The Newest Apartment: Post Move

So one of the best (and worst) parts of being a Live On professional is moving. When you work for Housing &/or Residence Life at a university, you will most likely have the opportunity to "live on" so you can respond to duty related incidents in a timely manner and be present to help build community. I am currently going on my seventh year of living on a college campus and I could write an entire post about the highs and lows of this journey! But today I'm sharing with you all my new space!

As a child I used to chronically move my furniture (and it drove my parents NUTS). I think I just liked change and believe it or not I was always wanted to clean and organize things [no joke: used to clean my friends' bedrooms - and would enjoy it]. Now as an adult, moving has sort of become the worst chore on the planet. I think I am realizing that I collect way too much stuff and moving four times in the past three years has definitely shown that. 

Anyways here is my new space! I can't do much in the areas of paint, furniture, and carpeting... but I have been able to add my own personal style and touch to almost every space. Today, I am giving you all a virtual tour of my bedroom, living room, guest room, and bathroom. The kitchen will be discussed in a later post, so stay tuned for that-- I'll worn ya it is nothing glamorous!

Something I want to add to this space: White curtains

The bedroom is the first room I unpack when I move. Partly because moving is exhausting and all I can think about is climbing into my comfy bed, but also because I love getting a space that seems so functional settled. I did not change my color scheme from my last apartment because I LOVE gold and navy blue together.

The bedroom layout itself is a little hard to work with. On my back wall I have three cubes that work as closet spaces and storage. They don't have doors so by repurposing my old blackout curtains, I was able to provide some style and cover up my closet.

I am also using my old food pantry that Josh built me as additional bedroom storage. I really don't know what to do with these shelves -- they were intended for food storage and now I'm kind of using it as a place to hold sweatshirts, workout shirts, and random boxes! I'm hoping to be a little more innovative with this storage space in the future -- and I am totally open to any of your ideas! (also check me out in the mirror).

The living room is the second room I unpack... mostly because Josh helps me move and I have him available to help me set up the technological devices. I had some serious Comcast issues when I moved to this apartment (literally wasted so much time on hold with them). But I am happy to report that I do not repel technology and everything appears to be working.

Not being able to hang a lot of things on the walls is killing me about this new space. I can hang a lot of my artwork with command hooks, but for my bigger pieces I have been struggling. I put a few nails in the bedroom; but I am not sure how the maintenance and damage/billing works in my new space so I'm trying to refrain from putting holes in the wall. 

I genuinely love the living room! The only thing I think I'm craving is a sectional sofa-- which is on the investment list (as soon as I graduate grad school). I think a small sectional would add so much seating to the living room, but I am working with what I have. 

Another thing I absolutely love about my current apartment is all the light. I have big windows in both my bedroom, guest room, and living room (that also has some privacy from a massive tree outside) which has really brightened up the space.

 

The guest room is kind of work in progress! It is currently serving as my space for guests to sleep, a library, garden center, home office and storage room -- I know the space is the real MVP. I opted to keep the residence hall furniture in this room so I could use the bed for storage. I am so happy I did that because I have a lot of random things that need homes, that probably shouldn't be visible to the public!

The bathroom is larger than my kitchen! It is an enormous space that unfortunately I leave relatively undecorated and empty. But if I'm giving y'all a tour of my apartment I should include the good, the bad, and the oversized! One thing I absolutely love about the bathroom is the counterpace. Its a shame that I live by myself because most days I feel like I don't even take advantage of everything this counter has to offer!

The bathroom is only equipped with a shower... so you better believe I miss bubble baths! However, there is no room for that negative complaining here! I am just beyond grateful to be settled and that I have running water. Although the bubble baths would be nice, I'm sure the next apartment/house that I will be looking into will have that amenity.

Anyways that's all for now, folks! Hope you enjoyed the brief little tour. The kitchen is to come in a future post (I promise). Have a happy Monday friends!

3rd Apartment Reveal

I've lived in my new apartment for just about two months and it is finally starting to feel like home. I'm really excited to reveal this new space with you all. It is by far the biggest space that has been mine. I'm hoping to go into more detail of the every space at another time. So, today I'm going to give you all a little tour.

Welcome to my 3rd apartment! The door you see above is my front door and leads directly into the living/family room. I chose turquoise for this space! For the most part, when you "live in" (and work in Residence Life) your apartment comes furnished. So, often times I have to spice up the furniture I have been given (which, I view more as a gift then a problem). 

A lot of my decorations and pillows have traveled with me from various spaces and apartments. However, the wooden print that you see above my couch is from Target! I love how the colors go with the turquoise theme, but also have yellow and some warm colors intertwined. 

The kitchen is tucked in the back corner of the apartment. But, I love it! I wish I had more storage, which I think I'll write about in another post. But, it is a beautiful space that is fully equipped with updated appliances, including a dishwasher! This is my first apartment with a dishwasher and I am so beyond grateful!

Off the living room is my master bedroom! The master bedroom colors were inspired by my favorite color, navy blue! When designing this space, I wanted to go with navy blue and potentially a lavender. But, I found this gold bedspread from (wait for it) Target. 

Online it looks a lot more yellow than gold. But, I'm extremely grateful that it came out the way it did! The navy sheets are also from target and the accent pillow was picked up from Walmart to match
the black out "not so black out" curtains! 

Don't mind me in the mirror!

The bathroom was also designed to match the master! I chose the navy and striped shower curtain and the yellow/gold carpet. Bathmats are so over-rated! If I could do this space all over again,  I would have gotten a bigger carpet to cover up the entire bathroom floor.

Off the kitchen, is a hallway that leads to the guest bedroom, 2nd bathroom, and laundry closet! There is nothing to glamorous about the laundry room and guest bathroom, which most of the time serves as a storage closet (for my bike) and or an extreme clothing rack! 

The guest bedroom (i.e. Josh's territory) is quite quaint. It is still very much a work in progress. This space also serves as my craft room and office. So, yeah basically I need to find either a dresser to store all of this stuff or some way to store it all in an organized manner.

And there you have it! My 3rd apartment is definitely the biggest and the most exciting space! I'm really hoping I'll live here for the next two years, while I finish my graduate degree! But, who knows!
SaveSaveSaveSave

Just Love Giveaway

Hi Lovelies! Hope your Tuesday is as beautiful as mine is! I'm currently in the thick of Orientation Leader training and these long days and even longer nights are really testing my positivity. But, whenever I'm craving some introvert time needed to re-charge, I just go home and take a few moments to myself. I am a full believer that my attitude can definitely impact someone's day. So, I put a lot of emphasis on making sure that if I'm going to impact someone's day, I do so in a positive manner. Well, that is exactly what this gorgeous print from Just Love Prints reminds me to do. 

Just Love Prints was created by a wonderful woman, Lindsay who is on a mission to share her Catholic faith through imagery, words, and art. Lindsay founded Just Love Prints in 2012 and her faith-filled masterpieces have provided her so many different opportunities! Her shop and blog are full of inspiring and faithful goodness and I would love love love it if you went over and visited her! 

Lindsay and I first connected a few months back when she was featured in Radiant Magazine, a magazine for young Catholic women. We then decided to partner up and share the mission of Just Love Prints and give you all a taste of her beautiful handiwork! 

I love having a piece from Lindsay's collection in my apartment! Her entire shop is full of gorgeous prints very similar to the ones you see in this post. Today, I'm giving away the Saint Pope John Paul II quote, 'Look to the Future with Confidence' on the blog! This handmade beauty will compliment any room in your home and will remind you to keep gratitude, enthusiasm, and confidence in your life.

It is amazing how God calls us to use the gifts He has given us and to share them with the world. Lindsay is using her gift to share beautiful messages with all of us (and anyone who enters my apartment haha). It is so inspiring to see someone take time out of their busy week to spread the message of God and reminds me that I should do the same. As a Christian who works in a secular (Public university) I often feel like I need to put my faith (and especially conversations about my faith) on the back burner.  But, Lindsay's message reminds me that despite different circumstances you can always find a creative outlook to devote to Him and to live in His goodness!

Enjoy this giveaway lovelies! I can't wait to send one lucky soul one of my favorite prints from Just Love Prints. All hope is not lost though... for my friends who aren't randomly chosen, Lindsay has so graciously provided a promo code for 10% off your order when you use SUNSHINE10. Offer is valid until August 30, 2016) So, hope on over to Just Love Prints and share this giveaway with all of your lovely friends :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

1st Year of RD Life: Apartment

As some of you know, I moved this past August! It is crazy to think that it took me over a month to write this post, but August for a Res Life professional is crazy! So, now that life has calmed down and I finally have a night to sit on my couch and work on some personal stuff. It felt amazing leaving the office around 5:30PM tonight and being able to just have a quiet night. So, on my quiet night I decided to write a reveal post of my new home! 

The Bedroom

I have a four room apartment (bedroom, living/office space, kitchen/dining room, and bathroom). The apartment isn't huge, but has so much charm. It was designed back in the late 60s, so it definitely has a vintage feel with a lot of random furniture pieces. When I first moved in I was worried I wouldn't have enough space, but now that I'm officially unpacked, I feel like this apartment is huge!

I love the quilt I purchased from TJ Maxx for my bedroom. I feel like it just really brightens up the room. My goal wasn't too spend a lot of money on this apartment since I'm only living here for about 9 months. I'm really glad that I got the opportunity to reuse a lot of my old stuff! I'm also grateful that my mom lent me a lot of household items and or gave me some of her old stuff to use! My apartment definitely had a homier feel now that she has given me some essentials.

Little sneak peak at my closet and dresser!

The Office

Setting up an office is really important to me. Every time I move into a new apartment (the whole two times) I move the desk out into the living room. Some of my RD friends have asked me why and honestly it's because I don't want to do "work" whether its office or school work in my bedroom. So, I really enjoy setting up an office space in my living rom. I'm glad this apartment has a little space where I could set this up! 

The Kitchen

The kitchen is probably my favorite space. Although it is a little outdated and doesn't have much storage, I have managed to do a lot with this space! I really am missing the cabinet storage I had in the apartment over the summer, but you really can't pass up this kitchen table! Josh and I spend so much time sitting at it when he comes to visit. It's perfect for a friendly dinner and I'm probably going to miss this table the most when I move to a newer apartment. I made a little pantry out of a bookshelf I found in the living room, which has been very handy! I still don't know how I like having all of the food piled up in there, but until I can come up with a way to make it look less cluttered it will have to do for now.

Here is the view from the kitchen table at the rest of the apartment. 

The Bathroom

The bathroom is pretty nice! I have a really big bathtub and nice mirror storage. I'm still working on decorating the bathroom, so for now I just have quotes on the walls. I am hoping to make a cloth covering for the poles/plumbing underneath the sink. I keep all of my cleaning stuff underneath the sink, so hopefully I can sew small curtains to cover that. I'm also hoping to do seasonal decorations in the bathroom of some sort!

The Living Room

And to end the tour we will finish with the living room/ entry! The living room is still a work in progress! I'm in the process of ordering new curtains that will liven up the apartment, which is really exciting! I'll do a big curtain reveal once I finalize the colors and get the measurements done. I love the sofa and the recliner. It is perfect for entertaining and the recliner is so comfortable. I have a nice tv stand that came with the apartment. A previous RD painted it blue and a lot of the blue paint has scraped off, so I'm working on deciding to either scrape it all off or leave it the way it is! I just purchased the tv from Walmart, so it's exciting having a tv that I can actually watch things on! My old tv is in my bedroom and is currently out of commission since it does not have a QAM Adapter.

And that's my apartment! I have really enjoyed building a home here and am really proud to call this place my own. I'm excited to start decorating for every season and am really looking to experiencing Fall, Winter, and Spring in this place! Cheers to being officially moved in and to all the memories that will come in this new home. 

How About a Two Week Recap?

How can it already be August? It felt like this summer flew by! As I sit on my couch, the last night before RA Training, I am completely blown away with how quickly this summer has gone. Now, I know summer doesn't officially end for a few more weeks... but, the end of August for a Student Affairs professional basically means work/the office is crazy!

So, I really enjoyed my last weekend/ week before RAs and residents move in. Josh and I went to Ocean City, MD for a weekend away with his family. We lovedspending time at the beach. This was our first beach trip together. So, naturally we loved our long walks and taking little naps on the beach. 

We even knocked off an item on my bucket list, which was to watch the sunrise on the beach. I've been going to Ocean City for years... decades even and I have never taken the time to watch the sunrise. It is amazing to me how much you can get done when you watch the sunrise. We woke up around 5:30AM and boogied on down to the beach. We sat and enjoyed some alone time and watched the gift of a new day begin.

After the sunrise, we headed back to the hotel we were staying at and woke up his dad and his sister. We rallied the troops and headed down to the boardwalk to go on a bike ride... another thing I have never done. When my friends and I went to Senior Week, we always talked about waking up early and biking on the boardwalk, but we never did it. Probably because we wanted to sleep in! I would definitely recommend vacationers to bike ride on the board walk! It's a great way to start your day off exercising and you can people watch. Oh and you can also get delicious donuts that look like these!

Fractured Prune Donuts: Blueberry Hill {Left} & Trail Mix {Right}

Josh and I had a really wonderful weekend together. It was nice being able to catch up with him and just have some Josh & Alex time. The only thing we didn't get to do was go on the Ferris Wheel! We have been trying to for over a year now and something always comes up. I guess we will have to add that to next summer's bucket list!

It is going to be awhile until Josh and I see each other next. He was away this past week and between both of our jobs and the fact that I will be working until 9:30-10:00PM most nights until the end of August, there's just no wiggle room to see each other. I know going a few weeks really isn't that big of a deal and we will be doing it a lot this upcoming year. But, I can't help but feel the sad-i-miss-my-boyfriend feelings! It's been a little over a week and it has felt like a lifetime... but, that could be due to the fact that this past week I MOVED!

And this is all my stuff... can you imagine if I had Josh's too!

I promise to provide pictures of my newest place once life settles down and I have a moment to finish organizing. I really miss my old apartment, particularly the kitchen/bathroom. However, this new place has some definite charm and it's nice knowing that this will be my home until May. Moving three times in four months really isn't the most ideal situation, so I'm excited to write about tips that I found beneficial in the process.

It's Already June

Woah, it's already June! Seriously people, when did that happen? I felt like I just graduated last week and I'm already a week into my post-graduate job! Life as a Residence Director has been really awesome. Last week I went on a wonderful retreat with my staff members! We bonded, sailed cardboard boats over a pool, ate a lot of yummy snacks, played Just Dance, etc. We drove to Deep Creek, MD and spent three days getting to know each other and listing out the hopes we have for this year. And in between the retreat, I really started making this apartment feel like a home.

Now, this apartment is a temporary place! My current apartment is getting renovated, so I'll be moving in there in August. But, for now this little apartment is my little happy place and I am trying to decorate it as such. For the kitchen, I have a yellow and owl theme going! I was given an assortment of kitchen gadgets from my graduation party, so the kitchen is coming together quite well!

The living room is also coming along well! Josh helped me put together my vacuum this past weekend. Who knew you needed a screw driver for the occasion? Anyways, the only thing I really need to add to this space is my Salzburg mural of pictures and a tv!

I love my bedroom! I moved the two twin beds together and put the comforter over top! So, now I have one big bed and all I have to do is watch out for the crack in the middle of the bed. I love curling up at night and reading a novel before bed. My apartment also has really good air conditioning, which creates the perfect snuggling environment!

I love my work desk in my living room. I just love turning around and seeing the kitchen. The yellow accents have really helped make the space homey; even though I haven't hung up all of my decorations on the walls yet-- so stay tuned for all of that fun stuff!!

 I've only been on the grown up train for a week and I'm already addicted to coffee... or creamer (whatever floats your boat). It really isn't very surprising because I loved drinking coffee while at school... but, now that I have my own 12-cup coffee pot it has changed my coffee game! I set up the coffee maker at night, so that way in the morning I can walk straight to the machine, flip it on, get in the shower, and enjoy a delicious cup of coffee while I get ready/watch the news. >> I feel like my mom!

Italian chicken, green beans, and garlic mashed potatoes!

And lastly, I made my first dinner at home last night. I've been either on retreat or eating leftovers, so this was a really nice way to end the weekend. I'm also really excited to start blogging recipes! I have loved reading recipes from other bloggers, and now IT'S MY TURN!! Just so y'all know... this meal cost me $8 and I have some leftovers. I bought some green beans, 2 tablespoons italian dressing, boxed Betty Crocker mashed potatoes (judge me) and organic chicken breasts from the grocery store= $13.89! However, I have four breasts left, a whole bag of green beans, and I only used one pouch of the mashed potatoes. I love cooking and I feel like my new motto in life is "just add olive oil."

Anyways, that is all for now! I'm hoping to do a post this week on my temp-office and how my first week of training is going. Hope you all have a great week and happy blogging/reading :)

I'm Moved All In

This will be a really brief post (and won't have any apartment pictures--sorry), but I just wanted to let you all know that I am completely moved in! It feels weird being all moved in and typing this from my apartment (which, is totally awesome)!

 Moving in went really well! I'm super thankful to my mom and Josh! They helped me out so much and I couldn't have done it without them! My mom literally scrubbed every dish and helped me organize my kitchen-- she has the kitchen at home laid out so well and there is no one else I would rather have help organize mine than her! Josh is quite the handy man-- he got my tv working and my Brita Filter... not to mention he did the majority of the heavy lifting!!

 A few weeks back, I had planned a surprise 21st Birthday Party for Josh since I would be away for his actual birthday! So, with the help of his mom and all of his aunts/family/friends we pulled off one heck of a surprise party on Saturday. Earlier that day he was helping me move in and I told him I wanted to spend Saturday night at his place with his family... he had no idea I meant his entire family.

This guy literally means the world to me and I'm so glad I pulled off the surprise... there were so many moments where I almost ruined it, but I watched what I said and his sister helped me create a whole night of plans to sidetrack him.

 Moving out has been quite bittersweet for me... now I officially live on my own and I had to say goodbye to my family, the puppies, friends, and Josh! Thankfully I'm only a short drive away and we will still be able to see each other pretty regularly. Maybe not as regularly as I would like, but that's life!

 On our last night together, we got milkshakes/ice cream and walked on our favorite walking path. We admired all of the cute ducks and the beautiful sunsets. I can truly say that post-graduate and adult life has begun for me and I'm so thankful I have such an amazing man to experience the journey with!

I promise I'll upload apartment pictures when I get back from my staff retreat... until next time!