*Warning: this isn't my typical holiday home tour post - it's a little more personal!*
I'm so excited to be writing this blog post because it signifies the fact that I'm finally ALL MOVED IN to my new place and the holidays are FINALLY here! The unpacking of boxes on boxes on boxes has commenced and for the first time ever, I have my very own place to call home! All throughout college I lived with roommates, so this is a huge, huge step for me and something completely brand new. I contemplated the thought of living on my own for quite some time because I thought I'd be lonely, it would be too expensive, etc. etc. etc. However, after constantly going back and forth about it, I decided it was time to take this step and venture on to something new - no turning back. I knew I was going to be graduating from college soon and working full-time, so I thought living on my own would be a great way to kickoff this important new chapter of my life and jump right into adulting full-time, as well.
Living with roommates is surely more cost friendly than living on your own, but the place I found turned out to be perfect for me in every way possible. I knew I was going to be making more money than I was already making, in addition to continuing to work my other jobs, so the monthly rent increase wasn't of huge concern to me (don't get me wrong though - ya girl is a bargain shopper and will ALWAYS look hard in the tiniest of nooks and crannies to get the best deal). And as for the lonely part - it won't stay that way for long (hint hint: a furry, four-legged friend will be making its way into my life very, very soon!!!)
Now, I want to take a little bit of time to boast about the AMAZING new complex, Maple Springs Apartments, that I am living at!! I searched for a couple of months for the perfect place to call home, constantly getting stressed out and frustrated with the thought of having to deal with searching the web for different communities, setting up tours, filling out applications, and just moving as a whole. I had no idea how to go about looking for a place of my own and would type some key words into Google, then open 50 tabs with different places and try to compare them all to each other, then exit out of each of them and give up and say F it I'm just not going to live on my own, then come back to my computer screen and do it all over again a few days later. I can't even give you an estimate of all of the different places I looked at - but I know it sure was a heck of a lot. Maple Springs got opened up in a tab a few times here and there, but I overlooked it because I thought I could get 'more' for what I would be paying.
One day, I visited about 15 different complexes in one day and decided to give Maple Springs a go. I fell in love with the staff as soon as I walked in the door and felt something different about it right away. Carrie, the manager and leasing consultant that helped me through the whole process, truly made it such an ease and was able to alleviate at least one thousand pounds of weight off of my shoulders with her care and guidance alone. The complex has a dreamy pool area that reminds me of a cute little Japanese garden with all of its beautiful, exotic foliage and a gym that I swooned over and wished I could have started working out at that very same day - and get this, I have less than a five-minute drive to work every day (hellllooooo gas money savings!!) The apartment is rather small, but for a college graduate that's living by themselves, working full-time, and doesn't need a whole lot of space, it definitely gets the job done.
One of the things that I am most excited about inside of the apartment itself is the kitchen. I cannot waitttt to get started working on some new recipes and blog, blog, blog it up! Seriously, it is so, so dreamy. Lots of white. Big windows. Natural light + an awesome skylight. Tons of counter space and all of the storage I could ever possibly need. Oh yeah - and I have a fireplace paired with a mantle! Ahhh!!! I'm overly obsessed with all things festive and decor-related, so you can bet your bottom dollar that my place is going to constantly be revamped with each passing holiday/season/time of the year. Sooo... here's a few photos of my new place with my Halloween decorations for this year!!! (the DIY paper bat tutorial will follow)
Now, for that paper bat tutorial...
What you’ll need:
- 1 large piece of black poster board
- 1 piece of contrasting-colored construction paper (I used orange)
- Sharpie pen
- Pencil
- Scissors
Directions:
First, begin by folding the construction paper in half hamburger style. Next, draw a freeform half of the bat. Start at the fold and draw a round hump for the head, followed by a pointed ear, the top of the wing, the corner of the wing, the bottom of the wing, and connect it back to the fold. Then, cut along the line you just drew. Because the paper is folded in half, the exact same shape will appear on the other half of the bat, as well.
Unfold the cutout bat and place it on top of the poster board. Use a pencil to outline the bat several times, until you’ve drawn the desired amount of bats. Next, you can cut out the bats on the poster board. Once all of the bats are cut out, fold them in half so that once they are placed on the wall, it looks like they are flying. Lastly, place a small piece of tape on the back of the fold and arrange them wherever desired!
*Sidenote: the video isn't the best... I know hahaha. I filmed it right before bed, but it's a visual of the directions I just described!*
So, I'd like to end this post by saying that there's no way to avoid growing up; to avoid facing challenges; to avoid having to make huge decisions that have no clear right or wrong way to go about them. One day you're going to have to be on your own. One day it's going to be just you and adulthood stuck in a room together forced to have a dance battle - and damnit, you forgot your dancing shoes. One day, maybe for the very first time, you're going to have to step into a new, unfamiliar world that scares you more than you imagined anything ever could. But you have to push forward and place your fears behind you because without change, there would be no butterflies. Life is so different for me now than it was even just a few months ago. Between not being in school anymore (which I actually miss so so much... nerd status), working a, new 'big girl' full-time job, and living on my own - my whole world has changed. I was scared. I was nervous. I was contemplative. But I made a huge decision that turned out to be one of the most beautiful, exciting ones I have ever made in my life.
Thanks so much for reading and stay tuned for some more DIY projects, new recipes, and holiday fun that will be making an appearance on the blog very, very soon!
XOXO