What Happens With No Furniture

I realize that this is a few weeks delayed but I thought it's better late than never, right? So J and I recently purchased new living room furniture and we absolutely love it. When we moved in together we used whatever our parents could spare from their houses so we were a little mismatched and a little outdated.

When we went to the furniture store they unfortunately told us it would be about a month for our new stuff to be in because of stocking issues. It was fine with us since we needed to get rid of the current items first. Well about a week before it was supposed to be delivered we listed everything on Craigslist.

As fortune would have it our old furniture sold the next day, was gone the following day, and our new furniture was a week late. That meant that we had no furniture for way too long, had to live on an air mattress and beach chairs, and often got a little bored inventive.

This is a product of our lack of furniture....

Living without furniture from Simple Sweet Life on Vimeo.

Disclaimer: No O-dogs, girlfriends, or boyfriends were injured during the making of this video ;-)

Christmas Spirit

I absolutely love decorating for the holidays! I wish there was more I could do in our little apartment but I've made due with what we have. I'll start with our awkward entrance ledge that I first mentioned here, and the decorated for fall here.

I already had the red candles which is always a good thing when you're trying to be thrifty. A few empty wine bottles and coffee filters later and I had some extra decor for the season.

My favorite part of the shelf though has to be my subway-inspired art that I made. I created a jpg of the sayings, fonts and colors I wanted, had it sent to Costco to print as an 11x14 (for under $3) and stopped by Dollar Tree for a cheap frame. I was just looking for one the right size with the plan to paint it but it just so happened that it was red so I left it alone.

A quick skim through the holiday fabrics at Joann Fabrics and this little beauty was on clearance. Bought it, sewed it, stuffed it and we now have a festive holiday pillow that coordinates with the classic colors of our decor. I also have enough fabric left to make Ollie a matching scarf like the one I made him for fall.

Yet again another cheap transformation for the frame over our couch. Ollie helped me collect some pine cones on our walk one afternoon and with a little ribbon and a lot of hot glue, it's really starting to feel like Christmas around here. I love the idea of the pine cones because I wasn't really feeling the traditional wreath look (which I do usually enjoy.)

Last but not least, the tree.

We had this tree last year but only had silver ornaments on it thanks to a giant box of random ornaments from Ikea. I wasn't sure what other colors I wanted our home to have until this year. I love when people make their tree unique with purples, blues, etc but I wanted to keep it traditional.

Plus I don't think I could part with this tree skirt. My grandma handmade it and it's been on her tree, my family's tree and now my tree for many decades. So red ornaments it was. The best part about all of the ornaments on the tree: they're either plastic or shatterproof. Perfect for a home with a puppy who's never seen a Christmas tree before :-)

Now a few close-ups of note worthy ornaments.

If you don't know who this little guy is, his name is Opus. He's one of the main characters for the Bloom County comic strip from the 80's. Why is he on my tree, you ask? He was my dad's all-time favorite comic character and was a staple collectors item in my house as a kid. Sweatshirts, stuffed animals, ornaments and all. He holds a special place in my heart.

Yes this bird is creepy, I'll be the first to admit it. I honestly can't say I know where these birds (yes they're are multiple) came from or how my family got them but the moral of the story is that we have way too many of them. They're weird, but they're traditional for my family. It wouldn't be a true Christmas tree without one of them and my mom was nice enough to give force upon J and I one for our tree. Plus I heard somewhere that it's lucky to have a bird on your tree? Maybe?

Some side knowledge is required for this one. Before J and I got Ollie, my family has had a Golden Retriever since I was 11. Because we're all dog lovers it was natural for us to get a Golden ornament for Christmas one year. However, Basil (my family's dog) looks nothing like this. He's red-colored with long, not fluffy, hair and has a much skinnier build. This ornament does happen to look exactly like Ollie. So my mom was kind enough to bring it with her for Thanksgiving.

I love our festive apartment. It looks and even smells (thanks to our Glade Apple Cinnamon plug-in) like Christmas.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Do you have an awkward space?

So if you start with some thumb tacks, some pieces of coordinating scrapbook paper, a little hot glue and some time on a Saturday afternoon.... you can make your bathroom all sorts of decorated.

I read about this idea on a handful of blogs, none of which I remember at the moment.

I know, bad blogger. So if it was you/you know who it was, please tell me.

I found a template for some 6 petaled flowers online. I literally googled "flower template" and picked one I liked. The longest part of the project involved tracing and cutting out the flowers from the paper. But when college football is on and you have nothing better to do then it occupies your time quite nicely.

I had 5 different papers so I made sure to lay the flowers out on the bed to get the right shape of the final product and the right ratio of all the papers. (I took a picture of this but my post doesn't want to let me add it in right here.) To give the whole thing more of a 3D effect, I curled the edges of the flowers with a pencil until they were the right amount that I wanted.
I hot glued a thumb tack to the back of each flower, pushed them into the wall above where our toilet is and this is what I got....

A side note about our bathroom situation. The vanity (mirror, sink, and drawers) are all technically IN our bedroom, like with no separation between the two. I know, it's a little awkward. So then we have a door into where the toilet and shower are and that's all that's in there. It's a small space that I didn't really know what to do with and this is the perfect solution. It's a customizable size, I was able to match the colors of our towels, and best of all.... it's cheap and changeable whenever I please. I'm not completely set on the shape of the design at this point, I wanted it to have some what a distinct shape but still be random, but it's really easy to change them around.

I had some extra flowers (actually a lot of extras) so I put a few above our light-switch too. I apologize for the poor picture quality but it's hard to take good pictures in a room with bright over-head lights and no windows for natural light. But none the less, I think you get the gist of the whole project.

I hope everyone's having a good, cool, fall-weather start to November.

It was 90+ in San Diego today. Yuck.

Our new home

Welcome to our new apartment.

We've officially lived here since Friday and I couldn't be happier about it. This complex is much more of a community feel and not so much of the "party scene, all college kids" atmosphere. The move went really smoothly as we tried to be as ready and organized as possible. ($0.97 Home Depot boxes are awwwwesome!) It all paid off because it made it super easy to get completely unpacked and settled in ASAP. Since Ollie coming home depended on the fact that we got everything put away first, we definitely didn't care to stay up late and get it done! There are a few places in the apartment that still need a little decorating but here's what we have for now.

Black and white bedroom with a hint of red from the bathroom. I need to do something else in here but I'm not sure what at this point. Suggestions anyone?

This is our front door. We are in the process of training Ollie to ring a bell when he has to pee so I thought I'd make it prettier than just a bell on a string.

There's a ledge right when you come in our front door that makes the perfect pile your stuff here display location. I'm planning on getting some decorative flowers to go in our J wine bottle to add a little height to the spot.

I got the idea to store your extra candles in a decorative jar from Ikea. I love that it's pretty and practical at the same time. I purchased a 36 pack of candles in three different scents and I like how you can see the different colors.

Our kitchen is pretty small but I actually like it better than our old one. The only thing that isn't the best is that we don't have a microwave built into the apartment so ours has to sit awkwardly on the counter. I might try to decorate around it so it's not as obvious?

I used three pictures from our recent trip to Antigua to decorate our dining room and separate it from the living room. Hobby Lobby had some great blue distressed frames on clearance that I had to get. The center picture was purchased from the man who took my sister's senior pictures and the other two are pictures that I took myself. They're fun and bright and provide a nice centering environment for our table.

I can't wait until we have our own, non-rented place so we can really do whatever we want but for now this works for me. It works for me, it works for Jeff and most importantly, it works for Ollie. Does anyone have any tips for decorating apartments? How have you made those white walls feel like home?

Things are a changin'

Things have really been going great lately. I've been busy but a controlled busy which is doing wonders for my stress level. I've been able to get things done that need to be while also doing things I enjoy.

I've made somewhat of a dent on our packing endeavor so that hopefully next week isn't so crazy. I can't wait to move into our new place. It will most likely be a lot of work with the actual move, getting as much done ourselves before the movers come, cleaning our old apartment top to bottom, and getting all settled in but at least it's summer. I'm really excited, like I've mentioned on my blog before, about getting a fresh, new slate to decorate. We're hoping to add a new area rug to our living room and I hope to change around our art work for a new theme. Hopefully we can add some organization stuff to keep the apartment less cluttered/more... well... organized. I'm dreaming of a bookshelf and some cute-sie racks for our kitchen.

I admit that I've been watching way too many reruns and marathons of Khloe and Kourtney Take Miami, Real Housewives NJ, and Bethany's Getting Married? (Please don't judge me but I love these shows.) I just finished reading New Moon (again, stop with the judging eyes) and really enjoyed it. I hope to take more time for reading as I never get a chance to while the semester is in full swing. I hope to repaint my nails later today and enjoy the face that it's summer.

Things with the whole applying to medical school are really getting close. I just got in my last letter of recommendation which means I'm done with those parts. Yesterday I finished entering in all my previous coursework which is definitely a busy-work process. Not hard, just time consuming. I have a bit more proofreading to do for the rest of it but hopefully there's not much that needs changing. I will know my MCAT scores by next Tuesday which is the last piece of the puzzle. From there I will officially decide on my school list and press the dreaded/scary/nerve-racking SUMBIT button. Eeek!

Today I officially... got a job! Yay! I will be a nanny/mommy's helper for an adorable family in the area. I will work 6:45/7am to about 8/8:30am Monday through Friday helping get the two adorable girls up in the morning, fed, dressed, and dropped off at preschool. It'll only total about 6 hours a week I think but I'll be making more money than I am currently... $Zero. Plus, what a simple job. The girls are super cute and really friendly towards new people so that should make the adjustment easy. I'll get holidays off and might work extra hours/get references for other families. I'm very excited to start Monday.

The countdown is officially started for puppy time! We plan on getting all settled into our new apartment, meaning everything unpacked and put away before we bring our new baby home. But even so, it's most likely 2ish weeks away. We've started looking in Classified adds and hope to start checking them out soon. While I was at Ikea today I bought two awesome, silver bowls and it got me even more excited. And the best news, I think we decided on a name. Our new family member is going to be Ollie, the golden retriever :-D

needs to/wants to/can't be done

Dear Stomach,

Can you please stop grumbling?

Especially since I know you're full of pizza pockets, veggies and dip.

Slightly Annoyed,

I hate stomach noises

Dear MSAR Book,

Want to just tell me where to apply?

It'll save me a lot of time and effort if you just decide for me.

I love sticky-notes so please mark all corresponding pages accordingly.

Thanks for the help,

Future MD

Dear New Apartment,

We would love it if you just grew, oh, say 200 extra square feet.

It would make moving that much less stressful.

Sincerely,

Your new tenant

Dear Chardonnay in the Fridge,

If there is anyway for you to make it Friday already (or even Thursday) I'd appreciate it.

Indulging on you by myself isn't the best option for today.

But you're new and I want you.

Love,

I want it to feel like summer

Dear Autobiography,

Do you really need to be 10 pages long?

Are there really that many things you need to know about me?

Aren't bullet points so much more effective?

From,

Writer's Block

Dear Current Nail Polish,

Please leave so I can replace you.

It's magenta's turn.

Xoxo,

Pedicure Princess

Dear Gym,

Be good to me today...

From,

Declining Motivation

Dear Resume,

Why must you be so difficult?

Can't you just be good for every job listing?

I swear, you're so needy that I have to keep changing you all the time.

Always,

Needs money now

Dear Nook,

I'm sorry for neglecting you.

It's not that I don't love the novel you bring to me, I've just been busy.

Can we meet later this week?

Please?

It's time for a story

Dear Free-Coffee Coupon,

I plan on using you soon.

Thanks so much for giving me a free handcrafted drink.

Love,

Caffeine Addict

Dear Best Friend,

Please hurry up and get here.

I miss you.

Always,

Your BFF

on apartment decorating

In less than a month.... we're moving. I have to say that I'm pretty excited about it because I'm really pumped to have a new, clean slate to decorate. There were some decorating attempts in our current apartment but things were more just thrown together with what we had. I really want to try and make this apartment feel more like our own place as opposed to just where our stuff is. My dislike towards renting has really increased lately and I can't wait to be able to paint walls, change flooring, and make major updates but for now we have to make due with minimal, but hopefully significant additions.

I've been looking online for decorating ideas so we don't go into the new place with no concept of what we want. Today I spend the afternoon on Better Homes and Gardens looking at their great apartment improvement pages. Here is what I'm loving right now...

+ This kitchen is most likely close to the size ours will be. (I haven't actually seen it, but I'm going tomorrow.) I'm pretty sure I'm going to get a rug for the floor, it adds texture and definitely makes it feel more like home. While on our vacation, I got a gorgeous print of extra ripe, bright yellow bananas. I knew right away that the print was going in the kitchen! I went to Hob Lob when they had a sale for frames and got a set of awesome, denim-blue colored frames and plan on printing two more pictures from our trip to go along with it. So instead of a creepy man in our kitchen, we'll have a nice collage of prints.

+ I absolutely loooove the idea of this storage. It's hard to tell in the picture but it makes use of that awkward space underneath your kitchen sink. While ours will always have cabinet doors, I still plan on making trips to Ikea or the Container Store to purchase some organizing things for under here. Rolls of toilet paper or paper-towels, extra sponges, extra candles, and possibly even scissors/office supplies and some files we want to keep handy.
+ Since we're both students, we always have a lot of papers, notebooks, text books, note cards, calculators, sticky-notes, etc etc lying around. It's always driven me crazy that we don't really have a place to put them where they're not so... ugly and cluttered. Boxes with lids would be the perfect solution. We could even divvy them up as to whos are who's. While I would love to also add a cute hallway table like this into our personal collection of furniture, I'm not sure that's going to happen but we have plenty of spaces under our current coffee tables for sturdy boxes like these.

+ I've wanted a desk for far too long. I'm sick of sitting doing homework on the dining room table simply because it always ends up one of two ways. 1: I have to clear off all my supplies so we can have dinner. I usually have my computer (with charger), multiple books, pens, highlighters, notes, and stikies spread everywhere. And to be honest, it's a little bit of a hassle to move it all for dinner knowing I'll be back in the same spot in less than an hour. Or 2: I leave all said-supplies where they are, spread where we're supposed to eat, which reduces us to eating on the couch. Yes, there are sometimes when I like it. Ordering pizza so we can watch a movie during dinner, perfect time for the couch. But when we have salads, or pasta or anything that requires a knife and a fork, I much prefer the table. To be short, this table, matching with other furniture and extremely simple would serve as a perfect spot for me.

Have you decorated an apartment you rent(ed)? What worked for you and what didn't? Any tips?