The new digs are coming along...

So, I keep forgetting to take pictures of our home progress, but last night I managed to snap a few pics.

My mom graciously outfitted our balcony as our birthday gifts (Steve and I are both August babies). I had mentioned to her that we'd seen some furniture we liked at Costco at one point and then, in my mom's true fashion, she just went to town. What we have now is a truly fabulous balcony to enjoy!

Here's the view of the eastern side of our balcony (from the laundry room). Chairs, cushions, table, umbrella, outdoor rug, baker's rack, most of the pots (and the plants), candle holders, cute ceramic birdie... all mom. The spice pots and a few of the other plants, me. Heh. What an accomplishment on my part (not).

And here's the view from the table back toward the laundry room. The tomato plant in the foreground predates the other plants and does, in fact, have several tomatoes on it... yee haw! All the other plants are from mom. The gnome... he's all my doing. Isn't he cute? Thank you JoAnn's for having him be 60% off and giving me a 10% off coupon on top of that.

Here's the baker's rack and the cushions from up close. Aren't they lovely? I think so...

And this delightful little fellow and the candle holders are all mom. They make me happy too. Very happy.

And such happiness, along with a trip to Fresh & Easy last night, produced this dinner. It's Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo. It had chicken, broccoli, Alfredo sauce (duh) that I bought pre-made at Fresh & Easy, mushrooms, black olives, onion, a bit of olive oil, fresh basil (from the pot on the bottom shelf) and some salt and pepper. I accompanied said romantic dinner with olive bread topped with melted, fresh mozzarella cheese and a glass of Big Kahuna Cabernet/Shiraz blend (it's at Fresh & Easy and like $2.99 a bottle... you should definitely try some even if you aren't usually a red wine person, it's THAT good and mild). Please note the table linens and how they coordinate with our new decor (but, of course) and the lit candles.

I say to note these things because my poor husband had a stomach ache and didn't get to enjoy the dinner, which is why I took this picture. I ended up shoving some of the plate back into the storage container and eating a smaller amount myself for dinner. I must say it was quite nice eating on the patio. Very relaxing.

Also, if you have not tried Fresh & Easy, I highly recommend the store if you have one in your area. I heard about it from a friend and decided to try it out a few months ago. It's sort of a cross between Trader Joe's and a regular grocery store, but on a smaller scale. Their goal is to be a "neighborhood market" where you stop on your way home, or every few days to pick up a few items. What I like is that they carry a lot of organic products for reasonable prices, they carry meats that don't have any added hormones or antibiotics and they have a fair variety of ready-to-eat/ready-to-cook items that are fairly healthy for you. They also tend to send out $5 off coupons which is a nice little savings. I won't stop shopping at Trader Joe's, the farmers' market or Henry's, but I try and alternate between Fresh & Easy and Trader Joe's now when I shop. With an occasional trip to Costco or Target and semi-regular trips to the farmers' market and Trader Joe's or Fresh & Easy, I very rarely shop at a traditional grocery store now. I also have become pretty consistent about using my reusable grocery bags. I'm hoping that the little efforts start to add up. Next on my list is building a worm bin...