Apartment Tour pt. 1

     I took these photos about a week after we moved in and finally got these main rooms settled. A few changes have been made since then but here is the living room, dining room and kitchen! The green color in the living and dining room worked perfectly with the color theme I already had going on with the couch and pillows and what not. We are allowed to paint if we want but so far the only room I have real plans for is our bedroom. More to come on that. 

     Vintage charm is a fantastic element to have in your home environment, but vintage charm also comes with vintage problems as well. You have to accept that you will never get all the dirt out of the cracks between the floor boards, that the radiators will always have dust bunnies no matter how many times you vaccuum them, and that the cupboards probably need a decent amount of contact paper on the inside in order for you to feel comfortable putting your dishes in them. We've had to do a ton of cleaning and a good amount of communicating with our maintenance guy since we've moved in, but overall we love this new place. It feels like home. Neither Tanner or I had an ounce of regret or sadness as we moved from our old place to this new home. The neighborhood is a really nice area also. I have walked to my grandma's house and down to the little corner market on Como. There are a bunch of cute cafes and restaurants we have yet to explore but I'm looking forward to this summer when we can walk freely without bundles of jackets and scarves wrapped about us.

Goals: plants in every window. Since I've taken these photos I've potted some herbs, I'm starting to see sprouts!

We've hung a coat rack above the boot rack in the corner there. The brown wall is a hallway that connects back behind the kitchen, I'm working on a gallery wall there. 

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This side of the kitchen could use a little decor, but I'm still trying to brainstorm what I want to do with it rather than just digging through boxes and hanging up whatever I find. I've got a lot of picture frames and wall art that I don't have a space for yet. This place has such a different feel from our last apartment. I wanted to cover up the ugly walls in our old place. This new apartment has so much character and charm on its own that I don't want to suffocate it. The natural light and the woodwork really take precedence here. So for now we have several unpacked boxes with photos and frames that don't yet have a place. 

     Norman is the newest member of our little family. He loves the window sills and has most recently discovered all the different plants that he can try to eat and throw up. Many plants have been moved to the top of the book shelf since this discovery. He's a lazy and sweet cat who loves everyone. He also is proving to be very talkative in the wee hours of the morning when he thinks its time for breakfast. I've been sleeping through it the last couple of nights but he's been waking Tanner. We tried to let him sleep with us the first night, but he woke us up literally almost every hour of the night meowing or walking on our pillows.. etc. He just wanted attention but he ended up getting kicked out of the room around 4:30am. Since then he has learned that night time means he gets to stay out on his favorite spot on the couch.

     TTFN (ta ta for now for those of you who aren't fluent in Pooh Bear language, or Tigger rather). Once I get the bedrooms a little more fixed up to what I would like them to be I will do the rest of the apartment tour! I've also got a few ideas that I'd like to implement for our 3 season porch. Until then!

Modern day Gatsby

    As many of my friends and family know, I love makeup. My everyday make up is usually pretty boring compared to some of my more eccentric night time looks. On Friday I was feeling very Gatsby-inspired (specifically Jordan Baker inspired), and decided to go for a dark and mysterious 1920's look. I strayed a tiny bit because it's really hard for me to not do a cat eye shape, cat eye is simply my favorite. I also left out the dark lips on this one. Dark lips and dark eyes can be so mysterious and sleek but they're tricky. I was pleased with my results nonetheless. 

I use a blend of Everyday Minerals makeup and Bare Minerals makeup. Both make really fantastic products, I have been using more of the Everyday Minerals make up since it's a tad bit cheaper. They sell only online, but their products are all natural, vegan and cruelty free at a good price. They're easy on the sensitive skin and give me great coverage for my acne prone and acne scarred skin. I personally the powder coverage better than a liquid foundation.

Products used:

• Correcting concealer from Bare Minerals (probably one of the best concealers I've ever used)
• Matte base foundation from Everyday Minerals
• Wild Vines blush from Everyday Minerals
• Revlon ColorStay liquid eyeliner (my go-to)
• Everyday Minerals eyeshadow in "Smokey" (currently not in stock)
• Bare Minerals eyeshadow in "Quirky"
• Falsies Volum' Express (waterproof) from Maybelline
• White eyeliner pencil from Rimmel
• Black eyeliner pencil from Rimmel
• My go-to dark brown eye shadow for the brows from L'Oreal

I hope to do a more detailed makeup tutorial sooner or later. I know in our next apartment the lighting is so much better, so I've got a few ideas up my sleeve for then.

Longing for Summer

     I love winter but I'm at the point that I just want summer back again. I want the warmth and the freedom of walking outside in a tank top and shorts and exploring the parks and jumping in lakes and grilling and barbecuing and bonfiring and sunbathing and water sports and camping and night games and stargazing and condensation-covered iced chai tea lattes. So here are some pictures of my grandparent's cabin which is actually a trailer that has not been touched since the 1970's. I have so many memories growing up here with my family. It might be on my list of favorite places ever.

Vintage Glasses Galore!

     I have this vision of my blog being awesome and flawless and featuring all the cool things in my life and my clothes and what not, and then it doesn't happen. I want to do these things but it's difficult living in an apartment (not a cute one at that), not really having anyone to take photos of you during daylight (which in Minnesota now a days is 8am to 4pm and both my husband and I work), and being lazy contributes to the mix as well. I have a lot of cute things to show you guys but I am a perfectionist and a very picky photographer when it comes to myself.
    So today I was looking through old pictures for inspiration, and I came across some photos from last April. My great-aunt passed away over a year ago now, and last spring her kids were getting the house ready for sale and invited the family over to see if there was anything we wanted. I found a lot of vintage treasures there. One was a beautiful old mirror that I absoultely adore. I found a lot of vintage fabric and scarves. Also a dress from the 60's era that I have yet to alter for proper fitting. But what I was going to show you today were these lovely eye glasses from the 1950's/1960's era. My great-aunt had kept these since then, they had her name and phone number on them in case they got lost!

The blue background is actually the dress that I got from her:

The dress is hanging from the lovely, lovely mirror I found. I ended up painting the frame black this summer which makes it just perfect for me. It's probably one of my favorite- and most frequently used- household items. I did a blog post all about it here.

My Jewelry Corner

This is one of my favorite parts of our room. The dresser we got from my Great-Aunt. It was a wedding present given to her and her husband back in the sixties. My grandmother actually refinished the wood sometime in the past  decade so it has a nice seal on it. The little corner table is something I picked up from my elderly neighbor's house at a garage sale after he passed away. Also from the late fifties/early sixties era. The jewelry board above I made myself from an old bulletin board, a vintage table cloth, staples and furniture nails. 

For as long as I can remember I've been collecting jewlery, and ever since I was about 15 I took a great interest in vintage jewelry. Much of the jewelry I have is from my grandmothers, or other relatives. But I like to pick out little treasures from antique stores every now and then. This tray idea came to me out of desperation for the need of organization. It keeps things somewhat organized looking, although I have multiple containers that just hold piles of jewelry.

Vintage clip on and non-clip on earrings from my grandmother.

Brooches galore!

Some of my favorites, all from my Grandma.

This necklace was given to me by my husband last year for Christmas. He ordered it from Etsy and it arrived on Christmas Eve. Made in Japan with real pearls. I wish I still had the link to the shop but alas I didn't save it and I have no idea what it was called.

Some of my Great-Aunt's glasses from the sixties. 

I have a lot of pretty earrings but I really hardly ever wear them. I should make it a point to put them to good  use.

Vintage gloves and handkerchiefs.

I love to keep my wedding bouquet in sight. 

A favortie ring from another of my Great-Aunts. Aquamarine, my birthstone.

One of my favorite most recent purchases. A vintage ring estimated to be from the 1950's era. I found it at this darling little vintage shop in Uptown, Minneapolis Via's Vintage. It's a locally owned shop that has pink walls and perfect placement of items. I will definitely be making another visit there soon.

I figured I could finish with my favorite piece of jewelry, my wedding and engagement ring. Lately because of my job as a nurse I've just been wearing the wedding band, so when I put on my engagement ring with it, it's like wearing it again for the first time. I catch myself just staring at it with googly eyes and patting myself on the back for picking out the perfect ring for me. It's super sweet when husbands to be pick out rings, but my husband to be in particular would be like a man lost at sea when it comes to my picky jewelry preferences. Some people think it's weird to pick out your own ring, but the way I see it, this is what you will be wearing for the rest of your life, so it's nice to have a say in it!

We've reached just the tip of the iceberg of my jewelry with this post. I have tons more that would make for a ridiculously long post, but I hope to start incorporating more fashion into my blog posts!