An Extra Happy Friday

Today marks the first day we are officially living solely in our house (and therefore are down to one ridiculous payment a month, yay!)!  All of our stuff has been moved, the unpacking has begun, and our list of projects has exploded as we spend more time in our (!!!) house.

It's been exhausting and educational, but we are loving home ownership.  Although I am happy to put apartment living behind us, there are a few things I know I am going to miss, such as:

1.  The convenience

Photo by Prince Roy

Our old building was half a block to the metro, across the street from Panera, Chipotle, and two Starbucks, and within walking distance to the library.  Basically, it was a commuters dream.  Unfortunately, our building was full of douchehats and drunken college students, so we're happy to leave that behind.

2.  The lack of bugs

No one wants to see pictures of bugs, 

Living nineteen stories up means we rarely saw any bugs in our apartment.  I think I saw two the entire time we lived there, whereas we killed about four grasshoppers in our basement the first day here.  At least I haven't seen any spiders....yet.

3.  The gym

I wish this was our gym-Via

I know most people find running on treadmills to be boring, but I am boring and I like running indoors where I can control the elevation and who will see me workout.  I had a treadmill at my dad's, but I doubt it will be coming out of his basement any time soon (bitch is heavy), so I'll have to suck it up and run outside until I can get a replacement.

4.  Our view!

Sunset from our old place

At nineteen stories up, we got some incredible views of the setting sun.  Now we'll just have to take more vacations to get my fill of beautiful views.

5.  Free Coffee

From Pintrest

On the weekdays, our apartment provided free coffee, including those flavored syrups you can pump in to make it taste less like coffee.  I tried not to partake too often, but it was so nice to be able to get coffee without having to make it myself when I really wanted it.

I think we made a great trade off in moving into our house and neighborhood, it will just take some time to adjust to this new location.  

I plan on sharing our house buying process in the next few weeks, so get excited (unless you hate that type of stuff, in which case, you should probably watch something on tv).

Happy, happy Friday!

Friday Favorites: Back to School Edition

I haven't had much time this week between packing, moving boxes, and running out to stores to get things vital to new home living (like a step stool).  While I was at Target this week I couldn't help but be drawn to their huge back to school displays.

Back to School was always my favorite time of year.  I loved getting new, cute notebooks, folders, and pens and finding out which of my friends would be in my class.  Even today, I love new office supplies and find it hard to resist buying loads of new stuff when back to school sales start every year.

So, I'm dedicating this post of some of my favorite things for back to school.

Gel Pens 

Target

I'm a sucker for multicolored pens, especially packs that have green ones in them.  As a lefty, most ballpoint pens are at best infuriating and at worst useless.  After handwriting two bar exams (yes, I'm crazy), I've found that these pens write nicely and are comfortable, so they are always my go to writing utensil.

Magnet Calendar

See Jane Work

As a magnet lover, I was immediately drawn to this fun calendar.  I would have loved this for my high school (or law school) locker.  The best thing is that it can be used year after year since you have all the months and dates already.

Pretty Notebooks

Martha Stewart at Staples

Oh, how I love notebooks.  I could buy a thousand of them just because I like the covers.  I wrote all my notes for classes until I was in law school and I truly believe a pretty notebook can make a difference in taking quality notes.

Satchel

Zatchels

A new school year is not complete without a new bag.  Although a backpack is certainly more practical for hauling books, this satchel is too cute and would be perfect for carrying a laptop and a notebook.

Pony Express Stationary

Rifle Paper Co.

So, these aren't exactly a school necessity, but they are too cute not to include in my list.  Everyone needs a nice stationary set, and this set is perfect and oh so pretty.

Did you love or dread going back to school?  What was your favorite back to school accessory?

Friday Favorites

First of all, you guys have some amazing moving tips.  I've spent this week packing, organizing, and purging out lives of some unnecessary crap (although still not enough of it if you ask me) and yet I feel as if there is still so much more to do.  When I have had a break to relax this week, this is what I've been enjoying.

Hollywood Game Night

NBC

We didn't watch this show when it first premiered because we were always out when it was on.  We've seen a few episodes on reruns now and I just love it.  There are always really funny people on as featured guests and the games are a mixture of well loved classics and creative new ones.  Plus Jane Lynch is the host which is great because she is hilarious and since we share an alma mater, I consider her my home girl.  Now I just need to find a way to become a contestant on the show cause I know I would rock it.

World Map Corkboard

Anthropologie

We can't take a vacation this year since we bought a house and we need more furniture coming from a one bedroom apartment.  I can, however, dream and make plans about where we can go in the future.  This cork board would be such a fun way to do that while also looking cute on the wall of an office or guest bedroom.

Orange is the New Black

Via

After holding out for a time, I finally watched Orange is the New Black this week.  In law school, I visited a men's prison on a criminal law field trip and this show surprisingly had some similarities to that experience (although I didn't laugh while on the field trip).  I liked seeing the background of some of the characters explained, including how they ended up in prison, which made them compelling rather than simply convicts.  Plus, it made packing go much faster.

Now, back to packing!  What are you loving this week?

It has Begun...

"It" being the joy of packing and moving our lives from one domicile to the next.

"Before"

We got boxes (for free) from one of Brian's coworkers on Saturday and I've spent the last few days packing up all nonessential items.  Since our apartment is less than 800 square feet, I assumed this would be a rather quick task, but I'm always shocked to realize just how much stuff we have (so. many. books.).

And now that the end of our apartment living is near, I have completely given up on cleaning.  Knowing we will clean once we are officially out of the apartment is all the motivation I need to find anything else to do.  I can name our last four meals based on the food residue on our stove.  The carpet officially has more hair than carpet fibers.  Don't even get me started on the mess that is our shower.

Our moving day cannot come soon enough.

Do you have any moving tips?  Anyone else have no motivation to clean knowing they'll just have to clean again before they move out?

Friday Favorites

It feels like it has been awhile since I've written one of these posts, although I'm sure it hasn't really been that long.  Anyway, here goes!

Mumford & Sons new video

Via

If you haven't seen this video yet, you probably should.  In case you haven't seen it, I won't ruin the surprise, but know that it will have you laughing and wanting to watch it again and again.

Goldfish Graham S'mores

Goldfish Smiles

I'm sure admitting this makes me sound like a five year old, but I LOVE these Goldfish Graham snacks.  I had a coupon, so I decided to try them out and I'm so glad I did.  They have two cracker flavors, graham and chocolate, and those hard marshmallow pieces a la Lucky Charms.  I figured they were terrible health wise, but was surprised they weren't nearly as bad as I expected (as long as you don't eat the whole bag in one day...not that I would do that...).

Alex and Ani Bangle

Alex and Ani

My Mother in Law ordered a couple of these bracelets for our niece as graduation gifts and ended up receiving this one as a mistake.  Instead of sending it back, she kept it and gave it to me knowing how much I love my Cubbies and Wrigley Field.  It's quickly becoming one of my favorite things as it reminds me of my Midwestern roots.

What are you loving this week?  Happy weekend all!

Tennessee Trip

This past week we hopped a plane down to Tennessee to spend some quality time with Brian's family and friends.  Before we left, I kept telling my husband that this was not a vacation.  This was a trip.  A nice, relaxing trip filled with good company, but a trip nonetheless.

A vacation requires a hotel reservation, sightseeing, and day drinking.  Bonus points if it is somewhere you've never been or you need a passport to gain entry.

Anyway, back to our Tennessee trip.  One of the great things about visiting Brian's family is being able to experience things that we don't see in DC.  Like fields, farm animals, and friendly people.  Just kidding, there are some fields around here.

My father in law took us to a farm run by his friends that recently moved to Tennessee from our area.  They raise a multitude of different animals and live in a rustic log cabin, basically the opposite of their old lives and they couldn't be happier.  They showed us all around their property and let us get up close and personal with their animals.

I really wanted to pet this lady, but was told she would try to eat my clothes

I feel like I'm the only person who doesn't like pigs. I just don't understand their appeal.  This didn't stop me from photographing them though.

This chunkster was the size of a small horse and loved his mud puddle.

The ducks were my favorite!  They traveled in a huge pack and were so cute.

It started raining ridiculously hard, so we packed up and headed back to my father in law's property.  He lives in the middle of nowhere, so everything is peaceful.

Peaceful and muddy.

Brian showing off his skillz on the three wheeler

My brother in law has been raising cows at his dad's, which we had to visit so that we report back on their progress.

Joe the sweetie

We didn't just visit farm animals though, we also spent some quality time with family.  Our adorable little niece was our main entertainment for the week.

And, that's what we've been up to lately as we wait to finally get into our new house!

I'm curious, what's your definition of a vacation?  Do you think visiting family is a vacation or no?

Behind the Scenes Capitol Tour: Part 2

Last time, I showed off the Senate side of our behind the scenes Capitol tour.  Today will be all about the House of Representatives (again, I'm pretty sure it's the House, but I apologize if I got something wrong, I'm not claiming to be an expert).

Before checking out the House, we stopped in the Capitol Rotunda.

The Apotheosis of Washington in the Rotunda eye of the Capitol dome by Brumidi