mtv cribs

Drew and I moved into our first ever apartment together as a married couple three months ago, and I'm finally getting around to this long overdue post about it. To be honest, I don't really care for this post and I'm already a little bored writing it...but I promised too many people that I would post pics of my new digs so you are literally the only reason I'm not backing out. So UR WELCOME.

We found this place thanks to one of Drew's friends in the film program who used to live here with his family. I was immediately smitten on our first walk-through. It has all the furnishings and charm of an old, historic house, but none of the gross, decrepit feels or smells of an old, historic house. I keep saying historic because it really is one of Provo's historic sites! The mayor of Provo used to live here some hundred years ago! There's a plaque on the front porch and everything. Later on it was remodeled and built into eight different apartment units and the front little one on the right is the one we call home.

The living room is easily my favorite spot in the apartment. Everything from the stained glass to the bay windows, to the chandelier, to the mantel makes my antique-loving heart sing. Thanks to KSL we were able to furnish this little room all fairly cheaply! The artwork and most of the décor were things we already had on hand. I'd be lying to you if I said I hadn't been picking things up here and there from thrift shops, even before we were engaged, with our future apartment on my mind. Tell me I'm crazy. We even have an "entertainment corner" equipped with TV, posters of some of our favorite bands and movies (all Drew's contribution), record player and stand. We loooove our Crosley and Urban Outfitters stand so much! We bought it a little presumptuously considering our collection of vinyls is a bit sparse right now, but we're slowly but surely adding to it and have used it a few times already! Turning it on and just chilling in the living room is one of our favorite rainy day activities. 2hipster4u.

 

If I was a legit blogger, Cavallini Papers & Co. would have probably sponsored this post because they contributed to about 70% of the décor in here. Those vintage posters you see in the living room, our bedroom, and in the kitchen? ALL from Cavallini. If we're friends, I have most likely told you about this place before because it is my #1 store for all things crafty, vintage, and cool. I buy my stationary, postcards, wall posters, and cards for all occasions from here. I cannot rave about this place enough! Thank you Cavallini, for making all my decorating dreams come true.

Despite the many quirks about living in such an old house, we absolutely love it. Storage is non-existent, our kitchen appliances may be from the 50's, and our bathroom is barely big enough to move around in, but it's ours. Even though we may not be here for a very long time, we put so much of ourselves in it because we wanted to truly make it feel like our home. So come check out our crib! We love having visitors!

vintage, so adorable.

"All these things are pieces of ourselves. I've built a future by rummaging through the past."

One look at my tumblr page is enough for anyone to see my obsession with home décor. Ever since I moved into my first apartment last year, I developed a love for decorating. More specifically, I love decorating with art and random oddities I find at vintage markets and thrift shops. I'd say more than half the fun is finding stuff, the other bit is figuring out where to put it. There's nothing like scouring aisles (or piles) of antiques and finding gems from over 40 years ago and thinking of how you can revive them in a different setting. I used to cringe at the idea of buying old, used clothing or items, but in the past the few years I've branched out and discovered how much I actually love it. 

Lately, Utah county has been on point with the vintage market scene. In the past few weeks I checked out two fantastic markets, one in Provo and another in Pleasant Grove. The first one in Provo was hosted by Unhinged, my favorite store on Center Street. The vendors were all so fun to talk to and I loved hearing their stories about how they came across what they were selling. You could just tell how much they enjoyed doing this. I thought to myself that one day I'll be like that, and travel all over, buying random things as I go to share them with people like me. Not pictured are the frames, keepsake box, antlers, and globe bought there as well.

Remember how much I love globes? No surprise that maps were a hot item for the both of us. Geography, man.

Guys. GUYS. I just about died when I saw this artist setting up shop on our way out of the market and caught a glimpse of some of his crazy artwork. Good thing we caught him when we did because Drew snagged these two portraits of The Fantastic Mr. & Mrs. Fox. We chatted with the artist who goes by Bacee about his clothing and art brand: Panda Propaganda. Check him out!

 The second of the two markets took place in Pleasant Grove this past Saturday. This one was even bigger, held inside a massive warehouse that was absolutely stuffed with antique furniture, art, clothing, housewares, you name it. I found the most perfect deer skull (see above) which I have been on the hunt for for AGES now. I also scored a few more gold frames I've been needing for my room, as well as another map. Of course.

Story behind this jacket? It was a team jacket for a women's bowling league in Alaska. So rad. Also globes.

Drew found himself a polaroid camera that still works!! He will need to buy more film for it but I am very excited to use it in the future :)

In my element. Give me a donut and antiques and I am content.

TA-DA!!! This stupid wall is finally finally done and it only took me two months to do it. This is the reason I have been collecting so many gold frames. I either found them, spray painted them, or friends donated them to me. My favorite element is easily the white elephant head with gold tusks, which is the one thing on here that wasn't thrifted, but found on White Faux Taxidermy. They have EVERYTHING. I also bought this gold velociraptor skull that I keep on my desk. The more glam the taxidermy, the better.

I've discovered my happy place and it is at a vintage market, searching for hidden treasures to display, use, read, wear, or simply admire. I love that each item has a history behind it, and have all been around much longer than I have. I love that each item I find is unique. I know for certain that I wouldn't be able to find this stuff anywhere else, and I am ALL for that one-of-a-kind style! I am thankful I found a guy who appreciates and enjoys this stuff as much as I do :) I would never consider myself an expert on this by any means, but I would be more than willing to tag along with you the next time you want to venture to a thrift shop or flea market or need any decorating ideas. I'm your gal! I am not kidding when I say it would make me the happiest to do this all over again.

"The joy of junking comes not only from a great find, but also from that moment you figure out how to breathe life into an old piece."

home is wherever i'm with you

LANCASTER LOVIN'. Last week I flew home for Nic's graduation from high school, and I chose the BEST week to come home. Seriously. So many other happy things happened and I was so lucky to be home for all of it! East coast beast coast indeed.

My lil bro Nic received his mission call the same day I flew in! How lucky is that?!? The first text I received when I landed was a picture of his envelope. Once my family picked me up from the airport, we drove straight to Ocean City, NJ, where we stayed at this adorable little bed & breakfast on the beach for the remainder of the weekend. As soon as we settled in, we FaceTimed Ynna and Preston for the big reveal. Nic deferred his acceptance from BYU-I and has been called to serve an LDS mission in Melbourne, Australia, speaking Mandarin Chinese! He will serve there for two years and leaves for the Provo Missionary Training Center on Oct. 1st. So ladiezzz, hit up this righteous hottie because you won't be seeing that face for 24 long months. I will miss him so much but I cannot wait to hear all about his adventures and the Aussies he meets. I know he will be amazing in the field and learn so much. My baby's all grown up and saving China (or at least the Chinese people of Australia).

Sweet sweet frands <3 I love being in Provo for the summer, but I definitely miss hanging out with some of my best friends whenever I want. Sadly didn't get pics with them all, but I had such a wonderful time catching up with them at grad parties, Starbucks, bonfires, and some of my favorite Lancaster spots like Central Market and the new and impossibly cute Rachel's Creperie. I even tried out Skinny Park Juice, which Vanessa raved about in a past blog post of hers. Above are my cute friends Trevor and Alexa in Alexa's mystical garden for a bonfire on my last night home.

On one of the days I was home, I went to Philly with Chris. I looked up GQ's City Guide to Philadelphia (I remember Ynna referenced this list when we visited Philly over Christmas break) for some new places to hit up. Our first stop was the Mutter Museum. The description of this place was 'the grossest museum in America' so I was instantly intrigued. If you weren't aware, I love all things dealing with anatomy and the human body. I'm eventually going to take a cadaver dissecting class offered here at BYU. I have prints of organs framed in my room. If I could get my hands on a skeleton, I would want one in my future home. You get the picture. The museum is part of Philadelphia's College of Physicians and is full of medical oddities. We're talking Siamese twin specimens in jars, an entire wall of human skulls, and a colon that once held 40 lbs. of feces. It was a medical student's/horror movie junkie's dream. Sadly, you weren't allowed to take pictures in the musem, so here's a candid shot of Chris in the pretty garden outside of the museum. We then walked around old city to explore some of the shops and boutiques. I took Chris to Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, which is one of the chic stores I visited a few months ago. It had those hanging lightbulb bottles on the right, a Warby Parker station, sign language alphabet wallpaper, and Hillside ties. Favorite find of the day? Meandering inside this junky little thrift shop next to A.K.A. Music that was cluttered with floor-to-ceiling piles of books, creepy old dolls, and baskets upon baskets of records. I searched through the records (since we have a now working record player in our apartment!) and scored two: Touch Me by The Temptations, and Big Bands: Greatest Jazz Hits. They were gifts for Desireé and Drew respectively. I asked the lady working there (who looked about 104 years old) for the price; $3 !! I only had a $20 on me, and she said she didn't have change for that. I figured I could maybe muster a dollar or two in change. JK I only had 56 cents. SOLD. What a steal.

The last of the Padilla's graduated from Lampeter-Strasburg on Friday! Pioneers 4EVA. Nic was definitely the flyest graduate there in his cute chambray bowtie. I die every time I look at the picture on the right, which I snagged after commencement as the seniors exited the auditorium. #swaggie. After the ceremony and spending half an hour taking pictures of Nic and all his friends, we celebrated with dinner at Aussie and the Fox, a classy and fairly new restaurant in Lancaster City that I also made sure I visited before I left. I loved how this place was decorated and the color scheme of oranges and purples. The price was surprisingly not as fancy as this place looks. Ironically enough, this place serves Australian and American cuisine. Just tryna culture the kid before he heads to the land down under for two years.

I spent my last day at home attending church back in the home ward and celebrating Father's Day with my dear daddy. Also, Nic was ordained into the office of Elder this day and I am lucky to have witnessed such a special moment for him. I'm so happy I was able to be home for Father's Day, since I am usually away from my family for most holidays throughout the year. My time at home was a little too short for my liking, but very sweet like always. I picked a prime week to visit with my loved ones in my cute hometown. Hopefully I will be back real soon!

#307

About a month ago, I moved into apartment #307 of Woodland Heights with my three lovely roommates Abby, Cori and Desireé. We're FINALLY done furnishing this place after weeks of decorating and shopping. If I don't set foot in another Target for a year, I will be perfectly content. I'm so proud of how everything turned out and I felt blogging about why I love it so much was the only logical way to share it. So without further ado, welcome to my new home!

living room:

This is my favorite spot in the apartment. My roommates found tons of neat ideas for this once blank wall on pinterest which I supported wholeheartedly, but I actually abhor pinterest and refuse to get an account. Instead, I would just make them show me pictures of all the stuff they found. I prefer to look for inspiration elsewhere. For instance, I love the human body and I think illustrations of it make the most beautiful artwork. If it were up to me, we would have a skeleton somewhere in there too. #dark, I know. I found a picture of a skull in an anatomy textbook and asked my artistic roommate Desireé to re-create a sketch of the heart that I fell in love with on tumblr once upon a time (shown on the left-hand side as the link to my twitter :] ). Those two pictures and the stag head are my favorites. The rest of the wall includes Audrey Hepburn, sheet music, quotes, and other pretty pictures. Also, shout-out to my trendy roommate Abby for donating the majority of those fun throw pillows and that cute lil shelf. She contributed a ton of stuff to our crib which is awesome because the less we had to buy, the better!

Across from the wall and sofa is our entertainment system. Let me first tell you about the day we struck GOLD at D.I. (Deseret Industries, the ultimate Mormon thrift store). We found all the obscure, vintage things we've been searching for and more! This shelf was exactly what I had in mind for this spot and it really brightens up the room after its turquoise paint job. But let's just talk about those RACKETS?! Easily my favorite D.I. find to date. It adds a preppy (plus sporty? ok nope, I tried) touch to the room which I absolutely adore. Next to the TV sits this bookshelf we bought at Ikea. We love vintage-looking globes and maps so naturally, not one, but three globes were necessary. The bottom shelf houses a record player and records for everyone to enjoy. 2 h!p$+3R 4 u. kitchen:

I wasn't too picky about anything in the kitchen when we were apartment-hunting. Honestly, I was just jazzed about the filtered water. The origami crane strands, made by my crafty roommate Cori, add a nice pop of color to the ebony table and kitchen cabinets. Also EAT made the wall because that's what I like to do the most. I just love how spacious the living room and kitchen are. It makes our apartment ideal for parties and movie nights, and we are looking forward to hosting both!

bathroom:

Desireé and I share this bathroom and decided to go with a nautical theme + pink and orange because we already owned those towels so why not? The whale, chalkboard and welcome sign were all D.I. finds. Grand total of $2. Perhaps placing a welcome sign above the shower is a lil questionable...oops. But we just couldn't pass up that anchor. I'm serious when I say D.I. is a gold mine. At one point we were even overcome with emotion in the aisles because of how lucky we were in finding stuff. It was concerning. I am so blessed to have a friend and roommate as crazy as I am who is just as passionate about making our apartment the cutest ever. Love ya dezmillz.

bedroom:

Basically pink, orange and more pink. I am currently in the process of making a cork board collage to hang along one entire wall. On the opposite wall I made a shadow box of the people and places I love most. Congrats if you made the cut! My favorite part of this room is the top of my bookshelf which includes a globe (grand total in our apartment is now six), a Valázquez + easel ($7 at goodwill!), and a pair of my old pointe shoes because I will always be a ballerina at heart.

The majority of the things we bought, and in fact all of my favorite items, were purchased at thrift stores. Who says I don't know how to shop on a budget? (Me. I still say that). There was no way I'd be able to find these gems at home goods stores, and that's what I love most about our apartment. It is entirely our own and the perfect blend of our four personalities and styles. I cannot wait for all the fun times to be had here this year. Thanks for sticking to the end of this absurdly long post about furniture and letting me give you a virtual tour of my crib!