What goes up...

... must come down.

It may or may not be time to take my Christmas decorations down.  But it probably is.

My Christmas tree went up on November 7, 2009 - the day I got back to Oregon from a 40 day trip to Utah.  I knew I would spend the majority of the holidays back in Utah, so I thought there was plenty of reason to put the tree up pre-Thanksgiving.  But today, January 14, 2010 - 67 days later - it still stands with no good reason except that I love to look at it, it has basically become a part of me, and I am fearing the time it will take to put all the ornaments away.  But alas, all good things must come to an end and the time has come to make room for Valentines day so I will say goodbye, until next year....

I will miss you Christmas tree!

Um, hello Gumby

Is that Gumby? Yes, yes it is! And who is dressed in that Gumby suit you ask... that would be Bryce. All his life (or at least the last 2 years) he has wanted to buy a Gumby suit for Halloween. Well last year he regretfully didn't do it, so this was the year! Isn't it funny, I seriously love it! I said to him, "That will be a fun costume... you can wear it every Halloween!" He said, "Costume? Halloween? I am wearing this thing 3 times a week!" Too funny!

In other news, I elected today as the day I would finally start getting my house ready for Halloween. It really doesn't take much, I don't have a ton of holiday decorations yet. But to my wondering eyes should appear today... of course a package from Pat enclosed with Halloween decorations! Whoo hoo! Here is a picture of the cute pumpkin pillow (that she made) and new dishcloths that she sent. Thanks, Pat!

Have I mentioned I love this time of year?!

My house for all to see

Ok, get ready for a post full of pictures (like all of my posts really). Here is my living room and kitchen, it is just about as decorated as its going to get for now. I love my new couch and chaise lounge... finally somewhere to relax!

Here is the living room as you walk into the door


This is from behind the couch facing the fireplace and TV



I had to include this picture because it shows my area rug that I love. I think I want to find a round coffee table for this room to even out all the dark rectangles, but no luck with that yet. So for now this storage ottoman is doing a great job!


Here is the the kitchen. This is with your back to the fireplace.





Now don't you feel like you are right here with me. This is home and I love it. I have so much space just for me!

What is my style?

Here I am in a new city, in a new apartment and aside from my desk, bed and 2 closets full of clothes, my 1000 sq.ft apartment is empty and I am at a loss as to where to start. I have been out of my parents house since I was 18 years old, I have lived in 5 different apartments and somehow each one was decorated. So I think my amazement at discovering that I have no style is justified. I am 25 years old for heaven sakes I should know how to decorate! The discovery of having no style came simply - when I got here I knew I had a lot of space to fill, so what did I do? I went shopping! I walked and walked and walked and bought nothing, that is unusual all in itself. But when I would walk I would think, "that is cool" or "that is cute, but will it go?" GO WITH WHAT?!? Nothing, sure that will go with nothing just fine! How do I not have style? I pick out clothes just fine (I think?) and I have been known to watch hours upon hours of HGTV, so I definitely have an opinion, but actual style, I don't think so. Now here is what I did, I decided to start with furniture. Easy enough - FYI furniture is expensive. So I decided I would buy something slightly used from craigslist, after all that is how I found this apartment. Bad idea - used furniture is different than renting an apartment. Needless to say, Thursday I thought I found the perfect used couches and Friday I brought them home and decided I couldn't sit on them because it stressed me out to think what they may have been through, today I sold them. Back to square one, but smarter nonetheless. New plan, I will buy new furniture, I sat down and mapped out each of my rooms, made a list of the things I need. I think once I have anchor pieces - couch, bookcases, blah blah, accessories shouldn't be hard. I understand color, I understand prints and patterns, mixing and matching. I want to say my style is traditional/eclectic, but I seem to be drawn to contemporary furniture, but not so contemporary accessories hopefully I can meet somewhere in the middle and add a little shabby chic glam to it. There must be something about this being just mine that I want to make it perfect. Cross your fingers I get close, and when I do this will probably be the first place I post pictures. So stay tuned.

The Plan