Home is where I want to be/

Pick me up and turn me round -

My all-time favorite song, that has carried me from place to place during my wanderings.

Vintage trophy coat rack

Up at Design*Sponge today, this DIY project to make a coat rack out of vintage trophies has totally inspired me to see if I can do this with my old Speech and Debate trophies, which my parents have dutifully carted from place to place as they've moved over the years and stored for me.  Or, rather, for themselves, as I have been ready to rid myself of these for at least the past eight years.  In any case, now they are stored away in MY bedroom cabinets and this would be such a great way to repurpose them!  I don't think they are metal with screw on figures though, like these vintage models.  I wonder if there is a way to do something similar even if they turn out to be plastic...?

Before and After Projects

A couple little projects I've made for my apartment.

Found this coffee table at St. Vincent's thrift store on PCH (BEST THRIFT STORE EVER) for 9 bucks:

A lot of sanding, priming, painting, waxing, polishing later:

This next one, Mike and I took on together when he was in town visiting - it was a good practice project for him to teach me how to refinish wood the right way.  Got this little nightstand at, where else, St. Vincent's for around ten bucks:

Decided to do a two-toned piece to showcase the gorgeous cherry wood - without having to refinish the entire piece, which I wasn't that invested in.  This involved a LOT of sanding by hand, stripping of the gross shiny old lacquered finish, many coats of antique refinishing oil, and many coats of natural paste wax, with much time for drying and polishing and re-applying.  On the painted parts, there are about five coats of paint and a couple coats of wax.  I finished the piece with Anthropologie knobs I dropped way too much money for and lovely paper by Snow and Graham from my new favorite Long Beach store, Blue Windows.

I recently sold the coffee table, but holding on to the nightstand for now.  Can't wait to find the next piece to work on!

Craigslist find

I am seriously addicted to craigslist.  I spend the entire day at work hitting the refresh button the furniture page, and have found a LOT of amazing stuff.  Here is the latest - a vintage, full length mirror for my bedroom for $20 bucks!

COVETING THIS RUG!

I saw this at a friend's house this past weekend and am MAJORLY in lust.  I've been hunting for rugs for quite awhile, and apparently his roommate has had this one in his room since he was a kid.  Too amazing.  I am saving up my pennies for a rug of my own I can keep forever and pass on to my kids...

Thrift store finds

I found these guys at a new thrift store I wandered into today...I love the bulbous black and white one in the front!

Also got this vintage orange Pyrex dish and these old plates to use as saucers for my houseplants.

Grace Park Garden

I finally got myself a little plot in a community garden, and am feeling a lot better about having to live in an apartment for the first time, with no outdoor space of my own. 

Here's my little plot when I got it:

Looks bad, but nothing compared to the crazy weeds I had to clear from our yard in Pittsburgh!  After a couple hours of work though...

Three kinds of heirloom tomatoes, purple tomatillos, cilantro, nasturtiums, yellow crookneck squash, lemon cucumbers, pickling cucumbers, and some kind of Italian heirloom eggplant...

Hopefully my plot will look like the garden director's at some point:

Beautiful!

WELCOME HOME

Been obsessed with this song of late.  Beautiful.

Radical Face - Welcome Home

First steps

My space!  BEFORE:

AND...AFTER!

Living room

Living room

My little entryway

Kitchen 

 More to come!

Making home

When I left California at age 17, I never imagined it would take me eight long years to make my way back. 

During that time, I've lived in 12 different places in 7 different cities, 6 different states, and 2 countries: Williamstown, MA; New York, NY; Dhaka, Bangladesh; Orange County, CA; Baltimore, MD; Jefferson County, WV; and, finally, Pittsburgh, PA.  In the course of all these wanderings from place to place, every move precipitated by factors beyond my control (school, work), I was continually obsessed with the idea of home and where I might finally find it or make it.  I feel incredibly lucky to have had so much practice and so many diverse examples, all of which have contributed indelibly to my idea of what makes a home.

So, for the first time in my life, I've made my way to a new city entirely by my own choice.  A few months ago, I gave away most of my belongings, packed up what I could in my trusty Toyota, and headed West, to the place I've always called home in the back of my mind: Southern California!  I've been more than a little homesick for the friends I left scattered in various cities, who in the abbreviated scale of the East, always felt within arm's reach as long as I could scare up a tank of gas.  But I'm starting to get settled here, and I find myself relishing the task of crafting a home from scratch, entirely on my own for the very first time. 

This is a place for me to record some thoughts and experiences along the way about the things which feel important to me in making home: sustainability, beauty, FOOD, friends, family, gardening, art.  And this time, there's no ticking clock: I'm here to stay!