Porch Breakfast

I think I've mentioned before that one of my favorite features of our apartment is the back porch. (The front porch is pretty nice, too, but there's something especially magical about the back porch.)

Now that it's finally started to warm up in Boston, I've taken to running in the mornings instead of going to the gym. That means that I get to eat my oatmeal while sitting on the back porch, curled up in the papasan chair. It's kind of a perfect start to the day.

I think I need to move to the country

For a born-and-bred city girl, I have been spending a surprising amount of time these days fantasizing about living in the country. This sneak peak on Design*Sponge last week did nothing to help quell those urges- I keep going back and imagining what it would be like to live in a house like this one, in the woods.

I think I'd have a garden, and chickens.

I'd definitely cut down my own Christmas tree, and on Christmas morning, I'd make cinnamon rolls. We'd probably put on our wellies and go for a walk in the woods after we opened presents. Wouldn't that be lovely?

p.s. The freakout list? I owned it. Every. Single. Thing. Got crossed off.

p.p.s. All images from Design*Sponge.

My Own Personal Christmas Tree

The other day, I decided my bedroom needed some holiday spirit. So I drew a Christmas tree on my wall.

I've been adding to it when the inspiration strikes, and it makes me happy. We have a real tree in the living room, and that is lovely, but there's something about having a Christmas Tree in my bedroom that feels magical- a lot like Christmas when I was tiny. I love seeing it when I wake up in the morning.

Happy Friday, Friends!

Dream Kitchen

I spend the vast majority of time I'm at home in the kitchen. When people come over, that's usually where we congregate.

{via poppytalk}

Right now my kitchen, like the rest of my apartment, is small, but someday that won't be the case. I will have a huge, country-style kitchen. It'll have a big island in the middle, and my guests will have a glass of wine and gossip while I chop and stir.

{Via Remodelista}

I can't wait.

I'm back!

Oh, friends. What a difference a week makes. Thanks for your kind words. I feel so, so much calmer than I did a week ago, like I really have some perspective on things. I spent the week dealing with boring grown-up problems, but also: getting cocktails with friends who were about to depart for Uganda, getting ready for halloween, and best of all, giving candy to trick-or-treaters.

This is only the second Halloween I've had my own apartment. (Last year, you might recall if you've, I was living at home after moving back from San Francisco.) In San Francisco, our apartment was one a main thoroughfare, and it was in the back of the house, so no kids came by. This year, though, I knew we'd get at least a couple. Let me tell you, I've never felt so much like a grownup (in the best possible way) as I did when I went into CVS to buy those Butterfingers and Reese's. Holly and I sat on my front porch, drinking hot apple cider and giving out candy, and I think I decided that Halloween is my favorite holiday.

Besides Thanksgiving, because, hello, pie?

I feel loved.

A couple of weeks ago, my mom and sister attended the Union Square Paper Party here in Somerville. I couldn't go, but (two-thirds of) my family brought me a souvenir, and it's quickly become one of my favorite things.

When I made a garland of felt flowers two weeks later, it seemed like draping it over my favorite thing was a good idea. I still think it was.

Every now and then, I'm struck by just how lucky I am.

Tonight my roommates and I sat on our new back porch, drinking champagne and enjoying the evening. It was perfect.

Right now, I'm so thankful for:

1. Perfect summer evenings, and back porches on which to enjoy them.

2. Roommates who have turned into friends.

3. Champagne with which to toast new houses.

4. This song:

p.s. Many many thanks to my sister Dewey for introducing me to, among others, Brandi Carlile. I am also lucky to be surrounded by people who have such excellent taste in music.

Someday, I'll live in a flat (it will be called a flat, not an apartment, because I'll be sophisticated like that) and ride my bike everywhere (I'll have a cute little helmet) and never leave dirty dishes in the sink, and I'll zip over to a local spot to meet my friends after work, and I'll have a balcony just like this one, where I'll drink my tea in the mornings and watch the world go by before heading off to my perfect little job.

I can't wait.

{Image from Apartment Therapy, of course}

Morning Light

I am obsessed with the light in my room in the morning time. It's so bright, it wakes me up at 6:30 most days (I still don't have curtains), but it's so lovely, I don't even really mind.

I just want to take pictures of it.

Oh yes, I have a blog. Sometimes I forget, and I get too busy doing things like having my mom over for dinner and making valentines and watching Teen Mom reruns to post to AbbieBabble.

Sorry 'bout that.

Anyway, I have looked at this post every day for a week. These bedrooms are so inspiring to me- so comfortable and, yet, still absolutely breathtaking. These two both have a similar feel to that which I'm trying to create in my room. (More pictures of that, soon!) I promise.

In the mean time, happy happy friday!

p.s. Want a homemade valentine? Email me your snail mail address and I'll send one right your way. I'm still kicking myself that I was too late to enter Sarah and Angelina's swap. So anyway, send me your address at abigail.cyr{at}gmail.com and I will happily make a valentine just for you!

Pictures from House to Home, via Bliss.

My room is far from finished (I don't even have curtains yet!), and I'm not sure when it will be decorated to my liking. Maybe never.

But one design element that I do have going on is my baby gallery wall.

Every picture or frame means something special to me, and in the morning, the light comes pouring in through my windows and hits the wall just so.

It makes me happy to look at it. I can't wait to add more pictures.

p.s. the pudding turned out pretty delicious, but a little too rich. I tried a new recipe today. Updates tomorrow.

Guess where I'm sitting right now?

My new bed, in my new apartment!

I'm in the middle of moving, and tonight's the first night I've slept here (it's really close to my mom's house, which makes moving a more relaxed process than usual.)

Yesterday, Dewey and I painted my room gray. Today my dad came and painted all the white trim, since he's good at that stuff. I still need to set everything up (not to mention actually unpack my stuff), but I'm pretty excited about my new gray room in my new apartment with my new roommates. Pictures to come, when everything's looking more picture-worthy.

{Source}

I am starting to think about moving out of my mom's pretty house once again, and I'm getting really excited about how I'll decorate a new apartment. Wouldn't one of these Wooly Pockets full of lush drapey plants look just lovely on a wall full of black and white photos?

{Spotted via Oh Joy!}

I am feeling a little discouraged today. Sometimes I feel like I will never find a job, that I will mess up every opportunity that comes my way.

But, see, the thing is, I know that the only way to overcome all these icky feelings (I've said before that I love feelings, and I do, but right now I'd like some more of the happy ones, please) is to focus on the things that make me happy, the things that are going right. So I took a break from the job hunt and turned on the fountain in our backyard. When I sit in the hammock and listen to the fountain, I feel like everything will be okay. It will all work out.

I know it will.

I started a quilt last spring, and now that I have plenty of free time (and my mother's sewing machine), I thought I'd resume working on it.

I don't really want to do that right now, though. I don't want to try to find a job, either. I just want to sit on the back porch with my coffee and my book, enjoying the early fall weather. It's so lovely outside.

Sometimes

Here is what I wrote two days ago:
Sometimes I think that moving across the country, breaking up with your boyfriend, and starting a new job are too many things to be doing all at the same time.
Most of the time, though, I think that those things are all okay, though certainly hard, and that the real trouble comes when you don't know where to live.
I've always suspected that I am not the couch-surfing type. I hate feeling like I'm imposing. I hate not knowing where I'll be in a week. I hate depending on my friends, and not knowing exactly how they feel about having me around. Melissa and Sinny are being amazing; both of them have welcomed me into their homes with open arms.

Here is how I feel now:
At least I have a place to live!
This is really great. My new roommate seems really nice, the apartment is really cute, and there's a grocery store only a block away.
Everything else is still kind of scary and overwhelming. How do you meet people in a new city? How do you make new friends?
At least I'm not homeless anymore, though.

I am not a food blogger

Just clarifying. I don't enjoy cooking enough to have a whole blog about it. Also, I kind of don't know anything about cooking. And also, I like the kitchen to be clean. Don't chefs have to be willing to cover their homes in flour or something?
Nonetheless, grilled peaches are delicious.

I really like them, especially with ice cream.

I also like them in my backyard.

Actually, for that matter, I'm rather a fan of my backyard.

I think I will miss it when I move to San Francisco.
But I'm still excited to move to San Francisco.

Prepare to be awed.

I am incredibly attractive these days. The house painting has covered me in a lovely combination of yellow paint, sweat, and dust. Combine that with the eczema that is slowly taking over my entire epidermis, and I am quite a picture.
I wish the internet were here to see it.