...Or Not.

Color is a funny thing. Especially for two people who could see themselves living with so many different colors. But each color combination will inspire these people to live a certain way. I am deeply effected by color.

Travis and I took a little trip to the Lowe's last weekend and found ourselves examining paint chips. We had a basic idea of what we were looking for: mustard yellow, cream (instead of grey as previously stated), and a pretty lavender. We immediately found the cream, but the mustard was much more difficult. Most yellows are very bright or too orange. Eventually we found a yellow called Dahlia that was as close to perfect as we could probably get.

So far the colors are pretty much as planned, aside from the cream/grey switch (cream was what I originally wanted anyway). But when it came to the bedroom we were all over the place. We pulled one swatch from the Martha Stewart collection called Persimmon, and the more we looked at it the more we loved it. While it's bright, our bedroom windows are North-facing so I don't think the color with overwhelm the room with that crazy reflective thing bright paint can do in a small room!

Here are the new palettes, as close as I can get them using a laptop and Adobe Kuler:











Livingroom












Bedroom


Things could change a little bit (like that light blue...), but for the most part we're set.

We've also picked out our couch. And bought a decent vintage coffee table from a guy on Craigslist. Oh and we get to pick up the keys to the new place tomorrow!!!! I'm so psyched. We are going to spend this whole weekend painting, and then we'll start moving boxes in next week. We're also making a pretty serious Ikea run on Sunday.

And soon enough we'll be having our BBQ! I can't wait to move... no more annoying downstairs and upstairs neighbors... we can sit outside in our yard all summer long... and it will just be a cute house! Yay!!

I plan on documenting the whole experience through photographs. It will be fun!

Step 1

Every time Travis and I move to a new apartment we swear up and down that this will be the time we put effort into decorating. We're both design savvy. We both love seeing our plans come together. Plus we love shopping. We came close last time with our East Falls apartment. It took about 1.5 years, but we did a pretty good job (especially considering we did it on a nearly nonexistent budget). When we moved into the loft, Travis was pretty set on making it into an amazing space. But once we priced out the cost of walls, rugs, and storage we realized it would be too much money to put into a space that we weren't going to stay at longer than one year.

This time is going to be different! And I mean that. We will have a house on a quiet street with nice landlords. And now that we finally have money, our design visions can be achieved (within reason). I've decided that the first step will be choosing paint colors.

After playing around on Adobe's Kuler site (which can be soooooo addicting!), I formed a few color pallets. Travis and I pretty much agree on everything except the bedroom. While our pallets are pretty similar, I think that each would totally change the feeling of the room.

Here's my choice:

The lavender/lilac color would probably be on all of the walls (although we might just do one accent wall with the other walls being the light grey). The dark grey would be the duvet cover, green would be used in accent pillows and probably some plants, and the pinkey/cream color would be used in the pillows, rug, and curtains.


Here's Travis's choice:

The blue would be the main color (although maybe just an accent wall with the light grey still going on the other walls). Same dark grey duvet cover, same rug and curtains. The red-orange would be the accent color.

Our bedroom furniture is dark brown, so really either color combination would work. But the colors would have to also carry into my office/dressing room. I guess that's the main issue. If the colors were just going to be for the bedroom I probably wouldn't care much, but they also have to go in my office space. I really could live with, and be happy with, either set. I'm just not sure...



But we do have the color pallet decided for the living room!

We wanted to have some of the same colors through out the house. I had originally wanted to do cream, but Travis changed my mind and we are going with light grey. The mustard yellow will be on the wall directly across from the front door, so it will be very dramatic. We've pretty much picked out all of the furniture and accessories. Travis is going to build us a lovely sideboard, and I'm really excited about that. It will be his first real woodworking project. Luckily his Dad is a bit of an expert. I just can't wait to start shopping and painting. I've been planning everything for the past almost 2 months, so it will be really fun when we can actually get started. I am not looking forward to painting, but everything should get done in a weekend. It's a small house afterall.

Maybe next time I'll have some inspiration photos to post.

Fail.

I fail at blogging. It's ok. I really won't attempt to pick up where I left off, but here's a bulleted list of my life updates...

• I quit my job at the hospital. I couldn't take the godawful hours of 11p-7a. I was tired of talking to the dying elderly and drunks. Plus I really can't stand working in a place where everyone gets all worked up over having to follow rules. Just do your damn job and stop complaining. I will miss most of the nursing staff and my other night crew pals. They really made the job worthwhile in the first place.
• Travis and I signed a lease for a house in Fishtown. You may scoff at the mention of this underrated neighborhood, but if you saw our block you might consider living there. It's a whole house with a basement, 2 bedrooms (really 1.5 or 1 and a dressing room), and a courtyard all for $950 a month. I am so stoked and have been counting down the days to move in (about 35).
• I've decided to apply to a MPH program. I don't like hospitals, I don't like sick people, and I don't like debt. So I don't think med school is really the route I want to take. I think I'd be much happier doing almost anything in Public Health.
• Travis has a full-time job at an advertising agency in the city. He started out doing a little freelance work, but the hired him within 2 or 3 weeks. He's officially a Computer Graphics Specialist, but he does many things including web design, some print work, and most recently illustration. This job has probably been one of the greatest things to happen for us. He's out of the house during the day, we can pay all of our bills, and we have a positive balance every month.

That might be it. I don't know, but those are the most important things I guess.

We finally had beautiful weather last weekend. I happily spent most of my time outside, and even more happily with a beer in my hand. On Saturday I went to my first Taco Night, which is hosted by one of Travis's friends from work. It was amazing fun, but the night ended on a strange note with someone getting shot in the head with a pellet gun. Our party was using a sling shot to fly squeezed lemon and lime halves around the neighborhood, and I guess a disgruntled neighbor decided to fire back with a pellet gun. It was messed up, but I've lived in this city long enough to know that you do not mess with your neighbors. No one was seriously injured, but it kind of ended Taco Night. I'm totally looking forward to the next one, although I doubt anything will be flying around the neighborhood.

Even the most perfect weekend has its flaws. Unfortunately this weekend brought my sister to the ER with a collapsed lung. She's alright, but still in the hospital. It was a spontaneous pneumothorax, and no one is really sure just why it happened to her. I feel so bad that she had to sit in a hospital bed all weekend. She loves laying in bed, but it's different when you're stuck there with no control over leaving! I just wish I could've been there to read her gossip magazines and make fun of old people or something.

This post was sort of boring. I think the next one will be better. I'm going to start posting all my interior decorating brainstorming sessions. I have one month to finalize everything that I've been working on for the passed two months. I love getting a new house!

Jewlz

So I may have mentioned before that I LOVE jewelry. One day I hope to have a little treasure chest full of sparkling stones and rocks. And I also hope that one day people have treasure chests full of jewelry made my by own little fingers.

Slowly, I've been preparing to launch a jewelry shop on Etsy (if you haven't been, you need to go... after you read my blog of course!). Travis bought me a bunch of supplies for my birthday - resin, molds, wire, beads, jewelry pliers, pin backs, earring thingies. I've just been too busy and tired to make any progress, but every once in a while the mood strikes me and I need to act on it.

Yesterday we had an insane sale at work, and I bought a bracelet made of beads that I liked. I had first thought about making a ring, but then realized I would have to go out and buy a thicker gauge wire than I had. So I took out my supplies and thought, and eventually a pin emerged from the jumble.




Unfortunately the pictures are a bit blurry. I couldn't fuss with the camera, and the pin is kind of small (about 1.5 inches from the bottom of the large teardrop bead to the top of the small pink bead, and about 1.25 inches wide). It's very pretty in person. I'm in love with the colors. This pin was a really excellent project for me because not only did I play around with wire wrapping (each protruding bead/cluster is held on by a small wire), I got to do a little soldering. Last week Travis made some sort of loop pedal or something and had the soldering iron out. As usual (haha) Travis didn't put it away, but it gave me an idea. At the end of each bead/cluster there is a little solder bead holding everything in place.

Well I'm very proud of my handiwork and can't wait to make some more! Maybe this time next year my little dream will be a reality.

Melt, please.

Yesterday I woke up to beautiful white flurries. It was a mostly perfect snow-- sticking to trees but not really effecting the street. Well for the better part of the day. It really was the kind of day that is meant to be enjoyed from a comfortable bed. Or a beautiful mountain lodge if you are so lucky to have one.

I wasn't lucky enough to enjoy either. So I drove to the retail job with cold wet feet. I arrived safely, but did not feel safe from the shopping bug. It lays dormant in my bones until new merchandise arrives. Sometimes I can fight it off by just buying one small item, but this relapse is kind of out of control. Don't worry! I haven't bought anything yet. But I know it's just a matter of time. I'm going to lay out my budget and make the necessary cutbacks to cure my ailment. If I don't buy coffee for a month, that's like $25. Not enough... maybe all those late nights at the hospital will buy me that new rose colored dress I've been eying up.

If you know me in life, you probably know that I mostly wear black. Not because I am a recovering goth or because I lack wardrobe creativity. I just like black. It's easy. Everything matches. I have always loved black and I always will. But lately I've been contemplating cream. And rosy mauves, taupes, grey lavenders, plums, and ohmygod possibly even some blues. It feels so strange to be drooling over a beautifully architectual cream sweater. I'm trying to come to terms with this new color pallete attraction, but I think my closet may be unrecognizable in a few weeks. That is if I can make enough cutbacks to fund the cure to my winter blahs. Because when it comes down to it, this seasonal bug I catch is probably just a symptom of the Winter Doldrums.

So while the snow was beautiful as it fell, I'm ready for it to melt away. I want to bear my decollete in a lightweight knit sweater. I want my freshly painted toes to peep through some delicious nude open toed pumps. I want to eat small sandwiches on a lovely quilt in the park. I think I need to live some place warmer and cheerier. Philadelphia can be so dirty and grey.

Just a side note...

So this morning I had to get up at 6am. I woke Travis up a little later and he was like, "UGH! Why did you have to wake me up? I was having a really good dream."

I walked away to finish getting ready and I hear Travis talking... "I was hanging out with Heidi and Spencer and I was making fun of them soooo bad! We were going shopping or something and I just kept ripping on them..."

Really I was shocked. Travis hates The Hills. But I'm pretty sure after this incident that he secretly loves it.

I'm watching him sleep on the couch right now and can't help but wonder what is going on in that head. Maybe he and Lauren are having drinks at Les Deux...

Sorry Travis. You're too cute. XOXO

Happy Holidays

Although the "holidays" are pretty much over, it's still appropriate. New Years Eve is tomorrow night and for the sake of nice wishes it will count as a Holiday.

Luckily (and uninterestingly) this year was void of drama. My family life is relatively drama-free, with exceptions here and there, but last Christmas was kind of ridic. Let's just say a member of not my family (or Travis's) decided to indulge their addiction in a suburban bathroom thus somewhat making Christmas dinner awkward for everyone. Not to mention the not-my-Uncle who made my whole evening awkward and sort of helped ruin the Christmas experience.

This Christmas was easy. We spend the Eve at Travis's parents' house which always holds the promise of delicious food, cute kids, and smiling faces. We also went to Bert's annual record store Christmas party, which always holds the promise of good beer and tasty Italian food. Not to mention wonderful music purchases.

The ride to my parents' house was filled with my drunken Christmas caroling and Travis joining in on the choruses. We did almost hit a deer (I think) but made it home safely. My Egyptian dad Zaki was waiting for me with open arms. My Dad was waiting for me with an open beer. They know me so well!

Christmas Day was business as usual. Opening wonderful gifts, including an iPod Touch from Travis to me. Besides my insanely luxorious new mattress that came from my parents, the Touch was my favorite present. Today when I got home from work I took an extra long nap in my bed then woke up and browsed Etsy on my iPod. Ahhh heaven.

I've been so tired lately. I feel like when I get a day off all I want to do is sleep. Luckily I have a new mattress and fabulous bed frame to indulge my greatest pleasure.

I have some cute pictures to randomly show you. My sister's pup Dolce just turned one and had a fabulous birthday party. All of her little dog friends came and they ate a special doggy carrot cake.

Dolce as a little foxy baby stealing treats

She's all grown up next her her little cake!

Stanley and Dolce are dating. She like to hump him and Stanley doesn't mind at all!

So tomorrow might actually be the best New Year's Eve I've ever had. I don't want to put too much pressure on it, but I'm pretty sure it can't fail. Travis and I are going to my friends Kim and Steve's apartment in Old City for dinner and drinking. AND my fav boss ever Lou (and I'm not just saying that because I know she's going to read this!) and her husband will be there. Plus maybe some others! I just know that I will not be in a shitty club, overcrowded bar, or feeling claustrophobic in Times Square. And I will sleep in my own amazing bed. Maybe I should think of a New Year's resolution... like running two miles a day. How long do you think that would last? haha I'll start taking bets.