Now It's Home

We were having such a good time we didn't take any pictures.

I always smile when I read or hear friends remark this about their trips with their families. Everyone was just so into whatever was actually happening whether it was a simple pleasure or complicated endeavor, no one had a chance to step back and capture it for posterity.

Don't get me wrong. I love photos, seeing and taking them. But there's just something very wonderful about being so swept up (or tied up) in an experience you never grab your camera (phone).

So this past weekend when dear friends, old and new, came by amid 100+ degree temps (and post summer mega storm) to break in our new place there was no time to take a photo.

Now several folks were without power (and remain without, sorry guys) so they may have lingered a little longer to enjoy the A/C and avoid the hot boxes that their own houses had become (we'll pretend it's because you were having such a good time).

But, for a few hours of a single afternoon, it was really lovely to have our friends and their adorable (and incredibly well behaved) children fill every inch of first floor with laughter and conversation.

When you settle in a city far from home, your friends become your family. And for well past a decade now, we've been lucky enough to have some of the best friends one could conjure up to have as a part of their lives.

So thanks for helping us officially call DC home for keeps and may it not be as long until we all share an afternoon together again.

And Then There Was Light

It's amazing how a little more light and a better looking fixture can transform a space. When we moved in the sad little light that was hanging over the dining room table needed to go. It is really the only major source of light on the first floor and it was not cutting it.

Nine whole light bulbs, it's crazy bright!

Why would you put an entry light
in your dining room?

After searching high and low for a new light, including the Paris Flea Markets where we fell hard for a 19th Century Baccarat Crystal fixture (and then realized that um, we aren't "those people") it was replaced with this new light I found on One Kings Lane. It is absolutely not what I started out looking for. I had even found this crazy, oversized rough wood piece at the Luckett's Design House that I was sure would be awesome for the space and then after we painted, I realized it would be too much of a statement for the place. I fully planned to go vintage, some great piece I would have to have rewired, but then voila.

It turns out getting all those random emails and glancing at them from time to time is worthwhile and for the record One Kings Lane really did have killer good pricing. So very excited and now we can actually (for better or worse) see each other and the food on the table.

I've Developed Decorating ADD

As in, every time I think about going to write something I get distracted by something for the new place. Seriously, I have to stop. Right after I get the images printed and framed for that wall...

The good news is, my self control is making a comeback and my compulsion to decorate should be satiated by breaking out the holiday decor.

That and I really do need to tackle those last boxes in the guest bedroom and the new yellow curtains make me happy enough to just forget about the long list of other things I was going to do.

Oh and the new couch was totally worth it. It seats a small team with ease and I'm pretty happy with the DVF pillows I found too. As you can imagine, Mason is not allowed on the first floor when we're gone. Proper pics soon. I just have to compulsively clean first, now that the floor isn't covered in cardboard boxes. (See, every time I pretend my inner Martha is under control, she makes a come back.)

Design Inspired

 As we delve into the fantasy land of how to decorate our first official place, I'm perusing a wide range of design blogs in search of inspiration. A few that I've come across that I really love at the moment include:

This photo grid with white frames may be very useful.

Design Sponge

Pure Style Home

House of Turquoise

Living It at Home

Sarah Richardson

Lovely Clusters

Material Girls

The Lettered Cottage

I'm definitely in search of other points of inspiration. 900+ sq. feet means we have to make every inch count. Other blog or site suggestions welcome.

Almost Home

Our new building. Only two units
inside and one is ours!

It's official. We have roots in the form of a mortgage. After arriving here 14 years ago, five apartments, and three states later we have a little corner to call our own. It will be fall before we move in, but it's ours and we're very excited.

To celebrate we're getting a new couch and vetting the rest of the apartment. We've got a lot that needs to go and certainly if it hasn't been unpacked in multiple moves, it's not coming with us.

So before the cardboard, bubble wrap and packing tape invade our current apartment (and before our first check is due) we're enjoying the idea of finally having a place to call our own.