Tuesday's Topic: Storage in our Condo

Our 2b/2b has been so good to us these last three and a half years. I'm actually impressed with my 2012 self for choosing this place before I had any idea of what would be in store for us almost four years later.

We don't have a garage, or any place to store anything, so I've had to get really creative on how and where to store so much freaking stuff. 

This shot shows you our baby kitchen. It's probably the size of your bathroom and has one drawer that is big enough to hold 2 oven mits. 

 

The best thing I did was purchase that open storage piece from World Market about six months ago. It's opens up the kitchen and holds a lot of what we need with really easy access. 

 We had an awful system before (looking back), and this piece has literally saved us.

 

I'm going to get another big egg-crate basket like the one on the top shelf to hold baby bottles and all of that good stuff, but I'm waiting just a few more weeks to enjoy it as is.

There is a giant right off the great room that we've organized to house even more kitchen stuff. It's a Crate & Barrel "build your own" piece and it fit in our closest like a freaking glove. I bought this right after we got married and it's basically turned our closet into an additional room/garage.

The other side of that closet had to get organized this weekend and is now home to our water cooler and stroller.

For all of my china and stemware, you have to leave the kitchen area a little, but we created a perfect wine corner that has really extended the living (and storage) space. 

These pictures don't give great perspective, but at the end of the living room we have our little bar area. 

 

I found this beauty at an antique store in Laguna Beach and she is by far my favorite piece of furtniture.

The owner of the antique shop said the piece was orginally kept in someone's garden, but I love it in the living room and think it would even look great as a bookshelf in a nursery.

 

The drawers below are super deep and contain all of my china, extra stemware, candlesticks....basically all of the fancy stuff I registered for when we got married. 

Joel and I are both really good about staying organized...but check back in with me in a years time and feel free to laugh in our faces.

Oh, and the last closet/storage area that I have to overhaul is in the soon-to-be baby's room. This side of the closet has to remain an area for storage, but I need to it to be much better organized, so that's project 93 for the month. 

Hopefully this little thing I found at The Container Store will make a dent, but everything else that doesn't really need to stay with us is getting the boot. 

Tuesday's Topic: Why I Started my Blog

Who doesn't love a good alliteration? 

I talked about last week just throwing more random posts together, like the good ol' days, and this is going to be my tag line. For the next four Tuesday's Topic:____ I'm going to cover the following....

 

Tuesday,  7/28: My Functional & Pretty Storage 

Tuesday, 8/4: 10 things I learned from College

Tuesday, 8/11: Favorite Hostess Gifts 

Tuesday, 8/18: Mix'n'Match - wear 1 piece 5 ways....(maternity version over here)

And then let's see where we go from there! And, if you're looking for some blogging mojo too, feel free to join me! 

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Why I Started My Blog

 

If you're so inclined, this was my first post, back almost exactly six years ago to the day. 

I was living in Iowa City, IA taking summer classes at the University of Iowa so I would graduate on time with my degree in Elementary Education. Joel and I went to different colleges, but that summer, he came to Iowa and rented a room from my friend next door so that we could spend the summer together. He played tennis in college, so he got a job pretty quickly as a tennis pro at a club in Iowa City. 

 

 

One of the classes I had to take that summer was a "Methods of Writing for the Elementary Teacher" (or something like that). If I remember correctly, the professor wanted us to use an online tool to increase parent/teacher communication.  

Since we didn't have our own classrooms at the time, she told us we could all start blogs about anything, but that we had to commit to writing everyday for 20 minutes a day.

So for that four week course, I got used to blogging about whatever, for twenty minutes a day.

Honestly, not to age myself, but this was really before blogs were a big, professional thing. I don't think anyone besides my mom looked at my blog for a solid two years. 

But I kept up with it, because I enjoyed it. I liked having a little creative outlet to look forward to after student teaching, and then I really started to like the fact that I had chronicled memories with stories, not just pictures. 

After I graduated college (that next summer), Joel and I moved in together in Chicago, and I had a ton of fun putting together my apartment, sharing it online for my friends that were moving into their first apartments across the county, and from there Tea Time with Tess just stuck.

Six years later, I have no intentions of letting this little corner go. Blogs are MUCH different than they were six years ago, but I try really hard not to get caught up in all of the hype. I don't know how to use Photoshop, and I don't really have a desire to rStyle outfits or get commission on a pair of shoes that I like, but I like meeting friends on here, I like looking back on where the years have taken us, and I like the inspiration it gives me for cooking, organizing, putting together nicer outfits, and trying to do new things. 

So that's why I started my blog, and that's why I keep blogging. There are things I keep off my blog, but overall, I think it's a pretty accurate representation of who I am and what I do (or what I want to do & be), and I hope that you enjoy checking out my little space every once and a while.