Weekend Nesting

Saturday morning I woke up naturally around 7:45 AM feeling well-rested after an early bedtime the night before. Because early Friday night bedtimes are how I roll, baby. Don't be jealous of my rockstar lifestyle.

Anyway, after reading some blogs and eating a leisurely breakfast, I pulled on comfy clothes, picked up some Starbucks, and headed to Home Goods to browse their decorative offerings. 

For a while now I've been wanting to decorate our apartment a bit better, and I decided to spend my Saturday searching for some fun additions. I got really lucky and found a ton of great decorative items that I really love, and I must have saved well over $100 from comparative stores. Sunday evening I spent another hour or so browsing Michael's and picking up a few other things to finish up the decorating. 

I'm now really excited about our living room! I think it's SO much nicer than it used to be and really feels "homey." This weekend, we might move furniture around, so I'll take some pictures of the new layout when we do that. Oh, and the bedroom is still a disaster zone from a "pretty" perspective, so something must be done there...

For now, I wanted to share the decor I got!

Flowers - $10, Vase - $25 (both Home Goods) 

 I LOVED this vase when I saw it at Home Goods. I am a fan of almost every color in the green to blue spectrum, but turquoise and sea green in particular are favorites. Love how this jar looks slightly worn.

Frame - $8ish
(can't remember exactly and threw away the receipt!) 

 This is one of Sourabh's favorite photos of us -- graduation from Dartmouth College! We were friends first and only started dating junior year of undergrad. Yes, we both look a lot younger considering it was only 3 years ago!

Fun fact - when we started dating, Sourabh only needed to shave once or twice a week. Now, he has the start of a beard by the end of the day. I think this is hilarious for some reason.

Vase - $12 (Home Goods), Willows - $6 (Whole Foods)  

The vase I loved but wasn't sure what to do with -- it seemed odd to put flowers in it for some reason, and I didn't want to only be decorating with flowers. When I saw these willows at Whole Foods that afternoon, I knew they were perfect for it! Hopefully the cats don't knock it over...

Shadowbox - $13 (Home Goods)

I LOVE the shadowboxes I see on Pinterest. But let's be honest, I'm not going to go buy the wood and glass and magnets to create one myself, especially not when I could buy one for only $13.

Here's what I put inside:

1. Sourabh at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA, and our ticket stub from the AFC Championship game in 2012 when the Patriots beat the Ravens. Sourabh is a huge Pats fan and he was so incredibly excited about this game! It was also the coldest I think I've ever been. FYI -- we got our tickets at a steep discount on eBay the day before. There are some great sports tickets deals on eBay!
2. Speaking of which -- terrific Knicks tickets we got in 2012 by buying off eBay. This was before Linsanity, when the Knicks were losing to terrible teams like the Bobcats. Sitting so close to the court totally spoiled us!
3. Walt Disney World ticket stub from our two-year anniversary trip there in 2010. 
4. Photo from my law firm's company party at the Central Park Zoo in Summer 2011. It was almost 100 degrees that day and we were dying of the humidity.
5. Obligatory Golden Gate Bridge picture and vintage postcard of the Pacific Coast Highway from our 2011 California Road Trip.
6. Post-NYC Half 2013!! Katie (undergrad friend), Hana (firm friend), Sourabh and me. 
7. Book of Mormon ticket stub. Holy crap this show was hilarious, and I normally don't like musicals. The one and only time we'll ever be ahead of the trends -- Sourabh is a big South Park fan and bought tickets the instant they went on sale so we got to see it in May 2011!
8. Paris subway map from our trip there in 2012. 
9. London Eye ticket stub from our whirlwind 3 day trip there for our three year anniversary in 2011.

Phew. Honestly, putting that together reminded me of all the awesome adventures we've had in the four-and-a-half years we've been together. And it made me think how spoiled I was being by feeling bummed that we hadn't traveled anywhere over spring break since Sourabh needed to study. Apparently decorating can lead to self-reflection? 

Bowl - $2.99, Potpourri - $8.99, Candle - mine (all Michaels) 

I loved the idea of a decorative bowl on the dining table since this is one of the most frequented spaces by the cats (of course) so they're very likely to knock something over here. It's impossible for them to knock a big heavy glass bowl over, right?

Large frames - $7-8 each (Home Goods), Black frames - $3-4 (Home Goods and Michael's) 

Picture frames! Also, I got a deeper basket for this space. Sourabh is an "enter the apartment and drop things on the side table" person, so having a deep basket for him to leave his keys, wallet, etc. in should help keep the space clear.

The pictures are some of my favorites -- Sourabh and me with Mason up at Mt Shuksan in Washington, after I finished the race, by our favorite pond in Central Park (again with Mason), in Paris, and at a holiday party from 2010. There's also a picture of my parents in there!

Frames - $3-4 each (Michael's and Home Goods)

It's hard to see these pictures -- they're just more fun photos and family pictures. I am fully expecting these to be knocked down by the marauding cats so they are the cheapest frames!

Basket - already had, Foam brick - $3, Flowers - $14 total (Michael's) 

I already had this basket from Christmas but wanted to fill it with spring flowers. I went with these daisies and lavender sprigs, which I inserted into a foam brick and placed in the bottom of the basket. I put my rain boots there because they just seemed nice and spring-y. Hopefully they can stay there for the next 7 months!

Fruit basket - $7

This doesn't seem very exciting unless you have a small NYC kitchen. Before, fruit would spread across the counter, but now I have a place to keep it, giving me a lot more kitchen prep space!

There were a few other bits and pieces I got at the two stores, like some candles, but that is most of it. Once we put the shadowbox and grad picture up on the wall, we'll be set! I'm so excited about how much more of a home our apartment looks like. And it only took 14 months!

How long does it take you to "nest" in a new place? Do you like decorating?

Home Improvements & cheribundi Giveaway Winner

A giveaway winner has been selected! But first, some home improvement chatter...

Home Improvements
A few weeks ago, I got the urge to clean up our apartment and really start making it more "homey." Sourabh and I have been in Manhattan for 2 1/2 years now and yet we really haven't done much to make our string of apartments into a home. I think part of that is budget. Right now, we'd rather get IKEA furniture and enjoy some dinners out, save for school, etc. But another part is that I'm kind of terrible at decorating and always feel overwhelmed at the idea of figuring out .

After my burst of tidying (post-manicure... not the best timing, but the $15 manicure emerged unscathed! Win!), I have started decorating a bit more, checking out Michael's and Home Goods from time to time for some inexpensive decorations that will make our apartment feel more lived-in.

A few additions here: flowers in the vase (I had it lying around empty forever!) and a basket for keys and mail (that's Bea, I think she's nesting).

I'll let you know if an egg appears

One of my favorite new purchases was this $15 shoe rack from Amazon. As a student with a .edu address, you can get Amazon Prime free for one year and then for $35 after that, and given how cheap things are on Amazon in comparison to New York stores, it's a totally worthwhile investment for us. The amount we've saved on paper towels alone pays for the annual fee. There are also some streaming perks you get as a Prime member, but since we DVR everything I haven't checked that out. With Prime, two-day shipping is free and often items arrive the next day for NYC residents.

heels are on a hanging shelf since, as a 5'9" girl, I just don't wear them that much 

Ok, enough of my addiction to Amazon Prime. Previously, this closet was a jumble of shoes on top of each other (I forgot to take a before picture, oops). Now, they're nicely stacked and we can actually see our shoes! I think keeping things organized is one of the easiest ways to make things look nicer and more put together.

I picked up this fall-colored "faux" flower arrangement at 60% off for only $8 from Michael's the other day. You can see them right when you come in, so it's a nice welcome home.

faux sounds better than fake, right? 

This is actually an older purchase, but one I'm really happy about: a basket for storing workout gear. I have mats, weights, boxing gloves, foam roller and balls, jumping rope, and some workout DVD's in there. It would all look so messy if it weren't stashed neatly in a basket in the corner.

oh look, it's Rome the Foam! yes, I named the foam roller, remember? stop laughing at me. 

I've been checking out Pinterest for more ideas and plan to do more using holiday decorations once Thanksgiving is over.

cheribundi Giveaway Winner!

Thanks to everyone who entered my first giveaway! As I explained last week, every individual entry was worth $2 of donations to two Sandy Relief charities. Megan also donated $10, which netted her two extra entries.

The winner is Ray!! Congrats on winning a 12-pack of cheribundi's delicious tart cherry juices. Please email me your contact info so I can be sure you get your prize! (I will select another winner on Monday if I don't hear from Ray by then.)

I am even more excited to announce that, despite not getting the full 50 entries, my parents will be donating the full $50, as will I. With Megan's donation, that means $110 was raised!! Two local charities that are very much in need of assistance, the Stephen Siller Foundation and the New Jersey Relief Fund, each received $55.

Stephen Sillers Foundation donation receipt

New Jersey Relief Fund donation receipt

Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway, and thank you to cheribundi for reaching out to me about reviewing their product and being so generous with this giveaway. I'm hoping to do more giveaways in the future, so keep a look out!

How long did it take you to start making your apartment/house feel more like "home" (or have you even started yet)? Any tips for decorating on a budget?