I Guess We're "Nesting"

Well, we're all moved in, and while we wait a few more weeks (months?) for our bed and books to arrive, we've started buying things to make the apartment work better for us.

I did go out and get an electric kettle (red, of course!) and have made tea a few times, but it's usually too hot to drink tea. Yesterday we even got a descaling kit for the Nespresso machine... Barcelona has very hard water, we're told. 

We have a new favorite store - Leroy Merlin. It's like Bed Bath and Beyond and Home Depot combined (and pared way down). It's less than a half mile from the apartment, but we have to walk through one of the most touristy parts of town to get there. Although really, it's getting back with all of our purchases that's the hard part! 

I've been trying to find a spice rack, but I gave up and bought a little wooden box at LM to keep my spices in - it'll do for now. 

I've found a few "standard" spices in different grocery stores - one of my recipes didn't taste right at all before I bought cumin to put in it! The funny thing is learning what they're called in Spanish - or guessing from the picture on the bottle. 😂

I still have a couple of Penzeys baggies in the pantry, like smoked paprika and one of the "use it on anything" blends. But really, I might have to bring back some things in my suitcase when I head to Chicago for a meeting in a few weeks. I can't find baking pans anywhere! Don't these people make cookies? (eh, too hot for that right now too...) 

There's one thing I've never owned that came with the apartment - an electric juicer! John bought oranges last week so today we decided to try it. OK, wow. The juice was deeelish! Of course, I couldn't pass up the extra pulp that was leftover in the orange rinds, either. #nomnomnom

Also added to the apartment: hangers, towels, a big saute pan, hot pads/oven mitts, pillows, electric fans (what do I miss about Texas? Ceiling fans!) and very soon, a table that John can use as a desk in the office. Things I wish I had thrown into one of my suitcases instead of a shipping box: an apron! 

And then it will be time to get away for a little weekend vacation! Hahaha. 

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