The Office

A few weeks ago I started a new little project about my yellow house and all the rooms inside. I started with the kitchen, and today I'm going to give you all a little peak into my office.

Now, it may not seem as if the office is a big part of the house, but since it will {hopefully} be where I spend my days writing, it's important that its a comfortable and inspiring place.

I love white and pale color palettes for the yellow house, and that goes for my office. Since it is the one place in the house, however, that's my place, I think I need some pops of pink.

Here is what I'm envisioning for my future office:
 

 It needs lots of built-in storage...

And a nice white desk...

  I would absolutely love a walk-in library like this...

 

But more than anything, it needs to be a place for me to relax. It would also have a beautiful white couch...

In my perfect office, it would have big doors like these... 

Or maybe French doors like these...

But what kind of doors it has doesn't really matter, as long as it opens onto my own private garden...

I would love a white fireplace, to keep warm during the chilly nights on California's coast...

And a photo and art wall like this one...

 {All pictures above via Houzz}

I would love to have this print to put up on above wall...

 

{via the Book Fiend}

 My desk would obviously need a pretty calendar to keep track of the days...

 {via Jo's Studio}

 And I can't help but think how fun it would be to have a pretty old phone somewhere in there too...

{via Pottery Barn}

I'm now off to daydream about my future bedroom...

Much love,

Five Days in One

So, remember my little blogging challenge that I started way too long away and have yet to finish? Well, this is me finishing it.

I'll answer five questions today, out of ten left. Hopefully that means I'll get through it rather quickly.

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Day 21: Favorite TV Show

Duh.

I don't know how much I need to explain this one. I love this show, more than I've loved a show in a very long time. My husband and I don't really follow a lot of TV shows, but this is one that we {along with most of our friends} watch religiously.

Love it.

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Day 22: How have I changed in the past two years?

I've changed. A lot.

But I'm constantly changing as a person; always trying to figure out who I am and what I want to do in life. I look at life as a journey, one in which I use to learn new things and make myself the best person that I can be.

In the past two years I got engaged, graduated from college, moved back in with my parents, struggled to find a job, took a risk and moved out from my parents' home, found a great job, and got married to the love of my life. I've lost old friends, made new ones, learned what its like to be an adult, and tried to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. Every single one of these experiences, plus many, many more, have made me into the person that I am at this very moment in time.

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Day 23: Pretty Boys

{don't judge. he's my guilty pleasure.}

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Day 24: Favorite Movie

I have loved this for...forever. I love everything about it. I love the characters and the costumes and the setting and, especially, the story.

I'm not going to give a synopsis, because I'll be very sad if you haven't seen this movie. Go see it.

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Day 25: Someone that fascinates me

This is a tough one.

I can't tell you of one individual person that fascinates, but I would say that I am most fascinate by people that are completely different than myself.

Conservatives - My brother would agree with me on this one. He listens to Glenn Beck just to torture himself.

Mormons - Nothing against Mormons here. My best friend from high school is Mormon and reads my blog {hi Kaitlyn!}. I am always interested in different religions and how the adherents to different religions live their lives. Some of my favorite blogs are by Mormon women.

Evangelical Christians - Same reasons as above.

I'm also fascinated by people with interesting stories, those that speak different languages or live in other countries, anybody that defies societal norms {that's the Sociologist in me}, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Oh, and Audrey Hepburn.

I'm random sometimes.

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Five days in one. Thanks for bearing with me.

Oh, I haven't officially introduced my new layout {I don't think...}. This is my new layout. It's a work in progress, so I'm sure you will see things changing around here soon.

But a word about the header: it's special to me because I hand wrote "Love." So whatever criticism you have about my new layout, be nice about the header, at least. I kind of love it.

And, I would like to host another giveaway. This is my shameless plug right now though: I am anxiously awaiting the day when I hit 200 followers. So when I hit that number, I'll do another giveaway. And it will be super good, promise.

That's all.

xoxo,

An Announcement...

I have something to tell all of you. It may or may not be a surprise.

Some of you may have known that I am going to school right now. I am taking a single class in the history department at a California State University, in preparation to enter their Master's program in history.

I've decided I am not going back to school. In fact, I've decided that history isn't my calling in life either.

I've had quite a few different prospective paths in life.

Art History.

Sociology.

Law.

Teaching.

History.

I guess everyone has to go through this at some point or other. Not everyone is as lucky as my husband is/was and knew what they wanted to do for the rest of their life at fifteen years old.

In this blogging adventure; in this quest to write a novel; in all of the stories in my head, I've discovered what I truly love. And that's why I have decided that writing is truly what I want to do.

As I said before, it may or may not be a surprise to you. But for me, it was a difficult decision. I always thought I would go back to school someday, even if I didn't know what I wanted to study.

But I'm taking an indefinite hiatus from any formal education at this point in my life. I'm going to focus on my writing. I'm going to focus on my blog and my book.

You can't even imagine {or, perhaps you can} how liberating this decision is. I am no longer restrained by an education. I don't have to wait for that degree to be mine before I can start a career, one that I may or may not be happy in.

I can start my career now. I can start my life now.

Which is exactly what I'm going to do.

{via  Skippy Designs}

Much love,

A Recipe

Its been a while since I've posted a recipe, so I thought I would write about my Auntie's green beans today. I made them last night and they were deeeeeee-licious.

1 1/2 lbs green beans, trimmed
2 T butter
1T olive oil
3 large shallots, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 14 1/2 oz. can diced tomatoes in juice
1/4 c dry white wine
2 T thinly sliced fresh basil
Salt and pepper

Cook the green beans in a large pot of boiling water until crisp tender and bright green, about 3 min. Drain and rinse with cold water and set aside.

Melt the butter and oil in a large skillet. Add the shallots and garlic and saute until tender. Add the tomatoes and their juices and cook until heated through, about 3 min. Add the beans and cook until the juices evaporate and the beans are almost tender, stirring often, about 10 min. Stir in the wine and basil. Simmer 2 more min. Season with salt and pepper.

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Among other things, I definitely get my love for cooking and wine from my Auntie. I have a few aunts on my dad's side of the family, but my Auntie is my mom's only sister. She, her son {my cousin}, my brother, my mom, and my stepdad pretty much make up our entire family {other than my husband and I, of course}, so we spend a lot of time together when we are down in Orange County. We don't get to see them as often as I would like, but every once in a while I get an email from my Auntie about life and food and wine. I like those emails.

My Auntie was there when I had my first glass of wine {I was eighteen, and we were on a cruise to Mexico}. It was a Pinot Grigio, and I didn't like it. She was also the first one to take me wine tasting, almost two years ago, and I still remember which wineries we went to. We bond over this kind of stuff, and it's nice.

Anyway, I guess this post was just to give a little more insight into my family. I love them all, so much, and I don't think they will ever know how much I truly appreciate them.

I think I'll tell you the story of my mom and stepdad soon. I think you'll like it.

xoxo,