Blog Overload

I have well over 700 blog posts that remain unread.
In the past two months my daily escape to the world of the blog has taken a major hit.  The only blogs I can muster the time to read are the ones written by people I personally know.

I miss the blog world of fashion, decorating, beauty tips, and more.

I hope to be caught up in the next two weeks or so but there's a piece of me that thinks I should just mark them all read and start from scratch.

Ah, well, if you see me cuddled up with my iPad don't be surprised.

On a side note, I want this case:


The giving tree was one of my favorite books growing up and I think this is just adorable!

This is Easy!

You know, living together is a piece of cake.
I know two weeks (today) is a little early for such a declaration but I feel like I'm beaming from ear to ear.  We are having so much fun and it is FAR easier than I expected.

I expected to bicker more about decorating.  
I expected to need to "nag" him to clean up after himself. 
I expected to lose as many battles as I won.

The division of power seems to have sorted itself out.  I cook - he does the dishes; I vacuum - he takes out the trash.  I make the bed in the morning - he walks the dogs at night.

I think living together has made it easier to find common ground and compromise.  Maybe I've just adjusted my own previous expectations.  It's a joint effort that can only be accomplished by the two of us rather than any one individual alone.  I know personally, the pristine and classically decorated home I envisioned isn't coming to fruition; however, I like the one we're building together even more.  It feels like us - not some interpretation of a magazine ad.

We haven't paid the first round of bills together; however, we've already started to share more about our individual finances than ever before.  Each decision to spend or save seems to be more collective.  We've developed a "wish list" for the house and as we add to it we discuss where the item/project/wish lies in the priorities and what the requirements are to make each of us happy.  In fact just last night he poked fun at my ridiculous wish for a Roomba, while I reminded him that the 80" television may have to wait in terms of priorities.

It's not perfect.  We still bicker over silly things.  He still leaves the cap off the toothpaste and the toilet seat up, but it doesn't seem to matter as much.  Maybe it really is me that's changed; maybe, we're just growing up but I like it.

I'm happy and this feels easy!  At least far easier than hanging a gallery wall.

Easier said than done

I've received the message loud and clear.  Everyone wants pictures of the new house.  I'm not ready yet.  I forgot to take before pictures and now that the house is in a state of flux I'm not ready to share as much as you'd like to see; however, I do have one of our first projects for you.

For some background, one of the hardest parts about transitioning from a home in Virginia to a home in Florida has been the lack of a basement.  When Beau was house hunting we frequently conferred over where each potential home could satisfy the need of a "man cave."  Without a basement there didn't seem to be a room where I could politely tuck all of his sports paraphernalia and memorabilia away.

If my boyfriend had his choice he'd live in a sports bar, literally!  He would have a autographed jersey or photo on every wall not already occupied by a television (which trust me wouldn't be many).  There would be a fully stocked bar and kegerator in every room.  When recently shopping for a new great room couch, he tried to persuade me to get a sectional that came with "built-in" snack storage.  You know, the reclining sofas that have a lift up console probably designed to hide remotes and such. Yeah.

Eventually, we took the stance of "we'll figure it out when we get the house."  And, we did.

Our new home has a large Great Room off the kitchen.  With big vaulted ceilings and a sliding glass door out to the lanai, it's the perfect place to recap the day while he watches SportsCenter and I cook dinner.  In addition, there is a formal living/dining room space separate from the Great Room and kitchen.  With a defined place to entertain and decorate to my heart's content, we came to the collective decision that the Great Room could become our "game room."

The game room is already home to the largest television we own and we picked out and purchased a new sectional, which should arrive Friday, to provide plenty of seating to watch a movie or football game.

Ours has 2 armless chairs as opposed to the bumper but you get the picture.

With the bare necessities (couch and television) established it was time to make the room more personal.  I unpacked the numerous sports pictures from Virginia and began to scheme where to place them.  After lusting over several gallery walls on pinterest (see here, here, and here) I thought this would be the best way to display the collection.

There are plenty of tutorials and layouts on pinterest as well; however, they only work if pictures in the specified sizes.  Not very practical when you're working with what you've already got.

I began by laying out ALL of the pictures on the floor.  I took measurements of height and width and set off to use Excel as my guide.  (Side Note:  If you've met me there's a 97% chance you know I'm an Excel nerd and use it to organize almost all of my thoughts and plans.)  I cut and paste over and over again trying to find the right combination.  When I thought I had one that might work, I printed it and ran downstairs to test it out in reality.  I shuffled the pictures on the floor and was unsatisfied.  I picked up the pictures, leaned them against a wall, and began to tackle a new task.  I had spent 1/2 of my holiday with no avail.

When Beau came home and saw the newly unpacked pictures, it was like he was discovering the treasures of home all over again.  He and I began to tackle the task all over again.  It was much easier with him there.  He identified the pictures that were most important to him, the pictures that didn't NEED to be hung at all, and shared his vision.

Again, we went to the floor to determine the layout.  When we finally settled on placement, I went back to measuring and calculating.  This time it wasn't the height and width but where each nail needed to be placed in order to display the pictures appropriately.  The next time a 7th grade girl asks a math teacher when she will ever have to use complex algebra, the teacher should respond "Someday you will grow up to be an anal retentive adult that would like your gallery wall pictures hung just so.  Then you will be thankful for all I taught you." Okay, okay - maybe it's just me.

We spent nearly 2 hours hanging and leveling the photos but are happy with the end result.  So without further ado, your first picture:

 We did learn that like many other projects, measure twice nail once. Additionally, we're hoping to get some of the 3m strips or picture tack to keep the pictures from tilting and having to level them every time we shut a door.

Sorry for the picture quality, taken on my iPhone

I'll be sure to get some better photos of the room once the new couch arrives this Friday.  Just keep in mind, gallery walls are easier said than done, but I have at least 2 more in mind.

Numbers

17 hours

2 dogs

2 people

1 celebrity sighting

1 tiny car

1 Successful Move & 

70 degree weather!

{postcards.and.pretties}

 Welp, I'm here.  The sunshine state.  To think 1 week ago today, Beau and I packed (almost) all of our belongings into my tiny 2 door car and hit the road at 4:40 am to make the long drive down to Florida.  As we pulled out of the driveway, I don't think the impact quite dawned on me.  It wasn't until I crossed the Virginia border that I realized I was no longer a resident of my home state.  Similar to our trip in July, we managed to make the 17 hour trip fun.  He even bumped into Doug Flutie at a gas station in South Carolina (I was in the restroom, not that I would have noticed who he was anyway).

Once we arrived, I saw the house for the first time.  It's gorgeous.  Beautiful tile floors, tall open ceilings, 3 car garage, huge master bathroom, and 1 CRYSTAL BLUE POOL!  I can assure you the pool and lanai will see plenty of use from yours truly!

Bright and early the next morning we awoke to begin the unpacking.  I love the idea of unpacking but hate the practice.  A new house means a fresh and clean start.  You can decide all over again how to organize and decorate.  You can clean out the old and bring in the new - but the boxes full of old just kept coming.  I started in what seemed like the most logical place to me - the Kitchen.

Every time I stood back to admire my organizational achievement a mover would come in with another box of kitchen supplies I forgot we owned.  In the long run it all found a home whether in the cabinet or trash and I absolutely adore the space.  The bedrooms and living space haven't had the same luck quite yet.  We still have nick-knacks to place and pictures to hang; however, within 48 hours all major belongs had found homes or hiding places and we were ready for our first official visitors.

With minutes to spare Beau showered and rushed off to scoop up the "L's" at the airport.  The 4 of us spent the weekend enjoying Florida's beautiful weather, restaurants, and New Years Eve party.  I'm so thankful they were here to celebrate with us.  It truly forced us to work at warp speed and do nothing but enjoy the remainder of the weekend.

Although the past week has been crazy it comes with many wonderful blessings.  I am happy to bring an end to the 6 months of separation.  I know many couples spend far longer apart, but I'm not a fan of long distance.  NOT AT ALL.  I also realize how amazing my friends and family are.  The number of text messages, phone calls, and emails we received simply saying people were thinking about us during the big move was heartwarming.  It's even nicer to know our visitation schedule is filling up quickly.  Plan your trip today - before it's too late!