So, this will probably be the last day of our place resembling a lived in home before the extreme packing begins and the boxes start piling up. It’s rather exciting. This place is lovely and we have loved every minute we’ve been blessed to live here but I’m so looking forward to our next chapter, even if it looks like we’re taking a step backward : ) Best news ever is that Greg and I decided it is definitely a priority for our next place to be able to have a dog. Oh. my. That makes any ugliness that comes our way, 100% worth it. So, of course being the impatient person I am, I’ve already emailed several potential breeders and (!!!!!!) I already got a response back from one saying she has puppies right now!!! I should say this is very premature since nothing is confirmed but I’m about an 11 on the excited scale. Oh and before I forget, this would be our pups dad. Isn’t he handsoooomeee????

Your first grandchild is a hairy one, parents : ) And since we are talking about premature things, Greg possibly may have found us a delightful little house! Again, not set in stone but it is in a nice neighborhood in Pasadena with treelined streets : D and has a HUGE backyard for this puppy to play! It’s not pretty but it is a house (!!!!) with two bedrooms (hello, guest room!) AND another small room where I can paint. PLUS! It has a big two car garage so we finally will stop getting street parking tickets. It needs a whole lot of work and love but the more I think about it, the more excited I get.

 Yesterday I took my Aunt Sarah’s advice and checked Craigslist for free boxes and sure enough! a bundle of boxes are waiting to be filled right now! I was feeling kinda lazy and reluctant to go on a scavenger hunt for boxes that may or may not be there but after checking every office supply store online and seeing it would cost $80 new for the amount I was able to get free, I quickly jumped in my car and set out on my box finding adventure. The guy I picked them up from had two of the cutest boys (probably three and four) named Nate and Graham who helped me carry them all out to my car : ) So, it was a happy experience and helped soothe my sadness as I remembered throwing away all these boxes so willingly just a couple months ago.

So, before it becomes complete disarray, let me take you on a little tour. Get your vomit bag ready cause I’m not a great videographer.

Alrighty, let’s walk you through this sucker. You’ve already seen this front door of bliss. I must say, it’s rather lovely to come home on this path.. it takes away all the frustration of carrying six bags of groceries up a steep hill. And that view aint so bad either.. I’m sorry I talk about it so much. Pictures don’t even begin to do it justice. You just have to experience it in person, in all it’s magnificence. But, I suppose a picture is second best.

Once you go down there, if you look to the left, this garden used to be there. It made me very happy. But it was neglected and is no more.

Now my only flourishing plant is my succulent pot : [

I got a bunch of succulents for the summer months when I knew we’d be traveling quite frequently. So far, they’ve hung in there!

Now let us adjourn to the liiibrary, as we call it when we are feeling fancy, or simply the dreaded dining room. It’s a nice room but it never really got fixed up and I always thought it was stale and cold. (It’s really because the only lighting is the overhead lighting which is awful and makes a buzzing sound. Consequently I don’t like eating dinner in there – lunch definitely – but not dinner so we end up eating most of them at our coffee table which is nice and cozy).   : )

Those shelves were a nightmare to fill. Have you noticed the bookshelves in magazines all have the same color books, or real old beautiful books, or something freakishly off about them? Well, that was my problem here.. a whole wall of shelves to fill with our cheap, ugly books. But I figure it turned out more “eclectic” so I am satisfied. On to the living room! You must know, that when we first went into this place, it was basically like three long, narrow, oddly shaped rooms but because Greg left absolutely giddy (I’m pretty sure his ankles clicked at one point), we took on the challenge of tackling the odd, staggered, rectangle rooms.

There was a point when I was sitting on the couch with my freshly painted nails, and looked down to see they were the same color as the stripes on the pillows — which were the same color as the carpet — which was the same color as our bed — which was basically the same color as the rest of the house. Funny enough, the first time I visited Greg down in Calabasas, I looked around and noticed his whole place was brown. Shortly there after, I noticed I had this obsession with grey and everything I bought happened to be a dreary grey. So this brownish grey color that has invited itself into our house appears to be the sweet marriage of our two favorite colors. Or else, I simply have a problem.

This room then leads into bedroom. These doors do not shut without splitting. I am looking forward to doors that shut.

When we first moved here, there were blinds on these windows which didn’t look as nice, but were able to be rolled all the way up and you just had a seamless view of all of the city and the side hill. It was really breathtaking. After about a month of that, I was ready to be able to change in my bedroom without thinking some perverted teenage boy was probably on the street watching. Needless to say, I think our neighbors appreciated the newfound privacy that came with these shutters, even if they did block the view. Compromise, compromise. And there is our messy little office space. If you go through the living room again, it’ll take you down a little hall to the kitchen, which you have already seen.

We thought it was so weird that they had a window looking into the bedroom but it ended up being so nice to have something to look out at when you’re stuck doing dishes for hours on end. Turns out the bedroom used to be a screened in porch which explains the window!

Off of the kitchen is the bathroom..

It’s itty bitty but nicely appointed as Greg likes to say. I believe the landlords want to eventually move down here when they aren’t able to climb their stairs anymore, so they put a lot of thought into the finishes and things which I adore. And off the kitchen is what we call, Greg’s smoking deck. It also used to look much cuter but has dwindled from my recent neglect : )

And that is our little tour for the day!