In an apartment complex with 100+ units, bringing a little personality to your doorstep will set a good first impression.
Seeing our natural-fiber doormat (on clearance at Target) and our seasonal pumpkin brings a smile to my face and sets us apart from so many other anonymous doors in our complex. And it didn’t take much time or effort, either :)
A lot of bloggers have begun doing monthly wrap-ups, and I think it’s a great way to look back and see how the time has flown! Some of the posts I wrote at the first part of the month seem so long ago by now! Sometimes when I feel like I have nothing to blog about, or that I’m not spending as much time and energy on my blog as I want to, looking back and giving myself a virtual pat on the back is just the trick to get geared up for another month’s worth of great content!
I started out the month by sharing a Chilean recipe for you guys–if you haven’t had a chance to make this, I would encourage you to try it. In fact we picked up some ingredients the other day so we can have choripan and pebre again.
Next I did a little around-the-apartment catch up work. I shared photos of the office, the patio, and our new shelving system.
My favorite October project and post has got to be my gallery wall, though. I’m still in love with it and planning on expanding it soon!
Wouldn’t you know I took not one, but two walks down Parisian Memory Lane this month? Must really be in the mood to plan another vacation ;) I shared my finds at the Marché aux Puces de Clignancourt and doctored up some spooky graves from Père Lachaise Cemetery.
I was also invited to write a guest post for Alyssa at All Things Beautiful. I spent several days soul-searching and pondering why I love interior design so much! To be honest, it took me a really long time to craft that post together, and I did some self-analysis in the process. If you haven’t checked it out yed, I would be so glad if you did!
Lastly, Doug and I attended not one but two fun Halloween parties. Doug dressed as Marty McFly from Back to the Future and I dressed as a rich old lady, wearing a fabulous sequined dress and pillbox hat I got at a thrift store here in San Diego on Garnet Street. Forgive me for not sharing pictures, but the ones I managed to take on my iPhone aren’t really making the cut. :/
There was no blog post about this, since writing about real stuff is not easy for me (decor, however–piece of cake). But as Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast, I thought back to how scared I would get during thunderstorms in Kansas (including tornado warnings) but looking out my window and seeing the Sunny So Cal weather I really had a hard time imagining the extreme weather conditions. It wasn’t until the photos started appearing in the NY Times or Washington Post that I really could understand the scale of the damage, especially in places like New Jersey, where a good friend’s family lives. A few friends of ours are still without power at home, but we’re glad they are safe and sound, with alternate accommodations.
Earlier this week, I tried to stop by San Diego’s spookiest coffee house, Lestat’s, to take some photos for you, but it was so overrun with people staring at their laptops (seriously–like every table) that I only managed to get a couple good shots. This morning while I was brainstorming a few alternate ideas, I came up with the perfect idea–doctor up some shots I took this summer at Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris! So I took the idea and ran with it.
(Did you know that most old movies shot “night” scenes during the day, with a dark filter?)
The cemetery is actually a pretty peaceful place to take a stroll during the day, and it’s worth stopping by to see some famous graves, like Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde, and Jim Morrison. Just be sure to check their hours before heading over–it closes around 5 or 6 PM, so no creepy night visits possible (phew!).
I suppose you could call both photos above “The Escape!”
Seriously, though, beautiful cemeteries like this are so fascinating to me. Graves upon elaborate graves–something very, very different than the rolling grassy area dotted with headstones that typifies the average graveyard here in the USA.
To get the special effects on these pictures, I used (and then tweaked) a few of The Pioneer Woman’s Photoshop Actions.
My Friend Staci 