Sayonara USA!

This post should not be happening. 5 hours til I am supposed to "wake up" for the biggest journey of my entire life. I am excited, anxious, and nervous all in one. I am just glad it is finallllllly happening, after all the set backs and date changes. It's hitting me a little more now than ever but until I arrive in that chaotic Tokyo airport I'm not sure I will quite understand what Ryan and I are about to experience.

We had a minor (but seemed HUGE) setback. We never made it to Seattle due to a few paperwork issues. We are not flying on that dreaded military flight from United States military base to United States military base, pros and cons come with this setback.

Pros:  1.) We will arrive at virtually the same time as previously thought. 2.) Commercial Flight from San Diego to Los Angeles to Tokyo, no stopping in Seattle for a night. 3.) We get to see Tokyo and experience the airport and culture instead of just hopping from base to base immediately. 4.) Exchanging Dollars for Yen at the airport and buying our first REAL Japanese food...

Cons: 1.) We have to endure most of it by ourselves instead of with other sailors/families 2.) Customs 3.) 12 Hour flight versus 11 Hour Flight

Either way, its happening and its about to be crazy. I promise to take lots of pictures and update the blog as soon as WiFi is available. The next weeks will be CRAZY trying to get our living quarters, registering for classes (which start March 18th), and getting accustomed to living in Japan.

This is what I have planned for the 12 Hour Flight:

I will be reading this on my iPad Mini and I am sure to be found laughing out loud in seat 23B.

I bought the First Season of GIRLS and plan on watching the entire season. SO EXCITED.

I also downloaded the entire first season of Downton Abbey so I can see what all the hype is about!

We also have all the Ocean's Movies (Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen). I have NEVER seen them so we plan on watching them together....with our new headphones and headphone splitter. Technology makes me crazy but I would die without it!

Along with all this media we can be found getting competitive playing monopoly on the iPad and brushing up on our conversational Japanese! Oh, and sleeping.

P.S. I so wish someone could catch our culture shock on camera when we try and navigate through the Tokyo airport....I'm sure it would be YouTube worthy!

Next time I write it will be from Japan!

Sayonara,

XOXO

Ashley

Thoughts on San Diego and First Things First.

Tuesday, we meet again. I hate Tuesday's more than Monday's, who's with me? Anyways enough hating on days of the week lets talk about how today is our last day living in San Diego, forever. Yesterday Ryan and I had some time to hang out on the beach and it made me really think about everything that has happened for us in San Diego and what we will miss and not miss about this city.

I moved to San Diego in August of 2011 to be live with Ryan, we had been dating a mere five month. We both knew it was the right thing to do for our relationship. But, I was scared, and I know he was too. Though I had known him years, known his background, known him as a dear friend, and dated him five months I was scared we might fail, that I would have to drive back to Iowa broken-hearted. A year and seven months later we are married and moving to Japan, so I guess you could say things worked out!

By far the biggest accomplishment for me living in San Diego was surviving a grueling eight month deployment with hardly and friends, and virtually no family. I have always been an independent, I can do it all girl- but this tested me. During this time I truly developed my love/hate relationship with San Diego.

First of all, if you have never visited San Diego and get the chance to I highly recommend it for a vacation. As most people know the weather is as good as it gets year round..a constant 70 degrees. I didn't miss grey winter days or suffocating Iowa summers.  Christmas time is weird with no snow but thankfully I haven't missed an Iowa Christmas since living here. Something about wearing flip flops year round will always appeal to me, the weather I loved.

The culture. Almost every stereotype you have for California is true, everyone is pretty chill and the living is easy. Nothing moves too fast. Apart from the laid back nature of people the diversity San Diego showed me will forever change me. Being the minority as a white girl in the college classroom was a new experience for me...and nothing I could ever get in Iowa. I was humbled learning about my classmates cultures --ranging from Syrian to Mexican to French and Vietnamese, the conversations and friendships I had with these peers I will never forget. Something about your classmates checking the surf reports during class will always be special to me, the culture I loved.

The culture and weather are what I most loved about San Diego. Many more things including the beaches, shopping, and food I fell in love with as well. So what is there to hate about this place? Not much, except the amount of people. Ryan and I are both "small-town" Iowans and no matter how well traveled we become we will always be most comfortable with less people! We also hate everything that comes alone with more people including traffic, parking, and long lines.

San Diego will always have a special place in my heart. Though Ryan and I never plan on moving back we have talked about how we want to visit again. And we are both sure once Anchorman 2 comes to theaters we will miss San Diego more than ever!

And to finish up this post I am linking up with Halie  for First Things First!

The topics this week are: 1. First breakfast of choice

2. First dessert of choice

3. First beverage of choice

My first breakfast of choice would have to be something involving warm homemade banana bread with a smear of butter. Along side the bread I would take some blonde roast from Starbucks. I'm not a huge breakfast person in general but warm banana bread really gets me out of bed!

My first dessert of choice? An impossible question. But I will share my favorites Chocolate Molten Cake, Cold Stone Creamery's Peanut Butter Cup Perfection Ice Cream, Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory, and of course Red Velvet Cake. 

 

My first beverage of choice non-alcoholic would be unsweetened green, black, or acai berry tea! Preferably the Starbucks or Panera brew....I'm addicted. And my first alcoholic beverage of choice is Red Wine...any margarita with Grand Marnier is a close second!

Whew, that's a novel of a post. Over and out!

Ashley

Flight Plans and my Oscar worthy Review.

It's Monday. Which, to me, only means two more nights until we begin our adventure to Japan. Stressed would be an understatement. My anxiety is through the roof...I have double checked ALL of our paperwork at least three times. After some research I discovered that on the 27th we only fly to Seattle. (Ryan's unchecked emails are never to be trusted.) We arrive in Seattle at around 11 AM and then have the entire day to ourselves and stay in a hotel in Seattle that evening. Early the 28th we venture back to the airport and will travel via military aircraft to Yokota Air Force Base and then we will take a shuttle to Atsugi, our new home base.

What does all this newly found information mean? We have almost an entire day to explore Seattle, a place neither of us have visited. Oh, and the fact that we are not flying commercial air for a ten hour flight. I have been assured it is not going to be as rough as I am picturing it but... pray for me. Ryan is not near as stressed or anxious as I am because, well, he's been all over the world with the Navy and he has done most of this before.

Since I know you are all waiting at the edge of your seats to see what we did this weekend I will let you in on a little secret, it starts with a no and ends with a thing. Literally, nothing.

But I did watch the Oscars. Aside from being bored at least half the show I thought the good parts were good and I was pleased with the winners. Ryan and I have seen Silver Linings Playbook, Argo, Django Unchained, and Les Miserables and plan to see the rest of the nominees soon. If you haven't seen Silver Linings Playbook you need to, ASAP.

I was so happy Argo won Best Picture, I love Ben Affleck. I want to see Argo again soon. Also thrilled for Ms. Lawrence on her Best Actress Oscar. Sometimes I fall too, Jennifer. I like a girl who keeps it real.

Shout out to my girls Jennifer Hudson and Adele. Loved it.

Speaking of girls I like, can we talk red carpet? My favorites included Michelle Obama, Catherine Zeta Jones, Jennifer Lawrence, Halle Berry, Jennifer Garner, and Charlize Theron. My least favorites included Anne Hathaway and Kristin Stewart.

Kristin Stewart forgot grooming basics 101 and a brush. I couldn't help but wonder how she smelled.

Lastly, Seth MacFarlane made me gasp at all his,"Oh, no he didn't!" jokes and laugh out loud. For a girl who hates all the characters he plays I was pleasantly surprised.

But now, since I didn't win an Oscar, I will shut up.

Happy Monday, here's to hoping you made it out the door looking better than Kristen Stewart!

P.S. If you have any Seattle suggestions we would love them!

XOXO
Ashley

Pit and Peak of my week!

Happy Friday!

Linking up for Pit and Peak again this week.

Pits:

...Not having good WiFi in our hotel room

...Staying in a hotel

...Not getting to watch anything on Bravo because the hotel does not have the channel

Peaks:

...Getting EVERYTHING done on my To Do list, except blog posts!

...Having an awesome time adventuring with Ryan since we have minimal TV and Internet

...Finally going to Sea World and getting to see the one week old baby Shamu!

Shamu Waves Good-Bye 

Have a great weekend-- it is our last one in the United States for awhile!

Ashley

Patience, please.

Just a short post to inform you that blog posts may be spatial until the beginning of March as we are living in a hotel and moving to Japan in the next week! 

I have BIG plans for March, including a new blog design and "concept" in some ways! Not to mention all the blog post ideas I have filling up my newest notebook and the start of our Japan adventures! 

I will try to post as often as possible--please stay tuned, exciting things are happening!

Ashley 

I'm the kinda girl who...

Linking up with running in stilettos for a post about ME, myself, and I!

...I'm the kinda girl who adored this Wedding gown but hated not being able to walk in it normally

...I'm the kinda girl who buys cute shoes but hardly ever wears them

....I'm the kinda girl who can never wear nail polish more than two days because I pick it off

....I'm the kinda girl who thinks the toilet paper should roll from the top definitely not the bottom

.....I'm the kind of girl who wants white teeth but is an addict to wine, tea, and coffee making it impossible

...I'm the kinda girl who thinks she knows everything there is about baseball and football but doesn't

....I'm the kinda girl who wears yoga pants as often as possible

...I'm the kinda girl who pins mansions on Pinterest and thinks it is totally realistic!

What kinda girl are you?

Clean Eating Crock Pot Chili.

I am not a pro chef by any means but I have been trying to make a good chili for far too long. I have searched hours and hours for the perfect recipe on Pinterest but they always have weird ingredients that I do not usually buy or do not sound good in a chili recipe. I also encounter problems when recipes call for spicy foods because Ryan has no tolerance for spicy food whatsoever....

So I created my very own clean eating, vegetarian friendly chili for the crock pot. This pot of chili is full of good protein and fiber! It is easy, delicious, and Ryan approved. I thought I would share it because who doesn't love a big bowl of chili, especially on a cold night?!

This recipe calls for at least six canned food items, to keep sodium at a minimum look for "No Salt Added" canned products. We also try and choose organic products whenever possible. The products listed above from L to R top row first:

365 (Whole Foods Brand) Organic Cannellini Beans

Eden Organic Black Beans (BEST canned beans because they use BPA free lining) 

Trader Joe's Organic Kidney Beans

Imagine Organic Vegetable Broth 

 2 Cans Trader Joe's Organic Diced & No Salt Added Tomatoes

Trader Joe's Organic Tomato Sauce

Read this for more on BPA in cans and why it matters!

Ingredients: 

1 Can (15 oz) Cannellini  Beans (drained and rinsed)

1 Can (15oz) Black Beans (drained and rinsed)

1 Can (15oz) Kidney Beans (drained and rinsed)

2 Cans (15oz) Diced No Salt Added Tomatoes

1 Can (15oz) Tomato Sauce

(16oz) Vegetable Broth 

3 Celery Stalks, chopped

1 Red Bell Pepper, diced

1 Small Sweet Yellow Onion, diced or minced

3 Cloves Garlic, minced or pressed

1 TBSP Cumin

1TBSP Chili Powder

1TBSP Dried Oregano

1 TBSP Dried Basil

1 Teaspoon Honey

1/4 Teaspoon Cinnamon 

Salt to Taste

1 Pound Ground Beef or Turkey (optional)

For Toppings: Cilantro, Cheese, Crackers, Guacamole, Sour Cream (all optional)

Serves 6 Hearty Sized Bowls

Directions:

Wash and prepare all fresh vegetables as listed above. In a saute pan over medium heat saute onions and celery until the onions are translucent (about 3-4 minutes). Then add in the garlic and red bell pepper for another 2 minutes, until fragrant. Turn off the burner and use approximately a tablespoon of the broth to deglaze the pan then transfer ingredients and pan drippings into crock pot. Add in all other ingredients except toppings and meat. Stir together to combine. Set crock pot to low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. If using meat: about 30 minutes before you plan on eating brown the meat and season with 1 teaspoon chili powder and 1 teaspoon cumin as well as salt. Add cooked meat directly into crock pot for at least 15 minutes before serving. Serve in bowls and top with whatever you please!

Side note: For leftovers I added a half cup of water and a half cup of quinoa that I had already cooked to the chili and warmed it up to make more of a "soup"--highly recommended!

ENJOY!

Ashley

The Big Move!

It happened, the movers came and packed and moved all our belongings Friday. Our furniture is on its way to Japan, still SO weird for me to think! Only two guys to pack and move our entire apartment it took them about five hours--definitely faster than Ryan and I could have managed! 

They used mostly super think specialty moving paper to wrap all our things, hardly any boxes were used --Ryan and I had definitely never seen that before. This is our bedroom, all packed up. PS The hand-me-down bed we have now will get to live in another country....props to you Ikea, for making furniture that sorta survives lots of moves.

Our living room furniture all wrapped up in paper. 

 The moving truck. And our bikes, which we took one last spin on, leaning up against it. 

Our household goods will travel to Long Beach and from there they will be put on a ship and ride across the pacific to us in Japan after passing through customs. They tell us it should arrive about six weeks from now, we will be patiently waiting! 

On Friday night and Saturday night we stayed in the apartment with just our air mattress and suitcases and it was less than amazing but we survived by staying away from the apartment as much as possible! Sunday we handed over the keys, which was definitely bittersweet, and moved into a hotel on one of the Naval Bases here-- it just so happens that this Naval hotel lands us way closer to the beach!

Since Friday we have had a whirlwind weekend at movies, hanging out with friends, and getting into our temporary hotel home. We could not figure out the hotel internet until late tonight (11 PM Sunday night) so I only have this very short post for you, plan on updating very soon. 

Do you know what's its like to NOT have internet? It is scary.

Ryan has today off because of President's Day so we have big plans to either visit Sea World or be beach bums ---the weather in San Diego is B-E-A-Utiful right now!

I will be back again today with some posts--stay tuned.

Ashley

Recap and the Pit & Peak of My Week

Happy Friday, Cheers to the Weekend! 

The movers come at 9 A.M. today and its safe to say I wrote this post purely for stress relief purposes after a long, busy day. Here's a few pictures to sum it all up for you! 

Packing......welcome to my wardrobe and bedroom for the next month. I can be found wearing the same outfit every three days......ugh.

I went to Target to hang out grab some necessities and stumbled upon this $8 clearance lamp, sorry the picture is terrible quality! I have been looking FOREVER for a lamp for this table and room...it was originally $59.99.  Sweet deal! I also spent too much time drooling over all the cute new spring attire they have recently gotten in!

Ryan got me a card and SURPRISED me with Girl Scout cookies! Actually the Tagalongs were for him but you know those Thin Mints were for me...here in Cali the Girl Scouts sell cookies outside the grocery stores and its AWESOME. I'm going back for some Samoa's (Caramel de Lites) ASAP before we move and I have to focus on eating clean again.

We were supposed to go to our favorite Mexican restaurant but we were exhausted and didn't feel like getting out of our sweatpants so we ordered On the Border To Go---Veggie Fajitas for this girl YUM YUM. You can bet your sweet bottom I'll be at Happy Hour tonight since I missed out on a Margarita last night.

 A little Starbucks at 7 P.M. to keep our juices flowing. PS Have you tried the blonde roast yet? You should.

This is why I needed coffee. I had to sort through ALL our files and figure out what was going on...I will admit I'm kind of a paper hoarder but being an adult sucks sometimes wondering which papers to keep, which to shred! But I finished and we are ready to MOVE!

Now onto my very FIRST link up! I was going to wait until Hubby Jack got done pimping my blog but I really, really love this link up and I'm excited to share my blog with others even if its not all gussied up yet!

The link up I have chosen is Pit & Peak with Allie and Brin. I will share the pit (lowest part) and peak (highest part) of my week!

Pit(s)-

1. Moving. Its a pain.
2. Not having a super awesome relaxing Valentine's Day because of the move.
3. Eating like crap because were busy and moving-- which makes me feel like crap and sluggish!

Peak(s)-

1. Moving. It's finally happening and its going to be a great experience! 
2. Having Ryan home for Valentine's Day this year as opposed to him being deployed, we can celebrate the right way soon!
3. Being accomplished in organizing.
4. Keeping up with blog posts, meeting some new BBF's ;), and doing my very first link up!

Have a FABULOUS weekend everyone! 

Moving, Eminem, and Valentine's Day.

Hi all! Happy Valentine's Day! I hope your day is full of handsome hunks, chocolates, and flowers. I can assure you mine will only be full of handsome hunks aka Ryan ;) The movers come tomorrow so I'm pulling my hair out making a billion to do lists, DO NOT FORGET notes and in general freaking out. The walls are naked and it feels so empty, (cue the wall hangings singing with Eminem "It feels so empty without me, nah nah nah nah")...now that we're done with the real Slim Shady's rapping we can move on.

We are putting off Valentine's Day until Friday night or Sunday night...we have plans to go to our favorite fancy restaurant in downtown San Diego. I hope its awesome and romantic and lives up to every standard Valentine's Day has set for itself....

But for today were celebrating by packing our suitcases, cleaning, running errands, and hopefully diving into a huge bowl of queso and margaritas for dinner. I'm not convinced they will have good queso or Mexican food at all in Japan so I plan on eating enough for two years in the next two weeks.....just kidding, sort of.

Since I'm supposed to be doing a million other things right now I'm going to leave you with the gift's Ryan and I have requested from each other for Valentine's Day. Here's to hoping that your Valentine's Day is full of love and chocolate candies, particularly Reese's Hearts.

For Ryan: A Nike Fuel Band in Black

Oh, wait?! Doesn't he already have one. YES, and he broke it already. Sighhhhhhhh. When it first came out in the early spring of 2012 I stalked Nike.com and finally got him one and it shipped to him while he was deployed. He love, love, loves it but he is hard on things so it broke and he lost the cord.....so I'm ordering him a new one! Lucky duck!

For Ashley: Some Hot New Shades

Via Tory Burch. Actually these ones are just from the website and I like them but I tried on a pair at the Navy Exchange and loved them. I broke my MK sunglasses in December....whoops. I hope I get them because I'm thinking Japan is extra sunny ;) P.S. The Navy Exchange has killer prices on designer duds I hope the one in Japan has the same in their exchange....

So there you have it, we both break things easily and have decided to spoil ourselves each other since we have an excuse and its Valentine's Day! Hope you get everything you ever wanted...and a margarita! 

And since your all probably still singing that Eminem song I thought I would entertain you with what you may have missed on TRL back in 2002. 

You're Welcome.

Ashley

This one is for the girls -- my Valentine for myself!

Hey Girl Hey! Happy Valentine's Week, I am so thankful I am happily married and therefore do not have to mope in singleness for the entire week day. I have so been there. But this Valentine's Day I decided to reach back into my single days and buy myself a me, myself, and I gift. Obviously it was going to be something designer, from Target, or if you know me best....it was going to be makeup.

I am a self proclaimed make up junkie and I always have been. Unfortunately for my pocket book its always been the "good" make up, hardly ever drugstore brands. I blame my mother for this, she took me to Estee Lauder when I was probably eleven to get my first lesson...she used to spoil me with gobs of Clinique too. Those were my go-to's in middle school, along with anything in my Mom's make up bag I could steal without her noticing. Then I moved on to Lancome. (And there was that one time Cassie took me to get Cat Eyes and won me over as my brother's cool new girlfriend at the Lancome counter). Then came the Bare Minerals boom. Then MAC. And in between you of course have some Mary Kay and Urban Decay and Benefit. Along the way I picked and chose what products I liked best from each line. And I ALWAYS bought every product recommended by any friend, magazine, or website.

Enter....Tarte.

Long story short its my new go to makeup because it works and because it is free from all the bad stuff most makeup is formulated with. From the Tarte website, "All tarte products are formulated without parabens, mineral oil, phthalates, sodium lauryl sulfate and synthetic fragrances." Why does this matter? Our skin is our biggest organ and as women we slap these products on every. single. day not thinking about the chemicals and crap they are formulated with....I'm not perfect I still use products that aren't chemical free but as I keep transitioning to more natural, chemical free ways it was certainly nice to find Tarte along the way.

Here is the kit I bought for my gift to myself:

You Can Buy One For Yourself

Awhhhh yeah, all that glory arrived yesterday. And you know I played with it. I mean seriously a chevron bag and brush!

Its from QVC. I love QVC, so sue me. They have the best deals on tons of brands you probably already buy....don't feel like you are a Grandma for buying on there, just do it...especially when it's a Today's Special Value like this kit was! Its still a pretty great deal now too. Click on the link for a more detailed description too.

Here's my review.

I had already previously had the foundation and the exact same brush just not colorful and chevron. It rocks my socks off...after reading I found I had been applying too much which makes it look weird with your pores. A little goes along way and makes it last forever. Its called 12 Hour Amazonian Clay Foundations and it really lasts but I'm not about to say it lasts 12 hours because I touch my face way too often. I wear the light shade. If you are too chicken to buy offline because of color choice head into Sephora or Ulta and try it out for yourself!

That brush is magic.

The blush is the color fearless and wears exactly like the ever popular orgasm blush from Nars, so its universally a good color.

The lipstick color is plummy rose. I don't typically wear lipstick but Tarte got me hooked on their glosses and this color is perfect I think I might actually wear it in public! Its very moisturizing too! And just think you can lip your lips without tasting chemicals...

The small, long tube is the brow architect. Oh my goodness its amazing. I currently use the Benefit brow kit to define my brows and until about a year ago I never touched my brows. They frame your face, figure it out and help your brows help you! This pencil is a universal color and its shaped specifically for brows its not like an eyeliner pencil and it has a brush and a definer too.

The mascara is Lights, Camera, Flashes-- an update to Tarte's popular Lights, Camera, Lashes. I had NEVER tried there mascara because I have used the same Loreal mascara since forever and I was scared to try new....so surprised! It has short and long bristles to volumize and lengthen without giving you clumps. Its something like a 750% increase in lash volume. Crazy. And we all know mascara in the drugstore is full of nothing good for you...and then your eyes get irritated.

And on the far left hand side you can see a little white tube, its a sample of their self tanner. I will be
trying it and get back to you....I love me any sunless tan that doesn't require you becoming orange.

I already own these Tarte products below too. Four of the maracuja lip shine, four of the cashmere waterproof liners, and the 20 color eyeshadow box. Its also from QVC and I got it as a Christmas present for myself....its still available here. The eyeliners are amazing and last until you take them off! I wear the lipgloss and eyeshadow daily too. If its any testament I wore all these products below for my Wedding Reception and they stayed put the whole night!

Hopefully your intrigued to try Tarte now if you haven't already...there are many more products I want to get my hands on soon! Concealer is next, I'm still using MAC concealer and I'm scared nothing will compare!

And if your a single lady I recommend buying your self a present no guy would ever buy for you, maybe on Thursday, when retail therapy will be necessary! But if your a taken lady buy yourself one too! And in either case just dance to Beyonce and belt it out.

You can find Tarte at Ulta and Sephora...but beware of your wallet in those stores, its like candy land.

Tomorrow we will share our Valentine's Day plans and wish lists!

xoxo
Ashley

A peek inside....our Laundry Room and Desk Nook

Hellllo everyone! I know you are all stoked to see these rooms because they are so exciting! Just kidding! That's why I've got TWO posts coming at you today...a small Christmas miracle. The movers are coming Friday but all I seem to be doing is watching TV and blogging/reading other blogs. Woops. I'm the best procrasinator ever though so it should not be a problem?! Without further ranting here are the areas of our apartment we haven't overexposed yet!

 Our built in desk nook. Right now this area is an absolute paper disaster, try not to judge me. Every other area of the apartment always looks better than this and twice a month, read: when I pay the bills, I go OCD and clear it up. Its all my mess, Ryan never touches it! Right now its full of chaos because I'm trying to decide which paperwork we need and which paperwork is ok to send in the move. Panic. The chair is Martha Stewart Home Office from Staples. The rest of the items are probably from Staples or Target. 

 A closer look at the chaos. I have a framed inspirational card from my friend Sydney and picture of me with the family I previously nannied for and some love notes from Ryan hanging up so I can read them and swoon over him procrastinate. Also, if you don't frame notes, cards, etc. I suggest you start....even Nate Berkus says so!

Here is the cupboards above the desk. Full disclosure: I am shocked I shared this picture but honesty rules. See more photo boxes from Michaels on the right hand side on top. The right hand side bottom shelf is my junk shelf, clearly. The left side is binders and on top extra paper, envelopes etc. 

Its very nice to have this built in nook since we only have a one bedroom apartment and no real area for  things that belong in an office!

 Here is the view as you walk from the kitchen to the laundry room, with the door open. 

 To the left is the washing machine. We use Method laundry detergent and fabric softener with a Downy ball. Also store our iron and paper bags in here.

 Here is a cute funny laundry room sign I got at Gordman's but its hard to notice it in this room. 

To the right is the dryer and on top of the dryer are extra vases/glass ware and extra candles. 

We are lucky to be in an apartment with our own laundry room but its annoying how they are separated like this because you cannot open the dryer door with the baskets as they are above....first world problems! Shout out to Ryan for being the best husband ever and putting laundry away because I will do everything but that! 

Woohoo! All done with our apartment tour, we will be sure to show you how things look in Japan....surely different! 

Happy Wednesday Everyone...otherwise known as the day in between Fat Tuesday and Valentine's Day!

Ashley

A peek inside....our Kitchen and Dining Room!

By the blog traffic I'm receiving you all aren't commenting much but you definitely like looking in on us! But its all good we love over sharing our apartment! Today we are sharing our kitchen, dining area, and entry way....I tried to snap some better pictures the lighting in the living room is terrible, sorry about that! Our living, dining, and kitchen are all the same big area-- I will be honest it looks pretty plain in these pictures but I normally spruce it up with seasonal decor. Also, the white walls jump off the picture way more than they do the eye, promise. Straight to the pictures!

Floor Plan- Once again furniture NOT arranged this way. 

Here is our dining room/area. The table is a counter height table from Homemakers in Iowa. I have had it a little over two years and its working out alright...I have a weird obsession with nice HUGE dining tables that seat 10 but this one will do for now and the color is great! The clock is from Marshall's and its alright but it looks oh so lonely up on that plain white wall. I try, I try. I usually have a runner or something besides a plain lonely candle on the table but I'm not about to dig out all that I have packed away! Below are two pictures from the summer when it had some fresh cut flowers and the table runner!

Ahhhhh, white tulips! So springy and fresh!







 Beautiful, bold purple I have no idea what these flowers are but I loved them!

Here you can see how the dining area flows into the kitchen. Trash can and my super cute handmade recycling bin. Green Paint + Target Clearance Container = Perfect Recycling Bin

We also put up those corner shelves which are perfect for Ryan's wallet and change-- cookbooks and recipes up top. Shelves from Target. 

A look into the kitchen! Its a galley kitchen and works pretty great for us. We have a gas stove and dishwasher! SCORE! The granite is great too. The door at the back of the photo and kitchen is the laundry room.

This is the view from the living area into the kitchen. The counter you see closest is higher sort of like one you could use for bar stools but not wide enough--it collects junk as we walk through the door! 

Here is the sink, dishwasher, Keurig side of the kitchen. Also the pantry is next to the Keurig.

We own the this Keurig by Cuisinart. Its ammmmazing, my first Keurig went out--if your Keurig hasn't brace yourself, its terrible. This one is on the higher end but I use it at least three times a day because it has on the spot hot water which I use for tea, hot cocoa, and oatmeal along with my K-Cup coffee. And bonus it has a HUGE reservoir so you don't have to refill it as often which works because I'm lazy busy. Our K-Cup Carousel pictured is this one and almost empty because we cannot ship K-Cups. If they do not have K-Cups at the Navy Exchange in Japan I will be posting an SOS on here! 

This photo is a view of the oven/stove and the fridge side of things. On top of the fridge is our wine and spirits. We store our blender on the counter because we use it often (I desperately want a Vita Mix, saving my pennies!). Next to the stove I keep onions and garlic in an apothecary jar along with S&P and olive oil spray. Then we have our overflowing fruit bowl, which is from Pier 1 recently but I cannot find it online!  

Entry way! Here is where we enter our quaint apartment. We have a pretty good sized coat closet to the left. On the door we have a dry erase sticker from the Martha Stewart collection at Staples. Its awesome, we write notes to each other on it all the time...its right in your face as your leaving so you don't forget it! We also hung our chalkboard to the right on the wall between the entry way and kitchen. 

It holds keys, headphones, and chalk 24/7. The saying on it has been there since July--oops?! We also have our current Ruzzle scores on the chalk board... we are seriously competitive and the glory of adding a tally mark to your total is so sweet!

Above the door is this little sign that reads, "Find the Wonderful In Today". I love it above the door, a nice little reminder. Its from Gordman's.

There you have it! Hopefully you enjoyed it. We use our kitchen and dining room often and they have worked well for us. You can always wish for bigger and better but we know we have it pretty nice in this apartment! I wouldn't change anything in these areas except the plain white walls, that clock is so lonely!

We will finish up with the laundry room and desk nook tomorrow! Leave a comment, let us know what you think! Happy Tuesday!

Ashley

A look inside... our Living Room! And I sewed a pillow!

Sorry this post took so long we had an inspection no show who really slowed our day down!

Hope you all enjoyed a peek inside our bedroom and bathroom-- I was as little worried these posts were too out there but I personally love looking at other peoples places and getting inspiration for my own and I wish so badly that I would have taken pictures of my first apartment to look back on now! Our living room is where we spend most of our time it has a big open feel that is nice and the 9 foot ceilings help with the openness too!

Our Floor plan
Please note that our furniture is NOT set up this way!

Ta-Da! Here is the best picture I could get of the whole set up we have. Our furniture (couch, love seat, chair and ottoman) are from JCPenny Home in 2010. They are beige microfiber and have held up decently well. Its not cramped but the furniture isn't spaced out at all either...it works for us and the room. Throw pillows and blankets are from Target. On the far left hand side of the picture you will see an iron cross it is from Francesca's boutique...(side note: its not exactly my style but it fits perfectly on this wall, so it lives!) The large mirror is from Marshall's I found it on clearance and jumped up and down! I love it! The side table is a hand me down from the family I previously nannied for and the vases and frames are from Target. That particular vase holds a candle. 

 This is the chevron pillow on the love seat, and drum roll please.......I MADE IT! Sewed it with my own hands with my spankin new sewing machine (thanks Korbel's)! Since I'm on hiatus from school I was super bored and decided I could open my sewing machine and practice threading it etc and then make one project before putting it back in the box for the movers. The fabric is from JoAnn. This is my sewing machine and I recommend the following tutorials....First check out Sewing 201  its a great overview and I love her blog in general. From that I refreshed what my Mom taught me many moons ago with this Learn to Sew series. And from that I followed this envelope back pillow tutorial. The lines aren't perfectly straight but I am so proud of that pillow and itching to get my hands onto more. 

This is our media area. It is far from perfect and there are too many cords in this picture for my eye to divert away from....yikes! The shelves are both cheap-o from Target. The magazine basket is Home Goods and the little beige boxes are from Michael's...they are actually photo boxes but I use them a lot for everything but photos. You can also see Ryan's obnoxious video game headphones in this picture....seriously they are huge but I don't have to listen to the games anymore. Two Thumbs Up! 

Overall this room is very cozy and we spend too much time as couch potatoes because of that. With more $$$$ and less laziness I would change the entertainment "center" and then add the sconces I have in the storage unit to the wall space next to the mirror. I envision a coffee table too if we had more space. I love coffee table books and decor!

Stay tuned for a look inside our kitchen, dining and laundry rooms tomorrow and then finally our desk nook the following day along with some other posts! Don't by shy we like hearing your feedback please leave us a comment to let us know your reading!

Ashley