Happy Valentine's Day!

Our Valentine's Day dinner--spaghetti alla gambieri (seafood pasta) and Nigella's raspberry-chocolate cake! We had the champagne that our friends had given us at our engagement party, too.

The new Hemnes bed with its toile-on-toile bedding (and Cookie)

The Billy bookcase with glass doors & glass shelves

Cookie's favorite hiding spot :)

Painting

This weekend we painted the living room! Here's Cookie in a final before picture...

It snowed on Saturday while we were out picking up paint--Otley looked great on Sunday morning







Even though she has a lovely new water bowl of her own, Cookie prefers drinking from my pint glass...We got this coffee table at a charity shop for £10 on Sunday.

We picked up the table at Poverty UK on Saturday, too--it was only £12.50!

Cookie approves of the new paint job

It's still brown, but it's about 5 shades lighter than the old paint job ("malt chocolate" instead of "stone pebble"). And it's actually complete all the way up to the ceilings! Success!

First weekend

We spent our first night in the new flat on Friday, and had a great weekend moving and shopping. The place is shaping up really well, and it already feels like home.

We picked up a couple of pieces of furniture at Poverty Aid UK (same place where my dresser is from--brilliant stuff!). They'd just been brought in, and we snapped them up.


Little sideboard unit with 2 drawers and 2 shelves

Dining room table--very solid, classic design (some heat damage on the top, but it was only £40 and we can fix it and/or use a tablecloth...)

This is what it looks like with the extra panel in--it's huge!

Cookie is settling in well--she's been going around exploring the place in the evenings and sleeping on (or in) our bed most of the day.

Cute little glass bottles I picked up at Ikea--they match my glass Avon jar really well!

The bathroom already looks a million times better with just a new shower curtain and a new toilet seat.

Before pictures...

We got the keys to the new flat yesterday! First things first, I wanted to take some before pictures to show how it looks now, before we fix it up. It has a ton of potential, and I can't wait to see how great it's going to look with new paint/flooring/light fixtures, etc.

The worst one is the smaller bedroom/future office:

I don't know what she was doing to the walls...

I can see a lot of potential there, with the big window and deep sill

I have no idea why the flooring is gone...

The kitchen

The bathroom

The bigger bedroom

The tenant left a TV, but we're getting rid of it asap, so we don't have to get a license

The living room--note the wallpaper remnants. The carpet is actually in great shape, though!

I love the big windows & deep sills!

The panel there by the door is loose, and we're going to put glass in its place

Trip to Seattle

Snowy scene from the freeway--such a gorgeous welcome back to the Evergreen State!

First dress we tried on at Jessica McClintock

The winner--the color looks a bit off in this picture, but it's plum. I didn't take a picture of Mal's dress, but hers is plum and a slightly different cut (halter neckline)

I had a great time in Seattle, but it really was a whirlwind trip! Cookie was a fantastic little world traveler--she just curled up in her little carrier and slept while we were on the train. She's very happy here now, purring & cuddling with us. I'm so glad it's all worked out!

York

We went to York a couple of Sundays ago

Outside the Minster

Me

Richard

Piano busker--he was playing that Mozart song that's in Wuthering Heights & Pride and Prejudice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rgq3OTSRVBc

Minster

We saw the Hogwarts Express engine! Unfortunately, it was getting dark out and this is the clearest picture I could get...

Platform 9 3/4 sign!

The warehouse has so much china from the trains...

Love this sign...