upstairs

Last night I had a little housewarming party. It was a nice mix of coworkers and friends. There were lots of good things to eat and people sat in all my new living room furniture. Since I had the house all ready for visitors to poke around, I took a few pictures of the upstairs and I'll now finally share them with you.

This weekend I got a new lamp for my room and hung up some pictures, so it's finally put together. (I'm still looking for a headboard though.)

My new bed, mirror, and bedside table (which is part of a matching set of side tables but the other one is in the living room).

My old dresser that I painted, along with a new Ikea mirror.

The mid-century modern piece that started my love for mcm furniture. The pictures were taken out of a calendar and hung in Ikea frames made for record albums.

The other two rooms upstairs are much smaller than my master bedroom. The guest room has my old bed, along with little tables I already had.

Visit me and you could sleep here!

The third room is my office. So far I've only used it to pay bills and be on the computer. It has potential for being a cozy place to write my dissertation, but unfortunately I don't usually write at my desk.

The desk my grandpa fixed up for me back when I moved to Raleigh, and two bookshelves I already had. In the other corner (not pictured) is a lateral filing cabinet my aunt passed down to me. I haven't actually organized or filed anything yet though...

So there you have it, the three rooms upstairs!

Grateful for Friends

The last few weekends I've had fun times with friends. Sometimes finding and making and keeping friends can be hard when you're grown and don't live near high school or college friends, so I am especially grateful for the friends and community I've been able to make and find in the last couple of years.

One friend's parents recently bought a vacation home in Wintergreen, so five of us girls went there on a Friday night. We hung out that evening snacking and playing Ticket to Ride. The next day we made breakfast, went for a short hike, got in the hot tub, and then drove back to Charlottesville and enjoyed a late lunch outdoors. It was nice both to hang out with girls for a sleepover and to get outside.

Last weekend I made the four-hour trek to Raleigh on Friday after work for a Halloween party with friends I made during grad school. I hadn't been back to Raleigh in several years, and going to the party was sort of like a blast from the past with the same crew. The next night we went to a restaurant for Octoberfest and I got to hang out with my friend Elizabeth from school. It was really nice to catch up with her.

I was a gumball machine! The guy on the left is from Jaws. The guy on the right appears to be a creepy gas station attendant.

With my friend Ryan, aka the Kool-Aid Man.

Last weekend my friends S and B got married! Friday night I hung out with them a little after their rehearsal dinner, Saturday was the wedding, and Sunday morning was a lovely brunch. It was a great weekend of hanging out with, and celebrating, friends.