Saturday, February 23, 2013

Samurai

I got my tax return back so naturally I went out on a little shopping spree for the apartment. There were a few things the bathroom needed, like a shower curtain and extra storage. The living room needed bar stools for the breakfast nook and I picked up a nice ladder shelf from Target. I even splurged on an espresso machine! But best of all I got to hang my Samurai curtian I found in Wasilla at the thrift shop. It probably came from a sushi restaurant... I love it!!








Monday, February 18, 2013

More Wall Art



Here are some more paintings I've been doing for our new place. I've had these oddly shaped canvases for a really long time but I never knew what to do with them. Having a new apartment has really helped with my insipration! I've been working on painting and decorating all weekend and I finally feel like these canvases are finished! The photos aren't turning out as well as I thought, I think it's because there are no windows in the living room and I often stay up late at night working on them.


The first one is a silhouette of the Empire State Building. Our first place may be in Alaska, but our home is New York (...upstate... but that's not the point!) I painted the canvas black and cut out a paper silhouette. I taped it to the canvas and painted white around it.



The second one took a few tries before I got it right. I did a simple arrow pattern with grey and lime green.



I love the thick gallery style canvases because you can paint things on the edges of the canvas.




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Chevron Painting



I've been working on a bunch of decor projects over the weekend, the biggest being this chevron painting. It took longer than I expected, mostly because the paint I was using was cheap.


I cut a stencil out of paper and traced it over the whole canvas. Painting straight lines can be tricky! As long as you do the best you can you really can't tell if the lines aren't perfectly straight.



I had to do a couple layers of paint to make it look smooth and then a coat of satin finish Mod Podge to get rid of the cheap matte look.



I was really unsure about the colors at first, either the brown and green looked too drab or the blue was too bright, but I painted some black stripes in which balanced the whole thing out pretty well. Do you like my pillows? I found them at Target on clearance! The colors and the little owl are perfect for the room and match my owl paintings I already have. I actually might hold off on getting a new sofa. I was convinced this love seat wasn't going to work with the decor I was looking for. It goes to show you that you can do anything with a little color and accessories. 



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Friday, February 15, 2013

Banana Bread

Last night was the first night I slept in my new place. It's a little scary hearing all the weird noises in the night. Soon Joe will be here so I won't have to be alone for too much longer.
It seems like I never have furniture. I always try really hard to find something nice and unique, but then a short while later it's all gone. I have a bunch of stuff in storage that I love, but I have to drive all the way to California to get it. Before that there were always reasons why I ended up with all my stuff missing. It was either a break up or I had to leave the country or something. I hope this time we can keep our things!
I found some great stuff at the thrift stores today, mostly glassware and a nice coffee table (although it could use a sand and stain.) I found a whole set of glasses with "O" etched into them! Perfect. This was the same thrift store where I found our perfect wedding cake topper... I think that particular thrift shop and I have a spiritual connection.
I've been camping on the floor of our bedroom, sleeping on the couch cushions and using it as a painting studio. I'll do a post on an easy painting DIY sometime soon!
In between shopping and painting I baked a banana bread with some overripe bananas I had left over. It didn't turn out as good as my moms did when I was younger, but it was a nice snack. I'll have to steal my moms recipe.












Saturday, February 9, 2013

Moving Day and Thrift Finds

Today was phase one of moving day! I moved everything but my clothes, work stuff, bath and kitchen stuff. This afternoon I was on Craigslist searching for free furniture and I missed out on a great sectional sofa by only a half hour!  I happened to find some really nice things at a thrift store in town though.



My piles of stuff.


I found this really nice vintage brass lamp.





There were TWO globes at the one thrift store I visited... I wanted both so bad! But this one was cheaper AND it was a vintage lamp too! The light bulb must have gone out because it wouldn't light when I plugged it in. I think it's pretty cool that it says USSR.



I saw a few of these copper colored pans that people hang on the wall. I thought I might use a bunt pan one day so I picked up this one. 



I just love this cup and saucer set I found! I think the plates are more salad plates than saucers, but I don't really care. I didn't even notice until I got home that they have a New York State design on them! New York is my home state so that made them extra special. I'll have to use them for tea and petit fours one day.

Friday, February 8, 2013

We Got It!

We got the apartment! I'm so excited! The landlord said I could move in early if I paid the deposit up front when I signed the lease, so I'm going to start moving this weekend. My lease officially starts the day that alcohol is no longer allowed in the barracks that I live in. Twenty seven and "not allowed" to have a glass of wine while I cook dinner? No, thank you.

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

New Food & New Home(?)

I just got back from checking out an apartment. It's a very cozy, very small little place but it's clean and bright with lots of new fixtures. The living room is a good size, the bedroom is tiny, but the kitchen has a good size counter space with a breakfast nook (and a dishwasher!) I don't want to count my eggs before they hatch, but I'm pretty sure it's ours! I'll hear back tomorrow... I'm so excited!
The one and only thing I will miss about being in the barracks is my room mates Korean food. Having a huge box of kimchi, dried fish and an expensive rice cooker was pretty awesome. I've been obsessed with Asian food in the past week or so. I took a couple trips to the Asian market for goodies to make bentos with.
I found a nice recipe for tamagoyaki and shredded vegetable pickled salad. I was surprised they both turned out tasty, as I don't normally use vinegar in recipes and adding sugar to an omelette just sounds crazy.
Now I just need a cute bento box! Look at how adorable and yummy these lunches look...



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