On having 3 days left

So the move is finally here and I am sitting in an empty apartment trying to cross some things off the To Do List while also trying to enjoy my last moments in our first home. There are a few phone calls left but then nothing but some relaxing and hanging out with amazing people (our neighbors), before the big drive on Sunday. The past two weeks have flown by and for almost a full week I was back in New Hampshire doing some upgrades and painting! It was fun to be back, and amazing that our family and friends were able to help so much.

 I find it calming that the rooms that I so desperately despised the color, are now updated to match our stuff. The basement that was once mint green is now a beautiful shade of dark brown, the kitchen which was also green is now a shade of orangey brown that matches the beautiful new glass tile backsplash.

More basement pics to come but for now you can sort of make out the color?

You can see the old tile here

The living room, stairway and hallway have all been painted a grey, and the bathrooms are now matching in a great shade of blue...

I also had some minor triumphs of switching out the thermostat and changing the shower head. It was a crazy 6 days that flew by, but incredibly worth the effort! 

A little knitting got done yesterday while the movers were here. Having three extra people in the apartment boxing up all our stuff was very emotionally draining, I was knitting the whole time to calm my nerves, and in the process finished my May socks! They are just a pair of vanilla socks, so that I would have plenty of auto-pilot knitting.

The yarn did all the work!!!

I have a feeling that in the next couple days, while we do not have much in the apartment and no cable and such, that there will be a lot of knitting and reading (either on the Kindle or the audio book I'm reading Outlander). 

Countdown...

7 days till I get to go back home to paint the house....

20 days till we offically move back home....

The countdown keeps getting smaller and my excitement level keeps getting bigger! I was able to score one more can of oops paint, this one for the kitchen, so all I have left is the basement color and a couple color matches and the paint is DONE! The Kitchen is being painted to match the new glass tile!

Kitchen paint color!

The past couple months I have not been knitting as much as I want. So last week I cast on two pairs of vanilla socks from yarn that my parents gave me for my past birthday! I'm in love with this yarn and the auto-pilot knitting is exactly what I've been missing. Also on the needles is a grey scarf made from lace weight bought in Lancaster PA! It's coloring is beautiful and will be a great layering piece for the summer.

The other day Conor mentioned that he wanted to grow our own tomatoes, because we do not have a yard in both our current appartment or the townhouse it will have to be grown in containers. Today I while out doing errands I purchased two tomato plants, some merigolds and a piece of small metal fencing. I did look for tradional stakes but none of them were very pretty and these pots will be on our deck, I wanted something that would look nice. 

The piece of fencing and a pot left over from last summer!

I took the fence and very carfully bent it. At first I was just going to bend it in half, but that was not going to fit. So instead, I sort of rounded it out so that It would fit along the back of the pot...

All that was left was to add some plants! The two tomato plants are in the back along the fencing (for support) and along the front are some merrigolds to add color and help keep bugs away! I am very excited to see if any or all of it takes and if we will be eating our own tomatoes in the summer. 

End Product...

10 New Favorite Things

1. My mint plant! I have loved making sun tea and adding a few leaves, but my most recent discovery, and I'm sure others do it and I just never have, is to add them to hot tea! The best part is that a few leaves will last the whole day, in multiple cups of tea!

2. The babies of the mint plant! Mint will spread very fast, you can also grow new plants from cuttings. So a week ago I put one cutting in a pot with soil and another in a glass of water. This way I could see what method might work better, turns out both work! So I have now have two baby plants that will be kept inside to pick from, and the mama outside still growing strong!

3. Yankee Candles, not a "new" thing but my obsession has grown. I love picking what sent I will burn at the begining of the day. Today is lilac and the whole apartment smells beautiful!

4. Jillian Michales 30 Day Shred, will be doing day three today if my muscles allow. I have to say that Day 1 and 2 have kicked my butt and it is a little painfull to go down the stairs or walk for that matter. I have not excercised like this in years and know that my muscles will adapt to the new workout. This workout is 25 minutes and is jam packed, it is not for the faint of heart but I am excited to see results!

5 & 6. Camera Remote and tripod, invaluable to any photo taking adventure. This past weekend we went to the Battlefield's at Gettysburg and was able to take awesome group shots of al four of us without having to find a stranger to take it.

7. Simple Human Dish Rack took the place of my wet dishtowel next to the sink. It is designed so that the water will drain directly into the sink! My favorite part is that you are able to fit a lot more dishes into a smaller area.

8. Real Simple Website goes along with the magizine, and sometimes I do buy the magizine but only find a couple of articles to read. As a new-ish wife I am finding lots of great and clever ideas here, and have been visiting it almost daily.

9. Pinterest is a new website that you can pin photos that you like and organize them any way to want! It's amazing and inspiring and I have already found amazing ideas!

10. Oops Paint is not always availbale in the most beautiful colors, but sometimes you can hit the jackpot! This week I was able to scoop up two colors that I wanted in the house at a fraction of the price. Typically a gallon of oops paint is $5 and depending on what type of paint it is the normal retail can go up to $30! Both of the bathrooms at the house are ivory; ivory walls, sink, tub and toilet! I found a gallon of blue paint that will work perfectly, the bathrooms are small and I will be able to paint both with the one gallon! Such a bargain! The tan will go over the pink in the living room, and continue up the stairs into hallway. I will probably need about two gallons to paint the whole space, but by getting one oops I can color match to get the second gallon and only pay full price for one gallon!