the cozy apartment

just where have I been?

where have I been?  Good question.  Pretty funny that my last post was about how I love summer mornings, because, ya know what?  I'm done with them now.  Done.  That week was 100 degrees.  Yeah, the whole week!  And this week in the 90's!  I wilt in the heat, like the dainty flower that I am (ahem).  My plants are doing ok with it, except for my Japanese maple and the tomato plant.  The tomato plant didn't get the blight that's been going around, though, so that's good!  It just couldn't cope with the intense heat and my, errrrr, irregular watering schedule.  We did get 3 pints or so of good little cherry tomatoes from it, though!  They were very flavorful and Mr. Cozy Apartment made an excellent chi chi bean/rice/tomato dish with them!  Yum.

But, just where have I been?  Well, folks, we are in the process of buying a house!  EEEEEEE!  That has basically been taking up all of my time/energy that isn't related to work.  Buying a house is NOT what HGTV told me it would be!  Shame on you, Suzanne Whang!  It's basically a lot of limbo!  Lots of paperwork, then some more paperwork, oh, and did I mention the paperwork?  It's worth it, though.  I can't wait to PAINT!!!

(image courtesy of Benjamin Moore)

It will be GREAT to have some color on the walls!  We've lived in white-walled apartments since 2001, 8 YEARS of white!  Almost a decade!  Now, however, I'm spoiled for choice.  I stood in front of the massive paint display with those color graded cards in a complete daze!  I don't know where to begin!  What a great problem to have!

Lately, I'm loving Pottery Barn.  Just not their pricing, it's a *touch* high.  What I love is that their furniture is a mix of modern/traditional, which is perfect for setting off all of the great thrifted items I've been collecting for years.  My plan is to turn my Ikea finds into a Pottery Barn look/feel.  I think I can do it, you just have to be really selective about what you find at Ikea.  We're definately getting this daybed, which pulls out to a double bed for guests.  :

It's very comfy and really sturdy (uh, which is not something you always find with Ikea furniture, as we well know!).  It's going in.....(wait for it!).......my new craft/sewing ROOM!  YEAH!  I GET MY OWN ROOM!!!!!!!!  I cannot WAIT!  No more sharing the spare room with Mr. Um-You're-Going-To-Smell-Something-Burning-But-Don't-Worry,-It's-Just-Saulder.  WOO HOO!  Don't get me wrong, he's been a great roomate, but it will be AWESOME to have our own spaces!  AK!  My brain goes off into 1,000 directions on how I'd like to set my room up every time I think about it.  Of course, I get jolted back into reality once I realize that we haven't packed a thing and our appraisal hasn't been done yet, heh heh heh. 

The townhome we're buying also has a sweet little backyard and a great dining area.  3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 30 years of mortgage payments.  But it will be all ours.  We can paint anything we want, we can put up anything we want on the walls, we won't be throwing money down the drain every month when we make out that check.  It will be worth the wait....I think I like this color.  Oh, and this one.  And this one...

Ch-ch-ch-Changes...

OK, so I've been sitting here for 10 minutes trying to compose an *inspiring* first sentence that encompasses perfectly everything that's gone on in the past 2 weeks.  And it was such an incredible trip that I feel like it can't be accurately described.  It was so refreshing to be *away* to begin with!  No phone (cell or otherwise), no tv, no news, no noise.  Tucked into that remote corner of Wyoming, when we first got there and sat down, our ears rang.  It was perfectly quiet.  At night, it was pitch black, except for the Milky Way.  We woke up to dappled sun and the occasional bison on our front lawn.  It was a completely different world from our day to day (even sans bison!).  And it reminded me that there is so much more to my life than work.  And, boy, did I need that!  A changed perspective and a reminder that work is *part* of my life, not my entire life. 

Upon returning, the cozy apartment seems different, somehow.  It feels HUGE, to begin with!  Our hotel room was, um, tiny.  Poor apartment.  It's been so neglected this summer!  Needs some rejuvenating and tlc.  Don't worry, baby, 'cause FALL IS HERE!  Oh, my favorite season by far!  I wait all summer long for that chill in the air!  It's time for changes!  Flannel sheets, candles burning (these smell most like fall to me!), comfy blankets, snuggly kitties (Iris is snoring behind my chair right now.  That never ceases to crack me up.), The Soup, chili, pie, jeans & sweatshirts.  Also, a little clean up and fresh face for the blog!  In the next month, you'll see a bunch of changes over here!  Time to tidy those typelists & add a banner, for starters!  And, darn it, there's gonna be some crafting!  The family room needs new pillows, the couch needs new stuffing (I'm gonna need some advice there, I'm sure), gifts to be sewn, and I think I'm gonna make a quilt.  Yep, a quilt. 

I'm sure at this point you're saying, "Um, didn't you go to Yellowstone?  Where are the pictures, girl?".  Funny thing, the digital camera hasn't been unpacked yet.  Besides, I went old school.  I took 32 rolls of film.  Yep.  You heard me right.  32 rolls.  That's 768 pictures.  Probably 40 will come out decently.  It was so much fun to use my trusty old Elan!  There is nothing like film.  I'll post picts when we completely unpack (uh, yeah, we've been home for 3 days...), for now I'll leave you with a shot from the balcony from last fall.  This is what's coming up for the cozy apartment!

"Delicious autumn!  My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird, I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns"  ~ George Elliot 

(thanks to Notes from A Cottage Industry for reminding me of that quote!)

               

 

rise and shine!

Woke to this sunrise on Groundhog Day!  V. beautiful, reminds me that spring is indeed coming....eventually.  February seems eternal, the month where you feel like it *should* be spring already, but nope!  You have another month to go!  This week has been warm, around 55, which is great for my poor plants!  Can't WAIT to get gardening again!  Can't wait for sunshine again!  However, after a month of blazing sun, you bet I'd run back to February if I could! 

Life seems like it's in slow motion lately, pending spring.  I'm taking a sewing class, which I LOVE b/c the instructor is so great!  Almost done with the project, pajama pants, which I'll show you when they're finished.  It has only taken a couple of hours to make them, which was a major shock to me!  It's the first thing I've ever sewn and seemed incredibly intimidating.  I wish I had more time to sew...I wish I could work part time!  Don't we all?   Thankfully, I have 4 days off starting Wednesday!   Weeeee!  TTFN!