Celebrate Sagitarians

Are you like me and casually follow your daily horoscope? I think it's just something to think about for a whooping 5 seconds of the day. I also find it interesting to read what your character traits are suppose to be for your zodiac sign. I came across Zodiacchic on tumbler recently, and found myself reading through the 60+ traits us Sagitarians are suppose to follow. I would have to say I am 98% right on the money with these little facts. It's a good way to validate my craziness, and celebrate my oddness. It's comforting to know I'm not the only one. 

I thought this little fact was appropriate for this blog.

LoopOTD: The Civil Wars

I've been browsing lps as of late. I figured it was about time I start to rebuild my record collection. I had inherited a couple of crates full from my pops and Adam brought some along with him when we moved in together. 

 

This morning I stumbled across The Civil Wars. As quoted by their site, "They travel without a backup band, and on their first full-length album, Barton Hollow, the bare-bones live arrangements that fans hear on the road are fleshed out with just the barest of acoustic accoutrements. Each song is an intimate conversation, and no third wheels or dinner-party chatter are going to interrupt that gorgeous, haunting hush.". 

I was simply amazed at how beautifully fulfilling their sound is. Maybe because I myself is am in a place where I'm finding peace and happiness in simplicity that this music speaks to me. Take a listen, it may speak to you too.

Wish List

It's the one time of the year that you may get what your heart desires. Only if it can be bought. I have been on a mission to shop for all things home for the past few months. I haven't even allowed myself to look through clothing site, LookBook, or (sorry to say) my fave personal style blogs. I know, I know, shame on me. It is even reflecting on the clothes that I wear. My daily uniform of jeans, a blouse, and boots.

Last night I found some time on my hands and found a pair of shoes. I've been dying for a pair of Litas, I just can't _____. You name it I just CAN'T. These cute little babies, are around $40, including shipping. I jumped for joy in my seat, and found myself a little giddy.

 Floral Platform Bootie $30.80
GoJane.com

I also bought for myself, a little Merry Christmas to me a record stand. I have been drooling over it for the past few weeks. Last night I found out that they are on back order. It sent me in a panic, that means that some time soon the would be sold out. I jumped on it with arms wide open. It would look so cute in our new sitting room.

Record Storage Shelf $49.99
UrbanOutfitters.com

To go along with the stand I have been looking for a new record player. I really like the look of a vintage portable player. Crosley has a wide variety to choose from, and all have great customer reviews. This one in perticular has my heart. Crossing my fingers that I will be opening a package with it contained soon.

Crosley CR249 Portable USB Turntable- Tan $149.99

dijitalfix.com

I'm not really asking for much, in fact only one of them is for my personal use. So tell Santa that I've been good and that I'll be looking forward to seeing these under my tree in a few days.

A Song to Dance To

Every time this commercial comes on I have to turn up the t.v. volume. I love this song. Don't ask me what the guy is singing about, it doesn't matter. It get's my serotonin pumping and makes me happy every time I hear it. It wasn't hard to "google" the song, it's "Jan Pahechan Ho", sung by Mohammed Rafi in 1966. Kudos to Heineken for choosing an awesome song to a memorable commercial.

Update

My  goodness, where does the time go? Every week that passes by I find that my free time is very limited. It doesn't help that I'm a procrastinator at heart. My new house is coming along slowly but surely. The Bf is having a great time installing lights and fans inside and out. He's one of the lucky ones that finds enjoyment in his profession (electrician) working in and out of the home. During our time there we found that critters roam our property, from cottontails, jack rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, quails and doves. With the little animals running around, we also saw a couple of predators this pass weekend, coyotes. The weekend before last we heard a group of them right up against our hillside. I just can't tell you enough how much I'm loving that I get to see animals more then my neighbors at times. O.k., that just sounded like I'm going to turn into a hermit or become an agoraphobic. 

 

 

a close up of the quail

 

Since the house I haven't been buying anything new in clothing or shoes.  I'm not sure if it's because I'm just interested in buying things for the house, or that I'm not finding anything cute in the stores or online. Maybe it's a bit of both. The Bf just asked me a couple of days ago what I wanted for my birthday that's coming up. To be honest, I haven't even thought about it. He is incline to buy me anything other then a new pair of shoes, handbag, or piece of clothing. So what does that leave me? He even asked me if I wanted something for the house, like a new microwave. When did we get to the stage in our relationship, when a microwave is a good idea for a birthday gift? Oh, his heart is in the right place. He did come up with a wonderful idea, now it's time to see if he'll follow through. 

This afternoon I thought of you guys as a song came on the radio. Through out my day things pop up that I would love to share with you, my readers. It's all about carving out some time to write it up. So I leave you with the song that got me writing and sharing today. When this album came out I loved it to pieces. Time moves on and some times you forget about the little things that you loved and made you happy. Here is to remembering the little things.

Living Room

Our first disagreement was about the location of the t.v. for the living room. The conversation went something like this.

Adam- " I like it the way P&B had it, with the t.v. in the corner."

Al- " Of course you did, you never had to sit at an angle, to the side right up close to it to watch a show. It sucks and I'm not doing it in my own home."

Adam- " So where do you want it?"

Al- " In the middle of the window, that way it can be a media wall and we can divide the living space and the kitchen with the sofa and console. Everyone will have good seating to watch the t.v."

Adam- " That's how it is at the apt, we're in the desert to enjoy the outdoors and company."

Of course at this time I let out a big sigh. Do I keep fighting my fight or just give in for now? By the time we stepped foot back into the house, I changed my mind. I like that it's one big room for the living and kitchen area. I want to keep it open. P&B floor plan will work just fine, this time the t.v. will be 4 feet off the corner the love seat to the left and coffee table in front of it, two chairs and a side table will be facing the sofa. That way the t.v. isn't the focus, the seating faces one another and conversations can be easily made. The t.v. will be visible from the dining area and kitchen.

That leaves a 3' space in the one corner and a 6' x 4', in the other. Adam has been pressuring me on what I'll be putting in those spaces. I like the idea of stacked vintage suitcases for storage for the smaller corner and maybe a record player stand in the 6' x 4' corner. My poor records and player are just gathering dust in the garage. Maybe a bar cart? 

On my shopping excursion to Target yesterday I can across a t.v. stand that I liked. I should have just picked it up, but thought better of it and wanted to discuss it with Adam. He's o.k. with it, I think it helped that the first one I liked was $60.00 more then this one. 

Room Essentials® TV Stand with Sliding Door in Espresso- $69.99

It hits the right tone for the house. I want an easy, unfussy line with a mid-century influence. It's a fit for our '58 home. 

Next was our two chairs. I really wanted these.

Mitchell Armless Chair in Green Floral - $99.99 each

For a hundred a piece it was a hard sell at home. We went back to our argument of price versus necessity. He wants folding camping chairs that we can take out to the porch for extra seating. I told him I didn't want dirty chairs coming in and out of the house, plastic patio ones are not acceptable either. We were at a stand still. Thank goodness camping chairs and patio furniture are out of season to purchase at the stores. The compromise are these butterfly chairs.

 

Gray Butterfly Chair - $29.99

We are still in need of patio seating. I might have to swing by an IKEA for folding ones. We'll see. All furniture pieces shown can be purchased at Target.

 

Down the Rabbit Hole

Finally back! Yay! Where have I been? I started working part-time has a data entry clerk. It's only a couple days a week which works just fine for me. It's close by and the people I work with are awesome, nice, and helpful. I think that I've mentioned before that I wanted to take photos of my work attire. Since it seems those are the only days that I dress up. 

With a new routine, things need adjustment. Actually my whole life needed to be rearranged. Down to fixing meals on workdays. Seems so mundane, but that's life. Not being home during the day hours two days a week has really put me behind in house work. How is that possible with only my Bf, two cats, and myself? I don't know, but it does. 

I have some good news. The Bf and I bought a house. We have been looking for some time now on being home owners. Before the economy sank we were looking in Riverside county for a house. We figured we could find a 3 to 4 bedroom home with a nice backyard to live in. We would have to deal with a commute, but for the Bf he commutes at least an hour one way everyday for work. I on the other hand would have commuted until I found something closer to home. 

Personally I wasn't thrilled in living in that area. I just had my gut tell me that it wasn't right for me. If I were to ever live there I needed a pool. That was one of the requirements to get me jumping into the bandwagon of living in horse country. Luckily, for me (hindsight is 20/20), we weren't that active in purchasing the home we were interested it. I'm thinking the Bf had some doubts too.

This past summer a property near the Bf's parents place in the high desert became available. The house was on a 5 acre property with a home built in the 80's with later additions. The house looked like a barn, it didn't help that it was painted red. For the area, it had a paved driveway, a koi pond, and trees that lined the fence area. Sounds like things we take for granted here in the city, but trust me those are bonuses out there. The house was big at 4 bedrooms, kitchen, dining, and den. It had a lot of potential, to make it our own. I was a little hesitate being it was so big and needed a lot of work. The location and how big the property was sealed the deal for us. Now it was up to the agent to make it happen. Of course you want to pay a fair price, so we made our bid at 20,000 less then asking with no mortgage. Not really what the banks want to hear. They found someone else to pay the full price. Was it heartbreaking? It was a relief for me, the only downside it had was the close proximity to his parents, that when we weren't there they can keep an eye on it. 

About a year ago his parent's friends were looking for a summer home out there. Something small since they all ready had property in the lower desert. They just wanted to get away from the 100+ heat during the summer months. They found a cute 60's cabin with later additions not too far from the Bf's parents house. The first time I laid eyes on it, the green monster peeked through. I was a little bummed that we didn't jump on the house. Sure it was a lot smaller, but bigger in charm. It's an open kitchen and living room, a bed room and a bath that sits on almost 3 acres. For sure, at the time I found the home that I was gauging everything else on from here on out.

I didn't air out my envy, when it came down to it I'm glad that someone nice can enjoy and appreciate it like I would. To be honest with you, I held out and secretly wished it to be mine. Sounds like contradiction? Never said that I was simple or easy to understand. 

The family friends were bummed that we didn't get the red house, since we would be neighbors if we did. They knew we were still looking for property out there and thought of us when they wanted to sell the cabin. (I have a smile on my face right now) They realized that they were spending all their time up there and decided to make it permanent. To do that, they needed more land. The day Adam told me the place can be ours, I was so elated. He thought he had to talk me into it, ha ha. 

So that's the story. Are we moving out there permanently? No, the commute would not benefit us mentally or financially. Since the house is paid in full, we are able to keep our apartment at the beach and the jobs we have. How is it possible to have it paid in full will be another post at a later date. For now, it's our getaway, our fall back, and our retirement home. 

It is in livable condition, we are just doing a few things here and there. The problem we are running into is how much money will we being putting in it. Not much now, because it isn't permanent, or do we spend the money on nice things for later? It has cause a few minor disagreements, from drapes to furniture. Most of my free time and money will now be taken up with the house. I will share my purchases with you, home or otherwise, ideas on decorating, and probably before and after pictures.

So now my Wonderland is now a reality. I get to have the best of both of my worlds, the city and desert. 

 

 

Pick of the Day: Serendipitous

I really need to be saving the green to furnish my new place. I just couldn't pass up this shrug. I'm so happy that I've bypassed a  million, gazillion ones I've seen on the web and at the mall. I've been obsessing over this cross-stitch print before, I think it was in the Spring. I first saw it as a wall decal on someone's blog, I just can't remember at the moment. That with the combination of wanting to own a black base floral print item for awhile now, this is serendipitous.

I've also been in love with the runway looks for S/S 2012. The high waisted black shorts seem to be the one item that was a must have for me. These are great with the clean fronts and the high nipped in waist.

Items can be found at Forever21.com