If you’re like me, you love seeing how other people decorate their homes. Just like with my outfits, I often get a lot of home-decor inspiration from the internet and from visiting friends for the first (or millionth) time.  Nick and I have done a lot to our house in the 5+ years we’ve lived here, and it almost always consists of some kind of compromise. He really likes the mid-century modern look whereas I’m a mix of modern and traditional. I think we’ve done a really good job of meshing our styles in a way that doesn’t completely clash, even if it means Nick getting his way most of the time 😉

Because I know I like it so much, I figured I would start a little series where I gradually share little pieces of my home with you. I’m starting with my bedside table even though there really isn’t anything special about it; I just like the way it turned out. The table is the Terrance Side Table in Antique Brass from West Elm. It’s perfect for the bedroom, but could really be used anywhere like the living room or even an office.

Of course it’s really clean in these photos. It usually stays pretty clean with the exception of a small collection of ponytail holders, bobby pins, and jewelry that often get taken off right before bed. I keep the standard items handy: lamp, tissues, pepper spray and flash light (for safety, as you can see on the second shelf) and tons of journals and books that I’m either currently reading.

I made the storage box on the second shelf using an old shoe box, fabric, and glue. It comes in handy for catching all the random things that I’m not sure what to do with, and it’s a really pretty addition to the table. I keep tissues, old journals, and random nicknacks in this one. The two notebooks on top are journals. (More on that below.) They’re mostly full so it’s probably time to replace them with new ones. Also, I keep this little sleep mask for when I get sensitive to the streetlamp outside our house. Side note: there are only two lamps on our entire street, one in our yard and the other at the very opposite end. The middle can get really dark at night so we often have to walk Mia with a flashlight.

I’m really into journaling and tend to have the best reflections in the evening before bed, so I keep them here for easy access. I like the prompts from the Q&A a Day and This Time Next Year journals (both available on Amazon) when I’m not particularly in the journaling mood. I love the Q&A journal because I’ve been doing it for three years now (out of five) and it’s really interesting to see where my head space was the following year when being asked to answer the same question. For example, the question for October 9 is “You want a new ____” and my answers were: 2014: Career; 2016: Opportunity; and 2016: Car. I mean, who doesn’t want a new car?! Also, I need to hurry and finish the bottom one or it’ll end up being “this time two years from now!”

Confession: these are actually a bunch of books I’ve started to read but haven’t finished for one reason or another. It’s a really bad habit of mine. I keep them here so that I can grab them whenever I’m ready to pick up where I left off. Right now I’m reading Bossy Pants, but it’s slow going.

So, that’s it. My glamorous bedside table. I hope you enjoyed this little peak into my house. What does your bedside table look like?

This past weekend was one of the best that I’ve had in a long time. I had a friend date on Friday where we had dinner, drinks and saw a movie as is our tradition; then on Saturday, I had a lovely brunch with a friend I haven’t seen in a few weeks; all ending with Nick and I grilling out and got a lot of yard work done.

We ended up having an impromtu fiesta for two with grilled steak fajitas and a delicious black bean and corn salad. We ate outside on our deck, which we haven’t done in a long time. It was the perfect little fiesta!

We grilled the fajita veggies (red, yellow, and orange peppers along with a white onion) in the cast iron skillet on the grill and they tasted fantastic.

Our black bean and corn salad was thrown together using black beans, corn, a diced jalapeno, a small can of rotel tomatoes, and diced red onion. We also threw it in the cast iron skillet and it turned out really well with the perfect amount of spiciness.

On a separate note, I haven’t done much shopping these last few months, but I really wanted a new denim jacket that is much lighter than my current one. While I was out, I picked up a few extra tops and a pair of coral pants, because they’re all the rage right now. I’m sure you’ll be seeing both of these outfits show up on the blog in the near future.

Dressing room photos from Gap

After sitting empty for several months, the house next door has residents! I actually met them briefly about a month ago when they were looking at the house and they seem really nice. I was about to walk the dogs when they asked me what I thought of the neighborhood and I told them it was great. They said they have two dogs, too! I’m looking forward to getting to know them. And I’m hoping it’s the start of a beautiful friendship.

A while back, after we first moved in, I wrote about welcome casseroles. Remember how women used to make casseroles to welcome new residents to the community and to ease their move-in stress? I questioned whether folks still do that these days because no one did it for us. However, our neighbor at the time, Casey, the previous resident of the newly occupied house, came over to introduce himself and give us his number in case we needed anything. We actually became pretty close neighbors. He even mowed our lawn for us while we were on our honeymoon!

I wanted to do something nice for our new neighbors to welcome to the neighborhood. They’re still settling in so, taking a note from Casey, we mowed their lawn for them this afternoon. Moving can be stressful. And we should know because we’ve moved a million times over the last ten years. My welcome casserole to our new neighbors (I don’t even know their names yet, but it’s a young couple, just like us) is this cute little  housewarming gift in a jar:

Inspired by Pinterest here.

The jar contains a bottle of Meyer’s hand soap, two sponges, and some dish cloths. We also included a little card with a well wishes, and Nick tied the beautiful bow. I thought about dropping off some baked goods or an easily prepared dinner (like spaghetti), but with all the food allergies out there these days, I was afraid it wouldn’t go over very well. But everyone cleans, right? Especially when moving into a new home.

I hope they like it! After they get settled, we’ll invite them over for dinner but for now, we’ll stay out of the way.

While shopping at Home Goods for some side tables, we came across what we thought was a cute little floral glass light shade.  Unfortunately it was just a candle holder, but I figured with a little ingenuity I’d be able to modernize it and make an electric fixture out of it.  We decided we would use it in the laundry room since it was a small room and only a single light bulb would fit into the shade.

Light shade before I started cutting it apart.

One year ago today we moved into our house! It was love at first sight then and I can truly say that I love it even more now. I was never really sure I would become a homeowner because of finances and the commitment it took — you have to know you’ll stay in an area for a long time which is the meaning of  “settle down” — but when we got engaged, we knew the time was right. And we knew wanted a simple backyard wedding. I blogged a little about the experience, so I won’t repeat it here, but it was definitely one of the best purchases we’ve made.