Friday Finds and Favorites 04.27.2012

We made it! That picture above is me patiently waiting at our old place to do our final walkthrough (which we passed with flying colors, natch). We've been unpacking at the new place for a few days, and the cardboard boxes are dwindling slowly, but surely. All is well, and my only complaint so far is the kitchen. It's pretty small (also, extremely 80's) so we're bursting at the seams!

Hopefully next week I'll be back to posting more regularly. In the meantime, here is a very small Friday Finds & Favs.

I won a vaccum from Mandy (and Oreck!) over at Harper's Happenings! Since we just moved from all hardwood floors to wall-to-wall carpeting, this is peeefect timing. Thanks Mandy and Oreck! Also, Mandy's blog is pretty awesome (and she has the cutest daughter!) so you should go check it out.

Have you seen the My Better Half series on Amanda Jone's blog? Really cute.

Sometimes it's hard to believe there is good news out there. Check out Reasons for Optimism.

The Next Chapter

The last few days have been a whirlwind. We've been packing for what feels like forever, and we've said goodbye to our nearest and dearest friends (and their adorable babies!). My excitement outweighs my fears about the move, but I'm still so sad to leave our friends. Luckily, there are already plans to visit each other a few times this summer.

I'll be glad once we're settled; being in limbo between houses is not fun at all. I don't have much patience for things once I know they're going to happen, so ever since we decided to move I've been ready to get on with it.

I should probably get to bed; we're loaded up and head out bright and early in the morning for our new home. See you on the other side!

Currently #2

I really liked doing my first "Currently" post last month, so I though I'd make it a regular thing.

Loving that in less than week we'll be settled into our house across the state and closer to our family. Seriously, we'll be two minutes from our parents rather than 5 hours! Also, the weather there is totally different and is a high-desert as opposed to the lush greenery here. I can't wait for sunnier days!

Thinking about what life will be like in our new little town. It's where we're both from, but we haven't lived there since we were in high school. Will we know anyone that lives there? Who will we hang out with? How will we live without a fancy grocery store and decent restaurants? Kidding. Kind of.

Reading a TON of magazines. I've always been a big magazine gal and I have a bajillion subscriptions (through Maghound which is sadly out of business as of this month). My mom recently gave me a stack of ones she reads regularly that I don't get, so I have a lot to occupy me! 

Watching Mad Men! That was my answer a few weeks ago, too, but there are a four whole season to get through! I've been watching a few episodes most night and loving it. It's hard to avoid spoilers with the recent premiere of season five, but so far I've been successful.

Eating these vegan thumbprint cookies from Shutterbean. Seriously, they're amazing. I had to send a big plate to work with Chase because I was afraid I'd eat them all. Within 36 hours I did eat the entire small plate I kept for the house, so I'm thinking that was a good call.

Wishing that magical fairies would come pack up our house. We have about 1/5 of the house packed and we leave in 5 days. Seriously, how do two people accumuliate so much stuff?

Thanks to Danielle over at Sometimes Sweet for the inspiration for "Currently." You can head over there and link-up if you want to participate. I'd love to know what you're up to!

Summah Sandals

One of the main reasons I get so excited about summer is sandals. Actually, I prefer to be barefoot, but since that isn't always socially acceptable, sandals it is! I'm a big fan of the gladiator-style that's been around for awhile, as well as the thin t-straps. Of course there is the always popular flip-flop, but everyone knows that Havaianas are the best (right?) so I won't bore you with a flip-flop roundup. 

I'm pretty happy with my carry-overs from last summer, but I'd really like to add those red Salt Water sandals. The black ones from Old Navy the turquoise form Target are favorites as well. Honestly, I'd take any (or all) of them!

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Those Rebecca Minkoff sandals below are so, so pretty and amazing and perfect, but they are also $275. I don't really like to showcase things that are so expensive, but come on, they're awesome.

Let's Picnic

Have you seen the incredibly awesome Stacked Wines? It's actually four separate glasses that snap together to create one large "bottle." I originally saw them over at A Piece of Toast and thought it seemed like the perfect picnic companion, no?

Who couldn't use a picnic this time of year? I think I've been saying I want to go on one for a few years, but have yet to actually go. Maybe this is just the ticket. After all, there is nothing like wine to get me motivated!

box | blanket | wine | silverware

Friday Finds & Favorites 04.13.12

Happy Friday the 13th! I only worked three days this week and it's flown by. Chase put in his two weeks notice this week and we are officially out of here on the 25th (eek!). This weekend will be all about packing, hanging out with friends and visiting some of our favorite restaurants while we can.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Anyone have fun plans?

This week Friday Finds & Favorites is a special video edition - enjoy!

If you haven't seen the short film about Caine's Arcade you are missing out.

Downton Sixbey - because you can never have too many Downton Abbey spoofs.

On Repeat

We saw these guys just a few weeks ago at a dive bar in a nearby small town. Some friends had heard of them and convinced us to go. I'm glad they did - their new album has been on repeat in my car for the last week.

Lately

Well, hello! It's been pretty quiet around here for a few days. On Friday night we took the five hour drive to our soon-to-be new town for two reasons. First, my step-dad retired (!) and we threw him a surprise party. He was truly surprised and there was delicious food, so it was great.

Second, we had to find a new house. I've obviously been incredibly nervous ever since we put in the 30 day notice at our current house. Would we find a new house in time? Would we like it? Luckily, I don't have to worry anymore because we found one. I saw it posted on Craigslist just hours before we left town on Friday and scheduled a viewing for Saturday morning and by this afternoon, it was ours! It's a cute house in a nice neighborhood and is bigger and cheaper than our current house. The kitchen is smaller than I'd like, but that is really the only negative. We were lucky to grab it, too. The landlord said that she was receiving calls almost every hour. The rental market is so competitive!

Only one day left until we go home so I'm off to do something relaxing.

Overstimulation

I love the internet, I really do, but sometimes I just need a break. Not unlike many of you, I spend all day working infront of a computer screen and my nights are spent doin' my own thang on the internet, in front of the tv or on my phone. Sometimes I find myself mindlessly flipping through Google Reader, going through the motions, and it isn't until my eyes feel like they might fall out of my head that I realized I should take a step back. 

So tonight shall be a night curled up on the couch, reading a good book and getting some peace and quiet. I encourage you all to do the same!

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April Art to Inspiration

This month's Art to Inspiration piece is called "2 years, 264 days and this morning" by Pakayla Rae Biehn. It reminded me of all the blush and gold tones from dreamy, etherial weddings, so I created a simple inspiration board full of those pretty colors and of course, flowers!

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Want to be a part of Art to Inspiration? You can join here!

I'm on Instagram!

Look out world - I'm on Instagram. It was finally released for Android and you know I was downloading it first thing this morning. Follow me @emhagerman.

I promise they won't all be pictures of my dog. Maybe.

T-minus 30 days...

Image via The Sartorialist

Today we put in our 30 day notice and in just a few short weeks we're moving across the state! We've spent almost 10 years here, and while we always knew it wasn't where we would live forever, it's sad to leave. I moved here in 2003 for college and stuck around after graduation because I had a good job and the thought of moving back to my small hometown was not appealing in the least.

It's funny how things change, because here we are just a few years later and that little hometown is exactly where we're headed. Chase has been offered a job that we can't pass up, and since I can work from anywhere, it's a good time for us to move. We've made great friends that we don't want to leave, and while our current town isn't a metropolis, it has a lot of amenities that we'll miss (Fancy grocery stores! A mall! It's bike friendly!). It will be sad to leave, but I'm looking forward to being closer to our families and living a slower-paced (and cheaper!) way of life.

I've never put in a 30 day notice without having a place to land, so it's a bit scary as we house hunt from afar. We've only been in this house for six months, absolutely love it and thought we'd be in it for a few more years. As many of you know, rentals can be hard to come by and we were fortunate to nab this one quickly, so it feels like we're giving up something precious. The good news? What we pay for this house can get us way more square footage back home.

We're excited, nervous, curious....small town life here we come.