Studio Apartment Tour!!

Here's a peak into my new apartment! The renovations turned out great! The location is perfect. I am so close to everything and I can walk to restaurants and bars! I want to give a big thank you to my dad for coming down to visit this week and hanging up all my shelves and picture frames. One day I will get the courage to try and drill things in the wall myself. I was surprised how well I hid all of my stuff. It took a lot of organizing, but everything fit. It is finally coming together and feeling homey, I love it!

Yes, I kept that dresser that I thought was so ugly...it actually works out perfectly as my TV stand. 

It was not too big and it stores a lot of clothes. I need all the extra storage that I can get!

My nice view of a brick wall....

My couch is actually a hide-away sofa bed! So if I have visitors over, they have a place to stay. 

(AKA, Shelby's bed for the last month)

I am so glad that they created an "island" for me with an over hang. My bar stools work perfectly

and  I was able to return the table that I got. My "pantry" is also stored in the cabinets underneath it.

Note that there is no dishwasher or microwave....that took some getting used to.

Thank god for these shelves that store all my extra stuff. 

Oh the struggles of no cabinet of drawer space.

My closet that holds a ton! It needs major organizing though! 

I am obsessed with the waterfall sink.

The headboard that I made myself!! 

Moving Weekend!

Success! I am able to write a blog post, meaning...I successfully set up my internet all by myself! AND that my apartment was done on time!!! My first night in my new apartment was on Thursday the 2nd. Being the organized person I am, I thought I wouldn't go to bed that night without unpacking and putting everything away. Obviously, after actually seeing how much stuff I had to go through, it didn't happen. Not to mention, I worked a full day and didn't move until 6, so I was exhausted. Shelby & I went out for dinner that night to fuel up for the long night ahead of us, and were able to build my couch, place furniture and get a few things put away.

Let's just say, I am sitting here on Saturday, with boxes still not unpacked in my kitchen. It has taken awhile to find the perfect spot to put things in such a small apartment. Not going to lie, when I first moved in, seeing all of my stuff in the space, I panicked a bit because of how small it is. After organizing some things, it honestly it fits everything I have and is the perfect size for just me. Once I get everything put away, I will post more pictures of the inside. I am very happy with the renovations, it looks waaaay better than before!

My sister Shelby is staying with me in Cincinnati for the summer, so moving into this small of a place with 2 people temporarily, has been interesting. I made us dinner last night, our first meal in my new place! Naan flatbread, pesto, spinach, mozzarella cheese, and garlic infused olive oil drizzled over it, super easy & so delicious! Of course I paired it with a bottle of wine I bought in Canada.

After pizza, we took a break from unpacking and went to the Reds game. Every Friday night the Reds have fireworks after the game. There was a special show last night since it is 4th of July weekend. Despite getting killed by the Brewers...we had a great time! 

My goal is to have everything unpacked and put away by Sunday night. An apartment tour will be posted in about a week once I am able to finish hanging things on the wall, etc.

Have a great 4th of July!!! 

Moving Time!

Let me start off by saying, I have no idea how my parents moved sooo many times...especially with children! It is exhausting! Most of my time these past 2 weeks have been consumed with moving stuff: setting up electricity, wifi, renters insurance, etc. I was a bit ambitious and went out to buy my own router and modem for my internet instead of paying monthly to rent TimeWarner's router/modem. The budget conscious side of me said it was a no brainer to save money in the long run, the tech savvy side of me is not sure if it will be a smart decision to set it up myself...so we will see how that turns out!

On a more fun note, I have been doing a lot of shopping! I can not stop raving about the store At Home. I am not sure if it is just local, or where the other locations are. It is about the size of Sam's Club but the inside of Home Goods with better organization, if you're following me. As you can tell by my cart, I hit the jackpot with pillows and some furniture. Speaking of furniture, I have not really bought much, except for a few little things. The stand in my cart is either going to be a nightstand or an end table for my "living room". I also bought a dresser from Goodwill and redid it, not really loving how it looks. The handles were indented in so I couldn't change the knobs so spray paint had to do. That dresser may be going in the closet where no one can see it. I Googled the brand of dresser and found out the bigger version of that antique was going for $4000 on Ebay, I should've just sold it!!! I found another little table which I may use as an entry console or a TV stand, but I have a feeling my TV may look funny on such a small table. It was in the damaged section of At Home so it was super cheap...and oddly, I could't find any damage (it will probably fall apart one day), so I repainted it and changed the knob. 

Funny story: so I ordered a couch to the house I am living at now, which is a duplex. I got home from work and saw a huge box on my porch, it looked a lot skinnier from the driveway. When I actually saw the box up close I had no idea what I was going to do, I just wanted to get it in the front door and leave it at the bottom of the stairs. The problem was, the box was about the size of the entire space at the bottom of the stairs. My struggle...how to shut the door. I had to shove the box half way up the stairs awkwardly in a dress with one arm/shoulder/thigh while the other arm tried to close the door behind me, not the mention that the stairs are much steeper than regular stairs. I might have forgotten to mention this was a 135lb box since I just had to order a couch with a sleep away sofa, so it really was a couch and a twin bed. Let's just say, after a few curse words, sweat and a miracle, it is finally shut. Proper lifting mechanics were thrown out the window, today my back is killing me! This must be what it is like to live alone, oh joy!

Honestly, the majority of packing I have saved for this weekend, so I have a fun weekend ahead of me. I don't know why I have been dragging my feet with it, I just hate living in this half packed house.  I have been driving past my apartment building like a stalker making sure the renovations are happening and I did see they were working in it. Last night I reached an all time low and almost got out of my care and peek in the windows, but I told myself how psycho I was and drove away. I will just have to be patient and believe the property manager when she said it will be done next week. She did schedule a meeting with me for next Wednesday to get the keys (so I am assuming it will be done on time!!), so I will be able to move in all my little stuff Wednesday. The movers are coming Thursday night to move the rest of my boxes and furniture. I am stressed, sad about leaving my current place, but most of all super excited to have a place of my own and start this new chapter of my life! Stay tuned for more updates once I am actually moved in!

Canada Part 3: Adventures

So as I sit here sweating my butt off in 95 degree humid Cincinnati weather, I am wishing I didn't complain about how "cold" it was in Canada last week. While I try to cool off, I figured I could finish up my Canada post. Besides all of the eating and drinking we did on our trip, Shelby & I did actually get around to see some of what Toronto had to offer!

Roof top deck view of the condo complex we stayed in, pretty sweet. 

 Park in the middle of downtown--aka where we rested when we were tired of walking.

A man would feed the birds here and have about 50 pigeons around him, ew.

This rest was short lived once the birds started coming near us, everyone knows my love for birds.

 Fancy steak/piano bar we were too scared to go into.

 Patch of greenery with statues of cows in the middle of the financial district. 

Shelby was mad at me for having to stop and see this, and for having to listen to

my marketing lesson about my theory behind why they were in the financial district,

"cash cows" making sense to anyone else?

Cute strip of restaurants on King Street East.

 Free taxi that I wanted to take, but we didn't. A guy bikes you around, poor guy.

Great picture taking skills Stephanie, I'm like a 50 year old mom with my finger in it.

 Dundas Square-Torontos version of Times Square. Some weird Indian Festival was going

on while we were there. Dundas Square is off Yonge Street, which is a street with a lot 

of shopping but it gets sketchy reeeeal fast.

 Old City Hall

 Shelby enjoys vacationing with me.

 View of CN Tower from our walk to dinner.

Only picture we had someone take of us...we will be better next time.

Our experience trying the lovely poutine, ew.

 The Flatiron Building, my favorite building in Toronto. So cool!

 St Lawrence Farmers Market. 

 Just being a tourist.

 The Distillery District, my absolute favorite! Fell in love with all the cobblestone. 

 Cutest little shops!

 Antique first aid kit, totally wanted to buy it, but it was $159! 

Locks of Love.

Bookstore madness.

Sugar Beach & Lake Ontario! Walked all the way there, only for it to start raining.

 Scarborough Bluffs-we took a little adventure out to the suburbs and in the back of a neighborhood

we walked through a park, hopped a fence and this is what we saw....amazing!!!! 

What a hidden gem! And to think Shelby was too scared to go over the fence. 

Well worth breaking the rules and risking our lives,

since it said the bluffs can crumble at any moment and we went there right after it rained.

Also, I just want to point out that dirt path that looks like people

walk that far out on the cliff.....crazy!!

Casa Loma-oh hey, we saw a castle too! We came the the conclusion that Canada

is kind of a 'want to be' England, minus the attractive accents. 

Overall, we had a great trip! Toronto was a bit too "hipster" for me, not the place to wear pastel colored Jcrew. But other than that, it was right up my alley, I love going out and exploring on vacation; laying around at the beach gets boring and is something I personally don't really enjoy. Hope you enjoyed the glimpse into our trip! And for all of you that are wondering, crossing the US border was much easier for us. The security guard only asked me, "why did you ONLY buy 2 bottles of wine to bring back?" apparently they don't make you pay the tax unless you bring back gallons and gallons of liquor. Oh well!