Before & After {bedroom}

Since I moved into my new place, things have undergone some drastic change.  A little while ago, I posted about choosing paint colors - well, here's a little before & after in my bedroom!  Suffice it to say that the previous roommate didn't have quite the color scheme I had in mind, so thanks to Behr paint + primer in one I redid it in youthful coral.

Here's a round-up of the tools I used - I even bought a small 8 oz. of a soft white paint to touch up the trim and ceiling that had splotches of the previous green color.

My room is about 8x10' and I ended up using 2 gallons of paint for three coats to get it from green to the coral that I wanted.

Note that I have very little storage space in my room and this shoe organizer pretty much saved my shoe life crisis.

I love candles, and there's nothing better than having a familiar scent permeate through your new place.  My favorite is a brand from Texas called Circle E Candles (thanks, Cathy!) - they are fantastic and have lasted me forever.

 Finally, I picked up some new things for the barren bathroom like this bath rug and shower curtain from Target.

That's a wrap, folks!

new beginnings 2.0

It's been a crazy weekend, y'all!  Painted my new room, packed, moved, and planned a poolside wedding on private property all in one weekend.  If that's not productive, I'm not sure what is.  I've been looking at paint swatches, light fixtures, storage ideas - the whole nine yards.  This move was no doubt significantly easier than the previous one (from Texas to Virginia), but different.  I've had a great time living in the Clarendon area of Arlington - a bustling little city along the outskirts of DC - but now I'm more in the 'burbs with a nice lush green drive following me to my new casa.  I've been taking pictures of my paint progress, but here are a few Instagrams.

 

Mad props to Michelangelo for all his work because painting on ceiling is no joke.  Okay, so I didn't paint my ceiling, but I did have to fix the wall-ceiling trim of the room and that was hard enough.  So it's goodbye to my wood-paneled cozy attic room and hello to coral walls and hardwood floors.

Thanks to all who helped me move and got a great "stairmaster" workout climbing up and down my house.  Off to rearranging, buying a few new pieces, rearranging some more, and organizing galore!

P.S.  When I'm MIA from the blog, follow me on Pinterest for some guaranteed activity.

{on the road} hello, virginia!

It's been a crazy past few days since I arrived in Virginia.

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers! We didn't have any problems on the road - no flats, no accidents, not even any traffic. There's not much to say right now, except that my housemates are amazing and my room is finally coming together. Here's a whirlwind of "before" pics I'm sure many of you are itching to see. I will do some before & after posts with DIY projects to come - promise!

 

  

closet space, aka "Narnia"

Thanks to my awesome not-so-little brother for all his help on putting things together and carrying things I could not (or could if I were willing to break my back). A few little fun facts about the new place & some other random updates:

• That white dresser in the first picture was left behind, so the girls gave it to me for free!
• I spent $20 at Goodwill and got a cute wicker laundry basket, lamp base & shade, cute wooden bowls, and a hanging shelf. Photos to come, of course.
• I used craigslist and got a night stand, bookshelf, and metal bed frame for a total of $32.
• I live so close to the metro it's amazing. I have yet to take it, but am excited to explore like crazy!
• My brother developed a love for gelato. We've been to Boccato twice since Sunday. This one's oreo and white chocolate.

• My first piece of mail was waiting for me when I arrived at the house. I was ridiculously excited. My brother kept telling me to stop taking pictures of it cause it's not a celebrity, but maybe it is. Thanks, dear friend. (:

• I will forever be a Texan at heart, and a Singaporean, but I'm glad to be here enjoying my time in VA. Though I don't quite miss Texas yet, it's probably because I've been so preoccupied with everything else. So...no hard feelings, Texas, but I have a huge crush on Virginia right now.

{on the road} tennessee

So I'm at this slightly questionable Days Inn in Roanoke, VA, but I'm glad I'm getting to post about Tennessee tonight. I took a ridiculous amount of pictures because we stopped in Nashville, so here we go!

skyline from afar

lunched at athens family restaurant chosen by my dad, as seen on diners, drive-ins & dives

{on the road} arkansas

Greetings, friends! Thanks for all your prayers and well-wishes. We (my brother, dad, and I) are safely here in West Memphis, Arkansas, basically right before you hit Tennessee. I took the wheel for the first part of the trip as we tried to get out of Texas (…finally!). Then my dad took over for most of the Arkansas leg of the trip, which means I got to take pictures!

Behold, Arkansas snaps:

{on the road} ready, set, go!

In 2 hours, I'll be on the road to my new home in Arlington, Virginia, some 20 hours away.

The past 4 days since the previous post have been absolutely insane. The amount of packing and unpacking I've done is ridiculous, and I have proof, but first - here's a tid bit about packing:


Over the years of moving and traveling, I've found that the most efficient way to pack a suitcase is to roll up tees and tanks into the crevices of the luggage.