Craigslist Find!

We're in scramble mode over here as we are moving out of our apartment earlier than we thought so we have a revolving door of cleaners and moving boxes going on here! I wanted to pop in and share with you some chairs I scored on Craigslist for cheap! I was really persistent because I knew she was going to get a lot of interest (which she told me this morning she had a ton of interest). Well, it paid off and in the end they cost me a little more than the original asking price but they were still very reasonably priced, you all know how expensive dining chairs can be!! A little TLC and new fabric and fingers crossed they come out looking something akin to these beautiful chairs.

Lately via Iphone

Pina Coladas poolside courtesy of my dad 

Cuteness

Love the West Elm Istanbul Rug

Tell me why choosing paint colors feels as important and stressful as all the other big life milestones.

Lunch at my favorite Mexican restaurant

Mmm...Georgetown Cupcake

I don't watch the show because I find them intolerable but their cupcakes are amaze. 

My girls

Love Marta K

Using her toys as a pillow. Be still my heart.

Great pizza in DC

Yes I had a cupcakes twice in one week... what of it?

Cookies & Cream for the hubs & Raspberry Swirl for me

Lunch with my grandma & sister in Annapolis

Present from my parents

My husband would kill me if he knew I posted this but... a man and his dog

Impromptu date night outfit

Delicious dinner at Ten Ten

Bota Box mini at the movies

Crab feast aftermath

Sunday night Seabridge Syrah

 What have you been up to lately?

Thoughts on the Olympics thus far

 *If you have not watched some Olympic events yet and don't want it to be spoiled, don't read the rest of the way*

First, let me say that I am obsessed with the Olympics. In 1996, I covered an entire wall of my bedroom in pictures of the Magnificent Seven as well as pictures of Amanda Beard and a few other swimmers and a few runners were up there, too. Granted, I was 11 and eleven year olds do weird shit like that but my love for the Olympics has rarely waned (didn’t really watch the 2004 summer games).

 I don’t just love the summer games, I love the winter games as well. Does anyone remember the pairs ice skating scandal in 2002? Shit was cray. There is something about the Olympics that gets to me and I have been crying like I’m an Olympic athlete all week. That being said, here are some of my thoughts on the current games:

• It goes without saying that the Fab Five are ridiculously cute. Watching them brought back so many memories of the Magnificent Seven. Can we talk about Mckayla Maroney? She’s like the best cheerleader ever. I want her to come to work with me everyday and say encouraging things like, “That was so great” and “I’m so proud”. Besides her ridiculously awesome vaulting skills (still trying to figure out where the judges saw errors) I think she’s such a great asset to the team because of her encouragement. Loved her giving a pep talk in the huddle. 

•  Can we talk about Jordyn Weiber for a second? I feel bad that she didn’t qualify for the AA and I could go on and on about the injustice  of gymnastics scoring but she didn’t make it so let’s stop talking about her disappointment. I can’t imagine she loves being reminded every 2 minutes that she didn’t qualify. On the other hand, I don’t ever remember hearing about Aly Raisman during the trials and girl is solid as a rock. Can’t wait to watch her tonight.

• John Orozco is my boy. I am so sad that he didn’t perform as well as he could. Everytime he made a mistake, I felt like crying. He just has a certain appeal, even my husband loves him.

• Synchronized diving is so fascinating to me. Those ladies and gents are insane. The precision is ridiculous. I did catch this photo with my phone which demonstrates just how hard it is to be perfectly in-sync. The Chinese are pretty much perfect Olympians and even they were a just the smallest smidge off. 

• Has anyone watched the whitewater kayaking? This is the first time I’ve watched it extensively and whoa, it looks so hard. I saw one kayaker flip over, which I know happens, but she was under for at least 1 minute. The announcers didn’t seem concerned at all. 

• Beach volleyball is a sport I would fail miserably at performing. Misty May Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings are a dynamic duo. Kessy and Ross are fun to watch too but MMT and KWJ are my girls. 

• Destinee Hooker. Girlfriend could’ve gone a totally different route with a name like that so glad she chose to be beast at volleyball.

•  Water polo is also a sport I would fail at performing. Maggie Steffens’ Olympic debut was stunning. That game was awesome to watch.

• Really looking forward to track and field starting. Love me some Lolo Jones.

Have you been watching? Do you love it as much as I do?

Inspiration

This is not a post about the new house. Rather, it is a post of things that I'm excited about/inspired by in terms of leaving behind this apartment and moving to a bigger space. Since I read decor blogs and use Pinterest and Houzz on the regular and did so before we were even considering moving, I don't view this as jinxing anything. It is just me sharing things that make me excited about houses in general.

Things I'm looking forward to about one day having a real house:

....being able to paint/wallpaper. Loving the idea of navy blue walls, beige walls, gray walls, wallpaper. I have so many ideas its going to be hard to par them down!

Kerrie L. Kerry

Michael Abrams Limited

Tara Seawright

....being able to entertain. Currently we live in a 900 sq. foot apartment and we eat dinner at the coffee table. It will be nice to be able to have guests over for a real dinner or host parties!

Martha Stewart Weddings

Image via Pinterest

VIA

 

...being able to have a space to myself and to organize! We've lived here for three years, couple that with the fact that I moved from my parents house where I had a lot of space plus the gifts we received from our wedding last year, there is stuff in every nook and cranny in this apartment. It will be nice to have a space to do work that doesn't feel overly cluttered.

Office of Jen Ramos of Made By Girl

VIA

Workspace of Monika Hibbs of The Doctor's Closet

 

 

Tuesday Tidbits

• I cannot believe that summer is almost over. I go back to work in less than a month. When I think about it, I develop a pit in my stomach. Here's hoping that the nice fairy made a visit to all of my students over the summer. 
• Last week, after a few cocktails at Book Club, I ordered a Dyson vacuum off of HSN. It is without a doubt the best decision I've ever made while under the influence. I don't know how I ever lived with a Dyson.
• I made these donuts for brunch with my girlfriends this past Sunday. They were divine. So divine I may never eat a store-bought donut again. I'm not much of a baker and these turned out great so don't be scared. 
• We found a house and our offer was accepted last week! I realize this should probably be bullet point #1 but we don't close until September and I feel kind of superstitious about it and don't want to jinx it. Suffice it to say there is a lot of Pinteresting and Home Decor blog reading happening around these parts. I'll share all the details when those keys are finally in my hand. 
• Does anybody else love pushing the grocery cart in to the cart corral thing? It is my most favorite part of the whole grocery store trip. I stand a few feet away and then launch the cart in and wait for it to hit another cart. Now that I type it out it sounds weird and not like very much fun. Am I alone in this?
• The Dark Knight is one of my most favorite movies of all time. I could have an entire conversation using only quotes from that movie. I was really excited to see The Dark Knight Rises and now I'm not sure I'll be able to see it in the movie theater or ever. My heart breaks for those people in CO. I also happened to watch two Lifetime movies about seemingly normal people going batshit and murdering people and now I feel sad for the world all the time. This is why having kids scares the living daylights out of me, how can I feel right about bringing another human into this kind of world?
• Since that last bullet point was heavy, here is a picture of my dog being the cutest thing of all time to lighten things up:

 

Happy Tuesday!

On my nightstand...

Reading is one of my most favorite activities of all time. It is much better than watching TV, in my opinion. I also have zero control over the remote in our house so reading is often what I am doing whilst the husband watches sports or Dirty Harry movies. I do not own an e-reader but am contemplating one as soon as I finish all the unread books in my apartment, which is currently at 24 books. My book choices are all over the map so I thought it would be fun to take a look back at what I've read so far this summer.

Currently reading:

I'm not very far into this book but it is a good insight into hunting culture, which is interesting to me. I've never hunted or even known someone who hunts. I find this culture fascinating.



Ruth Reichl is a great writer and I loved reading about her exploits as the food critic for the New York Times. The character evolution was a bit stilted in my opinion but still a fun read for people who love to eat in restaurants.

The story of JFK Jr.  and Carolyn Bessette is so tragic and complicated. It was interesting point of view, the assistant to John who really embedded herself into his life and that of Carolyn's as well. I enjoyed the book but would have liked more insight into their relationship. The Brawl in the Park, anyone?

This book was okay. I didn't hate it per say but I just got through it because that's how I roll with books. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.





I love Maeve Binchy. Reading her books is like climbing into a giant plush sofa on a rainy day with a cup of tea. Her books are just so damn comforting. They're idyllic. I've been reading her books for years and I love that there are always recurring characters. It's like reading about family members.



Words cannot describe how much I loved this book. I cried and cried on the plane to Charleston reading this book. I own a miniature schnauzer which I am sure contributed to my love for this book but it is also a testament to the extraordinary relationships between humans and our beloved four-legged friends. If you have a dog, I would definitely recommend reading this book. If you don't have a dog, go get one. Tomorrow.





I'm not sure what to say about this book. I had high expectations that unfortunately were not met. Maybe that's the problem or maybe the problem is that there really wasn't a plot. I will say the author was spot on about quite a few aspects of the lives of girls post-college in their early 20s but other than that, this book was just choppy and kind of stupid.

Up next for me will be Emily Giffin's new book which I really hope is good. I was disappointed with her last novel so I'm looking for a solid story out of her.

What are you reading? Any recommendations for me? 

I'm Still Here!!

Oops. I didn't mean to go on an almost 2 month hiatus. But I did and it happened and I hope you'll still stick around and read my ramblings! Since school go out, we have been non stop. Living, laughing, traveling, celebrating. Life has been full and I couldn't  be happier but all that meant less time spent at home and less time spent on the computer. Here is what we've been up to:

The weekend after I got out of school was spent in Charleston, SC. It was absolutely amazing. My husband surprised me with an anniversary trip and didn't tell me where we were going until closer to the date we were actually leaving. He couldn't have picked a better location. I've been wanting to go there for years. We ate and drank our way through city and had a blast together.

Shortly after that, we spent a week in California. We had a wedding to go to in the Santa Ynez Valley on June 30th so we bookended the wedding with a few days on each side. We flew into Los Angeles and stayed Thursday night with G's aunt, drove to Santa Barbara on Friday and spent the day there, then traveled to the Santa Ynez Valley where we stayed Friday and Saturday, then on Sunday we drove the PCH all the way to San Francisco and spent the last 4 days there. It was a jam-packed trip but it was so much fun. 

And now, we're currently in the midst of the home buying process. So there's that. Its been fun looking at houses but I am the product of a real estate agent mother so I'm very specific about what I want and don't want. My mom's business was constantly a topic of conversation in our household and we lived in like 300 different houses growing up. In that respect, I know what to look for in a house even though this will be my first time buying a home. Basically, I'm Sandra Rinomato's worst nightmare. Luckily, my sister is my real estate agent so she has to put up with all of my crap but she also understands exactly where I'm coming from!

Other than that, there are some other projects I would like to tackle before I go back to school and one of them is to blog more often, so hopefully you'll be seeing a lot more of me around here!