LONG TiME NO SEE

Wow, where did the year go? I didn't plan on taking such a long break from my blog but I blinked and most of the year had passed. So to get anyone who might read this up to speed, I moved last year across the country and since then have been setting up our home, organizing my collections, and doing home improvements when I have the time. I meant to share photos on here of our progress but it all just became too overwhelming.

Things are starting to finally slow down a bit so I will slowly be adding posts on here but plan to do a full blog makeover soon. Since my favorite holiday, Halloween, is coming up I'm starting to get really motivated to create and decorate. I will be sharing Halloween inspired products and art I find over the next couple of months both here and on Pinterest. I will also be sharing home improvement photos along with how we display our collections. I hope they can inspire in some way. Have a wonderful rest of your week!

Here are a few photos from last year right after we moved in. Halloween was the first holiday I decorated here and I can't wait to do it this year.

xoxo

Sara

SO WHAT'S NEW WITH YOU?

Oh man, so we moved at the start of July and up until now, I mean literally as I'm typing this, our floors are going in at our new home. They look good y'all! Long story short, previous people had a dog that used the carpet as it's restroom -_- so needless to say it was pretty stinky in here. It unfortunately all couldn't be replaced until now so we have been living on a rug and a mattress and no other furniture out but we do have a tv! Got to watch my cartoons and home remodeling shows! Because of this I'm still not back to a regular schedule for posting on my blog or any of my social media. It's starting to get to me. I need to have a place to work since I work from home and it's been difficult. On the bright side I should be up and running soon now that we can actually settle in. It's been almost 8 months since I've even seen most of my things so I'm excited to unpack boxes. We will post lots of before and after home photos as we decorate but I thought I would share some in progress photos of the floors because I can't leave my room right now while they are working and couldn't think of anything better to do, ha! 

If you're wondering about that weird blue behind the tv, it's a light from Ikea that showed up really crazy in the photos but doesn't really look like that.

So that's our front rooms so far. They are looking a lot better than before but we still have a lot of work to do. I'm ready to get my toys out already. I'm impatient :)

Have a great week!

xo

Sara

GOODBY SAN JOSE

Whoa, how did so much time pass? I'm pretty good a falling off the planet for awhile. You get it right? Work and then trying to move again completely wiped me out of getting much else done. It took me an entire week to recover from this last move, okay, I'm still actually recovering two weeks later -_- I'm so old...okay, out of shape but it's making me feel super old!

So recap, I moved out to San Jose, CA at the start of the year to live with my boyfriend of almost two years now, whom I met on Instagram of all places. Yeah, I know what you're thinking, but is it really that weird nowadays to meet people on line? It's not. I've met some of my best friends on line so why wouldn't I find a boyfriend that way? Well I did. A pretty darn great one. So I boxed up my 4 bedroom house in Kansas City, way too much space for me, and drove me and my clothes, out to California. Everything else I owned has been in storage for the past 6 months! I have no clue where anything is so I'm ready to finally be able to get things out of boxes. Thanks to my wonderful parents, my house was sold and my pets have been having fun at their grandparents house until we had a larger place for all of us to live.

So 6 months have gone by and I really miss my pets and I'm really wanting to call a place "ours" since I've been living in Doug's loft since January. Well, we finally were able to move to a larger place. It's in Santa Cruz and the one place I instantly fell in love with when I had visited Doug in the past. It's by the water and I feel totally comfortable and at home here. I will share photos and our new space soon. We have a lot of work to get done. Our floors are being replaced due to previous people having a dog that used the carpet as its personal bathroom. Let's just say it doesn't smell like roses in here and there is not an air conditioner so heat is not helping with the lovely pee aroma we currently have. So that's getting fixed and then we can FINALLY get our things out of boxes and feel like we have a home together. I'm so excited to decorate.

I wanted to share some photos of Doug's loft. I am so happy I got to live in a loft with brick walls and exposed beams, even if it was only for half a year. I've always dreamed of having a loft.

Miffy needed to make an appearance... Until we meet again loft! You are pretty great! 

Have a great Tuesday!

xoxo

Sara

FIRST FRIDAY'S // VINTAGE IN KANSAS CITY

(print by: HAMMERPRESS)

Every first Friday of the month quite a lot of vintage and antique stores open up for the weekend in the West Bottoms business district of Kansas City. A few are open all the time but if you want to get the full experience, First Friday's is the best time to stop by. Try to pick a time not in the middle of the summer because this vampire was dying the entire weekend but if you do, spreading your time out through the weekend, makes it easier to see all the shops and not pass out. I've explored the West Bottoms since I was in college, way too many years ago, and during that time there was not much down there but empty warehouses, a few artist lofts, buildings converted into haunted houses for halloween, and the homeless. It was a great place to go exploring and hunting for discarded items like old computers, books, signs and furniture. I still have a rusty old metal EXIT sign that I found in the grass.

I've put together a list of some of the shops in the area. All are within walking distance to each other and a nice variety of food trucks park along the streets. Everything I've tried so far have been really good food. I don't have every shop listed but I will add more once I figure them all out. The web sites I found didn't seem to have update information. If you can only visit a few I would pick the ones that have 3 or 4 floors. You can get lost so leave breadcrumbs. I added links to everyones site or Facebook page.

BELLA PATINA

BOTTOMS UP ANTIQUE MARKET
FOUNDATION
GOOD JUJU
HELLO SAILOR
LIBERTY BELLE
NOOK AND CRANNY
RAG AND BONE
re: RESTORATION EMPORIUM
RUSTIC VINTAGE ROSE
STUFFOLOGY
TOP HAT MERCANTILE

Sometimes I have an idea of specific things I'm looking for but usually when I go out I'm looking at vintage toys, package design, patterns, typography, vintage signs, clothing, color combinations, how vendors have displayed their products...it's a really long list. It's one hobby I have that really makes my brain happy and keeps me creating my own unique worlds around me. 

I can never get enough of vintage/retro artwork and toys. It's something I'm always hunting for. If anyone knows of great places to find toys preferably from the 70's and later, please feel free to leave me a comment. I would love to find new places to go. It doesn't have to be limited to places around me.  

You can find anything if you search hard enough. This porcelain baby doll has three faces so you can rotate to a different emotion. I guess there is a bonnet that goes over the rest of the head so you can't see all the faces at once...because that makes it so much better! I've always loved things that most people see as creepy. This doll is definitely unique but did not come home with me, which is probably for the best so it doesn't kill me in my sleep.

I posted more photos on my Flickr if you're interested in what else I saw this weekend.

I love to go hunting for vintage items and will keep posting different shops I find and would recommend visiting for people who share my passion or anyone that's interested in looking at old stuff. 

Have a great Monday! 
-Sara

DOLL HOUSE : PART 1

I've shared photos of my home for many years since I purchased it back in 2008. I didn't have a blog or website to really document the things I did so I used my Flickr to share photos as my home progressed. I spend a lot of time in my house and wanted to make it someplace I wanted to be, someplace that made me happy. I've always loved interior design and love to decorate with things I've collected over the years. Here are some photos of the front rooms of my home the living room and dining room. I've always wanted one huge wall that I could display my toy collection on and my dining room just became the place to do that and have it visible but not too intrusive. I collect a lot of things but I also get claustrophobic easily so I have to organize everything! 

There are more photos on my Flickr if you want to check them out. The photos here and on Flickr are unfortunately a few years old and things have moved and changed, so I will be taking some new photos soon to share. I will also be adding more detailed photos that share who all the artists are in each photo. 

In 2011 I did a little interview for Apartment Therapy that you can see here if interested as well as one for Etsy. 

Thanks for looking!

Have a great day!

-Sara