A Belated Thanks

I didn't go into many details about our departure from Indy, so I thought I'd share a little post before the weekend.  In addition to a number of sweet phone calls, visits, and cards from friends and family to bid us farewell, we had a going away party a few days before the big move as well.  Since our good friends are also moving away from Indiana soon, we had a joint party at our house... the last event at our house.  Sniffle.

Thank you so much to all the special people in our lives that came to celebrate with us.  What a great way to say our final adios-es :)

Unfortunately, I only took a couple of pictures the whole night.  Here are a few we managed to capture:

My wonderful work buddies :)

An early birthday celebration for Will.

Excuse the grainy iPhone photo!

Fourth of July Potato Salad

Everything has been such a whirlwind the past few weeks, I'm pretty sure I never mentioned I found a job down in New Orleans.  When Will and I visited last month to find an apartment, I knocked out an interview, too.  Whadaya know, I got a call from them the following week with a job offer!  Conveniently enough, it takes a few weeks for RD licensure to be transferred from state-to-state, so I get a little time off to settle in down here.

Apart from getting the house organized and decorated to an I-can-tolerate-this-for-a-while level, I've had the opportunity to try out some new recipes.  I'm really excited to learn more about southern and especially New Orleans cooking.

The recipe I'm showing you isn't so much New Orleans specific, but it's modified from The New Orleans Cookbook recipe.  Aaaaand it's perfect for 4th of July, right around the corner :)  Which I can't wait to experience here.

Anywho, this stuff is super tasty and super simple.  I'm ranking it likely the best potato salad I've ever had.  Yep, I'm going there.  The cayenne and green onions give it a zing, but I also modified it not to be über mayonnaise-y.  I prefer my taters not to be floating, just lightly coated, thank you.  So actually, if you're a mayo-lover, you can modify it by adding a bit more.

I accidentally grabbed russet potatoes instead of white, but it still tasted delightful.  Since russets are a lot more starchy, they fall apart easier.  Using white potatoes will keep it a bit firmer.

Without further ado, here she is:

Fourth of July Potato Salad
(Adopted and adapted from The New Orleans Cookbook)

Ingredients:

• 3 medium white potatoes
• 3 hardboiled eggs
• 1/3 c light mayo (add more if you prefer)
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp cayenne
• 1/2 c thinly sliced green onion tops
• 2/3 c chopped celery
• 1/4 c pimiento strips, drained and chopped

Directions:

1. Peel and chop the potatoes into 1" cubes.  Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the potatoes.  Bring water to boiling again, then lower the temperature to simmer (covered) until the potatoes are fork tender (about 15 min or so).  Drain and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, mash the egg yolks with the mayo.  Chop the egg whites and add to the yolk-mayo mix, along with the potatoes and the rest of the ingredients.  Fold together gently so as not to mush the potatoes too much.
3. Refrigerate for 30-45 min before serving.  

A New Home

After packing the house, loading up the car, then driving 12 hours with two pugs, two cats, and two humans, we're finally in our new home!  We've been unpacking for the past few days and are getting settled here in New Orleans.  It was sentimental leaving our old house and neighborhood, but we're loving the new digs.  I can't wait to share more details about the neighborhood, recent adventures, and our plans!

For now, here are a few shots from the move (sorry for the phone photos):

Luckily, the cat screaming lasted only an hour or so.  The other 11 hours were mostly sleeping :)

Yep, 12 hours of pugs-on-lap.

Home!

And here's the new house... pre-Arvins:

First parlor. 

Second parlor.

Guest bedroom.

Master bedroom.

Kitchen.  Duh.

The front of our sweet little double.

Coming soon: post move-in photos!

Istanbul: The People

One of the best parts of exploring a new culture is the people-watching.  This is a collection of shots I caught of locals in Istanbul.  I can't help but wonder what their stories are.

This is an over-the-head shot of the chaos that is the intersection outside the Spice Market midday on the weekend.

The Long-Lost Kitchen Before & After

Once I posted the "official final walk-through" of our house, I realized the kitchen was begging for the spotlight.  There was so much energy devoted to this space, and I'm unbelievably happy with how everything turned out.  I keep flipping back and forth from "before" shots to "after."

Let's recap the to-do list:

1. Cabinets painted
2. New cabinet hardware added
3. New fridge with additional trim
4. Backsplash with added trim
5. Light fixture revamp
6. Island pendants
7. Reupholstered barstools
8. DIY curtains
9. Walls painted
10. Floor retiled

Before:

After (yaaaaay!!!):

Now for a little side-by-side action:

Crazy town.  I'm so glad we've been able to make a good mark on this big ol' house :)

Goodbye, Woodruff: The Final Walk-Through of Our Big Ol' House

We've been so busy the last few weeks with our job transitions, home search, and home-selling prep, I've had little time to record all the changes we've been making in the house.  Luckily, we've gotten a lot of major projects completed since we bought the house, but there were still a few tasks on the list before it could enter the market.  Okay, there were a ton of tasks left.  We did think we'd be here for-like-ever.

After choosing a couple of main projects to work on, the first thing we did was have our realtor come and do a walk through.  I can't emphasize how much of a difference a fresh pair of eyes can make.  When we bought this big beautiful beast a year ago, we noticed a ton of easy-fix issues we planned to complete.  After living with it all for a bit though, we started to notice these things less and less, and soon forgot they were there.  Just like a potential buyer would, our realtor was able to spot all those things we'd forgotten about.

We got to work on all the little tasks, like adding quarter round and trim in some rooms, getting the windows cleaned (I had no idea what a difference this would make), and touching up some other areas we'd been neglecting.  Our biggest project was re-tiling the kitchen.  My mom and I planned to tackle this originally, but we ended up paying someone to do it, since we were pretty wrapped-up and exhausted with all the other moving prep.  I've seriously never loved my kitchen more.  Sigh... it'll be hard to say goodbye!

Without further ado, here's the official and final tour of the home we'll never forget in Woodruff Place, Indianapolis :)



Starting with the 3rd floor first... yep, you've never seen it.  Despite the fact that we only visited the 3rd floor every other week or so, there are actually 2 large bedrooms and a full bathroom up there.  Someone could have been living up there and we probably would've never known.  Didn't I tell you all this was a beast of a house?!  Long story short, we never did a whole lot of renovating up here apart from finishing off the skylights and cleaning the carpet.

Moving downstairs to the 2nd floor... Nothing new here, folks.

Guest bedroom:

see the before

Master bedroom:

see the before

I don't think I've shown the master bath before, either... Here she is:

First floor, now.  Living room:

see the before

Office:

Dining room: We sold the dining room table and chairs at the Woodruff Place Flea Market.  The wine tower sold, too- before we even got it out the front door!

see the before

Kitchen (new tile, I heart you so):

see the before

TV room:  The rug is borrowed from our realtor :)

see the before

I'm crazy excited about our move to New Orleans, but I'll always love this big ol' house!