Well, it’s official. Apartment life is coming to an end… FOREVER! In the last 12 years I’ve lived in 7 different apartments in 4 different cities and 3 different states. And this apartment will likely be the last one I ever rent because we BOUGHT a place! Talk about closing a chapter! Before we start packing things up though I wanted to give our space one last hurray!

I don’t want to get too sentimental on you, but this apartment really meant a lot to us. Funny enough, when Evan first told me he wanted to move to Tacoma I joked that I didn’t know if I could date him if he moved there. I was totally kidding (okay, maybe half kidding), but let’s just say Tacoma was not on my radar. Shortly after, he moved into this apartment and little by little I started spending more time in the city, and dare I say I started to actually like it?! Sorry Tacoma… but you had quite the rep growing up and it wasn’t a good one. It turns out things have changed quite a bit though and I quickly learned why it’s actually a great place to live. After months of spending more time there than not, I made the jump and moved in.

There are a lot of things about the apartment that I really liked — the size, french doors, natural light, and the location were my favs. Located right next to Stadium High School, we were surrounded by gorgeous views and the water was just a few mile walk (one I did regularly). We also were right across the street from what would be some of my favorite restaurants. Surely, it was a much smaller neighborhood than any of my NYC apartments, but it had many of my favorite conveniences and felt familiar and new at the same time.

When it came to decor, most of our apartment was filled with neutrals with pops of color throughout. Then Evan let me take over the 2nd bedroom and turn it into my office/colorful guest room. We’re both not afraid of DIY projects so we took on a few for the apartment. One of the main ones being the dressers. Evan had picked the set up prior to us dating and we decided to give them a second life by painting them. We had also painted the bench prior, so both came together. Another DIY project was the guest bedroom bed frame. With the exception of a few furniture pieces, I was completely starting over after moving back west so I bought a bed frame for $25 off Facebook Marketplace. I really liked the industrial farmhouse vibes so with a few cans of spray paint I got the look I was going for! We definitely brought together a lot of eclectic pieces to make it feel like home for both of us.

I have to say, having a guest room and actual office was a game changer! After living in TINY apartments for most of the previous decade 850 sq ft felt massive! The office was, not surprisingly, my favorite part of the apartment for obvious reasons. It was so nice being able to have some neutral spaces for both of us but then also have my own creative space, especially since I work from home.

I also loved our kitchen! While in the scheme of things it was still on the smaller side, we maximized the space the best we could and spent a lot of time in there cooking. Plus, it was my first time having a full-sized oven since college which was SO nice! It’s the little things after living in the city haha!

Our building was also one of the oldest in the Stadium District and was actually used as the first hotel in the city at one point. Because of its age, it was filled with vintage charm (and let’s be honest quirks too) like our claw-foot tub. We also had beautiful marble floors in the bathroom and kitchen as well as fun retro pink striped tiles in the kitchen that I liked. It was a really solid apartment and there are definitely a lot of parts about it I’ll miss! It has had such a big role in our story and was a big reason why we ended up falling in love with Tacoma and for that, I’m so glad Evan decided to take a chance on it! Cheers to closing one chapter and starting another!

Halloween has always been a favorite of mine since I was a kid. I'll skip the scary movies and haunted house but I am alllll about all the pumpkin patch, the costumes and, duh, the candy! 🎃🍭

I was really excited for this Halloween too because I actually had a porch that I got to decorate plus we actually get trick or treaters here! Trick or treating isn't really a thing in the city, so it's been a hot minute since I've actually had kids knocking on my door.

This year, I decided to use my move back to Washington as inspiration for my costume and take it back to the farm!I had so much fun with this one and it was pretty easy! Here's what you'll need if you want to recreate the look.

Supplies:

• Tulle skirt as a base -- mine is from Space 46 Boutique (You could also make your own)
• 1 yard of white tulle
• 1/2 yard of black felt
• 1 sheet of white and pink felt
• Bell
• Headband
• White t-shirt
• 1 roll of ribbon of your choice
• faux foilage of your choice (I chose sunflowers and leaves)
• Hot glue gun 
• Sewing needle and transparent thread

The first part of the costume I worked on was the headband, which was the most labor intensive part (which still isn't that bad!). I started with an old black headband I used the felt to start on the ears. I doubled up the felt so when wrapped around the headband and folded together they formed ears. Start with the white felt, and then you can use transparent thread to sew both ends together. You don't need to do any complicated stitching, just a simple mending job. Once you have your bases set, cut spots out of the black felt and add those on top followed by pink felt for the inside of the ears. Once your ears are complete, if you please, you can add some faux foilage like I did with a glue gun.

The next step is the shirt! I went with an off-the-shoulder look, but you could totally just use a t-shirt of v-neck as is. If you'd like an off the shoulder look then you just need to cut an oval shape off of the top from each side of the shirt. Need up, cut out spots out of the black felt and add them to your t-shirt with hot glue. You could sew these spots, but hot glue worked great and it only has to stick for one maybe two nights anyways right?! If you use a glue gun, I suggest putting a piece of cardboard inside the shirt so you don't glue it together. Then I finished off the top by tying a ribbon on each sleeve.

For the skirt, I used a pink tulle skirt I had as a base and then I added a white tulle apron to the front that I added spots on. For this, I got 1 yard of tulle and cut it into long strips. Double it up to the length you want it to be and tie a little knot at the top. Then take your ribbon, wrap it around your waist and cut the length that allows you to tie it in a bow. Once your ribbon is cut, find the center and hot glue each of your tulle strips in the center. Then you can cut some more black spots and lightly hot glue those to the front of the tulle. To finish off the skirt, I took some more of my faux foliage and glued it to the corner of the front.

Last but not least, I took my bell and added it to the same ribbon used throughout for my necklace. I also had a little extra so I made a little leaf bracelet as well.

And wa-lah, Halloween costume! Of course, no cow is complete without a baby cow! That's right, Scoots got in on the action too! I swear he liked his costume more than he looks like he did 😂 He definitely liked all the trick or treaters though, that's for sure! All and all, it was a great Halloween! Hope everyone had a fun holiday as well!