Sunday Morning Six // 06.14
Man oh man, I used to hate Sundays. You know when you’re watching a really good movie and you suddenly realize that the plot is wrapping up and it’ll all be over soon? That’s exactly what my Sunday Scaries felt like except for a whole 24 hours, every week. I think it first started in high school, which I actually did enjoy…well, as much as anyone enjoys starting their day at 7am and being forced to sit in a plastic seat for eight hours straight. College was cool, but Sundays were hangover days and who really enjoys that? Hah! Then came a string of jobs that definitely were not the type to get me excited to jump out of bed on Monday morning. So every week on Sunday I’d get so bummed about the the weekend ending, that I couldn’t really enjoy the rest of my weekend.
One of the (few) good things to come out of #quarantinelife was ample time to think and reflect. And when I really started to think about it, before I hated Sundays, I loved them. Sundays as a kid meant cinnamon rolls for breakfast and trips to the park with my dad. As a kid, you’re so carefree and living in the moment, nothing is over until it’s over. So a couple weeks ago, I decided to make a change. I decided I wanted to be better at consciously enjoying the things I have, while I still have them. Counting my blessing as they come, and spending less time worrying about whether they’ll still be there tomorrow. I started waking up early each Sunday morning and actively thinking about all of the best things that happened the week before and and all of the unknown possibilities the upcoming week had in store. I’ve come to think of Sundays as the no-mans-land of days—a day for equal parts relaxation, reflection, and planning. Now Sundays are actually my favorite day of the week because they’re not just an end, but also a beginning.
So pour yourself a fresh cup of coffee (or a mimosa, even better!), because I’m sharing my Sunday Morning Six! Six things I love, care about, interesting finds, things I’m grateful for, funny stories, what I’m looking forward to—any and everything to make me smile, and hopefully it does the same for you. Take that, Sunday Scaries!
house update!
Of course the new house is at the top of my list, duh. You can expect to see this topic here pretty much every week forrrrr…ever? I’m not sure, but this is the perfect spot to give y’all weekly house updates that don’t necessarily make it into a whole blog post.
The electrical work is almost complete, HVAC is installed, and plumbing is done. Our windows were delayed a bit (such beauty takes time apparently), so those should be arriving early this week. Our pre-drywall inspection and meeting with our builder is scheduled for the end of the week and then things should really take off! Seeing the transformation from dirt to framing was so cool and I still can’t believe how quickly they’re building this thing. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the process because that’s when things will actually start to look pretty! If you remember from my posts about our design studio upgrades and buy or DIY, we decided to upgrade a few things but kept a lot of the standard builder options. I’m definitely a bit worried it’ll look kind of hodge-podge for while we make updates, but I’m so here for it! It’s been so long since I’ve had an in-person project to work on, I’m chomping at the bit to get started.
kitchen plans
Speaking of the new house, planning our kitchen has been top of mind lately. Ira and I decided we’ll start making updates to the kitchen first because it’ll require the least amount of work. I’ve been pinning like crazy and I keep going back and forth on a bunch of things—stacked kitchen cabinets, what to do about the back side of the island, and cabinet hardware to name a few. I’ll have a post up on the blog later this week that will basically be a brain dump of allll the options I’m considering, with a few mockups of course, because ya girl is truly a visual person.
On another kitchen note, (forgive me y’all, but I told you I’m in full kitchen planning mode) I recently(ish) started following Hoang-Kim over at Color & Chic while she and her fiancé were building their first home in Dallas. Spoiler alert: It’s GORGEOUS. She very quickly became one of my favorite bloggers for related content, constant positivity, and of course, her home. Checkout her post about her beautifully organized kitchen and you’ll see exactly why I love her! Her round up of kitchen organization products is so perfect and I can’t wait to try some of these things out in our new home!
netflix binge
I’ve had way too much time to Netflix binge lately, but I ain’t all that mad about it. Here are a few of my recent favorites that you definitely won’t regret spending a lazy day on:
Selling Sunset—The absolute PERFECT mix of beautiful homes and juicy drama. If HGTV and Bravo had a love child, this show would be it.
Outer Banks—It’s like a modern day Goonies, which also happens to be one of my favorite movies of all time.
Working Moms—This one is a super quick watch because the episodes are short, but it’s sooo good.
Dead to Me—Ohhhh boy, this show just keeps getting better. Netflix just release season 2 and there are so many unexpected twists and overlaps. Plus, the main character’s witty sarcasm is right up my alley.
our “new” living room
A couple of weeks ago, I updated our apartment living room by moving a few things around and I still can’t get over what a HUGE difference it made. It feels so much cozier now and I’m loving working from the couch! I said goodbye to my little desk in our dining nook and now spend my days working on my little laptop stand at the couch. It’s much less working space than I’m used to, but still totally functional.
In rearranging the room, I also had a big DUH KAYLA moment when I realized I’ve spent the past few years lusting after black windows but was covering up my own with blinds!! Our apartment complex has very dark, basically black windows, but we never get to enjoy them because of the standard faux-wood blinds completely block the view of the window…not to mention like 75% of the light coming in. Now we keep the blinds pulled all the way up 24/7 and just use the curtains for privacy at night. I really think this small change is truly what made me fall in love with the “new” space.
realizing things
I feel like Kylie Jenner in 2016. I’ve just been realizing things left and right. One of the big ones was the pull the expand my blog content. While I love interior design and home decor, I want this blog to be bigger than that. More of a full picture view of my life, not just my work. So I think a bit of a pivot is in store. Well, not really a pivot because there will still be a lot of design content, trust me! More of an expansion…broadening my horizons! I started this blog with the tagline “life, design, and all things home” but I’ve come to realize that even though I’ve shown a lot of the home, I haven’t really shown what goes on inside it. So get ready for more personal/relatable stuff, more Ginger (because who doesn’t love pups?), and more life! PS. If you have any suggestions on what you’d like to see more of, leave me a comment below!
black lives matter
I’ve written and rewritten so many blog posts about this, but the words never seemed to come out right…so I’ll keep it short and sweet. It makes me SO happy and hopeful to see so many new people/allies waking up and realizing what’s going on in our world. To see so many people that I love/care about/look up to, join the cause and speak up about racial injustices, white privilege, and the Black Lives Matter movement has been unreal. I can’t explain the feeling of optimism I had when I scrolled through Instagram the past two weeks and finally saw that people were actually getting it. But there’s still a very large part of me that is still so sad. What if this doesn’t work? What if everyone just goes back to their normal lives and forgets about us again? Why did it take SO long and SO many of us dying for them to finally hear our screams? We still have such a long way to go and there are still so many people who choose not to get it. So I’m begging you, keep up the momentum. Keep fighting for change and challenging the system. Keep amplifying black voices. Keep spreading love. Keep doing the work. Black lives depend on it.
