House Tour: Bedroom

So I left off my mini house tour with a review of the main living area, and now that my bedroom is finally finished I can go ahead and post some pictures of that as well! The house has four bedrooms, and I'm super lucky because my room is one of the only bedrooms with wood floors, and is the ONLY room with an actual closet. My roommates have to solely use wardrobes and dressers for clothing storage, and with my wardrobe that would have been tight. Additionally, two of my walls are filled with large windows, so I have lots of nice natural light. Overall, I'm super pleased with it, it's the space I've been wanting for a while.

I pushed the bed into the corner to open up some floor space, and chose a simple white down comforter to keep the space airy and light. The bed that came with the room is incredibly low, so unfortunately I have no storage space there. Normally I put all of my shoes in bins and store them under the bed, but as that is no longer an option I put my trunk at the foot of the bed and stacked all my flats in there instead.  

My Vintage Mickey and Minnie crochet plushies get a special place of honor on the bed. I had been in love with the adorable black and white characters for ages, and Austin bought them for me when we went to Disney for Valentines Day last year. Definitely one of the sweetest gifts! Above my bed I hung the mirror I received at a work white elephant gift exchange, and my Harry Potter tribute. 

Moving to the other corner, I have my standing mirror, my clothes rack, and my dresser. This cheval mirror is one of my greatest thrifting successes, I found it at Goodwill for $10 because it was missing the support piece and hardware. I bought it anyway and took it down to the sculpture studio, fixed it up and stained it, and now it's good as new! My bedside table is adorned with a lamp (also from Goodwill), a vintage alarm clock, and one of Austin's senior pictures. I also added a vase of silk peonies as a fresh touch. I absolutely love real flowers, so so much, but as far as longevity is concerned, silk flowers are the way to go. On top of my dresser I placed my vintage globe, my boxed stationary set, some of my favorite antique books, my branch jewelry stand, two vintage cameras, and my cheeky teacup with the word "booze" painted on the inside. Further down the wall I have my hamper and my hat box and the door to my closet.

The last corner is filled with probably my favorite feature, my vanity. The desk was another piece of furniture that came with the room, but I chose to use it for a hair and makeup station instead of a work space. I tend to do most of my computer work sitting on my bed, and the rest of the time I'm in the studio, so a desk is a little unnecessary. I found the mirror and the chair at Walmart for super reasonable prices, so this was a super easy conversion. I have on top my jewelry box and jewelry dress form stand, my makeup brushes, my perfume bottles, and a vase of silk roses. It's nearly perfect, I'm on the hunt for the last touch- a small gold standing mirror for closeups while doing makeup. 

And that's my bedroom! I hope you enjoyed it, and thanks for taking a look!

xoxo, Samantha

House Tour: Facade and Living Room

So a few weeks ago I moved into the house I'll be living in for the next year. Unfortunately I didn't get as much unpacking done as I wanted as I returned home after a day or so, but now I'm back and it seems like it's all coming together quite nicely. I'm living with three other lovely ladies, and I'm super excited for this upcoming year. The house is adorable; it has gorgeous hard wood floors, a fire place, the cutest little kitchen, and the best part, a huge back yard with a fire pit and a white picket fence! Perfect for my new rescue pup to run around and play! 

So, without further ado, come on in!

Here is the view of the house from the street, with another shot of our cute blue front door. I'm in love with the screened in front porch, it's perfect for drinking coffee in the morning (or it would be, if it weren't so darn hot here in sunny Florida! Hopefully it cools off soon). Also, that adorable pup is our new baby! Austin and I found her wandering the streets and took her in. She was in pretty bad shape when we found her, and is still on certain medications. That patchy quality to her hair was even worse when we found her, she was practically bald. Because of that, and a certain way she perks her ears up, she looked a whole lot like a house elf from Harry Potter at first. This led to her name, Winky. 

Once you walk in the front door, you're faced with the living room (what you see here) on the left, the hallway to a bathroom, my room, and my roommates room straight ahead, and the hallway to the second bathroom, kitchen, and remaining two bedrooms to the right. 

This reading corner is so perfect, and I tend to gravitate towards this chair when spending time in the living room.

I discovered when I was unpacking that I had far too many trinkets to fit in my bedroom, so most of them found homes out here alongside some personal items of the other gals. I think the overall effect is homey but not too cluttered, and is a nice representation of all four of us ladies.

I really love the room's natural light, the wood floors, and the two stained glass windows on either side of the fireplace. The whole house is charming, and between all of us gals we've quickly made it a cozy place to gather. But my favorite part of the room? Probably the bar cart we assembled together ;)

I mean really though, isn't it such a great touch?

All in all I'm super pleased, and it's so nice to have my own space after living in the dorms for three years. I hope you enjoyed this little tour, and stay tuned for the upcoming post featuring my bedroom!

xoxo, Samantha

Sunday Picnic

"Nothing's better than a picnic"- Zooey Deschanel 

I can't help but fully agree with that sentiment. Last weekend Austin and I packed up our picnic basket with some goodies and headed over to a a local park that's not well known and is always blissfully quiet. With just the two of us and his guitar, it was the perfect summer picnic. Even better, it was the perfect opportunity to break out my new watermelon dress from ModCloth! 

We brought a spread of chicken sandwiches on multigrain ciabatta, a basil pesto pasta salad, watermelon (of course, the best summer treat), strawberry and peach fruit salad, the makings for a cheese board, and some wonderful pastries from my favorite bakery.

Add on this handsome guy and his music, and the evening was pretty magical. 

Seriously though, how cute is this dress?? And perfect for twirling!

I hope you're all enjoying your summer!

xoxo, Samantha

The Happiest Place on Earth: Part IV

The last day of our magical Disney trip came too soon. We woke up bright and early to pack up and check out of the hotel before heading over to the parks for a few hours. We had fast passes for the Expedition Everest ride at Animal Kingdom, so we spent some time there but eventually found our way back to Magic Kingdom to finish on a sweet note.

The day was super overcast and rainy, but we managed to stay fairly dry until the very the end as we were leaving the park. I honestly prefer the park with a little drizzle, because it cools off and it tends to clear out.

The return of my Dita cardigan! Austin and I did a sweet little Toy Story disneybound and dressed as Woody and Bo Peep. 

I just can't get enough of this cardigan. The more I wear it the more I'm convinced I may have to save up and get one in red as well. And I was so excited about this couples disneybound! Austin made the perfect sheriff.

I'm wishing...

It really was a wonderful trip. In fact, it may have been one of my favorite Disney trips so far. It even ranked up there with my Birthday trip for Dapper Day (I may make a post about that spectacular weekend sometime soon as well). I'm so grateful for my sweet fella who generously treated me to this magical weekend, and for being such a good sport.

With Austin there, Disney really is the Happiest Place on Earth.

xoxo, Samantha