Thursday, January 31, 2013

Wait...what?

January is over? Already?

Time sure does fly when you're having fun, I guess. What with all the moving and wedding shenanigans, the middle two weeks of the month somehow got away from me. Funny how that happens sometimes.

Anywho, I'm looking forward to getting home tonight and whipping up some last minutes pretties for Valentine's Day. I figure even if they don't get snapped up by February 14th, they'll be pretty and floral enough for spring! I love making items that are great for year-round use.

Have you seen the hearts yet? Oh, the hearts. I die:

Posting this here also serves as a friendly reminder
that I have some photos to re-shoot this weekend.
And hoooooray! I am pleased to announce that Whimsy Renee made their very first sale via Etsy last week! I feel like in honor of this momentous occasion I should step it up and get some more stuff added to the shop, pronto, don't you think?

Sunday, January 13, 2013

pretty little things

Have you seen these adorable crochet bows? They're available now in the whimsy renee shop!


Putting down your roots

We moved out of our house this weekend. Closing is on Tuesday. It's all pretty surreal, leaving one place and moving into another, another place that isn't quite yours and knowing the place that will be yours is still several months away.

You see, we sold our house and moved in with Denny's parents. Moved all our stuff out of our nearly 1,500 square foot home and into a considerably smaller two bedroom apartment off of their house. We are so very blessed to have such wonderful family offer this space to us; for that I am eternally grateful. They are giving us a chance to live here, save some more money, and build a nest egg so that we have the opportunity to start the next chaper of our lives in a way that is comfortable for us.

We will be walking away from the sale of our current home with a decent amount of cash, but to take that and to put the bare minimum down on another house seems foolish when we've been given this wonderful chance to REALLY save; save for furniture, build our emergency and rainy day funds, and save for a bigger downpayment that will make our mortgage more comfortable in the long run once we find the house of our dreams. Could we buy a house right now if we really wanted to? We sure could, but we are going to take full advantage of the opportunity that's been presented to us.

With all of that, naturally, comes some sacrifice. Space is limited, but it is cozy. I'm amazed we could fit all of our furniture in here but it does fit, both couches, a coffee table, and our dining set pretty much within a 15 foot path. My "craft room" is now my six-foot table set up at the far end of our bedroom. Our bathroom now is half the size of our old bathroom, and if it wasn't for the beautiful oak pantry cabinet my mother gave me, I don't know where we'd put half of the stuff we kept in our old kitchen.

I was apprehensive, but you know what? I'm kind of liking it.

The challenge now lies in keeping everything organized and to keep our space looking tidy and neat. I'm itching to hop onto Pinterest and start searching for ways to maximize smaller spaces and I'm excited to learn and try a few new things. Not to mention, we're excited to be saving a ton of money so that by the time Fall comes we'll (hopefully) be in our new home and planning on expanding our family (baby fever is setting in BADLY).

We've had to cancel our wedding plans thanks to Hurricane Sandy destroying our super-budget-friendly venue, but this move and our new plans have me so preoccupied I'm finding that I'm not really that sad about not getting to plan my dream wedding. Maybe I will be a little bummed out by the time July 13th rolls around, but for now I'm focusing on our family's roots...where they've been, where they are now, and where they're going.

There's too much to be excited and thankful for that I won't let one little wedding blip ruin this for me.

Now...time to go find my supplies so I can get to crafting! If you haven't seen the shop lately, make sure you check out all of the Valentine's Day products, and keep your eyes peeled for some pretty pastels coming up for Spring and some neon fabulousness!

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Yikes!

And I thought once the holidays were over, we'd be safe!

Not so, friends, but that's what you get when you agree to a closing date on the sale of your house of January 15th. My goal is to get our Christmas stuff down this weekend, and to really put a dent in packing the rest of the house. Next weekend is technically the week we'll be moving everything out, and I can't believe how much is left to be done!

Another exciting note is that I've been busy making some more pretties for Valentine's Day. Check out the shop and visit my Valentine's Day section to see the new goods!