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!

Waking up

     It's been a while. Life has been bright and energetic and busy and beautiful. I find myself going to social media less and being more present and happy in real life. Moving to a beautiful new place and creating my own homey environment with my love and our new cat has had a huge impact on me and really gave me a breath of fresh air. Not to mention Minnesota has decided to actually give us a little taste of spring and sunshine the last few days.

     Walks through our little Como neighborhood here in St. Paul with the sunshine on our backs. Walking down to the little corner market and buying pretzel buns. Homemade meals and Game of Thrones. Kitty cuddles. Laughter and hanging Christmas lights inside our 3 season porch. Neighbor dog barking at 6:30am and morning light coming through the window. The slow purr of our coffee maker and the smell of cozy morning goodness. Afternoon sunshine coming through our old windows and onto the uneven hardwood floors. Kitty sitting in the window watching the world go by. Tanner playing his guitar/banjo as I get ready for bed. Unexpected kisses and embraces. Hot baths in a leaky bathtub. Succulents in the window. Moments I have collected and want to cherish.

Absence

     I've been trying to wrack my brain for blogging inspiration all week, but frankly, my plate is full. I've got a lot of things going on right now mostly between getting ready to move in two weeks and figuring things out with my job/going back to school. So I may be taking a bit of a hiatus. One of my favorite things that Elizabeth of Delightfully Tacky (Blogger crush alert!) often mentions is that a blog post is much more valuable if the quality of it is well written and important to you, rather than just trying to pump out a whole bunch of posts that may not necessarily be quality content. So until something substantial comes to my mind, I'm going to focus on these other aspects of my life and when things settle a bit I will be back. Until then!

Smoothie Basics: Blueberry

     Smoothies are great. And healthy. So here's my favorite most basic, simple blueberry smoothie recipe. You can easily take this basic formula and run with it, try different berries, add-ins like spinach or flax seed.. etc.

    

Simple Blueberry Smoothie

• 1 cup frozen blueberries
• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
• a little less than 1 cup of almond milk (I don't usually measure this, just add more as needed to achieve desired texture)
• 1 tablespoon of honey

I like to blend the berries and milk first to get those nice and pureed. Then add in the Greek yogurt, honey and a little more almond milk to get the perfect consistency. This smoothie is sweet with the honey and creamy with the Greek yogurt, not to mention filled with antioxidants from the blueberries. I like smoothies for breakfast or for a mid afternoon boost before yoga or other physical activity. Also if you're counting calories, this specific smoothie recipe is about 270 calories (give or take a few depending on how much almond milk you use). 

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.