New Home: My New Neighborhood

I've been trying to explore a little bit of the area.  I haven't been too great at getting out, but I love the area that we are living in.  We are just outside the city enough to feel more like a neighborhood.  I feel very safe and it's great to be able to walk to dinner, ride our bikes to the subway station or play out in the yard with the neighbor girl.  We have been to the farmer's market both Saturdays that we have been here and the fresh produce selection is great.  Yesterday they had music for the kids and the week before a craft table set up for kids.  This week, we saw a little guy that Munchkie goes to daycare with and his mom, we stopped to chat and found out that they are kind of on the same path we are and live just a few streets away from us.  I was then getting a cup of coffee at a coffee shop on a bike (yes, on a bike) and made a comment to a woman standing next to me.  Next thing I know, we found a connection via a mom website we both belong to and they welcomed us to the area. 

Tonight we went to a church that we have been looking forward to attending and we really enjoyed it.  We met several families around our age and a teacher said to me that there was another new couple she had just met that was living in the same neighborhood we were. It turns out that this couple lives on our street just a couple blocks away.  To top that, he graduated the same master's program that Munchkie's Daddy did (and the same year) and they have a mutual friend.  They moved here at the beginning of the summer (from the same town we just moved from) and told us such great tips about the area.  Where to buy meat, which little store has the best produce, etc.  It feels wonderful to make connections and even to find tips about the area.  I am beginning to believe that this truly was a good move for us and I hope to continue to explore and find great things in our area. 

The transition to this new area is such a different transition than the previous one we made three years ago.  The culture shock that we experienced moving from the Midwest to the Northeast was something we didn't expect.  I have been bracing myself for months to be prepared for another culture shock, but instead of have been shocked by how friendly and helpful everyone we have encountered has been.  We have already met more people in the couple weeks we have lived here than we did in months of our previous move.  Previously every single relationship that I had was a result of my work, and here I haven't even started working and already have made connections.  This is amazing to me. 

The downside to living in this area I have found is that Target is not very convenient to get to and Walmart is a ridiculous drive.  While this is kind of devastating, it will probably be good for our bank account.  Not making frequent trips to these stores will help me realize what's really important.  I won't be buying unnecessary things that catch my eye and maybe I can even spend the wasted time wandering the aisles being more productive in my life or even doing something like riding my bike to improve my physical fitness, or lack thereof.

Here is a little view of my new neighborhood.

The main street that we live off of has a beautiful view of the city.

The farmer's market on the town green. Plenty of tents set up with everything from fresh pastries to every kind of tomato possible to stone ground chocolates made right here.

Making a maraca at the kid's craft table with Munchkie's Mimi.

All of the amazing things we purchased at the farmer's market.  Fresh produce that we enjoyed every bite of.  Just look at the variety of tomatoes!

This restaurant caught my eye the first time we came through the area.  It has open windows, small tables and an interesting menu.  We could hardly pull Munchkie away from the window to eat her food, she loved feeling the wind blowing on her face as she watched the cars go by.  My lemon and ricotta cheese pancakes were wonderful and Munchkie had fresh squeezed orange juice for the first time.  She was so confused, she would take a drink and say "this an orange mommy?" and I would say, "yes, it's orange juice."  She was say ok and take another sip, then again say "this is an orange."  She didn't realize that orange juice was actually supposed to taste just like an orange.

We found this indoor playground when we went to check out the Habitat for Humanity Restore.  Another mom said that it was really good for those days when the kids can't play outside.  A big open space with lots of things for the kids to play with, and free wifi for the parents.

  

We saw these birds all lined up on the roof of the house next door, just hanging out.

 

We went to a restaurant down the road from us that specialized in southern cooking.  Munchkie's menu/coloring page said "Selections For Future World Leaders, Humanitarians and Rock N Rollers"

This is our church, it starts in the evening, which is perfect for us since we aren't morning people.  Tonight they had a bbq afterwords and we were able to meet quite a few people in the church. 

 This beautiful pond in a public garden is right in the middle of the city.

 I love this contrast, beautiful green grass, with a carousel and a park, surrounded by skyscrapers.

New Home: Living Room/Dining Room/Study

Yes, this is quite the combo room.  One of the reasons why it is the last rooms to be posted.  There were several projects that I had planned and I did finish some of them, enough to post pics at least.  Here are the before and afters.

Before

After

 Welcome to my living room.  Taken from the doorway.  The gray rug was the inspiration for the room.

 From the corner that the TV is in.

 From the couch.

From the dining room area.

 This is our bookshelf/TV stand.  I saw a picture on Pinterest where they used glass jars as picture frames and I loved it.

 I saved glass jars for a while until I had different sizes and shapes, then I took my favorite pictures and had them printed in black and white.

 I planned on using more mirrors to help the room appear larger, but for now, these are the mirrors that I have.  This is also my attempt at a arrangement with flowers and sticks.

 Our couch with our decorative wall.  We found this curtain at Ikea and then today we bought molding at Lowe's, spray painted it black and cut it to form a frame around the curtain. 

 This was something that my aunt gave us shortly after Munchkie was born and I love it.

 Welcome to my "Dining Room."  The table was a coffee table that we cut the legs off of.  We bought new legs for a few dollars and spray painted them black.  I found one chair for $4.99 at Habitat for Humanity's Restore and painted that black.  For now Munchkie's Daddy and I are using stools while we look for cheap, sturdy and perfect for us chairs to complete our set.

 I saw a while back this super cute idea where someone used old lightbulbs, hung them and put flowers inside of them.  I didn't have any lightbulbs, but I did have old spice jars.  So I decided to use those.  I put a couple faux rose petals in each one and then found some twigs outside.

 Welcome to Chris's "study."  I found two bifold doors, again at Habitat for Humanity's Restore, spray painted them gray today and Munchkie's Daddy hinged them together.  I think that we need one more set of doors to fully cover his desk so that I don't have to see the piles of books.

There's enough room for him, although he doesn't necessarily agree.  He calls it his dungeon.  

So there is our multipurpose room.  I still have several projects that I hope to complete in the near future, but it is definitely livable.  Although this room has a lot going on in it, I still feel like there is plenty of room and we feel good spending time in it.  If you notice, one thing that is not present in this room- toys.  We have a new rule, toys stay in your room.  I really like this rule.

New Home: Our Bedroom

I had a much better day today.  I was able to get a couple projects completed and our bedroom almost completely together.  Since it wasn't raining I was able to pick Munchkie up from childcare today on my bike and I think that being productive and getting out has helped tremendously.  I reminded myself that I have all of next week and spent some time online searching for activities that are going on next week and found a "Little Bookworms" activity at a local animal shelter.  They read a book to young kids and bring out an animal for the kids to see, pet, etc.  I am going to keep Munchkie home on Wednesday so we can do fun things like that.

So anyway, here is our bedroom before and after.

Before

Nightstand/Filing Cabinet Before

Nightstand/Filing Cabinet After

My first Modge Podge experience, with homemade Modge Podge from Pinterest.  Would have been better had I not ripped the paper while trying to smooth out the air bubbles.  I need to put another piece of paper over the top blue part.

After

 Slanted ceilings pose a little bit of a challenge.

 From the doorway

 Left door is to the hallway and right is the closet.

 Our new duvet cover that I love.  Naturally it was the first of hundreds that I looked at.  I had decided against it at first because it was a comforter in the store, but when I looked online they had it in a duvet cover (online only of course) and I was so mad at myself.  If only I would have looked online I could have known.  But then now I know that I really do like this one best.

 I made this using two ideas from Pinterest.  White canvas with hot glue gun to write and then painted over it all with white acrylic paint.  "You have my whole HEART for my whole LIFE."

 Since storage is limited, we have our bed on risers so accommodate storage tubs underneath.  A lot of our off season clothes are in those tubs, as well as scrubs for me, extra sheets and other things that we don't use every day.

 This is a writing desk that my aunt and uncle gave to us.  This is one of my favorite parts to the room.  Eventually the TV that is now in the living room with go in place of the picture.

 Oh yes, I have made this a "getting ready" center.  I used a mirror from Ikea and stuck that to the underside of the lid.  Then Munchkie's Daddy put a hinge on it to keep it open and I have my makeup and hair things inside so that I can sit and get ready at this desk.

 This is a cold air clothes dryer.  I received it for Christmas a few years back and we never ended up setting it up anyway at our previous home.  I really like it, you can dry your sweaters, pants, etc flat so that they don't get misshapen or shrink.  I'm glad to have found a place for it so that we can begin to use it again.

 Our laundry organization.  I find that if our clothes are presorted, it takes a lot of work out of the whole laundry cycle.  Taking the extra second, literally a second, to toss your dirty clothes into the correct hamper saves so much time sorting them before doing loads of laundry.

This is our not-so-organized closet.  I haven't really found the best way to handle our joint closet adventure yet. Right now things are still just shoved up on the shelves and piled on the floor.

So there you go.  Another room down in our new home.  We can sleep in peace tonight.  At least we can sleep in slight organization.

New Home: "Bathroom"

I can not begin to describe how small our bathroom is.  It's small.  Like claustrophobic small.  I have to go to the bathroom with the door open so that my knees won't hit the door.  Poor Munchkie's Daddy has hit his head more times than he can count because of the slanted ceilings.  All of these have created some obstacles in creating a functioning bathroom.  I put the bathroom in quotations because the contents of the bathroom are spread out.

 Here is our very small bathroom.  My kind mother-in-law took our shower curtains, cut them and sewed them to fit the small and curved curtain rod. 

Munchkie's Daddy is pretending to take a shower so that you can see just how close his head is to the ceiling.

 If you come to visit me, I have, for the first time, a selection for guests who might have forgotten something.

 A Lazy Susan under the sink is able to hold some items to keep them close to the area of use.

 I found this corner shelving at Ikea to hold a few more items.

 This mirror was also from Ikea, because as you notice there is not a mirror by the sink, it's across the room which is incredibly inconvenient.

 If you need a bandaid or something more than a motrin, you'll have to go digging in our bedroom closet.  Another Ikea organizer is holding everything that couldn't fit in the bathroom.

And lastly, in the hallway between our bedroom and the living room are the bathroom towels in another shelving unit.

So there is my bathroom.  In it's tiny little glory.