New home.

This weekend I've finally moved into my new duplex. It's this cute little yellow house, half of which is mine.. at least for the next year. Unpacking and organizing all of my things into about 200 less square feet (maybe not exactly, but that's how it feels) has been quite exhausting. It's slowly coming together. The one thing I am proud of is my open IKEA cabinets. I have TWO small cabinets for my pantry items. That's it.. so I had to be a little creative.


I can't take all the credit for this.. but I am pretty pumped as to how it turned out. Buyer beware, though. This is not their finest piece of furniture (it took a while to figure it out.. even with their ever so helpful pictoral representations of instructions).











I also have DVR and wireless -- and have been catching up on all the shows that everyone's been raving about: Dexter, True Blood, and the last few episodes of Weeds. On Demand is brilliant.



But.. here's what I still have left to tackle. Ex.hausting.



and there's more where that came from.

Finally!

After 2 hours (and one meltdown) of trying to set up wireless in my new place, it's finally done! New posts to come..

Biking Brilliance.

Anyone who knows me, knows I'm a multitasker.. and this bike is right up my alley. Booze and bikes? Perfection. (as sighted on A Cup of JO)

Vintage stylings.

My style lately has evolved from when I was in college into being more vintage inspired. Here's some of the latest dresses (found on Etsy) that I'm loving.

Biking to work..

It's true that when I originally starting biking to work, I believed it was out of necessity. Living 2 miles away from work had its perks, however, since I worked at the hospital, the employee parking was 2 miles in the opposite direction as where I lived. Driving to the parking lot (which was an overpriced surface lot) and busing it in took about 30minutes.. the same amount of time I could walk it. After 2 (yes two) scooters being stolen.. I decided to buy a bike. A white Trek commuter. Brown leather trim, and just my size.

Let it be known, months 1 and 2 of riding was hell. You don't realize how many hills there are until you're working your ass off to make it up them. But it got easier, and I got more savvy with the road and navigating around cars (only once have I been knocked off my bike.. and into a bush. great.). And now, I love it. Especially on mornings like this one, where I had to be on the road at 6am, no cars in sight, and it was a very cool for being the end of July. Me and my thoughts, planning my day.. and chilling out before work. It feels very urban..

..and then there's a huge road block because someone is getting arrested on the sidewalk.. typical Durham morning. There's nothing like it.

UO Furnishings I love..

I'm moving into a new (somewhat smaller) apartment next week, still in Durham. I've been quite spoiled in my current apartment with a fireplace (unused), personal washer/dryer, granite countertops, and all new appliances.. all wrapped in the perfect loft apartment downtown. We've had some good times.. however, all the amenities come with a fairly high price which takes a paycheck and a half to pay for.. so it's time to move on.

My new pad will need some strict utilization of every little open space.. but before I spend a ton of time looking into storage items.. I wanted to treat myself to some of the cute things Urban Outfitters have for the apartment.

The New Love of My Life

Meet Cooper, the artist formerly known as Tyrone/Boomer. He's a boxer, with a tad of bulldog mixed in. Super mellow, a bit intimidating looking (or so says Durham random guys as I'm walking him), and really affectionate.

We've been going through a bit of adjusting, but last night, was perfect. We went from whining and barking all night, like the first night I got him. Then the next night was a little better.. and last night, about a week after I got him.. silent night. Sleep like that was glorious.

One issue? Jumping on/lunging at dogs (and especially cats). The barking has ceased, but he still picks on others.. which we're working on. He has a pretty gnarly pinch collar that's been working, but progress is slow. At least I know he'll protect me, I guess.

Adventures in first time dog owning to follow, because I really have no idea what I'm doing.

Market Week?

One of the reg food blogs [eat. make. read] I've been reading had this great idea: Market Week. The idea? Get all your groceries from the farmer's market, and plan/make 5 meals from your ingredients. For me, this seems like a little overwhelming type task.. but its def something I could get into. Last summer, I loved exploring the farmer's market and trying what the locals have grown.. so I think this is something that I can def get into.

So for next Saturday -- hoping the weather is nice -- I will head to the market and challenge myself to try some new dishes with the local ag.