The Grand Tour!

I unpacked everything last Saturday, but haven't gotten around to uploading + drawing all over the photos yet... I've been quite productive today (despite having the electricity out in our room for most of the day thus forcing me to move myself and my computer and a pile of blankets and pillows to a corner of the living room by the heater... I felt like a hobo). And here it is! Doodles are a mixture of things to come and explanation of things that are there. Hope that makes sense...

Ok, here we go... LOTS of pictures ahead!!

The Closet

BEFORE

 AFTER (plus suggestions for improvement!) ;)

The Kitchen

Cabinets BEFORE

The most horrid contact paper I have ever seen...

Cabinets AFTER

...luckily it came off pretty quickly.

Inside the drawers...

I discovered this cute paper underneath circa the 1970s! ♥ Much preferred...

The Kitchen!

There really was no "before" because it was the same but with no stuff in it...

The Bedroom

BEFORE

Our room... we got two old dorm desks and a couple of wooden chairs at Goodwill!

AFTER

Desktop wallpaper by Geninne!

The Living Room

BEFORE

AFTER

There you have it, folks. The gist of our new apartment. I would like to fill it with plants and rugs and blankets and cozy things like that, but first we have to have MONEY... I've applied for three different positions around town and will keep on applying till I have a source of steady income! In the meantime, I'm cooking up some fun stuff for Scoutaroo. Hoping I can pull it off, still doing research, but you can expect a thing to happen that will be different than before... with that cryptic message, I bid you adieu!

♥ Ciara Kay

3 Years ♥

Today is our three-year wedding anniversary! ♥ We have celebrated so far with bagels and coffee. Later we'll go out to dinner and probably watch like eight episodes of Parks & Recreation. Sounds like a perfect day to me! ;)

♥ Ciara Kay

Before We Begin...

by dearlittleredhouse

Our adventure in Santa Cruz starts tomorrow. The place we applied to on Tuesday approved us within hours, and we spend another day driving down to sign the lease and drop off a carfull of our stuff at our new apartment. Today we've been doing nothing but packing and saying goodbyes to a trickle of friends and family who have stopped by throughout the afternoon, and now we're out of boxes! Jamie and his "little" brother (13 years old and already 5'11"!!) are picking up some more, so I'm taking the opportunity to reflect.

I have high hopes with this transition. I like starting new things, having a blank slate, for the same reason I adore new sketchbooks, all of that potential staring back at me from those empty pages, daring me to try something different. We have at least five years to really sink into this community, to get involved, to make friends and grow and learn. I intend to make the most of it. This is as close to a five-year-plan as I will ever get!

Five Things I Will Do With My Time In Santa Cruz

1. Meet people
2. Have dinner parties
3. Quit my day job
4. Draw
5. Watch the sun set over the Pacific

It will be grand.

♥ Ciara Kay