The One with the Month of Music

It seems like most of my all-time favorite bands are coming out with new cds this month! Can I get a "hallelujah" for new music!

9.1.09. Chevelle - Sci Fi Crimes. Chevelle is quickly becoming my numero uno favorite band. Right now that title is held strong by Linkin Park but their last CD - Minutes to Midnight - has put quite a damper on my fire for them; granted the CD gets better every time I listen to it, I can't help but skip over Chester's ballads. Blech. Back to Chevelle. Their CDs are consistently good and Sci Fi crimes doesn't disappoint. It rocks my socks off. My favorite song on their new CD is This Circus followed closely by their single Jars.

9.22.09. Three Days Grace - Life Starts NowAgain, a consistently great band. Each CD is just as good, if not better, than the previous one.

9.29.09. Paramore - Brand New EyesParamore! My newest fave! I've listened to their first two CDs about one million times. Each. And Hailey Williams is who I'd like to be for a day so it only makes sense I'm looking forward to their newest release. Gimme gimme gimme!

Also 9.29.09. Breaking Benjamin - Dear Agony
I feel like a broken record saying this, but again, a consistently good band. I heart all their previous CDs.

Last but certainly not least, in fact, most anticipated, is Chester Bennington of Linkin Park's solo album: Dead by Sunrise. Technically doesn't come out til October 13th, but that's close enough to September, no? I'm a little worried it's going to be full of ballads like Minutes to Midnight...but we shall see. If it's more of his old school stuff than I'll be a happy girl. Don't be fooled by my sweet exterior, I'm an angel of rock at heart :)

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The One when USC Creamed San Jose State

I'm no expert at football by any means, but I recognize a cremation slaughter when I see one: 56-3 was the final score for the USC/San Jose State game today. Niiiiice. We went over to Veronica & Brian's (and almost 1-year-old Mariah's) apartment to watch the game on their flat screen. Jenny & Chris and Erica & Blake (with their brand new baby Brooklyn) also came to join in the fun. Picture is blurred for their protection...or something...At the end of the first quarter when San Jose was winning 3-0, I was like, hold up, isn't USC supposed to be good??But then USC took charge and smoked San Jose. I lived in San Jose for ten years so I feel a little sympathetic I guess. Way to start off the season! I hope USC wins the Triwizard Tournament. I mean, the Stanley Cup. Wait. I mean, the National Championship. That's the one.

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The One with Our Second Apartment

First things first, if you live in the Los Angeles area and you're interested in this pile of stuff (including but not limited too a seemingly endless supply of plastic storage containers, an entire bin of fancy shmancy scrapbooking papers, scrapbooking supplies, etc), let me know and then come and take it away from me! Anything not taken is going to Goodwill or the garbage... I've re-organized my scrap/craft space and whatever didn't fit in the new cubes I'm giving away. I just don't want to go through the hassle of listing it on ebay or craigslist. First come, first serve, it's free, take it away from pretty please cuz I think the neighbors are getting fidgety with me...
Wanna see our second apartment? Okay!! We live in a four-plex and we're on the top right. We have our own address and our own entryway so it's nice and private.
Our welcome mat. Thank you Target. You take good care of me.
Let's have a looksy inside shall we? Come on in!
Don't judge. I know this carpet is not the coolest color in the rainbow, but it will do.
Just look up and everything will be okay. I've tried to detract from the hideous stairs by making an art/photo/empty frame collage. It's a work in progress. Eventually I'd like to have them running down the hallway, maybe on both sides.
I bet the neighbors were about ready to kill me this morning. I spent 4 hours pounding nails into the walls. Sorry!
At the top of the stairs is this awesome treasure chest I acquired from the Warners. The label on the lid says it's from none other than Los Angeles. We've returned it to its roots. We've got all our games stored inside. Above the chest are the hanging photo collages of my favorite pictures from my study abroad in London.
Here's the view as you enter our apartment. I think this is supposed to be the living room, but we've turned it into the dining room. I decided yesterday that we are now saving for a much larger dining room table. This teensy weensy table from IKEA aint gonna cut it no mo if we ever want to have people over.On the right wall is a ginormous closet which I've claimed and have filled to the brim with all of my crap. It's also the storage closet. We used to put our Christmas/Halloween decorations up under the Warner's house and I was worried about where it would all fit here. So this closet has come in mighty handy. Rather than put the animals in the spare bedroom, we opted to put them out in the open. They get better access to the air conditioner and it's fun to see what they're up to all day.
On the wall of the dining room we've got a fireplace. It feels like it's never going to get cold here! I've hung an artwork above the fireplace that I purchased from Marlene of the late Geneva Steel.
This wall of the dining room houses our bookshelves.
Off the far corner of the dining room is the guest bedroom/scrapbooking storage room. Please come see me! I'm lonely!
Yummy colors of cardstock.
Here's how I store all my art/scrap supplies now. Shelving unit and most of the bins courtesy of IKEA. I bet this thing weighs 3000 pounds, no joke. I hope it doesn't collapse through the floor. That would be a bad thing.
A nice comfy bed and warm soft kitty to keep you company if you come see me :)
Next to the guest bedroom is our bedroom.
This room is actually smaller than our room in Provo which makes me laugh. We've had to move our nightstands together and at the end of the bed because they wouldn't fit on either side of our bed. Meh.
Attached to our bedroom is the bathroom. This bathroom is much bigger than our one in Provo. You win some you lose some.Yup. It's a bathroom.
We installed this big mirror the other night because there wasn't one in the bathroom. It's funny what this place did and didn't come with. The other door in the bathroom leads into the supposed dining-room-turned-living room. This is where I spend 99% of my time.
This was the only logical place in the apartment to put the TV and DVD storage unit. I really like how it's all laid out so I don't care if it's supposed to be the dining room.My work station. My computer is my life.
Just off the living room is the kitchen. So much nicer than our kitchen in Provo. Not that I cook or anything, it's just more aesthetically pleasing.The only flaw of this kitchen is the shelves are waaay up high. I have to get a stool out anytime I need something above the first shelf. There are worse things though. I like the stainless steel appliances and marble counter tops (HGTV has brain-washed me :)
Do you know what these babies are? A WASHER AND DRYER! After two years of going to a laundromat these are a welcome blessing.Here's the back entrance where we go down a shared flight of stairs to the parking lot. It's a tight squeeze because of the laundry racks, but we're done taking big boxes out to the trash so it's all good now.
Last but certainly not least, aren't these three mini cacti cute? IKEA does it again.
And that's our second apartment! Thanks for stopping by!

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The One with the Missing Dishes

Whelp. I've unpacked the last of our boxes except for the decorative picture frames. That's my final project for tomorrow then I'll finally be able to post pictures of our second apartment. Just for you Malm, quit your buggin'! :) I was sure that amidst my dozens of scrapbooking boxes (you should have seen how much American Crafts stuff I purchased before I left...it's embarrassing!) I would find our eight missing bowls.

You see, I eat at least one bowl of cereal per day, sometimes two. Lately I've been on a kick of Frosted Mini Wheats (Malt-O-Meal brand) for breakfast and something sugary like Frosted Flakes (Malt-O-Meal brand again) or Ohs for dessert. Chris usually has a bowl of cereal for breakfast too and occasionally he'll splurge and have another bowl for dinner or dessert. So we're talkin' at least 2-4 bowls used on a daily bases (sometimes more if we have pasta for dinner, which happens more than I'd like to admit), times 7 days a week and that's 14-28+ bowls used weekly. That's a whole lotta bowls. That's a whole lotta loads of dish washing.

We had 12 bowls at one point. I realized today where our 8 missing bowls are: in the dishwasher at our old apartment...duh... We ran a load before we moved and never thought to check it again. I wonder why the new tenants haven't emailed us about them...but no matter. I've moved on to bigger and better dishes. Lo and behold:If I didn't know any better, I'd say they look like they're from Anthropologie because of the colors and what not. Lucky for me, they were on clearance from Target. Run run run, they might have some left at your Target!I saw them and fell in love. Instantly. Match made in heaven. Me + Dishes = <3
One particularly great thing about these dishes is they coordinate with our old set of dishes so I've mixed-n-matched them together.
My Grandma Cathie has a different set of dishes every time we go over there to eat, so I don't feel too bad about getting another set. Priorities people. One must eat and if one must eat it might as well be in style :)

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The One with A Little Slice of Heaven

When I think of Heaven, this is what I imagine:I snapped this through my car window today. I only took this one single shot. Serendipitous if you ask me.


In scrappy news, I've got a layout featured on the American Crafts Studio Blog today. Here's a sneaky sneak.See the entire layout by clicking here. Thanks Tammy for letting me use some pictures of your too/two-cute kids!

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