Fall Decor: Bedroom and Bathroom

I'm not one of those people who look forward to fall and winter with bated breath. While I love watching the leaves change and the snow fall from behind glass, the prospect of feeling chronically chilled for six to nine months doesn't hold much appeal. That being the case, as soon as the leaves start to turn and I trade my knit pajamas for flannel, I decorate. Nothing eases the transition from balmy evenings to frigid, blustery nights that kill my plants and chill my soul like a trip to Hobby Lobby when the seasonal decor is 40% off. Although I'm trying to use what I have and curtail my spending on knick-knacks that only see daylight three months out of the year, I couldn't resist a few additions.

A sprinkling of fall on the dresser in the bedroom. I'm a sucker for purple, and these leaf placemats came in a set of two -- the other's in the kitchen. The pumpkin is also new, and the birdies I've had.

In the interest of not overcrowding the bathroom counter, I just added a yellow glitter pumpkin and a sunflower oil candle from Waxberry to the existing decor. Got to have the symmetry.

This corner used to be pretty naked, but I had to bring my ferns from the balcony n for the winter. Add another glitter pumpkin  and voila.

Another sunflower oil candle flanked by ceramic birdies.

I didn't see the sense in adding much more decor to the bedroom since we spend most of our time in there asleep, but the bathroom sees more use. Plus, it's a lot easier to find yellow and green fall accessories than purple and blue (a fact which has probably saved me hundreds of dollars over the years in mitigated temptation alone). While I broke one of my cardinal rules by purchasing seasonal items that are bulky to store, we couldn't resist the oil candles, and I'm a lost cause at Hobby Lobby.

Next installment: balcony, kitchen and living room decor. I'm waiting on the addition of a few more trinkets before I'll call it presentable. 

Blogging, Take 2

...And, action!

If you know me, you're perhaps aware that I endeavored to blog a few years back, a pursuit which resulted in a couple of whiny, highfalutin posts that existed almost exclusively to use highbrow vocabulary for highbrow vocabulary's sake and to prove my mother right. I am notoriously undisciplined when it comes to finishing what I start, so rather than picking up where I left off and trying to redeem the Great Blogging Disaster of '09, I am launching a shiny new blog for a new chapter in my life.

Allow me to flatter myself and assume you're curious as to what "hausfraud" means. This is a term that came about in trying both to define a role for myself in my latest living situation and sum up my impostor complex regarding domesticity. You see, my life's ambition centers around creating a Martha Stewart-esque domestic paradise wherein I reign supreme. I would spend hours as a little girl watching Martha transform humble household fixtures and meals into works of art, and I knew my life would be summarily fulfilled when I was married and had my own home to care for and make pristine.

Thus far, I've achieved one of the two.

Last year, on account of a practical decision to save money and be closer to work, my long-suffering beau of two years and I moved out of our respective family homes and into a one-bedroom apartment together. While I didn't get carried over the threshold as per the June Cleaver prototype I'd been aspiring to emulate, I got the 750 square feet beyond that threshold, and I have spent the last 15 months trying to find a balance between girlfriend, roommate and wife roles while I straddle the line between them. It has been a challenge to adapt my outdated ideal of homemaking to a modern situation much more common to my generation, wherein the housewife is a distant memory and the well-kept home only lasts until the lease is up. This blog, if all goes as planned, will document this endeavor to feather a nest that may only last for a season or two. Stick around.