And This Is Where We'll Be Living

Okay, so no I won't, but a girl can dream right. I saw these photos in a magazine a few months ago. I want to say Country Living, but I'm not really sure where I actually saw this wonderful home. It was love at first sight. I don't believe in love at first sight between two people, but I DO believe in falling in love with a place at first sight. Does that me a love cynic? MAYBE. I found the article again today while hunting Apartment Therapy for a little inspiration. It's awesome where you can find a little inspiration, Apartment Therapy is a regular visit for me. I dream about houses and apartments, and how I will decorate them all through the day.

Josh and I are headed out with his Uncle tonight to house hunt. Our price range is higher than we expected, but because business has been super slow for me this year so far, so we are shooting about for about $25,000-30,000 below our top limit. This leaves us with a house that needs some work, and lacks the things that I want most in a house. I.E. a separate room for an office. I've been hoping for 4 bedrooms, but there is only one house we are looking at tonight with 4 bedrooms. Sure I can use one of the other two bedrooms for awhile as an office before we have kids, but Josh and I are planning on having kids in the future. No, this isn't an announcement for those of you who know me and have asked if babies are on the way.

#2. Of importance on the list for the inside of the house. A dining room. You would be surprised at how many houses don't have a dining room. Our dark wood, pub like dining room table is too pretty to be shoved in back of the living room behind our non- existent couch. Even our small apartment has a dining area. This will be especially important when we have children. Because it's a rare day right now that we eat at the table, but instead balance our plates on our laps in front of the t.v. riveted by an episode of Cash Cab, or another crazy story about octo-mom and how she lost her kid one day and had to call 911.

Location is a really big deal to us to. We think we've found a house, and then the next door neighbors have 14 broken down cars with bullet holes in the sides, which are haphazardly strewn about the yard. Blah.

So, this is where I have decided we should move! It's tiny, no room for an office I'm sure, no room for kids really. But it would be a wonderful place to hole up and vacation for awhile.

The house was $30,000, and had to be gutted, but it had great bones, and now look at it! Enjoy the pictures!

Have a wonderufl day!

Alyssa

Love

I was looking for some inspiration today. Some days I just need to take a little more time to search through images. I find peace in these photos. They fill me with so much joy! I came across this photo on another blog, and stopped to stare for quite awhile. It's stunning.There are no words for me to describe it, so I will leave you to look for yourself.

Photo by: Britta Trygstad

Take a look at her work: brittatrygstad.com

Alyssa

Chairs

So I'm on the hunt for some awesome furniture to use for pictures, but I have not a clue where to find them. I'm poor, so that rules out alot of places I would love to shop, i.e. Anthropologie. I'm in love with their leather couch! And I don't like leather couches, obviously Anthropologie has some power over me. I'm thinking I will have to just keep an eye out for something that I think has potential, and maybe.... Reupholster it. I'm sure that would end up being disastrous. I never thought as an adult I would be IN LOVE with furniture and home decor.

I remember walking through Levitz and La-Z Boy Furniture nearly in tears due to the unimaginable torture my mom and dad put me through. We would spend hours perusing the couches and the recliners. Every once in awhile, Kyle and I would find something we thought was interesting. But did we ever purchase what we picked? NO. We NEVER purchased anything. So why were we there? I'm sure as punishment for arguing in the back of the car that, "You crossed the invisible line! MOM, HE CROSSED THE INVISIBLE LINE!" I can't wait to have kids and have that continual shriek of whiny voices drone on and on in the car on a trip to absolutely anywhere. That's a different story.

We usually got in trouble for sitting on the furniture with our sticky child fingers. DON'T bring a kid in a store where nothing can be touched. You know we are just aching to knock over that hideous Japanese vase in the corner next to that chair. One of us usually left crying... Usually due to exhaustion from making 357 laps around the store, sitting in every recliner that struck my fathers fancy. Then in turn my father would do that awful lip curl that signaled we were going to get it either in the car, or when we got home.

So with all that tragedy, I'm really surprised at how much I adore home decor. There are so many horrendous memories. But I LOVE it. It makes me so happy! So here are some chairs, and couches that I'm keeping in mind on my hunt for the perfect chair to use for my photo sessions!

morewaystowastetime.blogspot.com

morewaystowastetime.blogspot.com

Interior Dynamics

The one on the right is similiar to one I found in a shop window in Paris I took a picture of the chair because I wanted it so much, but because it was taken through a window, the photo didn't come out well.

freddyandma.blogs.com

I would take any of these chairs in a heartbeat.

stylehive.com

javajune.wordpress.com

My favorite. I want this living room. I'm pretty sure this photo was in Domino at one time.

There are more, but I won't torture everyone!

Have a WONDERFUL weekend. Enjoy the sun if you have it!

Alyssa

Things I've Done, and Some I'd Like To Do...

Just a little tid bit about me:) Things I've done are in pink, things I haven't done, but want to are in gray, and things I DONT want to do are in purple.


1. started your own blog
2. slept under the stars
3. played in a band
4. visited hawaii
5. watched a meteor shower
6. given more than you can afford to charity
7. been to disneyland/world
8. climbed a mountain (climbing isn't my thing)
9. held a praying mantis (no bugs for me)
10. sang a solo
11. bungee jumped
12. visited paris
13. watched a lightning storm at sea (we weren't on the sea, but the lightning storm was)
14. taught yourself an art from scratch (does teaching yourself photography count?)
15. adopted a child
16. had food poisoning
17. walked to the top of the statue of liberty
18. grown your own vegetables
19. seen the mona lisa in france (sadly, when we went, we didn't go to the Louvre)
20. slept on an overnight train
21. had a pillow fight
22. hitch hiked
23. taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. built a snow fort
25. held a lamb
26. gone skinny dipping (in the Mediterranean, when we were on vacation. I put my bottoms back on when we went to the beach. Everyone else was topless, why not me to?)
27. run a marathon
28. ridden a gondola in venice
29. seen a total eclipse
30. watched a sunrise or sunset
31. hit a home run
32. been on a cruise
33. seen niagara falls in person
34. visited the birthplace of your ancestors (I would love to do this!)
35. seen an amish community
36. taught yourself a new language
37. had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. seen the leaning tower of pisa in person
39. gone rock climbing
40. seen michelangelo's david in person
41. sung karaoke
42. seen old faithful geyser erupt
43. bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. visited africa
45. walked on a beach by moonlight
t46. been transported in an ambulance
47. had your portrait painted
48. gone deep sea fishing
49. seen the sistene chapel in person
50. been to the top of the eiffel tower in paris (we thought about it, but the line was way too long)
51. gone scuba diving or snorkelling
52. kissed in the rain
53. played in the mud
54. gone to a drive-in theatre
55. been in a movie
56. visited the great wall of china
57. started a business
58. taken a martial arts class
59. visited russia
60. served at a soup kitchen
61. sold girl scout cookies.
62. gone whale watching
63. gotten flowers for no reason
64. donated blood (either too anemic, or just got a tattoo)
65. gone sky diving (not really something I want to do)
66. visited a nazi concentration camp
67. bounced a cheque
68. flown in a helicopter (I drove a tugboat once, though)
69. saved a favorite childhood toy
70. visited the lincoln memorial
71. eaten caviar
72. pieced a quilt
73. stood in times square
74. toured the everglades
75. been fired from a job
76. seen the changing of the guard in london (I have in other countries)
77. broken a bone
78. been on a speeding motorcycle (sadly, no)
79. seen the grand canyon in person
80. published a book
81. visited the vatican
82. bought a brand new car
83. walked in jerusalem
84. had your picture in the newspaper
85. read the entire bible (read alot of it)
86. visited the white house
87. killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. had chickenpox
89. saved someone’s life
90. sat on a jury (almost)
91. met someone famous
92. joined a book club
93. lost a loved one
94. had a baby
95. seen the alamo in person.
96. swum in the great salt lake.
97. been involved in a law suit
98. owned a cell phone
99. been stung by a bee

I don't know why there aren't 100?

Oh well, have a wonderful Thursday!

Alyssa

Just For Fun

Found this little photo creator through a blog I visit regularly! Thought it was fun. I'm on the cover of Vogue. Maybe it's just me, but I think the magazine looks a little out of proportion in the image, especially the cover. It's a cute idea, though:)

Have a great day!

Alyssa

Loving the Sun!!

It has been beautiful the last few days, and it makes me so happy. This sun is way over due. I hear it's not going to last for long, but I hope it comes back again soon. One of my favorite things about this time of year is the Cherry Blossoms. So yesterday I took a few minutes to get a few photos out in the parking lot of the apartment complex to snap a few pictures before they disappear. They always seem to pop up and then leave before I can get around to taking some pictures! This year I have proof!

If you have nice weather where you are, I hope you are enjoying it! Have a wonderful week!

Alyssa

My Affinity For Dresses

I love clothes. I won't deny it. And you probably couldn't tell that I do, considering I've been wearing the same boring stuff since only God knows how long. Buying clothes comes after paying the bills and after my business needs, which right now, doesn't leave room for much else. My favorite clothing? Dresses. When I was little, I used to only wear dresses, sometimes I wore them with leggings and jellies, but they were dresses none the less. My mom tried to get me into a pair of Osh Kosh B'gosh and I was MORTIFIED. I didn't want to look like a boy, and if that wasn't enough to convince my mother, I hated how they felt on my legs. They were too stiff and scratchy. It was kind of like when we would go to the beach and I would get sand in between my toes. Oh the horror. Wearing jeans and sand between my toes were hellish occurances in life, so I stayed away from them like the plague. And then I came to that time in my childhood, like most girls do... The time we have an identity crisis and we want to be picked first for the baseball team, and we abandon those pretty little dresses in exchange for baggy pants and tshirts.

It was easy for me to look like a boy considering my hair refused to grow, and regardless of what my mom thinks, I DID have a mullet, and a white blonde mullet at that. I had what you call brillow pad hair, where at four you could probably see my wispy brillow pad blowing in the wind while I rode my bike (with training wheels) before you even saw my face. Just picture how attractive a gangly four year old with a huge gap in her teeth was. I was a real piece of work.

That ugly stage lasted from 6-16 something that I hope when I have a daughter she doesn't have to suffer for so long. It's bound to happen, but I hope it's not the length of time that I suffered through.

Anyway, sometime during high school I stopped trying to hide that fact that I was a girl. I spent alot of time during my high scehool career hiding that fact that I was tall too. And if by some miracle the planets shifted, hell actually froze over, and I decided to buy clothes that actually fit. Clothes that had flowers on them... It was an amazing feeling.

I was back in love with dresses to. Dresses are the first thing I look at when I walk through a store. I'm not even allowed to stop when I'm with Josh, but sometimes I am allowed a quick skim through to see if there is anything I absolutely can't live witout. I have at least 4 little black dresses, one of which I have yet to wear, but it is perfect in the way that Audrey Hepburn's dresses were perfect, and for now I just try it on with my pearls and twirl in the mirror. It can only be worn to the most wonderful of places... This might be hard considering Josh and I rarely do anything aside from going to Target and venturing out to the occassional movie.

I spend hours online looking at dresses that I could never afford, but it makes me feel oh so good to dream. So here are a few dresses that I could never afford that I am absolutely in love with! Enjoy!

I think I loved every piece of clothing Kiera Knightley wore in this movie. I would wear any of the pieces my favorite is the green dress. It is to die for. and the dress on the right is amazing too.

This is Sienna Miller in Vogue. I kept this issue for so long. I couldn't find the other blue dress from this shoot but it was amazing too. Maybe it was the same dress, but this was all I could find. Isn't it divine?

Scarlett Johannson is pretty amazing. I love this dress. And the shoes are great too.

I had this picture saved because I love this photo... And Christ Noth. Don't ask. Again, it's the older man thing. But who can forget to put Carrie Bradshaw on a dress list?!LOVE THIS!

This a Grace Kelly dress. I would wear this in a hearbeat. Where? I don't have a clue!

Can't get enough of Rachel McAdams' dress in the Notebook!

I didn't used to be much for ruffles and poof, but I'm in love with frills now. AH!

This dress is stunning. I'm pretty sure that is a necklace, it makes the dress spectacular.

I posted more than I originally thought I would, but I went through my "Things I Love" folder. All images were found via Google.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Alyssa