Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Triple X

Well, I'm super late with this post. Surprise, surprise! But I turned 30... over a month ago. One of my friends sent me this in a text:


Hence the post title- and theme for the year.

So, for my actual birthday, I was at the beach. It wasn't actually a birthday trip. It just happened to fall that weekend. I vacillated for a few weeks if I even wanted to go on the trip. It was to Gulf Shores (I'm a beach snob) and it was a lot of people in a small space. I decided 2 or 3 days before to just suck it up and go. It turned out to be fun and a relaxing time away, so I'm glad I went.


The whole crew after dinner out on my actual birthday. They did an affirmation circle where they went around the table and said nice things about me. So sweet!





People always jokingly ask on birthdays if you feel older. I think that's dumb and I don't feel any older than I did the day before, but for some reason thirty does feel different. I know that there are other contributing factors besides just a number, but my attitude just feels different. I can't really pinpoint it. Some things just don't matter anymore. Maybe my priorities are changing. Maybe I'm just growing up...

As far as my 30-by-30... I failed miserably. But I'm still going! I decided to make it more of a 30-in-30 so that way it technically still counts. I'm going to New York this week and we already have reservations at a Michelin star restaurant. My mouth is already watering just thinking about it. I can't wait! I'll write all about that when I get back!

Thursday, September 8, 2016

House Tour... Finally

Well, I was off work for Labor Day (and was sick all weekend) so I lied around on the couch trying to feel better and in the mean time, I finally got around to posting about the house.

Disclaimer: this is still very much a work in progress. It probably will be for a while now, but here it is so far...

When you walk in the front door (which I rarely do), you enter into the living room.


I bought this cuddler years ago when I was living in Nashville and had no place for it, but I loved it so I bought it anyway. It was in the corner of my bedroom at my last place and where I did pretty much everything because it was really my only option. Now I get to sit and drink coffee and have my quiet time there every morning. Also, the natural light is amazing!


My bedroom is the first room down the hall. It's airy and girly and I love it.



I'm considering painting the walls navy. I wanted to paint them before I moved in, but my mom tried to discourage me from it. I compromised by saying that I would live with this color for a little while and see what I thought before making a decision. But now that it's been 3 months, I'm still leaning towards navy. I don't do anything in the room but sleep, so it doesn't matter if it's dark. What do you guys think?

My bathroom is connected. It's small and hard to photograph, so bear with me.


I love the shower! My favorite part: The on/off knob is separate from the temperature knob so when I turn the water on, it is always at the perfect temperature.


Least favorite part: The light. It gets a 9/10 for looks, but a 3/10 for illumination. Seriously, this thing puts out no light! I've thought about changing it out for similar Edison lights with a higher wattage, but just haven't gotten around to it yet. Add that to the ever-growing to do list...


When you look down the hall, my bedroom is the first door on the right. There is a coat closet on the left. Further down on the left, there is a phone nook. I love all these little touches of an older house! I want to put a gallery wall opposite that on the right. I have a couple things waiting to go up, but need to print out some more pictures and buy a few more frames so I can hang things up.


All the way down on the right is the guest bedroom. It is currently empty, minus a few boxes that still need to be organized. Otherwise, there's nothing in it, so I didn't even take a picture of it. My brother and his girlfriend will be in town for Thanksgiving and I already told them that they could stay with me, so I have 2 and a half months to get this room looking like a room!

The guest bath is nothing special.


Although I am pretty excited about my organizational skills of the linen closet.


Across from the guest bath is a walkup attic. It's a great space- even though it's pretty empty for now.

When you leave the hallway, you enter into the breakfast nook AKA my dining room, since it is the only space with a table.


The door on the right goes into the laundry room and the door on the left is what I like to call the party closet. It was originally a china closet- another fun quirk of an old house, but since I have zero use for a china closet, I repurposed it as a party closet.


From the living room, if you turn away from the hallway, you enter into the office. This was originally the formal dining room, but I decided I would never use both a formal dining room and a breakfast nook so one had to go. When I was looking for houses, I wanted a 3-bedroom so that I could have an office, so when I found this one, I knew the dining room would get converted.



The kitchen is off the office, and is what sold me on the house.



I love all the perks of the old house, but with updated kitchen and bathrooms. The kitchen is so bright and open. It just makes me happy and almost makes me want to cook more... almost. Also, there's a wine rack. That's probably really what sold me. Ha! And I added a bottle opener to complete the look!


The sunroom is just passed the kitchen. I think I have really only been out here once. Oops! There is not much to show here. The rug is here because I didn't really have another place for it. At some point, I want to put a bistro table in there, but it is very low on the priority list right now...


And last, but certainly not least is the den. It was an add-on by the second owners in the 70s, I think. I probably spend the most time in here. I bought the couch before I moved in and was a little worried that it would be too big after just seeing it in the store, but it fits perfectly. This room is huge! The couch sleeps 3 comfortably, maybe 4. I'm also slightly in love with the coffee table.



I could have turned off the TV for the pictures, but... Friends.

So there it is: the bare bones of the house tour. I still have lots of pictures and accents to hang to make it feel more like home, but it's getting there...