our apartment: a (super mega awesome) work in progress

Welcome to my crib. 

Technically, it's Matt's crib until I move in after the wedding this summer. But we've been doing quite a bit of nesting to get the place ready before then. There's still a lot more we want to do in terms of decorating and maximizing our storage, but here's where we've gotten so far.

Quite a transformation, if I do say so myself! The couch is a hand-me-down from my parents and the desk is from Matt's old bedroom -- oh, and that desk lamp is from my college years. The pendant lamp, curtains, and TV stand are all from Ikea. Can I *tell* you how happy I am to have a reason to buy things from Ikea now? If you love our end table as much as I do (that is, with the flames of a hundred fires), you might be interested to know that it came from Target, of all places!

The kitchen is teeny tiny, but it's fully loaded with updated appliances including A DISHWASHER ::triumphant fist pumping:: No hand-washing dishes for THIS domestic goddess, THANKS. Since Matt moved in we tried to soften the overwhelming whiteness of the kitchen with some of our tchotchkes -- but we have grand plans for this room, my friends. Grand plans indeed.

Not too big of a change here except the obvious addition of actual furniture. The dining set is another hand-me-down from my parents; in fact, this is the very table where I ate dinner as a child. My parents have seriously been amazing in the past few months -- they not only gave us a couch and a dining set, they bought a ridiculous amount of kitchen essentials off of our registry and just GAVE it to us, like "no biggie, just fully stocking your kitchen for you!" Oh, and Matt's parents bought us a TV and a Blu-Ray player for Christmas this year. Seriously, how do you even begin to say "thank you" for gestures like these? By giving them grandbabies, I guess. Eek.

Anyway, back to the room. We're planning on installing some vertical blinds that my dad has lying around (don't ask), and eventually I want to get some hanging plants to flank that big window. I'll keep you posted.

These two photos are from the kitchen. Every single thing pictured (except those awesome red gerbera daisies) is a gift from a friend. The Yoda lollipop and mug are from Matt's co-worker, the brain salt-and-pepper shakers are from our friend Dru, the bud vase is from Scotty and Jewel, and the R2D2 cross-stitch? A Christmas present from my BFF Lindsay. Proof that we have the best friends ever.

It's really the little things that make a place feel like home. Clockwise from top left:

1. a stack of beloved books, watched over by a mini librarian (Matt got me a "librarian action figure" for Christmas one year)
2. our brand new, dirt cheap entertainment stand from Ikea (ok, not "little" in size, but this thing makes us feel like Proper Adults and it cost us less than $100)
3. the Pac Man chair! Which is actually an old butterfly chair (I got it from Delia's back in junior high) that I threw a Pac Man Snuggie over. Look how happy Matt looks sitting in it! 
4. the key rack that we installed right when you walk in. Jayne Cobb (from Firefly, in case you live a tragic life and do not know what/who that is) guards the door for us. 

I planned to take pictures of the bathroom and bedroom too, but the daylight started fading and everything came out weirdly blue-tinted, like an episode of CSI. So you will just have to wait for part 2! I know you will be on the EDGE OF YOUR SEAT until then, readers.

Of course I'm omitting a lot of the less appealing qualities of the new place; for instance, how the outside stairwell always smells faintly of cigarettes and garbage, or how it's so small that when you pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees you're basically preheating THE APARTMENT to 400 degrees (not a problem in this sucky arctic NJ winter, but probably not gonna be awesome in August).... but overall? This is pretty freaking sweet, guys.