We made it...

here alive! A little over a month ago we drove from Chicago to San Diego to start a new chapter in our lives, this little thing called marriage.
That is exactly 2,064 miles and 32 hours.
We did it in two days, yes TWO days! It was so exciting rolling in at 9 pm, getting the keys to our brand new apartment, and then remembering we would be sleeping on the floor for quite sometime till our things arrived. Nonetheless we were super happy to finally be living together after what seemed like forever (I went to school in Missouri, he in Maryland).

Since nothing was in our apartment I decided to use it as a clean slate…let my mind make up the decor and hope it works. I have this new love for design and new houses and DIY projects. I don't completely understand where it's coming from as I went to school to become a teacher and did just that but maybe it's a little nesting calling in my brain wanting me to make spaces cozy and comfy and home. Whatever it is I'm loving it!
Our apartment is in a high-rise in the city, our views a great and I can't get enough of city life. I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and city life is somehow different. I mean I could definitely have walked to a Starbucks growing up but waking up, driving the hubs to work and then walking downtown to Starbucks feels much more fun, much more grown up. And as my friend Meg and I would say, "I just really LIKE it."

So, I'll start off with before…and then after pictures:

the entryway

Kitchen/living room/eating room…we do everything here

double sinks :) and our mircowave is a spaceship/oven/grill. its got it ALL, we don't get to keep it when we leave but we can love on it and use it to no end while we're here

wall of windows…we look out onto balboa park, the airport (seeing the planes fly in at night is very cool, don't worry we have sound proof windows so we hear nothing) and then our porch is to the left where we can see tiny specks of the bay

this is the second bedroom, and yes it is actually as small as it looks butttttt extra closet space

                                           the bathroom nook…took me forever to figure out this dumb space

Our bedroom:

It is a "keyhole" space. so you walk in to a tiny square area with a long space attached…looks like a key, got it?

our door is sliding barn door like and I just don't know what I think of it yet…

I either love it or hate it, I'll tell you when I have to use it but right now nobody touches it, it's always open

more views:

Thats it, it's very super small but I love it. It is the perfect first apartment :) We have been on a tight budget and done very well shopping at Ikea, however when we go into West Elm I always manage to squeeze a purchase out of hubs. For working on this budget I'm loving how the apartment is coming together…aren't you excited to see it?!