In Five Year's Time

Five years ago today, a certain someone and I drove all night. We smoked cigarettes and drank coffee. We sat at IHOP and talked until dawn.
Four years and eleven months ago, we lived rent free. We microwaved frozen burritos for dinner and ate fruity pebbles out of plastic cups.
Four years and ten months ago, we made a plan... And according to Jones Soda:

So we stuck to it.
Then four years and six months ago, we left everything we had ever known. We had each other and that was all.
Four years ago we had a mortgage. We paid our bills. We had new friends, and a new life... together.
Three years and six months ago, we flew to Vegas on a whim. We didn't tell anyone. Those were the happiest days of our lives thus far.

Three years ago, we started new careers. We started thinking about the future... but we were still up all night... sometimes...

One year and two months ago, we thought about buying a house. We wanted a family.
Three hundred and sixty four days ago, we found out there was another... and we had a new home.
Three hundred and sixty days ago, we had our home. We ate tacos on the floor. It was surreal.

Four months and two days ago, there was another...

Today, there are three of us. And more love than this house could hold. And all because of one concert at Dos Amigos.
Thanks Isaac.

I love you Eric.

Etsy love

There is so much incredible talent on Etsy these days, but for the most part it is just so gosh darn hard to find! That's why every morning I look forward to perusing the Etsy finds in my inbox (in case you haven't noticed, I tend to like others to do the hard work and then I can talk about it!).
So imagine my delight upon spotting these adorable prints this morning!

From Kiersten Essenpreis, these illustrations are at once a little demure, quirky, a little edgy, and incredibly sweet. Simple and fun without being overly cutesy or over worked. And man, oh man can I spend some serious time on her website! Check it out!

Corners

My earlier post inspired me to take a look around our home and capture some nooks and corners that I really love. For one reason or another, these are some of my favorite spots in my home:

This is our "morning table" where we have our coffee and surf. It's still in the dining room but we don't have to clear off the big table just for coffee. Plus the computer chargers are right there!

My crafty desk in our newly painted and organized office. Eric has since been using it for his work desk also, of course.

The couch in our TV room is the most comfortable of the three couches in the house. And as such, I end up in there a lot with a cup of tea and crochet in the afternoons while the baby is napping.

Our entry way and half of the "landing strip". By the way, it is usually not this clean! The bench I bought at Ironside last year and absolutely love.

And finally, my favorite spot. In Adelaide's room where we read and rock and play. This is, in my opinion, the coziest spot in the house. Maybe because of all of the wonderful memories that have been made here in the last four (!) months, but I love this little corner and all the time spent there.

Doing this makes me realize that these little spots are what gives a home personality and memories. These are places we gravitate to. Maybe because they are comfortable, or maybe because of the way the light shines through, for whatever reason, the little things are what makes our house a home (sorry for the cheese factor).
I think I'll make an installment of this. Photographing and sharing these little corners that make our lives more comfortable so years later we can look back and say, "Hey, whatever happened to that [insert object here]?". We can remember the right now and appreciate the anticipation and the space that comes before we start remodeling and painting and changing everything around here. Part of the fun of transition phase is the transition itself. We're on the cusp of something. There's a space between what was and what will be, and in that flux is something that isn't either nostalgia or hopes for the future. It's the right now, the present. And in dreaming and planning and preparing for changes that gets lost sometimes. Well not anymore! I want to remember my meager snacks, and the empty spaces without furniture, the white walls, everything that is of this moment... like this:

Interior Inspiration

One of my favorite past times when I am feeling particularly un-inspired is to rifle through my inspiration folders (imagine that!). As I do this, I usually end up feeling more confused as I realize that my personal aesthetic is really all over the place and that I not only have I not found my style identity, but my home suffers from the same. To further illustrate my point, all of these photos came from the same file:

can someone please tell me where I found this photo???

all via: apartment therapy

I love all of these. More specifically, I love elements of all of these.
Let me explain further:
We moved into our 1920 craftsman a year ago. We moved from a fairly new and much more modern loft. The majority of our furnishings were right at home in our loft. Now the majority of our furnishings look silly in our much older home. So, I have yet to sort out the personality of our new home.
Our condo was your average college sophomore. He had already learned the ropes on campus, established himself in the group that hangs out in front of the library between classes, sipping coffee and sketching passers by. He shopped at Urban Outfitters and smoked the occasional joint on the weekends (yes I am still talking about our home). He was equal parts 90s green-grunge and 2000s hipster. Have I made my point? Should I continue?
Our new home is beautiful. Old. Character all of her own. She had a personality before we hung the first painting on the wall. She's sweet, sophisticated, welcoming, and family oriented. She's basically our condo's 30-40 something mother. She's been there, done that, and is ready for something new (again, still referring to the house).
And Eric and I? Well, we're kind of in transition still. And with a new baby, new house, new life basically we are still trying to piece everything together and make sure it all fits.
I'm sure we're not the only ones who have ever had this problem. Anyone else? Does your home suffer from an identity crisis? How long did it take for you to find your home's personality?

P.S. I just realized that the last issue of domino was all about decorating as you grow up. Maybe I need to give that another look, I just gave it a good once over last year as I was still pissed that it was the last issue. *sniff*

P.P.S. Until I get photo shop on my computer I have to post photos like this, sorry. I know it makes for a rather lengthy post. Hopefully I will have a solution soon.

If only exhaustion really looked this good...

such a beautiful expression of how we all feel after the holidays, don't you think?

via: a view to

I'm dreaming... of a new... kitchen...

Eric and I have decided to tackle our kitchen/laundry room this summer. So far this will entail:
• Leveling the house first (90 years old, on a hill, and I am sure it hasn’t been leveled in at least 50)
• Tearing out the old linoleum floor and hoping beyond all hope that there are decent paintable planks underneath
• Tearing out the wall between our kitchen and dining rooms
• Moving electrical outlets to counter level
• Moving the stove and vent hood
• Demo-ing all cabinets and countertops
• Replacing the sink and faucet
• Installing new cabinets
• Installing a dishwasher/garbage disposal/new sink and faucet
• Installing new countertops
• Painting the existing wood floors like this
• Installing open shelves
• Walling up the wall between the kitchen and laundry rooms
• Painting
• Moving the dryer
• Moving and installing a new water heater
• Installing shelves and a countertop in the laundry room
• Hanging new pendant lights, installing can lights and under-cabinet lighting
and finally:
• Decorating and furnishing our new fabulous space!
Not necessarily in that order but this is the project I have taken on. Are you exhausted just thinking about it? I am!
I am hoping we can get a few of these things started sooner, but the majority of the work will have to take place over the summer and should be wrapped up by the time school starts.
Oh, and did I mention that I will be attending pre-natal yoga teacher training this summer for a week? It will take us a week to get to and from Espanola, NM so that is two weeks that will be lost on the project. Yay!
More on that later... but oh how I would love to fill my new beautiful kitchen with slews of handmade beauties like these:

via: cynthia vardhan

or these:

via: into the clay

also via: cynthia vardhan

And although not handmade, I really could get on board with any of these:

all via: anthropologie

Oh dreams!