All moved in.....almost......

It has been really fun moving in to my new place....unpacking, organizing, decorating....all of it.  It has been a slow process, especially while Bailey was crashing at the house those 5 weeks.  When my parents came to pick Bailey up a few weeks ago, they dropped off my secretary's desk. 

I've had the desk since my Great Aunt Grace passed away over 15 years ago.  My mom had it refinished a few years ago and it looks awesome.  I have it in the living room.  My parents also brought over a box of stuff from my Grandma Ila.....tea cups, measuring spoons, a jam jar, sugar and creamer set, various dishes...opening the box brought back A LOT of memories of growing up.  We lived right next door to my Grandma, so I was over at her house on a daily basis.  I remember using those measuring spoons to help her bake.  And the tea cups in her hutch in the kitchen.  She was a huge part of my childhood, and I think about her often. 

Also in the box was a number of vintage napkins and doilies.  I put the jam jar and one of the doilies on top of my desk.  One of the things I love about my house is the chandelier in the dining room.  Check it out......

When the sun is shining through the windows, the crystals make little prisms appear on the walls.  As you can tell, I'm still obsessed with the ShakeIt app for iPhone.  I pretty much use it always.  I picked up these funky skeleton bridesmaids at a little boutique in Ballard, Romanza, yesterday.  Trying to get in the Halloween spirit.

You know who is also loving the house?  Frank.  He has made himself quite at home in this place.  He is like my little guard cat.  He's constantly surveying his domain, when he's not sleeping of course.  It is pretty amusing to get out of the shower and see him standing guard in front of the bathroom door.  I don't think he misses Milo much, but that is okay.  He's always been a solo cat.

     

After.......

Wow!!  What a difference!!  The gardeners came over while I was at work this Saturday and worked $hit out in the backyard!  Take a peek......

Pretty awesome, no?  Is it just me or does Milo look super lumpy in this photo?  I came home from work and was sooooo excited!  About the yard anyway..... Then I saw the 5 ginormous piles of dog puke throughout my pristine new-to-me house......yeah, Milo had "an eventful day" while I was at work.  Poor boy :(  I have been feeding him dog food by the name Avoderm for a number of months, and he seems to like all the flavors I've given him so far.  Except for the "Senior Dog" formula I introduced on Saturday morning.  Note to self: do not give Milo food he's never tried before on a day you aren't going to be home.  Bad idea.  Lesson learned.  Oh, and did I mention the puddle of dog pee I found as well?  Three weeks in the house and Milo hadn't broken his seal yet.....until Saturday.  Again, poor boy :( 

So I busted out my Haan Steam Cleaner.  I love this thing.  It cleans and sanitizes any sealed surface without the use of any chemicals.  Just water.  It's the power of steam people.  After cleaning up Milo's various bodily fluids, I ran the Haan over the floors, now they are like new.  I highly recommend this little gadget.

Why does Frank looks so peeved in the photo?  Well, if you know Frank, you know that he's kind of a dick most of the time.  He's ornery, doesn't really like to be touched much, and sure as hell does not like to have his territory threatened by a little, white, yappy dog named Bailey.  I've officially had to separate them.  It has been stressful on everyone, especially Frank and I.  I don't think Bailey could give a flying frack about Frank's nerves.  Frank has been letting me know in not-so-subtle ways (read: peeing on my bedspread) that he is unhappy with the house guest.  Since I've made my office in to Frank's sanctuary a few days ago, he seems a lot happier.  He has some windows to look out, his perch to sit and sleep on, and a banquet of food options provided by his guilty feeling owner.  Wet food, dry food, Bonito flakes, cat nip, you name it, he has access to it.  Oh, and don't forget the three fleece blanket beds on the floor.  He's living the good life for the next few weeks.  Sure, I'm positive he'd prefer the run of the entire house, but for now I think he'll make due without having to run in to Bailey.  And my nerves will stay in tact knowing Bailey can't corner Frank under the bed.  And of course the no-cat-pee-where-I-sleep is a positive.

She looks so innocent.....don't let her fool you...... :)  

Before.......

So my back yard is already stressing me out.  The previous homeowners were total green thumbs and did a great job of keeping the plants in check in the back yard.  Me?  Not so much a green thumb, and definitely not doing a good job of keeping the plants in check.  I'd say I'm not doing any kind of job in regards to the back yard thus far :(  In an effort to not let all the produce and foliage back there rot away and attract vermin, I'm having some gardeners come over this weekend to clear out the joint.  Here is a before shot:

I'll post an after shot in a few days.  I'm having them remove all the produce because I can't even come close to consuming the amount of vegetables out there.  I've already managed to let Milo defecate on pretty much everything, so actually eating anything at this point would probably put me in the hospital.  It's like a jungle out there, no joke.  Milo has gotten lost out there in the middle of the night numerous times.  I'll let him out to pee at like 2am, and after not hearing him for 10 or so minutes I'll peek outside only to find him lodged between some enormous plant I can't identify and the fence. 

I'm looking forward to planting some grass, or laying down sod, in the spring.  Also putting in a deck for relaxing, hanging out, BBQing, all the fun stuff that goes along with decent PNW weather.  I'd love suggestions for some plants I can put back there that are hearty and fragrant, but don't require a ton of work on my part.     

off the grid......

Wow, the past few weeks have flown by!!  I'm all moved in to the new place, and have been totally preoccupied with unpacking and getting things settled.  Yesterday I made the usual post-move trip to Target, Ikea, and Bed, Bath & Beyond.  It was a FULL day to say the least.  I bought a blue dresser for my bedroom from Ikea, and I'm pretty darn stoked about it.  I love some color, and I think the blue dresser is going to play off the golden yellow walls perfectly.  Of course I'll post pictures once everything is all settled.  Oh, and I have to figure out how I'm going to put together that monstrosity of a dresser!!  Tonight Kyle and Cyn came over and helped me put up some pictures.  It definitely feels more like home with some art work on the walls!

What else have I been up to besides moving / unpacking / settling in to the new place?  Playing with my iPhone, its pretty much like crack folks, seriously.  I currently have eight "Words with Friends" games going right now, it is addicting to say the least.  Enjoying the camera applications.  Taking pictures of Frank and Milo settling in to their new space. 

Frank has found a few new favorite spots, including this one..... the back of the couch cushion in the living room.  He can check out what is going on in the front yard, survey his kingdom, so to speak.  Good lookin' cat, no?  I think so. 

Milo has found my feather bed, and decided to make it his own..... little rascal!!  Well, I was due for a new one, and I will definitely need a new one now that his basset stank is all up in those down feathers!!  I found a fun, colorful cover for the feather bed at Ikea yesterday so it looks a little better than a dirty old pile of human-bed-gone-dog-bed on the dining room floor.  Milo probably doesn't care what it looks like, he's just happy to fall asleep in luxury.

Another one of Milo's favorite spots?  The cold tile floor of the bathroom.  I am in love with the bathroom tiles, they are original to the house, which was built in 1942.  Milo loves them too.

Last, but not least, when it is sunny out, Milo likes to kick it on the back porch.  He isn't much for going out in the rain, so the past few days he's spent mostly inside.  But when the sun is shining, he likes to sniff around the yard for as long as he can before he poops out and needs a nap (read: about 15 to 20 minutes). 

As you can tell, I'm still obsessed with the ShakeIt iPhone app.  So fun!!       

best mail day ever!!!

Today after I got home from work I walked to the mail box.  It was like magazine Christmas in there.  Huge smile folks, huge smile.  The scrapbooking gods decided to send my three craft magazines to me on the same day, unheard of.  Usually they are staggered by a couple days.  Not this month.  Scrapbooks, etc., Paper Crafts, and Creating Keepsakes, oh my!  Looks like I will have some reading material for the next few days!!

In other crafting news..... I'll be attending my first scrapbooking retreat in November!!  I've never immersed myself in scrappin' for 3 days straight, should be pretty fun.  And Gina and Colleen will be there, so you can't go wrong there!

Frizzle Dizz layout

My friend Kym is an artist and she works quite a bit with encaustic wax.  She and I are going to do a trade..... I'll be making her mom a card, and she'll be making me an encaustic wax piece.  Kym has already given me one encaustic piece that is awesome..... check it out below.  You can also check out her pieces on Etsy here......

Encaustic wax piece by Kym Strom

I was at Fred Meyer the other night and I picked up the latest issue of Cloth, Paper, Scissors (another craft magazine I like to read, but don't subscribe to.....yet).  There was a card shown that I'm totally inspired by, and I'd like to take some elements from the card for the card I'm making for Kym's mom.  It contains a quote that I love...."One generation plants trees, the next enjoys the shade."  I'll post a picture once I'm finished, although it probably won't be for a month or two since all my scrap stuff is packed away for the move.  Speaking of which........

Yep, everything is moving a long well!!  So incredibly excited to have a place to call home........ 

Home Sweet Home

Well, I have big news since my last blog post a few weeks ago..... I'm buying my first house!! Pretty darn excited about it! If all goes well, I'll be closing the last week of August. Here are some pictures of the house that I swiped from the online real estate profile. The house is located in the same neighborhood that I've lived in since 2006. The area is super walkable, which I'm really excited about. Here's the front of the house...........
Living room.......

Kitchen view......

Another kitchen view.......

Dining room.......

Bedroom #1........

Bedroom #2, which I will use as my office / craft space.....

Hallway by bathroom, check out the fun little telephone nook! ........

Downstairs bedroom, aka...my parent's bedroom :)

Unfinished part of the downstairs, utility / washer / dryer area......

Backyard, already fenced for Milo! The current owner's are total green thumbs, and the backyard is in full bloom. Lots of flowers and produce are growing back there at the moment. I'm going to meet with the current owner's at some point before closing so they can tell me about the house and about all the plants growing in the backyard.

Big surprise huh?!?!? Yes, I'm very excited about this new chapter in my life. I'm sure there will be many a blog post about the new place! Everything went well with the inspection last week, so now I'm just trying to organize myself for all the other things I need to do before the end of August. Let's just say I'm not super stoked to pack all my stuff up again....but at least this time I know it will be the last time, for a very long time....and that makes me one happy girl.

Goodbye lawn chair......

Hello new couch and chair, so good to finally meet you! When I moved back to Seattle, I left my couch in California. I have been sitting on a lawn chair that I borrowed from my parents for the past month. Macy's was having a big furniture sale in August, so I decided to spring for a couch and chair. Here is a link to the pieces I got. I wanted to get something comfortable, but it had to be affordable (since I took a 5 month break from all things work related).
I went with a color called "Truffle", it is sort of a cross between brown and gray. It is super comfortable. A little too big for the space I have in the living room, but I won't be in this house forever.
Surprisingly, Frank hasn't started using them as scratching posts yet. He must like them because last night I woke up in the middle of the night, came out in to the living room, and Frank was kickin' it on the chair, all curled up in a little ball of black and white fur.

Welcome to my new digs....

I have had some requests from friends and family to post some pics of my new pad in Ballard. It is a great little house!! Complete with a white picket fence. I love it so far.
The house has a tiny little yard in the front, which takes about 5 minutes to mow. It actually takes me more time to get the lawn mower out of the garage and hooked up to a power source than it does to mow the lawn.

My favorite room of the house is usually my office / scrap area. No exceptions here.

New digs, cont.

The kitchen is the perfect size for one person. Lots of cabinet space. Lots of light.
The kitchen came complete with this interesting eating nook that everyone seems to dig on except myself. It seems very fast foody to me, like I'm constantly sitting in Subway. The only thing is that I don't want to banish it to the basement storage area because it fits perfectly in the kitchen space. I think I might just have to deal with it, and make it my own. I was thinking of sewing a cover for the seats and making a table cloth with a funky pattern. We'll see if that actually happens:) But for now..... Eat fresh!!
There is a small area off the kitchen with a washer and dryer, and some more cabinet storage space. Also a door to the back yard area.

New Digs, cont.

These are shots of the living room previous to the arrival of the new couch and chair. At this point, I am still using a lawn chair as my major furniture piece.
The paintings in both shots were done by my friend Jessalyn Haggenjos. Check out her website here. The rug was given to me by me madre, procured at a Rotary Club auction in the 90's.
Another new addition to the decor.....hand woven basket from Santa Fe. Also from my beloved memere, purchased on one of their trips to the southwest.
Entertainment section of the living space. Television, music, and books....oh my.

New Digs, cont.

My bedroom is a good size, and the amount of closet space is pretty impressive for such an old house. I was able to fit everything with plenty of space left over (more room for handbags and scrap stuff!!).
View from back by the closet, out to the hallway. Love the wood floors.
View into the bedroom.
The skylight in the bathroom is awesome, it really lights up the area (although you can't really tell from this picture). I don't even have to turn the lights on in there most of the time.