we're homeowners!

So, if you guys follow me over on instagram and twitter, you probably already know this, but... we're homeowners!  Hooray!  It's been a long, arduous, exciting, exhausting, frustrating process the past 6 months, but we feel like we ended up with our dream home and all the hassle was totally worth it.  It's pretty bizarre to be sitting inside our home.  Like, these our our walls, we can do whatever we want to them!  I can knock that one down if I want.  I can paint it, I can tear up the floors, I can do... anything!  I'm almost paralyzed with the freedom, I'm not sure what I want to do now!  For now, we need a few items that will require an Ikea run.  We went on a thrift adventure yesterday to look for a few things and got some necessities.  I have my very own studio space that have absolutely no furniture for, so I'll have to design that space from scratch, which is pretty thrilling, actually.  The Winne has it's own special parking spot, too, which is so much better than having to park it in the backyard with a nasty tree right over it, making it all gross and dirty.  The poor girl need some cosmetic TLC, as she got a bit grimy, but there's a faucet right next to her, so I can give her a bath and a good scrub now!

I feel like we're still in that "new parent" stage where we're afraid that if we leave the house for more than an hour we'll come back and it'll be burnt to the ground or something.  Oh, the heavy weight of responsibility.  I'm excited to get to know this house, though.  I'm certain we'll have to fix many things, and we already know that we need to replace the siding as it's in pretty rough shape, but there's something about fixing up your own house that just feels so rewarding, even if it's hard work.  I can't wait to show you guys some peeks at the house.  It's a total wreck right now, with all the empty boxes still laying around, but things are coming along.  Oh!  And we have a living room that has a perfect spot for a Christmas tree!  Christmas tree farm, here I come!

a wishlist for a new space

Every time I move, I daydream about decorating the new space.  My brain thinks that mentally designing rooms is a perfectly appropriate thing to do during the hours of 2-4 am, keeping me awake until the wee hours.  I can't help it though.  It's so exciting to envision a new space, making new arrangements and putting up new artwork.  In this new place I really want to invest in some beautiful prints from artists I love.  Hanging artwork and photos in groups, gallery style, is pretty "in" these days (from what I can tell, according to pinterest), but I really do love making little collections of framed art and photos on my walls.  It's like having little collections of pretty things, like a shadowbox, but more grown-up and chic.    We have pretty much everything we need, practically speaking, but it's always fun to get a few new things when moving into a new space.  We'll have double the square footage, so we'll probably need a couple new furniture items, but nothing too major.  Our new bedroom will only be big enough to hold our bed and maybe a hutch, for a bit of storage.  It'll be nice to have a room that is only for sleeping, as our bedroom is super tiny right now and half of it is devoted to housing our clothes.  I'd love it to be really simple and relaxing, but also cozy and homey.  We're making a walk-in closet out of a room that's attached, so it'll be great to have a whole separate space for hanging clothes and such.

pillow/karli ingersoll :: print/beauchamping :: decal/shanna murray :: iphone dock/modcloth

Our bathroom is pretty small and simple and doesn't have a lot of storage.  Thankfully there is a built-in right next to the bathroom door, so we can store things in there, but I'd like to get a little unit for storing things we use frequently.  I like having a see-through shower curtain, to let in as much light as possible into the shower (and, you know, so murderers can't hide behind it), but this zig zag curtain is so fun and graphic.  I also like that it's not super girly, which I feel like shower curtains (and curtains in general) can tend to be.

print/karli ingersoll :: shower curtain + storage unit/urban outfitters

A big ticket item on my wishlist is a new couch.  Right now we only have a little loveseat and a couple chairs because absolutely nothing else can fit in our current living room.  I adore the clean, midcentury couches that Thrive has, but they are waaaay out of our price range.  This one from urban outfitters has the same look and is a lot cheaper (though still pretty spendy... compared to thrifting), and it has the added bonus that you can fold the back down to make a bed.  Since we won't have room for a guest room in this new place, it'd be nice to at least have a couch that people can sleep on comfortably.  Dan hates futons, so I think this is a good solution.

I really love the coffee table with the glass top, too.  I like having cool coffee table books, and having them displayed underneath the glass table top is a great way to have them visible, but not taking up valuable space.  I'm also totally and completely in love with the honeycomb shelves that Josh & Sarah made.  I wanted to buy them back when they were selling them, but we weren't moving for a while and I didn't have space to store them.  Maybe I'll have to use their tutorial over at A Beautiful Mess to make my own.  Oh!  Yeah, and we'll have a garage/shop, so I can finally have space to make stuff, woo!

wire baskets + couch /urban outfitters :: letters/anthropologie :: honeycomb shelves/subtle takeover

Something I'm absolutely thrilled about?  Having a table that is just for eating.  No more coffee table/desk/dining table!  We won't have room for a full dining table, but we really don't need that much, since 99.9% of the time it's just Dan & I.  I really like a bar height table, so I'd like to get something like this Ikea table.  And I've been coveting that Ikea cart for quite a while.  I think the first time I saw it was on Rachel's blog, and I've been dreaming about it ever since.  Cooking in a bigger kitchen is going to be dreamy, though I will be sad to no longer have a gas range.  I've never cooked on an electric stovetop, so hopefully that doesn't mess with my cooking too much!  It'll be way easier to clean though!

bar table and stools + cart/ikea :: giant ice cube tray/williams sonoma

the flavor bible /amazon :: bowls/anthropologie

Something I'm REALLY excited about is finally having my own craft/office/studio space!  I have so many ideas that my brain is nearly exploding, so that space will probably require a post all it's own.

electric feel

Oh man.  Today is the day.  Moving commences!  The Winne has taken a new role as a moving truck for the time being.  It's actually pretty awesome, we can fit everything in our house in there, except furniture.  This is obviously not my moving day outfit, this is from a week ago.  I figured I'd save up some outfits for when I was crazy busy this week.  I actually really love moving.  It's chaos for a while but there's something about putting everything in its new place and figuring out the flow of the new space.  Plus, it's kind of like Christmas, opening up boxes, even though it's just all our old stuff.  It's like everything old is new again when you move into a new place.  Your old stuff looks different in new surroundings.  And you get to get rid of a bunch of stuff that you don't need any more as you go through those boxes, so it's also cathartic.  Do you guys like moving?  I always hear about people who just absolutely loathe moving, so I'm not sure if I'm just a crazy person, or if there are others out there like me.  By show of hands, who likes moving?

top (dress)/courtesy of modcloth :: skirt/courtesy of superstition vintage:: tights/target  blazer/courtesy of miss patina :: necklace/courtesy of a lost feather shoes/courtesy of seychelles :: scarf/pashmina
Dan got us an electric blanket, and oh my God.  I literally started singing, "How do I live?" by LeAnne Rimes, and I'm pretty sure that song was written about electric blankets.  Seriously, though.  Here are the first lyrics: 
How do I,
Get through the night without you?
If I had to live without you,
What kind of life would that be?
Oh, I
I need you in my arms, need you to hold,
You're my world, my heart, my soul,
If you ever leave,
Baby you would take away everything good in my life,

Electric blanket, amirite?  It's going to revolutionize our whole getting into bed process.  I've always thought the idea of warm electric blanket was genius, but assumed they were a thing of the past, probably because I remember that my Grandma had an electric blanket and it seemed like something from a bygone era.  Nope.  Target has them.  Of course.

sponsor in december!

Okay, well, December isn't here, it's a still a few days out, but for all intents and purposes, it's here!!  December is a great time to sponsor if you've got a shop, since everyone (ahem, myself included) is doing their last minute Christmas shopping.  To spread a little Christmas cheer, ads will be 10% off during the whole month of December!  Just use the code "bemerry" at checkout to receive the discount.   Currently the featured ad is sold out for December, but once that ad goes up on Dec 1st, the featured ad will be up for grabs for January and beyond.  Want to find out more about rates, options, and stats?  Check out my sponsorship page to get the scoop and to purchase your ad!  And if you have any questions, feel free to email me!

mrs prints

This isn't what I wore for Thanksgiving, but I didn't take any photos during the holiday, and I'm going to talk about being thankful, so we can just pretend that this is a Thanksgiving outfit, eh?  Yesterday Melissa shared this article on twitter and it nearly brought me to tears. I love seeing articles about raising girls who are powerful, independent, and adventurous. It could basically be an article describing how my parents raised me and I'm so grateful and indebted to my mom and dad for raising me in a way that made me feel like I could do anything I set my mind to, that I was a powerful and worthy human being, that I was capable of incredibly grand adventures, and that I was beautiful regardless of my appearance. Since I never shared anything specific that I was thankful for on Thanksgiving, I will say that that is what I am most thankful for this year.  I don't know if I'll ever have a daughter, but I can only hope to be half the parent my mom and dad were to me.
Right now, though, my uterus is aching more to be a puppy mom than a tiny human mom.  Ever since Dan posted that Corgi link on my Facebook, I've been aching for a dog.  I have a feeling that, like my mom, I'll someday be that pregnant lady who's not sure if I'm going to love my baby more than I love my dog.  Apparently you do love your baby more than your dog, but I'm not entirely sure how my heart can explode more than it does for pups.  I hear that it can, though, so I'm counting on that whole motherly instinct thing to happen.  Because I seriously love dogs.  A lot.  Haha.  No, I really don't doubt that I'll love my future kids more than my future dogs, I just don't have a personal experience point of reference for the love a parent has for a child.  I get it, in theory, but I've never felt it or experienced it in a tangible way.  




raincoat/courtesy of mrs. prints :: coat/thrifted :: dress + tights/courtesy of modcloth top/tucker for target :: boots/courtesy of blowfish
This polka dot raincoat is awesome.  I'm always on the lookout for a raincoat that is functional (which is desperately needed her in the PNW), but also cute and not just a plain REI type jacket.  The brand, Danefae, is from Denmark and always has amazing, cute raincoats, but seems pretty unknown here in the States.  Mrs. Prints is a great online shop based in Portland and the owner, who is from London, discovered Danefae on some travels through Europe.  When she moved to the rainy PNW, she discovered the unmet need for cute, yet totally functional raincoats.  So she started Mrs. Prints and imports Danefae coats!  I feel like I could stand in a monsoon and be totally dry wearing this coat.  Today is suspiciously sunny for a November day in Tacoma, and it's lovely to see the sun after a solid week of rain.  Hoping it keeps up because moving in the pouring rain sounds unpleasant at best.  By the weekend, though, we should be all settled into our new place.  Eek!  I am also incredible thankful for that.