Our First "Real" Home: Video and Photos

We've been in our new condo for almost six weeks and y'all have gone and thought me a liar by now after all the empty promises of new home photos since then. Let's be honest: my poor, impatiently waiting mother in California hasn't just "thought" it (ahem).

But! Redemption!

Hold on to your seats: I have gone and done one better and made a full-on video. Complete with soundtrack and, um, not-so-special effects. Disclaimer: this is severely amateur. Like, Blair-Witch-Project-try-not-to-vomit-in-your-seat amateur. Turns out my little Canon digital camera isn't what they used to film The Bourne Supremacy. Should I get my money back?

But seriously, if you can hum along to the merry tune by the Be Good Tonyas and stand to watch the shaky, unsure camera work, you'll get a peak into my new, wee little city home. Plus, there are a few cameos by none other than the Naughty Puggle Extraordinaire himself, Flutie! If you've got 4 minutes and 8 seconds of your life to spare, take a gander:

Our First "Real" Home! from Christina Ward on Vimeo.

Okay, admittedly, not the best home movie ever, but a solid effort for a Tuesday night in my PJs, if I do say so myself. There are definitely still some kinks to be worked out with our storage/decor (lots of empty walls, a few mismatches and the long stretch of shoes in our bedroom since they don't fit in the closet- yet), but its definitely starting to feel mostly settled, for now. I have a few new projects and ideas percolating, but after Dan spent four sweaty hours mounting and setting up our new flat-screen above the fire-place last weekend he has not-unreasonably asked for a moratorium on home-projects for a little while.

The downstairs is the biggest work-in-progress. After a bit of a debate, we set up our room in the smaller, more dim downstairs bedroom. Mostly, because it has the bathroom with the jacuzzi tub and double sinks. Also, because its cooler in the basement (anything to save on the A/C bill) and its hidden, so if we don't make our bed or I don't put away my laundry for a week (guilty as charged), no one has to see our private (translation: messy) area on display upon entering the house. Our old sleeper-sofa, coffee table and TV are all that’s in the den, but one day it will probably be the office and casual hang-out space. Dan has his eye on a Wii and a dart-board. Good thing his 30th birthday isn’t too far around the corner …

A few of my favorite things in the house are my Redlands-themed décor. To wit:

Decorative tiles in my kitchen --

Apron --

The fake palm tree plant was a house-warming gift from my mother; I'm still not quite sure how I feel about it but need to keep working on arranging the branches so they don't look gimpy and ridiculous. The two white-framed photos above the console are pictures I took of the Boston harbor (left) and the Redlands train depot (right). I like the juxtaposition of the two photos, representing my dual worlds --

Upstairs bathroom, a photo I took of the palm rows lining the street I grew up on--

Art-work of the palm rows by Janet Edwards,

local Redlands artist and friend of my parents', in the living room --

And there you have it: my new home. Y'all come back now, 'here!