St. Augustine, FL - 2013

Would you look at that, a Travel Tuesday post at last! The travel bug was really starting to get to me. Our trip to sunny Florida was much needed and long overdue.

Our plans were to spend 5 days at the beach relaxing. Well, mother nature decided to alter that! It rained our first 3 days....whammy.

Here's a photo recap of our vacation away with our parents. Yes, both sets of parents. And I have to say, I'd definitely do it again!

We Ate

Green smoothies in the morning, local fare at night - Shrimp & Grits were ah-mazing! And a stop for frozen yogurt was a must one night. 

We Drank

Swedish Lemonade at The Conch House was my favorite! And cheers to finally seeing the sun! Also, whyyy don't they sell Yuengling in MA yet? J & I both love it and always make sure to enjoy a few when we're out of state.

We Entertained Ourselves When it Rained

J killed us all...

Some of us relaxed....

And when the sun finally came out, we enjoyed every minute of it!

Lastly, and most importantly, we had a great trip spending time with family

take 2...

Although I totally forgot to take any pictures, we did make our way out on to the beach on our last day. It is so relaxing out there. Here are pictures from a previous trip.

Thank you Mom and Dad for hosting us for a wonderful week!

Any travel plans coming up for you? Our next trip will be out to Chicago for a wedding. It will be quick but I'm hoping we can fit in a few tours, tastings, etc. 

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Home: Bathrooms on the Mind

We will be out of our condo in 4 weeks and into our new home in 5 weeks if all goes according to plan. Crazy!

There are many, many projects at our new home. But the immediate priorities are as follows:

• Finish flooring on the second floor
• Reface the back deck
• Update the full bathroom on the second floor (it is really nasty)
• Build out the master bathroom that is currently non-existent

So with two bathrooms to design and DIY as much as we can, ideas are constantly swirling through my head. My biggest fear is getting too caught up in what's trending today. Tile can go out of style quickly. Too quickly. So my goal is to create timeless spaces.

I did ask J if we could use marble in our master bath because even though it is a major fan favorite today, I've always loved it. J, not so much. But he'll do anything for me. What a guy. :)

Here are my current thoughts on the upstairs guest bathroom. I'll be sharing different ideas each week until we move in, and then update you on projects as we go. Sound good? Good.

DIY Guest Bathroom Re-Do

1. Shiplap walls. This is a huge maybe. I'm really not sure if we can realistically incorporate shiplap or tongue and groove onto the guest bath walls but I would love to. I've always loved the farmhouse look of them.

 via: Pinterest / original source: Houzz

 L: via: Pinterest / original source: Style Files/ Design to Inspire  R: via: Pinterest / original source: DIY Network

2. Double sink. As you walk into the guest bath there is built-in storage immediately to the left followed by a single vanity. Well, there are also built in shelves behind the door on the right side of the room. Planning to get rid of the extra storage and build out a double vanity. No future kiddos fighting for sink space! (Don't focus on the finish color...that is still undecided)

 L: via: Pinterest / original source: 7th House on the Left   R: via: Pinterest / original source: Home Depot

3. Slate floors. Not set in stone (no pun intended) but really liking the idea of black or dark grey slate floors in a large subway pattern. Possibly in the master bath too. (First picture is to show you the design...pedestal sinks just would not be practical in our full bath)

 via: Pinterest / original source: Restoration Hardware

 L: via: Pinterest / original source: Decor Pad   R: via: Pinterest / original source: Home Depot

4. White shower surround tiles. Good ol' classic white subway tile perhaps. And possibly white walls. I am a big fan of white/light/bright bathrooms. Yes, white has that sterile look to it, but that is just what I want in a bathroom. We will be keeping a bathtub in this bathroom - gotta bathe the future kiddos! (First picture is a bit of an extreme...)

Hopefully these decisions will create a welcoming guest bathroom that won't look like it's straight out of the "2010's" in 10 years or so. Does that make any sense to you? It does to me. 

Have any DIY bathroom stories you'd care to share?? We will take any and all advice!

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Fun Fact Friday

Hello! I'm back. That was a much needed little break. Sorry to leave you hanging for a week but between Fridays crazy bombing suspect news, our future home inspection, and heading to Florida Saturday-Wednesday, life has been a bit cray.

So what have we been up to/ what's on my mind lately?

1. Oh my word, I made a bad decision in Florida. After 3 days of rain, we were graced by the sun's presence. There was no way I was going to miss out on a few rays. Spray sunscreen on a breezy day...BAD IDEA. Worst sun burn I've ever had. Quite possibly the only sun burn I've ever had. I made sure to use lotion sunscreen from then on but the damage was already done. Praying it will turn to tan and not peel. Any suggestions beyond simply moisturizing?

2. As most of you know, Boston was on lock-down last Friday. This meant I spent the morning working from home. It's kind of funny to see how your pet spends his day. Snuggling when you let him, or passing out in the weirdest positions. Froggy doggy!

3. Speaking of the Boston bombings, guys, The One Fund is at almost $25 million! Possibly even over $25M when you read this. How amazing is that?! We held a luncheon at work to raise money - donate your lunch money to The One Fund and the Company will buy you lunch. It's a great cause and I really hope these victims don't face any medical bills from this tragic event.

4. Let's switch gears a little. As I mentioned last Friday, we had a home inspection at the home we are hoping to buy. And everything went well! Do you know how hard it is to switch my mind off of future home decisions now?! Sooo incredibly hard. What kind of tile do I want in the new bathrooms? What type of flooring should we install upstairs? How should we refinish the deck? I.can't.stop.

5. One low blow.....our offer included all appliances. And no one brought it to our attention that the sellers crossed this off in our offer before they signed....so it looks like we'll be adding a few appliances to the shopping list/budget! Womp, womp. Although I didn't love the refrigerator that didn't match, it would certainly do the trick at first. On the bright side, at least I get to pick out what I want now! Has anyone already done this research? What's good? And what should we stay away from?

6.  Speaking of #4 above....I can't get enough magazines. Bought Traditional Home on the flight down, HGTV and House & Home once in Florida, all the while knowing House Beautiful would be waiting for me in the mail at home. I have to say, I think HGTV magazine is my favorite. It's just more "me". A lot of look for less, DIY, small jobs every home owner should know, etc. I think I'm going to have to subscribe to this one, along with House Beautiful, once we move. So many great ideas (and not too many ads like other magazines...)

7. Can I please go back to this? Vacation, good wine, palm trees, no makeup.....

ps- Got this top in a recent online shopping spree at Old Navy and I am so impressed. So soft, fits great, so reasonably priced. I hadn't shopped at Old Navy in quite some time, but everything I purchased fit well! I'll be checking them out more often.

8. Planning to share more details from our recent trip next week. I was even able to finish my book while away. Any good book recommendations? I'm going to get to read a whole lot more during my future commute! :)

9. And I'll share more info on our future home next week too. After losing the home we originally wanted a few months (seriously, thank goodness now!) I've been trying not to get too attached to this house until it's basically set in stone to be ours. I'm getting close though so sharing a few details can't hurt, right? 

10. No plans this weekend. How nice is that?! I'm thinking maybe I should start packing a little....life seems to be flying by lately and I feel like we'll be moving out of the condo before we know it! And man, have we accumulated a whole lot of stuff. 

Have a fantastic weekend! Back to originally scheduled posts next week! 

Promise. :)

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Fun Fact Friday

Let's see, what's been going on this week....

Here's a play by play of last Sunday - the best day ever.

1. 9 am: Wake up to a voicemail from our realtor to call her as soon as I heard this. 
2. 9 am: Call our realtor and find out that our offer has been accepted on our dream home in the suburbs.
3. 9 am: Told that they are still hosting the open house on said home and J and I had 48 hours to commit (aka sell our condo) if they received another offer.
4. 10 am: We're ballsy so we sign the offer and cross our fingers.
5. 1 pm - host open house at our condo
6. 2:30 pm - Get message from our realtor that the open house was pure madness, he had to have people wait in line, ran out of listing brochures, and ran out of room on the sign-in sheet.
7. 6 pm - get an offer on our condo! Over asking!!

We didn't end up signing the offer until Monday night which was tough. I wanted to be so excited, and I was so excited, but I also felt so guilty feeling happy after the horror of Monday afternoon. Strange story but through 6 degrees of separation, I know who is buying our place. And I found out that they happened to be not too far from the bombs at the marathon. So for them, it was the best news to receive Monday night. I was really happy about that.

Other fun facts for Friday...

1. Yes, we may be moving to the suburbs! I've hinted at this but haven't really told many people yet. Our inspection is this afternoon so as long as everything goes well, I'll be sharing more details next week! The house needs a fair amount of work which we are SO excited about, but hoping to find out that's it. Hoping there's nothing hiding from our inexperienced eye that the inspectors going to break our hearts with. 

2. Our realtors are awesome. They put this beauty in our place before the open house and it's our gift to keep! Orchids may be the only flower I am able to keep alive. This one is a beast!

3. Leaving for Florida in the morning!!! Of course the weather looks bad all weekend.... At least it'll be warm, right? Kinda?

Well at least my nails will look great thanks to these fun colors!

4. I know you're wondering, but don't worry, Tucker's hanging out in the city while we're gone. Some great friends have volunteered to stay at our condo with Tucker until we are back. I swear Tucker has more friends than we do! Everyone loves him. (Thank you M & G!)

5. It's this lovely ladies birthday tomorrow. So make sure you wish her a Happy Birthday!!

6.  A great friend has awarded my a Liebster award. I'm not going to pass it along this time but I thought it would be fun to answer her questions!

1. If you could do one other profession besides your own, what would it be? Where I am right now in my life, I would love to be in real estate. I love numbers. And I love calculating out mortgage amortization schedules to figure out how much we can afford. I know, total nerd!
2. What is your favorite vacation spot thus far? Maui. I have never, ever, ever felt so relaxed. J was pretty close at talking me into living there.
3. Pepsi or coke? Diet Pepsi
4. Angelina or Jen? Jen!
5. What was the last movie you saw in the theatre and was it good? Hmm...I'm not a huge fan of movies...they're just soo long. I think the last movie I saw was Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. It was good, but the book was definitely better. Oh and J hadn't read the book and had no idea what was coming....whoops!
6. Favorite song on the radio right now? Rihanna - Stay
7. Ideal song to dance to at a wedding? Does my wedding song count? Ray LaMontagne - You are the Best Thing
8. What show did you watch religiously growing up? 7th Heaven
9. Favorite subject in high school? Math....just not geometry. Give me calculus problems all day. 
10. What is your biggest pet-peeve? This may sound weird, but I try not to let a lot of things I can't control get to me so I don't really have a pet-peeve. Insincerity probably. 
11. If there was one food you could eat for the rest of your life, what would it be? Fresh bread. 

That was fun! Thank you Amelia!!

I hope you all have a great weekend! And don't miss me too much while I'm gone. J & I so need this relaxing vacation.

If you like this post please let me know by leaving a comment or liking my Facebook page. You can also follow along on Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. Let's stay in touch!

City Living - Our Condo Tour

First of all, thank you for all of the prayers for Boston. It's still a surreal, tragic event. And I am so proud of how we've all come together during such a sad time. Boston really isn't just a city, it's one big family and I absolutely love that about the city I call home. My sister posted a link to this blog post yesterday and it certainly made my eyes water. 

I've been blogging for over a year now and have yet to give you an official tour of our condo. It is so hard to photograph 700 square feet! That is, unless you are a professional.

As I mentioned Friday, J & I put our condo on the market and held an open house this past weekend. First of all, the open house was quite the success! We've signed an offer!! Our realtor told us it was basically a frat party over here with more than 60 groups of people passing through our small space. Yikes!

So now that I have the professional listing photos, let's do this. I'm pretty sure the majority of my readers have visited our condo at some point, but for those of you who have not let the tour begin!

Entrance/Kitchen Area

When you walk up the stairs into our place (we're the penthouse what what, but our entrance is on the second floor) this is what you're greeted with. The wide open kitchen. This is one of my favorite things about our place.

We also lucked out that the condo was completely renovated before we bought it. We can't take any credit for the floors, granite counters, appliances, etc.

We did install the bar area, which will stay here. We found it in the kitchen section at Ikea and installed their wine glass holders to the bottom. Best idea ever!

View from the corner of the kitchen towards the entrance/J's desk area, the bedroom, and the bathroom

Living Room

Off the kitchen is technically our second bedroom. But for us, it has been a living room, and at times a guest room. For some reason, these photos make the room like BRIGHT blue. Trust me, it's much more soothing in person. It's Benjamin Moore Ocean City Blue.

Bathroom

When we first bought our place, I thought it was kind of strange to have hardwood floors in the bathroom. But I've gotta say, I love it. The way the cherry floors travel throughout our entire place is pretty gorgeous. 

After seeing this photo, I switched out the hand towel for a pale blue one before the open house. A little more soothing.

Bedroom 

And lastly, our bedroom. It's small so the goal was light, airy, and relaxing. I think we did a fairly good job accomplishing that.

 Told you it was small.

 And a pretty huge bonus for city living, a walk-in closet. This was my SOLD moment when we toured this condo. I have a feeling many girls had the same feeling during this weekends open house. Closet space is so hard to come by in the city.

Worlds shortest home tour? Easy to do when you have only 4 rooms ha. 

I'm going to be sad to leave this place, our first home. But I am so so excited for what's coming next. Details to come, just not yet. Sorry!

If you like this post please let me know by leaving a comment or liking my Facebook page. You can also follow along on Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. Let's stay in touch!

Boston, You're My Home

I'm taking a blog moment of silence today. Yesterday's events are still so hard to comprehend. Horrific, senseless violence. I don't get it. Why?

It's school vacation week here. I remember when I was young, my sister and mom went into town for the Boston marathon. I can't recall why I couldn't make it, but Jackie brought me home a troll doll she picked out for me in Fanuiel Hall. And I know how great of a day she had as a kid in the city. I feel so sad for all the kids there yesterday who experienced this. An innocent 8 year-old boy has lost his life. A child!

Oh I am so so sad. I just can't believe this. 

Please pray for those affected and for those who seem to think that violence is the answer.

via