"and that's why we always leave a note!"

Philadelphia taught me a lesson yesterday: always, always carry cash with you because you never know when you're accidentally going to get on the freeway to New Jersey, have to turn around in New Jersey, and then pay a toll to re-enter Philly.

(and not have cash and have to dart across 5 lanes of morning commute traffic to park on the side of the road and talk to the supervisor. and then be told (as you're nearly sobbing), that it's okay, you can just go. whhhhheeewwww)

Also, our builders painted our entire house in flat paint, which I discovered yesterday will come off with not only Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, but also plain water. When you are painting your house, never, never ever use flat paint. It is almost impossible to clean, especially if your builders didn't prime it correctly.

Lessons learned? Awesome.

we unpacked in one day. we were very tired the next.

Welcome to our home! Sorry about the crappy photography, I don't know anything about it and my Nikon's been freaking out lately, so we have a double problem.

Clockwise from top left: kitchen, study, master bath (yeah...that tub has jets in it. how did we get so lucky?), the view from our roof deck, one of three staircases in the house, living/dining area, master bedroom, roof deck (thanks for the patio furniture Mom!). middle: laundry room! possibly my favorite room in the whole house, and my washer sings a song when it's done, so what could be happier than that? (thanks for the washer and dryer Wendy!)

I sort of feel a little guilty, because we are supposed to be poor students (and we are, we're $25,000 in debt plus $12 of interest we accrued this week) but we have some realllllyyyyy nice stuff. Like the entire house (all the floors are wood! ah, it's beautiful!). And our furniture. And the washer and dryer. And our tv and sound system (good job Aaron on being spendy with the electronics while you were still single).

Anyway. The house is actually a lot prettier and brighter than the photos make it look. But why take my word for it? Come visit and see for yourself. :)

IKEA...IKEA...all we ask of you...*

....is a whole lot of really awesome house stuff for very cheap.

So.
A lot of people have been wanting to make an IKEA run. I propose the following:

Tuesday afternoon, Friday afternoon, or Saturday after boating.

Afternoon = 4:00 ish

Thoughts?

*to be sung to the tune of Aida :)

firefly (aka I do enjoy post titles that have nothing to do with the post itself.)

I have moved.
Many thanks to Jeff, Josh, and my parents for helping carry my stuff across the parking lot from one building to the next. I'm really liking my new apartment. Why might you ask? For the benefit of Kellie and Laura who will in the future be joining me there let me elaborate.
Nicer flooring (the fake stone vinyl that's in A building)
Prettier (sort of) cabinets (off white instead of cocoa brown)
Black leather couches
Air conditioning
Bigger closets
TWO desks in every room instead of one (however, there's only one dresser...go figure...I'm going to get plastic drawers to stick under my bed for my excessive amount of clothing)

And this week I splurged a little bit at Target and bought a new 12" skillet (stainless steel with copper bottom, very pretty), and white bird salt and pepper shakers (so Martha Stewart) at the suggestion of Josh. I'm looking forward to an IKEA run sometime in the next week to get a kitchen shelving unit with hooks for pots and pans, a coat rack, and a couple of yards of fabric to sew some pillow coverings (I'm seriously on a domestic roll here).

I told my mom I knew I was an adult since I got so excited about pans.
Yep, I'm that awesome.

P.S. During the school year I want to do a foreign film night every so often since Laura and I are going in on a Netflix account/the International Cinema is just so darn accessible and fun.
You are all invited. :)

housewarming

My apartment's been getting some fixing up lately...mostly due to Janessa and Noelle's presence. Yay for awesome roomies! :)

Our couch is no longer hideous plaid! It's now bermuda blue! Note the adorable IKEA pillow.


No more ugly blue, awkwardly shaped chairs! Now they're sleek black!


The beyond amazing kitchen shelving unit that I want to steal when I change apartments (just kidding, I'll buy my own). Aren't the hooks hanging our pots just adorable?


Meet Bridget (as suggested by Josh), my latest experiment in gardening (ha). Photography credit also goes to Josh.


Many thanks to Jill and Garrett for new mixing bowls! I swear I've used them everyday for the past week. They are fabulously colored AND they have lids. Seriously, what more could you want?

I'm hoping to pick up a coat rack, three shelf bookcase, and a giant bulletin board in the next little while. I love new house related things. :)

I'm going to go to my room and drink some dihydrogen monoxide!! So there!

I decided that I would really like to live in a condo next year.

Preferably with a washer and drier. And rent under $350/month.
And one on the south west side of campus.

I'm just kinda sick of living in crappy apartments, ya know?

Another thought: it really drives me crazy how people have stolen the tour team's lockers in the dressing room. We have the three end columns, and I always see one or two girls who are not on the tour team putting their stuff in those lockers and then sticking their own combination lock of them. What the crap? Those are not for you, honey. We need to keep our gazillion pairs of shoes in there. You're going to have to keep your clothes with you or leave them on the bench. :P

so there.