Movin' On Up!

It's official! As of today, my sister Brenna and I are the proud lessees of a lovely new home! We are a little sad to be moving out of the city but our new neighborhood is quite nice and its exciting to be moving to accommodate new jobs and educational adventures. We'll have lots of nesting to do and tons more space to work with- I'm already compiling lists of DIY projects! We'll keep you all posted. The first project I want to take on is a really cool herringbone patterned paint job on a living room wall. (We'll see if we get that adventurous!)

Community!

I just got back from a positively lovely, much too short, trip to Massachusetts/New Hampshire to celebrate the wedding of my dear friend Colleen and her beau Craig. Oh my gosh, do I love the North East. I stayed for a few days with my L'Arche family in Haverhill, MA and was reminded of what a loving, supportive group of people they are. I went from living and working at L'Arche with 6 housemates to living alone in a new city (except for LaVerne, my cat, of course!) and while it's been an introspective year, I'm very ready to have a housemate again. Anywho- the main event! Colleen's wedding! It was such a lovely ceremony in the church. The highlight was Donald- a core member from the house Colleen last lived and worked in- mumbling 'I still love you, Colleen,' under his breath during a silence after the vows.

I forgot to pack my go-to lipstick (Ruby Blue by MAC) which made for a good excuse to jump the border into New Hampshire (no sales tax!) and pick up a replacement. I was really excited to expand my lipstick horizons and the helpful sales woman at Sephora directed me toward a really vibrant orange. She said that given my olive skin tone and reddish brown hair the orange would work really well. Now, I like a bright lipstick but I was a little skeptical. She instructed me to apply lightly and use a clear gloss over it to even the color and mute it down. She added, if you're going out clubbing then just apply it really heavy and wear the neon shade! I chuckled at her insinuation that I might club. hahahaha. Anyway- the color was perfect. I highly recommend a coral-orange for those of us olive toned gals as a slightly less retro alternative to the bright reds. I looked fierce. But more importantly, Colleen looked absolutely beautiful. She and Craig are such a good example of celebrating marriage and loving each other as God intends. I am so excited to see the direction the Lord takes them together!

Mama's got a Mobile

Up until very recently, I had no idea that what my apartment decor was missing was a mobile. I didn't know until I stumbled upon this one (while stalking Etsy.com like I do) and I realized immediately that it needed to be part of my life. I hung it in my bathroom and it inspires me to be femine and lovely while I'm getting ready in the mornings. In a nod toward all things mod and retro, I've worn swoopy cat-eye eyeliner and matte red lipstick 4 times in the last week. Sorry for my terrible picture quality, but the designer makes all sorts of mobiles similar to my Pin-Up style one. Check her out! http://www.etsy.com/shop/SaltyandSweet

Beginning Again (yet again)

Clearly discipline is not my strong suit. I've started blogging only to quit after about 3 posts approximately 3 times over the last 2 years, but gosh-darnit, I'm gonna stick to it this time!

I was encouraged by an ever-so-sweet customer while I was closing one evening at the store I work for to continue to blog about my day-to-day. Apparently, my multitude of jobs and hobbies may be interesting to people other than myself! I was so encouraged by her kind words that here I am! This is officially this latest kick off post! It's nice to be back...

I love Christmas. It's my favorite season and if it could be Christmas all the time, I promise you I would never tire of it. I have a huge number of DIY projects I've taken on to make my new little apartment as cheery as possible but one thing has been looming and preventing me from starting anything for quite some time. The mess. My apartment was a disaster. I don't know how it got that way, really. I'll get around to the craft projects but for now, I just wanted to encourage you (and myself). My apartment sparkles. It's wonderful and clean smelling and LaVerne is a little confused at the lack of piled clothes for her to burrow into. I even organized my shoes!

Does that make anyone else half as happy as it makes me?

PittyPat

Today at church I almost had a Pittypat Hamilton moment. I was wearing my absolute favorite dress (the one I just loved so so much that I had to buy it a size smaller than I actually wear because that's all they had in all of that particular store across Texas) and despite the fact that I looked fabulous, I was having to keep the breathing to a minimum to avoid popping the zipper.

On top of that, the church has no air conditioning. In Massachusetts, the cold weather takes up the majority of the year, but that doesn't mean that the hot weather doesn't scorch. It was sweltering.

I was doing my best to fan my

self with my bulletin, but I kept having to stop and read along. I got to the point that I feared

I might faint (did you hear that last sentence with a thick southern drawl, because that's definitely how I said it.) Luckily, I didn't, as I fear few people carry smelling salts on them anymore.

Anyway, I must have looked as flustered as I felt, because the woman sitting behind me, very sweetly asked if I needed a fan. She then proceeded to hand fans to the friend I was sitting with and myself- just extras she carried around with her. It's a lovely rice paper japanese style fan and if it wasn't the breeze that revived me, it was certainly how suddenly classy we'd become with our fans. Mine now has a permanent place in my purse. I just can't believe that I didn't think to get one before this! Thank you lovely church lady, for your generosity and your classiness!

Girl's Night Out

Last night, I got to go out for a Ladies' Night/Farewell Dinner with my lovely little small group. We skirted up to Ogonquit, Maine for some shopping. some delicious food and wine, and some great company. All this time I've been living 45 minutes from an absolutely adorable and quaint string of beach towns and it's taken me all this time (a week before I leave!) to decide to take advantage of it! The weather threatened to put a damper on our evening but I'm convinced that our positive thoughts staved off the rain just enough to keep us dry ;).

It was a lovely evening and I am going to miss fellowshipping (and taking reality tv) with these ladies very much!