Links: The 1st Edition

I have a bad habit of opening a million tabs in Google Chrome and never making the time to go back to read, share, and save the pages I've opened. It drives me crazy because it makes my browser run slower, and I always feel like I'm behind on something that should just be for fun in the first place! (It also drives Thomas crazy because we share a laptop, and I'm always fussing at him about not closing my tabs.) When it comes to tabs, I am a hoarder. That's why I was thrilled when back towards the end of March, my blog-friend Allyssa sent me a tweet that included a link to this THING called OneTab. Here's how it works! When you have a million tabs open, all you have to do is click the OneTab button and it condenses them into a list that is stored somewhere magical in the world of the internet, and you can go back and open those tabs anytime you want to. Pure genius, right? Right. That is, until you find yourself with 283 tabs stored. 283!! I'm not kidding even a little bit. This background is all to say, I'm going to be sharing some link round-up posts over the next few weeks that include some of these 283 pages!! Let's get started.

>> "The desire for success can mangle the beauty in almost anything." How true THAT is! What Madmen, Drunks, and Bastards know about how to live. I haven't read a single other post on that blog, so I can't say anything about it - except that I absolutely loved this post and I think you will, too. 

>> I want to do this and this to my walls more than words can say! Projects like these make me ready to buy a house RIGHT NOW. Then things like money, yard work, and student loans make me realize that dream is probably a few years away.

>> Now that all the springtime torrential rain storms are beginning to subside, I want to add a little style to our backyard space. We have Adirondack chairs, a grill, white light lanterns, our garden, and I'd like to get some more prayer flags, like these.

>> A few weeks ago I told Thomas that we are DOING THIS. He thinks I'm sort of kidding. I'm certainly not.

>> I bookmarked this post months ago, and I'm just now coming back to it. I'm using it for inspiration for my summer reading list. I have a terrible, terrible habit of basically never finishing books I start. I'm going to change that this summer! Here are some more books Anna posted about that I'll be looking into reading in my backyard over the next few months. 

>> Because I only wash my hair once a week, I'm a huge fan of dry shampoo. Know what I'm an even bigger fan of? Making stuff yourself. So while I'm drawing on my walls and building a summer reading list, I think I'll also work on perfecting making my own dry shampoo.

Six links seems like a reasonable number, right? Not too short, not too long? Feedback, please. I hope you find some things in here that interest you, too!

P.S. A few of my favorite bloggers do link round ups each week, and you're bound to find some amazing stuff in their posts. Check them out here! Kate, Allyssa, Megan, and Carly just posted one this week!

Insta Catch-Up

1 // We're so in love with Nellie, and I can't imagine life without her. Nor can I remember day to day life before she was a part of our family.

2 // One of T's best friends sent us a deep dish pizza, straight from Chicago. Have you ever heard of such an amazing thing?! Chicago to Virginia in a matter of hours, and ohhhhh my goodness it was delicious.

3 // Jenna's recipe for Sweet Potato Fries is quick + mess free. They also happen to be the yummiest ever and the new staple of my summer diet. 

4 // Flowers from my sweet sister Mackenzie and the warmest, loveliest card from Jennifer.

5 // The coziest t-shirt I've ever owned. Thank you, Target Men's Department.

6 // I started running (again!). I'm using the Couch-to-5k app, and the new Selena Gomez song is certainly motivating me to get out there and move my booty. Any good running song suggestions? I get bored quickly, so I'm trying to update my running tunes frequently!

7 // THOMAS GOT A JOB! And then the next day so did I.

8 // This week while T is training and we're adjusting to our new routine, we're sharing one car which means I get to go pick him up from work right as the sun is beginning to set over the enormous stone buildings that populate campus. I'm not complaining.

9 // My sister was in town this past weekend, and she brought Nellie a corduroy lion. It took her a few days to get used to it, but now she carries her toy around with her, and each time my heart explodes from all the cuteness.

*Eating frozen yogurt on the couch while I text Anna about our shared obsession: Dawson's Creek. These are the best kind of lazy nights...of this I am sure.

What have you been up to lately? We're slowly figuring out our new routine (what time do we get up? do we get up together? who cooks dinner on days we both work? should i run in the morning or the evening?, what time of day will be best for consistent blogging??) and all of a sudden it's beginning to  feel like summer outside. Where has the year gone? Well darlings, I'm going to go watch the season finale of Nashville - I keep hearing that it was amazing, so I'm excited to see what all the excitement has been about! xo

Home Tour :: Dining Room

Welcome, welcome! Let's continue with this home tour, shall we?

Things I have to say about the dining room:

+ It isn't so much a room, as it is an extension of the kitchen.

+ I took this picture with my back to the kitchen counter, the fridge/stove/doorway to the living room on my right, and the back door to my left. Hopefully that isn't too confusing? 

+ That door you see here opens into a nicely sized pantry, with shelves for groceries, a spot for the trash can, and the ugly water heater. And the half-naked-cowboys you see? It's a bag dispenser. Thanks Mom! Also, the Tommy Bahama Rum sign was a 21st birthday gift from my best friend Ian - "borrowed" from a favorite bar.

+ The chairs (which we snagged from T's sisters before they moved to CA) are getting a fresh coat of paint - each one is going to be a different color. 

+ That shelf you can kind of see behind the roses needs to be refinished and put up on the wall, where it will become storage for spices + tea.

+ The wall behind the maps is going to get a coat of paint (probably something like Betsy's coral wall)! 

When I post pictures with all of those updates, I'll try to remember to grab a picture of Nellie's little corner at the base of the map wall, behind the table. As you can see, it's a great little space that simply needs some color + love to spruce it up a bit further!

happy news

Hi there, friends!

First of all - thank you so much for your sweet comments on my last few posts. It feels so good to be back in the swing of things with blogging, even if I am terribly behind in responding to comments. Sorry about that. I promise I'll be caught up soon! In the next few weeks I want to show off more of the house and fill you in on all the things I've accomplished from my spring bucket list. Just over a month to go on that one! Stay tuned. 

WE HAVE NEWS!

On Monday, T was offered an amazing job working for Virginia Tech. Earlier today, I was offered a nanny position that I couldn't be happier about. Timing is a funny thing, isn't it? We're both thrilled with our new job plans and we both start next week.

Tomorrow I have a full day of house cleaning planned in preparation for Mackenzie's weekend visit to Blacksburg. We're planning on enjoying a mediterranean feast, a couples massage (my first ever!), and a lazy Saturday morning at the Farmer's Market. I think once we combine all of that with a few bottles of wine, we'll be set for one of the Best Weekends of sister time ever to exist. I have a few other fun things planned for the next week, because it's the last week of blissful freedom before the real days of work and routine begin.

What's on your calendar this week?

Home Tour :: Kitchen

Welcome to our kitchen! While I know there's still a lot to be explained when it comes to why we moved + how we ended up where we are, today I want to show you around our kitchen - because those other posts are tricky - and kitchen tours are fun + easy! Take a look around!

Things I have to say about this kitchen:

+ The back door, the primary way we come into our house, enters directly into the kitchen. Being such a high traffic area, we try to keep it as clean + tidy as possible because this room has such potential to become the messiest room ever. 

+ We have limited cabinet space, so that metal shelf near the fridge is home to our small appliances. It's also my favorite part of the kitchen - so cute and colorful!

+ Recognize the rug? It used to be our living room rug in Georgia.

+ My sister gave me the hand soap + candle from a favorite Etsy shop

+ Speaking of soap, I always keep at least two dish soaps on hand because it makes doing the dishes a little more exciting. And storing all that messy stuff on a cake stand makes me smile daily.

+ My dad found those vintage metal flour + sugar canisters at a thrift store for me (can you see them back there, in the corner?). I've had them in every apartment I've lived in since I moved out of the dorms for senior year of college.

+ In an ideal world, my cabinets would be mostly open, rustic wood, and pretty white. But considering what crappy cabinets we've had in the past, I'll take these without complaint!

+ We eat a strictly corn-free and dominantly gluten-free/dairy-free/Paleo diet. Because of that, we have quite the mix of cookbooks + recipe resources. (I'm compiling my thoughts as best I can for a "how we eat" post, coming soon!) 

+ My main source of recipe inspiration comes from this Whole Food Kitchen class I took this spring. The class happened while we were moving so I didn't get to make many of the recipes at the time, but I've saved them all, and will slowly be working through the class on my own this summer.

There you have it! I hope you enjoyed taking a look into our kitchen. Now, when are you coming for dinner? xo

Day Nine // a moment

This blog every day in May challenge has already taught me a few things. One, I love blogging. Two, blogging keeps me centered. Three, I like blogging on my schedule - twice in one day, or not for a week at a time. That's not to say I'm not all for blogging every single day! In fact, I rely on that consistency from my editorial-calendar-type blog friends. I check their blogs daily, and I love seeing wonderful new content every single morning. But now, at this point in life, a regular blogging schedule feels forced - because nothing else in my life is regular or routine. And if I'm to blog about life, my blogging should be appropriately timed with my living, don't you think?

Today's prompt: a moment from my day

Yesterday was so full of cleaning + picking up furniture + borrowing the truck from my father-in-law that by the time 11:30 rolled around, I realized I hadn't blogged yet. My first thought was "shoot. I should probably go do that." - followed quickly by the realization that I would much rather cozy into my new love seat with a bowl full of fresh-from-the-oven apple cobbler and a before bed episode of Dawson's Creek. Such a perfect way to spend the evening. I think I'll do it again tonight.