Ta-Da!

On Friday, Adam and I made an offer on a gorgeous house.
A 1600 sq. foot, 2 story, 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house.
ANNND... the offer was accepted (without being countered!) by the owners.

Hot-diggity!  We are so blessed.  This house is LITERALLY everything we wanted in a home.  Down to the exterior paint color; and we never thought we would be able to afford a house like this.  Not in a million years.

The home is short sale, so now the offer that we made goes to the owners' bank for processing and acceptance. This process could take anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 months.  But we're in it to win it.

Here are the photos of the house... there aren't any pictures of the upstairs yet.

On another note... It boggles my mind that agencies don't use hi-resolution photos on their websites. They must know something I don't.

   

 
 

 

    

Oh, The Fickle Human

Adam and I have had an amazing last few weeks.  We've been seriously blessed.

First, the dramatic raises.  Then (on the same day) a house-down-payment-gift-check from a family member which arrived in the mail (whoa!).  And finally, after a very long wait and a lot of hard work... we got a home loan pre-qualification.  Which very obviously means we can buy a home.  Which we plan on doing.  Which means that we are officially adults... or something like that (this could explain why I've been wearing button-up shirts all week.)

It's been such a good week; but for some reason, we are so exhausted.  I find myself so overwhelmed with all the things that are happening around us.  One minute I'm overjoyed, and the next I find myself in a frazzled rage.  My poor husband is so patient with my crazy outbursts of feeling (sometimes, I think he is interested in my emotional nature like a scientist is interested in specimens from another planet.  He doesn't really understand it... but it's so fascinating!)  To be fair to myself, and at the risk of sounding sexist... hormones are probably at least partially to blame for my "Gravitron of explosion-emotion."  But, also... wherever there's change, I find that there are usually strong feelings hiding not too far behind.

Ladies' Day Out

Yesterday afternoon, I got to spend some really good quality time with my wonderful friend Bruk of Bruklyn Belle Vintage.  Bruk and I met the first week of high school as very scared (and very unfashionable) freshman.  She sat in front of me in science class and her incredible, gorgeous, curly jet-black hair partially blocked my view.  Then she asked to sit with me at lunch (I still don't know why...).  The rest, oh dear reader, is history.
Both of us have been super busy lately and haven't gotten much of a chance to see each other (more to come later on the reason WHY Adam and I are so busy, but I digress); so yesterday, I visited her and we went out for a photo shoot!  Talk about blast from the past.  We went to all of our old favorite photoshoot places and lo and behold!... They weren't fun anymore.  So we found a brand new place where we could make some brand new memories.

The following photos have been unabashedly stolen from Bruk's blog:

 

 

 

 

 Funny story from this week.  Adam and I were talking about how Bruk has a good head on her shoulders... how she's straight and narrow, so to speak; and Adam accidentally said "She's got a good foundation on 'er" which, of course sounds like a hillbilly pick-up line.  And then I started singing "She's a briiick Hoooousee."

And then we laughed really hard.

As Promised

Baby fever takes over your brain like a BORG (those of you who don't know what a BORG is... you are probably better off not knowing.)  It infects you with its sly tricks.  It reels you in.  Every time you see a baby it says "Oh... look how cute and cuddly this baby is.  It is so sweet and warm... and, what's that... it has a beautiful baby smell?  Don't you like that baby smell? If you do, repeat after me: I WANT A BABY."

But I know better.  I know it's cute now... but as soon as that baby gets out of my earshot, it will start pooping and screaming.  Then, when it gets older, it will throw up on its parents, get them sick, color on the walls with permanent marker, get in fights at school, argue, and become a teenager.  At that point, it will do the most dangerous thing of all: develop its own free-thinking personality.

I know all of this.

So why is it so hard to just say no to babies?
Probably because I know they will look something like this:

Adam and Me @ 6 Months Old

Adam and Me @ 1 1/2 Years Old

Adam and Me @ Two Years Old

Adam and Me @ 4 Years Old

And Adam and Me @ 6 Years Old

Oh great.  These pictures just "done me in."

I'm doomed.

Stylin' and Profilin'

I'm pretty sure "Stylin' and Profilin'" is a saying.
And if it's not... who cares?  I don't.
Because I'm so stylish.

That's right.  Little me.  I'm stylish.
And to prove it, I have won the "Stylish Blogger Award," which has been bestowed upon me by April of Two Mathewsers!
In all seriousness, this is actually a very big honour for me (see, I even spell 'honour' the stylin' British way... I was posh before I knew it was cool to be posh!).  Ah hem... where was I?  Oh yes, I'm honoured.  You see, April's blog is one of my favorite blogs in the whole interwebs.  It's seriously pee-your-pants-laughing-because-it's-so-true-but-no-one-ever-admits-to-it funny.  She uses sentences like "...My sister told me not to write this, but I think it will really benefit you to know that it was so thick, I seriously felt like I was pooping out of my throat."  See!  You don't even need any context for this to be awesome.  April's blog is a very honest, refreshing look at everyday life.  Reading it helps to remind me that, when it comes to blogging (and real life, for that matter) I don't need try to be someone I'm not.  I can just be plain old me.


I especially like being "plain old me" when it wins me an award.

Okay... enough with the bragging.  I'm done.

Upon accepting this award, I must 1.) tell you seven random facts about myself and 2.) point you in the direction of ten stylish fellow-bloggers.
I am up to the challenge.  And so, without further adieu...


1. I sing.  Way too often.  My grandparents' nickname for me is "Little Song Bird."  I walk around the house, my work, the grocery store, and just plain everywhere humming and singing quietly to myself.  I don't usually mean to do it... and I can't even stop myself if I try.

 

2.  There is something about trees that I just really love.  I especially love painting them.  Trees carry some sort of symbolism for me.  Something about those earthy, life-giving roots being planted deep in the rich soil... I want to be like that:  planted, firm, secure, statuesque.  I want birds to live in my branches.  I want to grow moss.  Wait...

Growing is Forever from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

I've already shared this video... but I'm sharing it again because it is so freaking beautiful

3.  I don't mean to sound dumb and cliché, or like I'm making this up so that I can sound "spiritual"... but God (for real), very clearly and distinctly, told me that I was going to marry my husband before I had even seen his face or knew who he was.  That's right.  I saw him from the back of the church on a Sunday morning, and God was like "BAM!  I'm awesome.  Here he is!  Oh and guess what... don't introduce yourself to him yet."  And I didn't introduce myself or talk to him at all.  For another two years.  And then we randomly met (at a very interesting point in both of our lives) because he almost bought a painting of mine at an auction.  And then we were married within the year.  He didn't find out about that whole God-telling-me-I-was-going-to-marry-him part until after we got engaged.  Life is CRAZY.

Our first date at the Oregon Vortex.  Yes... that's right.  The Oregon Vortex.

4.  I LOVE sleeping.

 

This picture was taken while Adam and I were dating.  I was SO tired, and had fallen asleep in this incredibly strange position while we were watching a movie.

5.  I went through a very awkward, fairly ugly phase from the ages of about 8-13.  It's true.  And I have proof:

That is me on the left (holding my cat, Spot).  My sister is on the right (holding her dog, Nestle).

I had some serious teeth issues going on.  And don't even get me started on the jeans.

6.  The day I graduated high school, I thought it would be a really good idea to chop off ALL of my hair.  I was wrong.  Then a week later, I decided that since I had cut it all off in a moment of insanity, I would bleach it platinum blonde, purple and dark brown.  It was definitely freeing to not have hair to hide behind anymore... but let's just say I'll probably never cut my hair that short again.

 

You know that your hair is crazy when you are walking in downtown Seattle and people are staring at you as you walk past.

7.  And finally, I have been a ballerina for Halloween, not once, but twice.  Recently.  I wish I could wear that costume every day.  It's fabulous.  I actually had people ask me if I was an real ballerina when I wore it!  Also, a little boy fell in love with me the first year I dressed as a ballerina.  His mom told me that when they got home, he was saying his prayers before bed and said "... And Jesus, bless the pretty ballerina.  Amen."

And NOW for my favorite, stylin', hip-happenin' blogs.

In alphabetical order:

Boho Baby Bump - A stylish, bohemian mamma who decided that she didn't have to give up her hip style just because she became a mom.  This is her chronicle of daily stylin' life as a wife and mother.

bruklyn belle - Bruklyn is one of my best friends in the whole world.  She is super fly.  Read her fashion blog and you will become super fly too.  I guarantee it.

Color Me Katie - Geeze, talk about a inspiring color explosion!  Working as a photographer in NYC, participating in Improv Everywhere, inspiring total strangers with acts of zany kindness.  This girl is rad. 

Feathers and Things - The creative explosion in human form.  This lady is an artist, an earring maker, an Etsy runner, and an original soul with a jawline I would kill for.

MattandKaraAdopt - A very open, honest, big-hearted blog about the process that is adoption.  This wrenches my guts.

The Purloined Pizza Stone - A new blog full of wit and vigor, this one is.  And so grammatically correct, too!

seablanket - The creative space of a woman on a mission: to be crafty at all expense.

This Much - Full to the brim with some amazingly witty dry humor.  I die laughing when I read it.

tumor-ey side of me -  The "diary" of a very brave, uplifting, super beautiful young woman with a rare disease.  Warning: I found this blog this afternoon and I couldn't stop reading. 

When Body Becomes Word - And lastly, this blog is poetical gold.  Written by a for real artist and poet, it is full to the brim with beautiful poetic imagery.  Did I mention I'm a sucker for a good poem?

Writing this post has really motivated me to get back on track with blogging.  I WILL yet conquer laziness and busyness.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's blog where I will be talking about how wonderfully sucky baby fever is! 

 

Mother's Day... Finally

Oh my fellow bloggers... I'm learning how difficult it can be to find time to write when there are so many other things going on!  But I'm determined to write anyway.

Honest blog: I've had SO many fun, exciting things happen in the last few weeks and have forgotten to write about each and every one of them... including Mother's Day (which was what... two weeks ago?).  I had amazing plans to document the Mother's Day brunch we prepared solely for our beautiful mommas.  It was going to be wonderful and insightful... but then I got so enveloped in the drama of the frittata (aka actually making the brunch), that I completely forgot to take pictures. 

Thankfully, although I lack adequate documentation to prove this "brunch" happened, it was a beautiful Mother's Day.  We had super nummy food.  And super fun conversation.  And lots of laughter.  And we got to bless our mommas, who put so much of themselves into loving us and shaping us into at least mostly functional human beings!

Since I don't have pictures of the brunch, I will give you the mom pictures that we have in our stash.  

We love you mommas!

 Little blond-headed me and my mom.  How am I so white when my mom is VERY clearly very dark?  

Blame it on my dad.  I do :)

Adam and his wonderful mom as she was leaving the hospital with his newly-born 11 lb. self.

The Wonderful World of Decorating

Adam and I are planning on buying a house in the not-so-distant future.  In the meantime, I've been trying to bulk up on decoration inspiration.

In the process of trying to find the perfect mesh of my mutt-style, I have realized how much I miss Domino Magazine.  It had the perfect blend of bohemian-vintage-chic, traditional flair, comfort, and funky details.  For now, I guess I will just have to settle for spending (notice how I chose not to use the word "wasting") countless hours on elledecor.com and apartmenttherapy.com.  While drooling.  My life is so hard.

An intelligent person would probably wait until she had a house of her own before she started perusing the world wide web for design inspiration.  This intelligent person would realize that spending way too much time looking at beautiful rooms while renting a house that she can't touch = bad idea.  And furthermore, she would know that if she WERE to search the depths of the internet for the perfect living room, she would start to obsess... and then she would start to go insane... and then she would drive her husband mad with chatterings and mumblings of future decorating plans.  And then he might cut his ears off.

But on the bright side, if I were an intelligent person, you wouldn't get to look at this eye candy:

(Note: I felt like naming the pictures because I'm hip like that.)

Atlantis

 

Blues Hues

 

Grey Beard

 

Smoking Room

The Coral Shelf

 

The Traveler's Study

  

Rainbow Bright

Tea and Crumpets

Looks like we'll have to buy a house with seven living rooms...

Get Fuzzy

I needed a pick-me-up today... and these Get Fuzzy comics did the trick.

This comic strip features the adventures of three household pets: Fungo (the scary ferret), Bucky (the evil, wannabe-scientist cat), and Satchel (the dumb, but very sweet, dog).

In the comics below, Bucky has started spreading nasty rumors about Fungo the ferret on sticky notes that he posts all over the house and calls "weaseleaks":

I hope this uplifts your day as much as it uplifted mine!

Treehugger

To preface: If you grow up in Oregon, you love trees.  It's just how it works.  If you don't love trees and you live in Oregon, there is probably something wrong with your head.

I wanted a tree house so badly when I was little.  But not so much the kind of tree house that you play in... more like one that you live in.  All the time.  I think I must have been inspired by The Berenstein Bears' home.
In my free time, (you know, when I wasn't doing the important things like watching Power Rangers and Animaniacs) I would draw what I wanted my tree house to look like.  It was always 10 stories high and cut in half, so you could see all the furnishings inside.  It always had one room per floor.  It also had winding staircases, a large kitchen (on the first floor, of course.  Who wants to carry all those groceries up ten flights of stairs?!) a fireplace (probably not such a good idea), a chandelier, and an attic full of dress up clothes.  And there it was, in all its ten story glory, hanging out in a forest canopy.

Well... recently I found out that apparently (at least part of) my dream wasn't so crazy.  About a year ago, I stumbled upon TreeHouse Workshop which specializes in making houses.  In trees.  For adults.

To quote Liz Lemon "I want to go to there."

View their portfolio to see more amazing tree houses

Swell Season: The Movie

I couldn't figure out what to blog about today, so I found myself just cruisin' around the web.  Mostly wasting time (I have a habit of only meaning to be on the internet for 5 minutes, and then zoning out for three hours while watching videos of laughing babies and looking at houses online.)  But then, I saw THIS...



and it rocked my world.

Apparently, during The Swell Season's two-year world tour, there was a documentary team filming them.  The resulting film was aptly titled "The Swell Season" and is opening on April 22nd in NYC during the Tribeca Film Festival.  It looks like it is mostly about Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova's much talked about relationship.  Yes please.

I love documentaries because it's like people watching... on steroids.  (And I love people watching.  Probably a little too much).  This documentary will be no exception.  It better find its way to our local theater, Netflix, or DVD... or I'm gonna be super mad.

The Vintage Itch

That title sounds a little like an STD.

Anyway... I know that in my last post I went on and on about how my day-to-day wardrobe is not inspired by anything particularly "fashiony."  Not out of a dislike for fashion.  I love fashion.  But out of a sort of laziness and an overwhelming love of the V-neck.  But now, I realize that my last post is only mostly truth.  Yep, that's right.  Lately, I have the "vintage itch."  And what is more fashion-forward than vintage?

In the last few years, I haven't owned very many vintage pieces - but when I was little I was obsessed.  My mom used to buy me vintage box hats and silk gloves and I would wear them to church.  I was probably overdressed... edging towards flamboyant...  but a four year old doesn't know what that means (I wish I could still wear hats... but I can't find any that will fit my head.  Sad but True.)  Now, I only own 4 or 5 pieces, but whenever I wear them, I feel like a million dollars.

Well, the other day, I saw a link to this blog... and it stirred up my obsession.  It also solidified my desire to start an Etsy.  I have wanted to create an Etsy for about the last 6 months... but I was afraid.  Mostly of failing.  But I have talked to the huzbin, and it's official.  I will start collecting vintage items at the beginning of next month; and hopefully I will have a shop open within the next 60 days.

Wish me luck!

Here are some of the dresses that inspired me:

Summer's Darling Dress

 Cobalt Nightingale Dress

Gardener Street Dress

Let's See What That Big Ocean's Got

Sometimes, love looks like this:


Video source: The Swell Season


And you know what, that is okay.  It's even healthy.  Because when it's all over, when you've pushed through and sat down to talk it out and let it loose, you love each other all the more.

Style Inspiration

Most people's style inspiration is something or someone uber fashiony.  Chloe, Betsy Johnson, Marc Jacobs, Balenciaga, Sarah Jessica Parker, Gaga Gabor, Diana Ross, The Olsen Twins, Boy George, Kim Kardashian.  Something like that.  Not me.
Call me a conformist... but I love the clean, interesting, mass produced simplicity of J.Crew.
Now, don't get me wrong, I wish that was me.  Much of the time, I wish I could be that person who gently picks out their Marc Jacobs (or Marc Jacobs inspired) outfit out of the closet, packs on the accessories, actually DOES something to their hair, puts on their 5 inch heels and heads out the door on time.  But that just isn't me.  I usually put together outfits based on what is clean (sometimes), easy to get to (this usually means that it is laying on the floor), and what will go with a V-neck Tee.  And now, more and more I find that, when I don't spend all my money on food, I am gravitating towards buying outfits based on whether or not they are already put together for me online, hanging on the J.Crew model.

source: J.Crew

10,000 and One

No one that I know is really talking about what is happening in Japan. I mean, they are posting facts about it on Facebook, but it feels like nobody quite knows what to say when one sees them in person. We all know on an logical level that what happened was terrible, but it is so hard to connect to a disaster of this magnitude from across the world (even for me, and I might be one of the most emotional people you will ever meet.) All the news stories feel so lumped together and sterilized. I can't comprehend a possible 10,000 deaths in one day. I can't comprehend the destruction (even though I went to Mississippi for 5 months to aid in Hurricane Katrina relief.) It's all too big to understand.
What made it "hit home" for me was reading a news story here about a 60 year old Japanese man named Hiromitsu Shinkawawho who was adrift at sea for 2 days after the tsunami hit. To paraphrase the article, after the earthquake hit, he and his wife went home to gather a few possessions when they saw the giant wave coming.  It was too late to escape so they tried to scramble up to the roof.  As the tsunami hit their home, Mr. Shinkawawho tried to grab onto his wife, but she got caught up by the water and was swept away. He couldn't save her. No person could have. That is what is scary about all of this... it is beyond our control. I can't comprehend 10,000... but I can comprehend one; and it is enough to break my heart.

 

Photo found Here

Mini Photo Shoot

I live across from a really cute park (well... during the day it's cute.  Not so much at night... parks are creepy at night.  Am I the only one who thinks this?)  The other day my friend and I spent some time together, and she agreed to nab some shots of me in the park while the sun was still out.  She then proceeded to be even more awesome, took the best picture, and made me a new banner for my blog!  What a good friend.

Here are some of the good shots.  (There were also some bad shots.  Sometimes I can look pretty grotesque.  I was pondering showing you the worst shots as well... but I don't know if my pride could handle it.  Also, I don't think I could do that to your eyes.)