Author: Staci

Staci blogs about travel at TheVoyageer.com.

Pining for Pine

If  you were to ask me a couple of years ago what popped into my head when I heard “PINE,” I would have described something like this:

Rustic Pine Bed

Yikes. Fitting for a mountain hideaway cabin, but in my home? No thank you.

When Doug and I decided to renew our lease we sat down and went through the past two IKEA catalogues to see what styles stood out to us… What were we drawn to? If we’re going to stay ten more months, let’s put some purpose into our home, right?

This room spoke to me, but I am realistic enough to know that our home will never look like this:

Pine and White Inspiration, IKEA

(IKEA catalogue)

In fact, all the pictures he pointed out included natural wood, most often pine. So I hopped on the pine train and started thinking about ways to incorporate it into our home. To be honest, using the same wood in all the different rooms is a great way to unify the whole living space together. We came up with three ways to include pine in our home, which I’ll post more about next week, when I have the place cleaned up and ready for photos. Today, I’ve got a birthday party to put together.

How about some more pine inspiration?

Large IKEA Pine Collage

(IKEA… all IKEA.) 

What design element are you drawn to these days? 

Bugs, be Gone!

I will say one thing about our apartment complex–the maintenance guys are very attentive and quick to respond, when we place a service order through our company’s website.

For a week or so I had been seeing some straggler ants on the linoleum by the front door. I would just kill them, scan the area for their buddies, then go on my way. I even saw a stray in the bathroom a few times, but didn’t think too much of it… a nuisance, but probably just looking for moisture, as bugs tend to do.

One day, though, I killed 10 in the kitchen before work and decided to put in a service request. Living for over ten years in Temecula, which is notoriously bad with ants, has instilled a paranoia in me that once I see even one in the kitchen, nothing is safe anymore. I put in the service request and we had an appointment set for the next week.

Kitchen Unloaded

Unfortunately for us, prepping the kitchen and bathroom for the exterminator’s attention meant (dun dun dunnn) emptying every cabinet and drawer and wiping them out.

When’s the last time you emptied your whole kitchen and wiped out every cabinet? My money’s on “not recently.” You will be surprised how grungy drawers can get (yuck!) and surprised at how much stuff fits into even a small apartment kitchen:

Kitchen Unloaded

(The majority of our pile was not as picturesque as our coffee table full of dishes from above.)

Glad to get that taken care of. Doug hemmed and hawed about it, thinking what a pain it would be to empty out the whole kitchen… then again he’s never lived through a full-blown Southern California ant invasion, so really he doesn’t know what we’ve avoided. I was at work when the exterminator came, but Doug said that he was professional and quick. Yay!

My major take-aways from this experience were:

  • So glad we’re not moving after all (read: look at all that stuff!)
  • I’m glad we can call and have something like this arranged for us, unlike with a previous landlord who was very, ahem, laissez-faire with repairs, etc.
  • Well, now the inside of our cabinets are clean and kinda reorganized!
  • I still really, really like my whiteware dishes (from Crate and Barrel).

Chalk one up in the renters’ column… you don’t have to pay for things like this! Additionally, we finally got the large burner on our stove fixed (we had been cooking with three small burners) and it’s amazing how much faster a kettle boils on an appropriate sized coil! Imagine that!

Any boring but important repairs around your place lately? 

Stephanie’s Bachelorette Night!

Bachelorette Invite

Bachelorette party invites by Flapperdoodle on Etsy. 

One of the most enjoyable parts of being Maid of Honor was preparing Stephanie’s bachelorette party. I don’t have space to hold an event in my little apartment, and instead of a crazy weekend out of town, or reserving a table or room at a noisy, crowded restaurant, I called on a contact I had met at Sur La Table who hosts private, four-or-five course meals in their “underground supper club.”

So, our little group of ten got all fancied up and met at an undisclosed location, and the night began! Unfortunately, the low light made it really hard to snap photos. I did manage to get one grainy cell phone shot with the lady of honor!

Steph and I

We had an amazing Indian themed meal made from local ingredients.

  • Curried deviled eggs
  • Kale salad with feta and apples
  • Chicken tikka masala with rice
  • Peach strawberry crumble

Stephanie wasn’t feeling well that night, so all in all, a low-key (but so fancy!!) dinner party was just what the Dr. ordered, as opposed to a crazy night out on the town. Truly, the gourmet meal, funky and eclectic setting, wonderful service, and good friends made it a night to remember.

Goodie Bag

Hoping everyone was inspired by our chef, I sent the girls home with a “supper themed” gift bag containing a fabulous glittery paring knife, sweet treat (courtesy of our hosts), and a few recipe cards.

It’s so hard to believe this was already three weeks ago! Where does the time go?