind our apartment. The upper level, that Sophia's watering here, are plants that thrive in the sun.

 

The plants in Dad's planter are on the level next to our door and hold shady plants.

 

A gratuitous shot of my cute husband of almost ten years. Sigh.

 

And the happy gardener.

 

This whole planter situation was an adjustment to apartment living, but I love it! Even if we eventually land in a house, I may stick with pots for the majority of my "gardening." That is, if Sophia allows it.

I'll update you on the progress of our garden, but I'll warm you just like I warned Sophia. We have lots of city squirrels in this neighborhood. They're wily and brazen. We may not end up with much untouched...