Update + Gibson White Dinnerware and Etsy Art

I can’t believe it’s been almost a month since I’ve posted… lots has happened though.

We’re in California now, and MOSTLY settled… I will take pictures soon. Hubs went off to SERE school (survival stuff) for 2 weeks leaving me alone in the house, so I hung a lot of pictures, assembled some furniture, got some new art, basically tried to make the house comfy for when he came back home.

I was also babysitting the sweetest 2 year old boy!

Right after hubs came back, I had an interview for a nanny job… the mother has 2 children and would want me to take care of them in her home about 30 hours a week. It would be an awesome job and the family seems great so I really hope I get it!

The thing is, if I did get it… we only had 1 really operational car (the 1996 Jeep. The 1972 Maverick is a hobby car with horrid gas mileage and I don’t drive it anyway.) so with both of us driving to work, things would get a bit … inefficient with our previously-current situation.

So we started the car search. Mind you, this isn’t an impulsive “Emily might get a job” car search. We’ve been saving for a second (third) car for a long time now! We visited lots of dealerships and contacted tons of people on Craigslist before finding our sweet little new addition… a little red Suzuki Aerio. It’s funny because it’s almost exactly the same size as our Jeep, but it has 4 doors and gets stellar gas mileage (25mgp city / 30mpg hwy). We like it a lot, and are really glad the search ended before things get REALLY crazy.

Tomorrow we’re going to another couple’s house for Thanksgiving. It will be great to share the holiday with 2 other couples we really enjoy. I’m really looking forward to it. (In case you’re wondering – I’m bringing mashed local yams with butter, cream, salt and pepper; lemony broccoli salad; homemade cranberry sauce; and homemade whipped cream to go on top of Leslie’s pumpkin pie.)

After that, I meet with the potential-nanny-family again on Friday, and hopefully things will go well and work out for all of us. Then on the 30th, hubs starts work again, and hopefully I’ll be working soon too.

These pictures were taken in the Mississippi house before we moved, but I wanted to show you some of my new favorite things. The first is white dinnerware by Gibson (from Macy’s). Really affordable – we got 2 sets so we can have lots of serving dishes for entertaining. They’ve been great for everyday use and I love that the bowls are so deep – perfect for soup and keeps it from getting cold too quickly! We’ve already had a cookout and were able to use the dinner plates and “bread plates” (for dessert). The serving dishes are great too!

The second thing is this gorgeous set of prints by Sarah Blank. I fell in love with them when I saw them and immediately added them to my wish list. Boats, birds, water, trees, keys… all imagery that speaks really clearly to me. I’ve had these symbols in my dreams for as long as I can remember, so these prints are like part of my mind in a frame. I love them. My stepmother and dad gave them to me for my birthday last year, along with some money for framing (a GREAT idea since frames can add up and without them you can’t really hang/enjoy the art – I’ll have to remember that when gifting art in the future). I found these great frames at Tuesday Morning.

Don’t worry; they’re hung perfectly straight in the new house. You’ll see.

Sorry for my absence! I’ll try to be better about posting… it’s just been a very busy time for us. I miss you guys!