Nest

During the week I help out at a very cute design shop in Allentown called Nest Interiors. Here are some interior shots.

The best part of moving into a house in the fall are the surprise bulbs that pop up in the spring.

The closet:

When you think about it, a closet is a designated space for stuff. But it has come to mean much more, particularly when house hunting. It's size is just as important as its shape. The total number in the house matters as much as where they are in the house. Or in our case..is it carpeted? Is there a mini door next to the main closet door..for your gnome squatters? According to the real estate agent who listed our house, having only two (very awkward) closets played a major role in its 80 days on the market and two price reductions. In times like these one must exercise a little closet creativity.

We had a nook in our bedroom that needed a purpose. I bought some mesh steel drawers, installed a rod with an upper shelf and pushed our bookcase over five feet to function as a sort-of partition. It's the closest I've come to a walk in closet, and I love it.

Oh, and the narrow carpeted closet is now storage for shoes, bags and luggage. Not perfect, but it works for now.

A little sample of the work we've done on the house since we moved in.

Bachelorette

My lovely sister is getting married this summer in Ireland, indeed it has been a very big year for nuptials in our family. The wedding is going to be beautiful, my sister and her soon to be Irish husband choose a gorgeous castle in Donegal Ireland for the ceremony. Unfortunately as is the case with most destination weddings, some her closest friends can't make the long journey. So my job as maid of honor is to give her the best engagement party a bride could ever dream of. As they say, the pressure is on. Because it's more personal, and cheaper, I went the DIY route with the invitations, place cards and party favors. Other than an uncooperative glue stick and major razor blade gash on the tip of my finger, I actually enjoyed myself. Who knew? I filled these little burlap sacks with lavender, the smell is thick in the air of my kitchen, might sound nice to some of you but after filling and tying 23 little bows I'm feeling a bit dizzy.

I moved back to my home town of Buffalo NY in the fall. Since then I bought a house, started a business, got married and became a vegetarian. This year has been big, but that's not to say that the last couple have been small. I met John in 2005. We lived together in Brooklyn for two years, then packed up our belongings including our dog Ray and drove west to San Francisco. John started architecture school and I set out to find work in Interior Design. It was impulsive, but after just twelve months we again loaded our things and Ray into the car and headed back east. The choice was a little to do with the economy and a lot to do with just feeling far away. I've come back to Buffalo, where I started, and I plan to renovate our very old house, establish my interior design business, stay married and not eat meat.