A look inside....our bedroom and bathroom!

 As I have been cleaning and preparing for the big move I thought it might be helpful for us in the future to look back at how our apartment was and fun for those who read this blog to see some pictures inside our apartment before we take everything down and move. I took most of these pictures before the first shipment movers came so you could get the real feeling of how it normally looks...except I picked up the pile of clothes on the floor that I am notorious for leaving. This is our very first apartment together and while its super pricey we both love it and it was worth every single penny for me to feel safe while Ryan was deployed for eight months--plus the amenities are amazing as well. This post will feature our bedroom and bathroom! Lets get to the pictures! Click on the links for the source of the products still available, from what I found, on the Internet. 

To better understand here is a floor plan of our apartment though the furniture is NOT set up this way.

Pictured above is our dresser, Hemnes 8- drawer dresser in white, from Ikea. It sits along the wall that divides the living room and the bedroom. On the top of the dresser from left to right is a silver vase from Gordman's filled with some cherry blossomish looking branches from Michaels along with a wooden frog from Thailand and a green candle next is a 32inch TV on top of our blu ray player and then two mercury glass candle sticks from the clearance shelves at Target and two flameless candles. We split the eight drawers evenly which is incredibly unfair....

Above is our bed, Hemnes bed frame-white, from Ikea. It is a hand me down from Tony & Cassie. The lamps are from Home Goods. The left night stand is mine, hence the picture of Ryan- its also a hand me down and from Ikea...Hemnes collection too but they no longer carry this exact night stand. The right night stand is Ryan's, it is solid oak and I made it in shop class in eighth grade and painted it white after we moved here. The bedding is West Elm Organic Pintuck Duvet Cover and Shams, they no longer carry the color we have since we bought it on clearance but here is the color I would love to have now in the same set. We have had it a while and it has stayed nice and washes well but it is so hard to iron those shams that I normally give up, so wrinkles exist. I love the Pintuck design though, here is the Target version I have eyed several times too.

This chevron throw pillow is from Home Goods and I am obsessed with it, mainly because its Chevron. I searched forever to find a pillow I liked that matched the bedding set! I would like a few more pillows like European shams but Ryan hates lots of pillows so I rest my case with five. 

The lamps are also Home Goods as mentioned above I scored them for like $20 each one day...they are a taupe/grey color and sort of a beehive shape with natural colored shades.  

This is my necklace holder from Hobby Lobby, its a piece of wood with two glass doorknobs and I made it work to hold my necklaces. 

 Above is the inside of our closet door. I use over the door hooks and hang my scarves, belts, small purses, and a  few sweatshirts here. Its great use of space and I recommend trying it!

Here is the inside of our walk in closet with lots of space. This picture was taken after lots of our clothes got packed for Japan. There are also spaces to the left and right of this photo. 

This picture is of the window and above it is a sign that read "Prayer Changes Things", it hung in my Mom's bedroom too and its a good reminder for us.

Above is our super cheap Target bookshelf in white, I honestly think it was $9 and I put it together, but it works for now. The bottom shelf is home to extra clothing storage in those bins, also from Target.

The middle shelf houses my beloved Audrey Hepburn book collection and other inspirational books of mine. The top shelf holds a very special Isabel Bloom statue that I gave my Mom and the mother of pearl box is from Home Goods and the rest of my jewelry (not necklaces) is in that box. On the top is a pearl vase that I got at Target on clearance and two pictures of Ryan and I. 

That wraps up the bedroom tour....it's pretty cozy but I would change a few things if I had a bigger budget and more time. First up, I would finish the project I have started for above the bed and second I would buy night stands that are the same--it drives me CRAZY! And of course I would change the paint but white it is when you live in an apartment! 

Here is the view when you walk into the bathroom. Its a very long and narrow room, but has TONS of counter space which I love and of course who doesn't love some neutral granite?! The shower curtain is   from Bed Bath & Beyond seen here. We actually have sliding glass shower doors behind that so there is no need for a curtain but it looks better this way! 

 Here is the other view of the counter top- we have a medicine cabinet to the left side. Lots of storage in here which rocks my socks off, sad to leave it. I like to keep minimal things on top of the counter because clutter isn't cool. We keep Q-Tips and our toothpaste and brushes on near the sink. The toothbrushes are actually in a glass container that used to hold a candle. Once you use up the candle pop the whole jar into the freezer and then the wax will break apart with some knife work when you pull it out of the freezer, wash it out and you have glass jars galore...seriously I use them for everything!

The best part of the whole entire apartment that I will be most sad to leave! The roman bath tub...I take a bubble bath all the time, this thing is HUGE!

Another view!

We have one of these shower heads that we bought at Bed Bath & Beyond and its amazing! I particularly love it for cleaning because you can rinse all the walls with the handheld! Crossing our fingers that it fits on the shower head in Japan...

 Here is our towel basket. I love "spa like" bathrooms so I tried this out...the basket is just a wire basket from Home Goods. Our towels are Ralph Lauren outlet and amazing. I believe in having nice linens and these are way affordable too!

 This vase is see through blue-ish and from Gordman's. I found these two dried looking flowers at Michael's and put them in the vase...they are so cool looking--I found them outside the regular floral section at Michael's too, in case your looking for something similar!

 Here is the cupboard. I like an organized bathroom, clearly, and yes I have labels on my plastic totes in case anyone ever got confused which container the cotton products were in....?

 Here is a picture of our dark grey rugs, also Home Goods and our typical linoleum flooring.

Oh, and in case you care what I clean our bathroom with.....I thought I'd share my true and tested favorites. From left to right. Mrs. Meyers All Purpose Cleaner for the floors, Mrs. Meyers Bathroom Cleaner, Green Works Toilet Bowl Cleaner....and this magic soap scum potion aka vinegar and Seventh Generation Dish Soap mixed together in the handle of this scrub brush .....no seriously, I just posted this so you would try the vinegar and dish soap in the handle of the scrub brush because it changed my life! These are all "green" non-toxic products and Mrs. Meyers cleaning products smell heavenly!

Thats it for the bathroom! I'm not crazy about the shower curtain anymore but otherwise I am content with this room and wouldn't change much, it has worked very well for us!

Hope you enjoyed the short tour, we will be back tomorrow to share the rest of the apartment with you! Leave a comment and let us know what you think and then go try that soap scum potion and be amazed!

Ashley

We're Moving, Finalllllllllly!

That's right, the moving process is in full swing and I finally feel confident enough to write a post about Japan without someone telling me were not leaving when we previously thought.

So the most current date for our move:

FEBRUARY 27, 2013

I think this means we might arrive in Japan on March 1, 2013....but I'm still trying to figure that out.

I wish I could go in depth and tell you WHY our move date got pushed back at least four times but its complicated and when Ryan starts to explain it my anxiety goes through the roof! In short, he is going to end up fulfilling a five year Navy career and he originally enlisted for four years. To move to Japan we had to both go for two years to make it worth the governments money to send us....thus the extension of his Navy contract to five years! Confused yet? Don't worry me too.

But we're going. 

Today the first movers came and packed up and hauled away our necessities for our smaller shipment that will arrive first. We had a very hard time deciphering what to pack and what to leave but we decided to send our best kitchen items and bath towels etc. so that we will feel a little more at home in a foreign country when we arrive. 

Next week the BIG movers will come pack up our apartment and take all our things away except our four ginormous suitcases that we will be living out of for maybe a month (cue my anxiety, again). We will move out of our apartment a few days later and stay in a hotel in San Diego for 10 days. We plan on choosing our favorite restaurants we will miss and eating at them during this time! 

On the 27th we will board our airplane and fly to Seattle then arrive in Tokyo about 10 and a half hours later. We will stay in a hotel until our housing is assigned....we still have NO idea where we are living and we will not until we arrive and learn that something is available for us! We will be sure to share this with you.

Until then you can find us cleaning, arguing with Verizon, shopping, selling our Jeep, deciding what to pack in suitcases, and going to Target everyday to soak it in....totally kidding, only every other day. 

Have a GREAT weekend!

Ashley

Superbowl Sunday--and Dessert Recipes!

We are still recovering from the bittersweet Superbowl....meaning we were cheering for the Niners but had an awesome time partying on Sunday! We attended a party at a friends house and had a great time....the first half was spent eating and looking away as the Ravens scored, and scored, and scored. And then more eating to dull the pain. Halftime came and we went crazy when Destiny's Child appeared-- Say My Name, Say My Name--anyone? Beyonce was looking pretty bootylicious so the men watched too. After halftime we all settled in for a long second half ---with high hopes for the Niners....and then Jacoby Jones went lights out with a kickoff return and we started biting our nails. I'll be honest, I thought the media made a HUGE deal out of nothing with the whole lights off situation, we just kept watching the commentators repeat themselves and thinking of how much more intoxicated people were getting with the extra 34 minutes of spare time. After the lights came back on, so did the Niners. Thank goodness. They scored, and scored, and scored. We screamed, and chanted, and high-fived. The last minutes were full of some terrible calls, seriously PASS INTERFERENCE AND HOLDING exist! After the safety I was terribly confused where the ball would be but I still had hope--and then the game ended. Congratulations to the Ravens. Booooo.

The Boys in the Niners shirts--so darn cute.

Trying to avoid the camera.

Focused on the game, hoping for a miracle!

Now let's talk food. Food is what actually matters during the Superbowl. I made three "dishes" on Sunday and I'm going to share two of the recipes with you because I searched on Pinterest way too long for  two of these and actually tweaked them a lot. These are both very easy to make so even if you are an amateur in the kitchen it would be hard to screw these up! In the interest of keeping this post short I will be posting about the third and best dish next....and I promise it is worthy of its own post.

DISCLAIMER: NONE OF THESE ARE HEALTHY. But you could tweak all of them to make them healthier.

Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

RECIPE

Ingredients

1 Pound Strawberries 

(A normal container at the grocery store--organic if preferred.)

8 ounces Cream Cheese

(Full-Fat or 1/3 Less Fat both work--organic if preferred.)

5 Tablespoons Powered Confectioners Sugar

1 Teaspoon Vanilla

4 Graham Crackers Crushed 

Directions

Wash the strawberries thoroughly and cut a hole into the tops of the strawberries with a paring knife. Set aside. In a Ziploc bag crush the four graham cracker--I used a rolling pin and my frustrations. Place the crushed graham crackers in a small bowl. Beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla together in a small mixing bowl. Transfer the cream cheese mixture to a pastry bag aka a gallon sized Ziploc bag then snip off one corner. Pipe the cream cheese mixture into the top of the strawberries. Dip the tops of the strawberries into the graham crackers. Serve immediately or refrigerate until serving.

These little gems are delicious, easy to make, and probably too easy to pop in your mouth one after another!  TIPS --Keep them cold! They got kind of mushy and gross once left out--I usually use the two hour rule for foods like this but that's probably just my home economics preaching Mother coming through in me! You will probably get frustrated when cutting your strawberries as it takes patience and time, TRUST me its worth the deliciousness in the final product.

"Football" Scotcharoos

RECIPE

Ingredients

1 Cup Light Corn Syrup

1 Cup Sugar

1 and 1/4 Cups Creamy Peanut Butter

6 Cups Rice Krispies

1 Cup Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips

3/4 Cup Butterscotch Chips

White Frosting (optional, used for decoration)

Directions

In a saucepan combine the corn syrup and the sugar over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture starts to bubble. Stir in the peanut butter. In a large mixing bowl add the Rice Krispies and make a hole in the middle of the Rice Krispies. Pour the mixture from the sauce pan into the Rice Krispies and mix together immediately and thoroughly. Transfer into a 9 x 13 pan and press down. In a microwavable bowl mix together the chocolate and butterscotch chips--microwave in 15-30 second increments until melted, stir well between. Don't burn the chocolate! Once melted pour the mixture over the Rice Krispie mixture in the pan. Allow to cool, they will harden up (this process goes faster if you put the pan into the fridge!) 

To add decoration just add frosting to a Ziploc or pastry bag and decorate however you choose! If you want to make shapes like the one in the center above (a football) just use any circular container than can bend to look like a football. I used an old sour cream container that I cut to create a "cookie" cutter. I chose not to create all football shapes so that we would have enough for everyone but it would be so cute to do this! Also, practice with the pastry bag before or you will end up with non-straight lines like I did! (Oops!)

If you live anywhere near the Midwest I hope you have had these before--my recipe is just tweaked in the peanut butter and butterscotch chips area...I find it makes them a little creamier and less butterscotch tasting which is what I prefer--feel free to change it up to your needs or taste buds!

We are so thankful we had lots of food and friends to celebrate the Superbowl with regardless of who won the game! Whip these recipes up and let me know how you like them, I promise they are worth all the calories for a special occasion!

Ashley

Weekend Recap

Happy Monday Everyone! Ryan and I are recovering from a busy weekend and getting ready for a busy week, that has already begun (workers are installing a new water heater in our apartment as I write this)!

Friday we started our weekend by going out to eat, having a cocktail, and a trip to Target...its probably my favorite date night!? I am going to miss Target more than any other store, I could spend hours and hundreds in there every week.  To round out Friday I went OCD on the bathroom and scrubbed for about an hour, Ryan watched TV. I doubt if any one's Friday night was more interesting than ours!

Super Delicious Berry Sangria

My Super Organized Drawer--Random Containers for the Win!

Saturday we went Whale Watching in the Pacific, it was fun to venture to the bay and head out in search of some whales as they migrate during this time through San Diego. We saw one grey whale, in the distance.....the tail was HUGE. Other than that whale we saw several dolphins which I thought was cool but Ryan was not thrilled with since he is on a ship in the ocean several months of the year! In addition to the chasing wildlife (hahaha) we got to see great views of the base Ryan works on and the San Diego skyline! We went with one of the guy's Ryan works with and his family-- we love spending time with them and their kids and they definitely made the three hour boat ride more entertaining!

The Adventure Hornblower- Our Boat

San Diego Skyline 

FLY NAVY! - A picture of NAS North Island (the base Ryan works on) from the Bay.

And we rounded out Saturday night by meeting up with Ryan's second cousins who live just up the road--we do not see them near often enough! Ryan's Great Aunt and Uncle are also here from Nebraska so we all had some delicious Italian dinner at a great local place called Flippi's--drooling just writing about it! Sorry no pictures, I was too busy talking, shocker!

Our Sunday and Superbowl Recap are coming soon--and a new recipe for you to try!

How was your weekend? Leave us some love below in the comments!

Ashley

Our January - A Review with Pictures

Can you believe it's already February? Where did January go--it flew right by us! We will play catch up with you and let you know what we have been up to.

What We've Been Celebrating - 
 On January 7th Ryan turned 22, he was lucky enough to have the day off so we celebrated all day! We slept in, had lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant and daytime margaritas, went shoe shopping (for him, though I eyed some at Nordy's), and finished the night out watching Alabama womp Notre Dame at a restaurant called Slater's 50/50 where Ryan enjoyed a beer called "Dog Ate My Homework"...no seriously. And of course we had cake, but not before I tried to make some "healthy" brownies, pictured below, that weren't worthy of birthday cake taste so I bought him Nothing Bundt Cakes to make things right in the world! And then he also had a bacon brownie sundae after dinner-- it was disgusting! Happy Birthday Ryan, your month long celebration is almost over!

What We've Been Cooking
Like most Americans we made a resolution to be healthier this year so January has been full of healthier eats--here are our favorites thus far! I'd recommend you try these all, all are vegan, more to come on that--but seriously the maple glazed walnuts are to die for and so easy to make! Click on the link below each picture for the recipes.

Black Bean Soup
(I added corn and then cilantro at the end, garnish with blue corn tortilla chips!)

Sweet Potato, Kale, and Red Pepper Quesadilla on Homemade Whole Wheat Tortilla
(No recipe for quesadilla, I just threw it together but the link will take you to the tortilla recipe!)

Homemade Italian Minestrone Soup

Green Salad with Maple Glazed Walnuts

Roasted Chickpea Tacos

Banana Bread

What We've Been Reading
Did you know that Ryan is an avid reader--he reads every. single. night. before bed on his Nook--he's been reading this. And though I am not as good of a reader as Ryan, I have just recently started this book and am loving it-- after all it was a part of Oprah's Book Club.

What We've Been Watching
Too much T.V. is the correct answer! But in particular we've most recently been hooked on New Girl, a comedy airing on Fox on Tuesday's. Ryan bought me the first season for Christmas and we watched the entire season in a week and then got caught up on the second season, which the show is currently in. It's a wannabe Friends but we still love it! 

Season One

What We're Obsessing Over

Ashley's New Apple iPad Mini

Ryan's New Favorite Video Game- FIFA 13

That's it for us, we will be back with a post on what's in store for our February soon--including some updates on our move to Japan! 

Leave us a comment and let us know what your January was filled with!

Ashley