Borsch and Golubtsi and Varnyky... yum!

We had a fun evening yesterday. While checking out restaurant.com I found a place I'd not seen before, Verdi Italian & Russian Restaurant. I was excited to see the menu had varenyky, Ukrainian borsch, golubtsi, and other familiar foods from William's homeland.

So we made our way to Norcross and found the place. The varenyky were yummy and the borsch was some of the best we've had. We were finally able to try golubtsi (cabbage rolls stuffed with meat & rice), and we enjoyed it as well.

Then we found a European deli called Arbat. We purchased several of our favorites, which worked out well because we have friends coming over after church tomorrow for a "Ukrainian lunch"! Zack and I have been busy in the kitchen this afternoon, preparing borsch, Korean carrot salad, and a Greek-style salad - all favorites from our time in Ukraine. Tomorrow we'll prepare the vareniky and perogi to go along with everything else (as well as some chicken fingers and fries for the kiddos).

Here are our finds from Arbat...

Please Help Yulia

Please take a look at Charissa's blog, and consider helping little Yulia by donating to her adoption grant.

Photo Editing

Thanks for the comments on the picture of William! It was taken at our lake place, next to the tool shed. I've always thought that wall would make a cool background. The last time we were down there I was able to get William to stand still for 2 or 3 minutes (minor miracle) so I could snap a few pics. I'd prefer that he'd worn solid color shirt or something without writing for better effect, but they still turned out pretty well.

I read about picnik on a couple of other blogs and I finally decided to try it. It's pretty easy to use, and the best part? It's FREE! The skeptic in me says this will change as more people get wind of it, but for now it's a fun thing to do without any monetary investment.

And to those of you who asked when he grew up, I wish I knew. It's happened over night. He's suddenly a little man. It seems like he looks different - and taller - every day!

Here are some more photos from that weekend: some edited, some not.

Search and Win!

(Be sure to read the blog post below about our home improvement projects, including pictures!!)

Swagbucks is a new search engine I just starting using after reading about it on several of my coupon/discount websites. You can earn "swagbucks", or points that can be redeemed for free merchandise, gift cards, etc.

Once you sign up, be sure to also sign up for the free newsletter, where you'll get codes for more swagbucks! Just click on THIS LINK if you'd like to start earning your free stuff. (And if you get others to sign up through you, you earn swagbucks everytime they earn swagbucks - cool!)

Ch-Ch-Changes

We've been busy! Well, the contractors have been busier than us, but we've been busy with the planning, some other small improvements, and the cleanup.

We've been in our house almost five years. It was not new when we bought it, and we did a ton of things to it for two weeks before moving in: had the polybutylene replaced, painted every room except the living room, had new tile installed in the bathrooms, laundry room and entry way, had the carpet replaced, and other minor things.

One thing we wanted to do but never did was replace the kitchen countertops. I spend a fair amount of time in there so they get a workout. Well we finally had enough: they were worn-out, dirty, stained, scratched up - way past their prime. So we started pricing our options. We dreamed of granite but figured it was out of our budget. Well thanks to a weak economy, and a very talented and generous contractor who was apparently desperate for work, we were able to get granite for not much more than some charge for laminate or other less durable surfaces. And this should also add to our resale value and overall appeal if/when we decide to sell someday.

The guys installed the countertops in the kitchen and half-bath on Tuesday, and the plumber came yesterday to hook everything up. We are so pleased with the results!

Here is the before of the kitchen…

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And here is the after…

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I can’t find the before pics of the bathroom, but here is what it looks like now…