Holidays | Our Cozy Cubbyhole

Valentine’s Day Recap

I hope you all had a lovely and love-filled Valnetine’s Day yesterday! :)

After pulling an all-nighter for school, I was afraid that I would sleep through the holiday. Luckily, I did not and thank goodness because it was such a nice night. When I got home from school, I found a ProFlowers box waiting for me on the doorstep! I opened it to find two dozen peach, orange, pink, and cream roses from my Valentine. They are so stunning! They haven’t opened up yet so I will post pictures of them in a few days once they are at their fullest. When Walker arrived home from work, we exchanged gifts (okay, that’s a lie… I gave him his gift on Wednesday after work but that would have made telling this story more difficult so let’s pretend it was last night). He got me a gorgeous satin robe and nightgown (in pink of course!). I have been wanting a new robe and to class up my PJ style for a while now so this was so perfect! SatinRobe1 SatinRobe2

I have mentioned it before but Walker loves our succulents that we have in the back yard. I have sometimes heard him refer to them as his “pets” and “friends.” Maybe we need to get out more… ;) So for his V-Day gift, I handmade a heart-shaped concrete planter (and so can you! I will do another post shortly with the information) and planted two succulents inside. In addition, I went to Ikea and bought a new shelf for all of the plants in the backyard. I know that the $7 DIY Plant Stand was a good idea at the time but a year later, it wasn’t looking so hot. Particle board furniture was not made to live outside. Shield your eyes if you don’t want to see an ugly, dilapidated DIY project before it went to its grave. OldPlantStand

I assembled the shelves, arranged all of our plants, and even added a new storage bin and lantern to spruce things up. I also plan to get him a few new pots for some of the succulents that have gotten huge but we will pick those out together later. I surprised him by having the whole thing set up and waiting for him when he got home from work! NewPlantShelf HeartPlanter1 HeartPlanter2

Our original plan for the night was to cook a meal together but we were too tired so went out to our favorite little sushi place for a delicious sushi feast! When we got home, we cracked open a bottle of wine from our favorite vineyard and relaxed. I lounged in my new satin sleepwear, feeling like a queen! It was the perfect night after a long couple of days doing school work and so nice to spend some QT with my valentines (man & dog)! :)

Wine Country Weekend Getaway

I want to start by thanking everyone who voted for Our Cozy Cubbyhole in the Apartment Therapy Homies! It really meant a lot to us and we are hoping that a few of the new readers stick around! You are the BEST! :)

I know this post is long overdue but I don’t think it is ever too late to share pictures of GORGEOUS wine country! For our two year anniversary, Walker surprised me with a weekend getaway in wine country that was booked for my birthday weekend in January! We intended to use the trip to celebrate our anniversary, his birthday, and my birthday all in one weekend (since they are all within 10 days of each other!).

We headed out of LA as soon as we got off of work on Friday night, arriving in Solvang around 9:10. Squeaking in under their 9:15 last-seating policy (phew!), we had an amazing steak dinner at The Hitching Post that completely blew us away! I think it was honestly the best Filet Mignon I have ever had… it was melt-in-your-mouth tender. On top of that, the french fries and pinot noir were knockouts on their own! They even gave me a little birthday ice cream to finish off the meal. We walked out of there in some sort of incredible meat-haze with a bottle of wine to-go. We checked into the hotel and spent hours talking and drinking wine in our room until the wee hours of the morning. It was literally a perfect birthday evening. :) WineCountry1 WineCountry2

On Saturday we prepared ourselves for a day of wine tasting with a delightful (-ly filling) lunch. Then we figured it was noon so we were allowed to start drinking! ;) We went to five tasting rooms in town over the next several hours, where we chatted with locals and got spoiled by all of the great pourers. After all of the tastings, we decided it was time to take the edge off of the wine buzz with some chow! Once we had some dinner in our bellies, we finished off the night back at one of the tasting rooms from earlier in the day (The Good Life) with a glass of wine and live music!

We woke up Sunday morning and needed an amazing/giant Danish breakfast to kick any remaining effects of the day before. ;) So we stuffed our faces with aebleskivers, an omelet with Danish sausage and Havarti cheese for me, an omelet with Nordic lobster and Havarti cheese for Walker, and my signature three-beverage hangover cure (water, OJ, and coffee). We wandered around the town for a while enjoying the fresh, cool air (there was ice on all of the fountains! So rare for California!) and the peace & quiet. We headed home and arrived mid-afternoon so that we had time to unwind (i.e. watch a billion hours of The Sopranos) before getting back to the real world.

It was such an amazing weekend and such a perfect weekend getaway. We love it so much up in wine country that one of these times we may not come back! Just warning you now. ;)

Valentine’s Gift Idea: 214 Things I Love About You!

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you all have a great weekend planned. Before I dive into today’s post, I want to bother you one last time and say that today is the last day that you can vote for your favorite blogs on the Apartment Therapy Homies. If you like what you read, we would SO SO SO appreciate it if you took 10 seconds to vote for Our Cozy Cubbyhole so we can attract some new readers. Thank you SO much for your support!!

Valentine’s Day is officially less than a week away and I have talked to a lot of people that are still trying to decide on a cute little gift for their significant others. Well you are in luck because I have an idea that will work for a boy or girl, is very inexpensive, and is oh-so-thoughtful! Although this was originally a gift that I made for Walker for our anniversary this year, the gift can absolutely work for V Day.

I strated off by carrying around a little piece of paper for several days, constantly jotting down little things I love about my man. Some were sentimental and mushy, some were funny and light-hearted, some were not family-friendly, and others fell somewhere in between. I decided to compile a list of 200 things since it was our two year anniversary but you could do 214 things in honor of 2/14! Once the list was all set, I bought a really beautiful Moleskine pocket sketchbook from Barnes & Noble that had really nice sturdy pages and a classy look.

ThingsILoveAboutYou1

I originally planned on decorating the outside but then I realized that this was a gift for a dude and he wouldn’t necessarily care about (or care for) an overly-decorated book. So I decided to keep it plain on the outside so it could be stored anywhere without attracting too much attention. After all, this is kind of a private thing and Walker is a private guy. In fact, I had to promise I wouldn’t post too many examples of the stuff I wrote in his book on this blog post! ;)

Anyway, once I decided that the front would remain undecorated, I used the inside of the front cover to introduce the concept: Two Years and Two Hundred Things I Love About You. Like I mentioned before, 214 may be a better number to use for Valentine’s Day (and you could do something fun to mimic the slash between the 2 and the 1 like the date! Get creative!).
ThingsILoveAboutYou2

Since I promised Walker I wouldn’t post too mant examples, I limited it to two pictures. But you get the idea of how I decorated each page. Again, I kept it simple and not to girly/decorative because it was more Walker’s style this way (but feel free to go nuts with yours!). I used a bunch of stamps (including the cork heart stamp I made for last V Day), some silly drawings, and some awesome SMASH tape that had phrases like “Love it!” and “Like this a lot!” ThingsILoveAboutYou3 ThingsILoveAboutYou4 ThingsILoveAboutYou5

This entire project cost me less than $16 ($14 for the sketchbook and a couple bucks for the tape) but packs a huge punch of LOVE! ;)

Cheap, super thoughtful, and very personal… you can’t find a better combination than that for a Valentine’s Day gift! So get to it… happy crafting!

Feel Good Art for Awesome People

I am so happy to say that we had amazing sponsor this January: the wonderfully talented Lisa Barbero who makes “Feel Good Art for Awesome People!” Lisa is a wife, mother, and artist-extraordinaire so, without further ado, I will hand it over things over to her!

“I decided I was an artist when I was in kindergarten and it took me about 27 years to finally believe it.”

I would definitely say I’ve had a lifelong and passionate love affair with making stuff. But then again, I’ve had an equally lifelong and passionate love affair with Cap’n Crunch. Yup, the cereal. After years of putting up with the Cap’s bittersweet love, I finally hold the secret wisdom of being able to eat those sugary, golden nuggets without cutting up the roof of my mouth. Maybe one day I’ll write a book called “Zen and the Art of Eating Cap’n Crunch”. OMG. That’s so the *new* title of my memoirs. It’s a fitting replacement for “Jurassic Park Scarred me for Life”.

Oh right. Back to the art stuff. I dig on raw line and the unexpected and infuse my work with modern color, original typography, and old fashioned hand drawn imagery. The end result is art with hints of romance, whimsy, inspiration, and lots of soul.

“I believe in true love, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and lots of simple living. Without taking myself or my work too seriously, I strive to make beautiful and emotional things.”

I enjoy the whole art making process and can’t see myself ever living something other than a handmade life. It’s important to me to do something different; to be inspired by my life, my environment, and the work of others, then make something completely unique that can inspire others in turn. I like being a part of that endless creative cycle.

*****

Lisa was born in Washington D.C. and has lived all over the world from Georgia to Germany. She currently calls Rochester, New York home where she lives on an acre and a half of pseudo-suburbia with her soul mate and their munchkins.

Website Art Shop

Not only is she hilarious and amazingly talented, but she is also roughly from my neck of the woods in Upstate New York (near where I went to college!). WOOO NY PRIDE! I digress. While all of the prints in her art shop are stunning, I decided to share a few of them with you that are perfect for celebrating the upcoming holiday of love! Enjoy! And a big thank you to Lisa for sponsoring Our Cozy Cubbyhole this month! :)

That Time I Ruined My Birthday Surprise

But I didn’t mean to! Let me explain…

After I got back from orientation, I had a list of the specific supplies I would need for school. A little panicked that I would have to scrape some money together for a (portable for space reasons of course) drafting table, I got a bit nervous. I had the genius idea to check Craigslist for the off-chance that someone was selling a portable drafting table and to my great surprise, there was! CraigslistAd

You can’t tell from my screenshot but the table was quite beat up but for $30, who can be picky?! I figured I could scrape by with a shoddy board and emailed the guy. When Walker got home I told him about my find. He said that it was great and to keep him posted. An hour later the guy emailed me back that he was around all night and that I could come pick it up. I was about to hit send on an email back saying I’d be over shortly when Walker sighs and says, “Wait. Don’t go. I got you a drafting table for your birthday…”

I was really, really pumped for a second… and then immediately felt guilty for ruining the surprise! I had no idea though and was just getting so excited about school! You can’t blame a girl for being a super nerd, can you? I must have caught this problem from my dad because he ALWAYS unintentionally ruins his gift surprises (my mom can vouch for that!).

Turns out it was kind of a good thing that he got to see my excited reaction when I ruined the surprise because when the table was delivered the next day, there was a giant picture of it on the outside of the box. Who does that!? I brought the box inside on my lunch break and I would have found out then anyway. Way to go, Amazon.

Anyway, he apparently still loves me despite my surprise-spoiling because that amazing man is taking me to wine country for the weekend! We leave in a few hours and I can’t wait! Hitching Post steaks and Pinot, here we come!! :)

(and then I get to come home and play with my awesome new drafting table!)

2013 Resolutions

I know I am a little late on this post, but I wasn’t ready for New Year’s Resolutions until after all of the holidays (including Walker’s birthday!). So my official start to 2013′s resolutions is this week! ;)

Last year, I had several resolutions for the apartment so let’s see how we did!

1. ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE! – Ok, so I do this every year but it is so important! When Walker moved in we found a place to put everything and have ignored it since. But in the next few weeks we will be getting a detached garage space (YIPPEE FINALLY!) and can stash some of our stuff in the extra storage. Sounds like a good excuse to do some weeding out of the excess and give us some breathing room. - ACCOMPLISHED!

2. CREATE A NEW DUAL WORKSPACE – Currently both of our computers are sitting on a desk I originally bought for myself that I Frankenstein-ed to accommodate both of us. However, there is no room to move or work… just barely enough room to click. So we have started some beginning plans on creating a new dual workspace that will actually meet our needs. - ACCOMPLISHED!

3. UPGRADE THE TUNES – We have been talking about getting a record player for the living room because we both LOVE listening to music. Walker even has a mini record collection started so we have some great stuff to listen to when we actually take the plunge. We anticipate a little extra space once we get the garage space and new desk so we hope to make it work sooner rather than later. - ACCOMPLISHED!

4. KITCHEN LOVE – The living room and bedroom have been slowly transformed to merge our styles since Walker moved in. However, with the exception of an additional calendar and some art, the kitchen looks exactly the same. I think he and I need to put our heads together and see what we want to do with this room. - DIDN’T QUITE GET THERE!

5. BATHROOM SOS – Other than towels, curtains, and a bathmat, I have yet to do anything with the bathroom. This is the year to start! - ACCOMPLISHED!

In 2012 we managed to clean all the closets and organize the garage space, get his & hers writing desks to replace our old workspace, got a record player and record storage for our growing record collection, and completely re-did the bathroom! The one resolution we didn’t quite get to was a kitchen revamp. However, we have at least put together a plan so I guess we are at least on our way! So this brings us to this year’s resolutions…. here we go!

2013 New Year’s Apartment Resolutions

1. KITCHEN LOVE – Since we didn’t quite get to this in 2012, I would love to get our kitchen project underway early this year!

2. ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE! - We need to do this every year! We got a bunch of Christmas gifts (books, DVDs, etc.) and have no where to put them so we need to do some spring cleaning to make room.

3. STORAGE SOLUTIONS - Now that Walker and I have lived together for over a year, we have slowly filled up all of our current storage. Aside from putting everything in the garage, we need to come up with some new ways to add storage (especially for books, DVDs, CDs, and school supplies!).

4. NEW COFFEE TABLE AND RUG - Our current coffee table is hanging on by a thread! We absolutely need to save up and replace it. We would also love to get a new, upgraded rug for underneath… class up our living room a little! :)

5. SCHOOL WORKSPACE - I love our writing desks but I am going to be doing a lot of drafting and projects that take up much more space/storage for school. We need to figure out a way to make a little more space for doing schoolwork, which is going to be really tough!

We are keeping it simple this year! Our apartment is feeling a bit small lately (after all of the Christmas goodies) so we are focusing mainly on cleaning things out and finding more storage. I think we can do it! :)

On a personal level, I am trying to give myself a small list of manageable resolutions for the new year. I mentioned a few things last year that didn’t really pan out too well so here’s to a fresh start!

2013 New Year’s Personal Resolutions

1. BE MORE ACTIVE - I am not going to sit here and tell you I am going to hit the gym every day or even at all. My resolution is simply to incorporate some “active” activities into my lifestyle. I want to walk the dog more often. I want to ride my bike to work some days. I want to go on the occasional hike. I want to even try and fit in a workout here and there. You get my drift! I just need to be more active and therefore happier & healthier! P.S. I have joined My Fitness Pal… my username is OurCozyCubbyhole if you want to be friends!

2. STAY HYDRATED! - I need to drink more water, no questions about it. In addition, Walker and I have decided to start buying gallons of bottled water instead of drinking tap water after hearing/reading some pretty horrific things about our water supply (I’m talking some serious Erin Brockovich crap!). I know it is a little less sustainable but drinking the tap water just doesn’t seem like an option.

3. PICK UP MY GUITAR MORE OFTEN - Just for fun when I have the time!

4. TRY NOT TO OVERLOAD MY PLATE - I have a lot on my plate with school, work, the blog, Etsy, etc. So I want to make sure I am keeping enough free time and quality time for Walker & me in my new schedule. I am going to try and keep the miscellaneous projects down to a minimum!

5. BE FINANCIALLY SMART - Since I am only working three days a week and am paying for school at the same time, my monthly income will be taking a huge cut this year. I want to make sure I am being financially smart so I can still try and save a few pennies here and there!

There you have it: my apartment and personal goals for the year! Let’s hope it goes well! Happy New Year everyone!

Happy Birthday Walker & Christmas 2012 Recap Part 2

I have to start off this post with the biggest, happiest birthday wishes to the love of my life… today is Walker’s 30th birthday!! We are starting the celebrations tonight with a yummy sushi dinner and then partying it up with some friends tomorrow night. As a little birthday gift, I give Walker (and the rest of you) this adorable nugget: HappyBirthdayBo “Happy Birthday Dad! You are my favorite parent because you didn’t make me wear this dumb hat.” -Bo

I love that little pup! Such a good sport….

Now, as promised, I am excited to share a few of the awesome home-related Christmas gifts we received this year! Let’s begin with the incredible, amazing, wonderful birthday boy himself (I love bragging about him… and since it’s his birthday I have an excuse to go all out). Walker is so thoughtful that for Christmas he had an artist on Etsy hand-paint a beautiful sign with the name of the camp that I attended every summer! Okay, “attended” does not do it justice… I lived, breathed, and worshiped this camp! My best friend and I would go for 1-2 weeks every summer (for 8 consecutive summers I think!) and we had the most amazing time. As we pulled out of the camp’s driveway to go home, we would start the countdown for the next summer. It sounds strange but that camp is a huge part of the person I have become and Walker is well aware of the impact it had on me (probably because I talk about it all the time like a creeper). So I thought it was so amazing of him to have this sign made for me, both because it is an awesome piece of wall art and also because of the huge amount of sentimental value it has. HiddenLakeSign1 HiddenLakeSign2 HiddenLakeSign3 HiddenLakeSign4

How amazing is that!? I love the texture… I keep petting the sign haha! We hung it in the kitchen between the table and the door. If you remember, we used to have a picture of a sunrise on Walker’s family farm hanging there. KitchenBefore But not to worry, that photo simply got relocated to the gallery wall in the living room along with a gorgeous picture and frame that my best friend gave me. My amazing aunt also sent us a super cute typography wood sign that fit perfectly with our collection of love-y dove-y photo-booth pictures. GalleryWall GalleryWall2 We love that the gallery wall is starting to fill in a little more! The other thing we got this weekend as an anniversary gift from Walker’s parents was this awesome embroidered Nebraska kitchen towel! Isn’t it the cutest thing ever?! NebraskaTowel NebraskaTowel2

It looks perfect in our kitchen but it is way too cute to use for drying dishes! Guess that means I don’t have to do dishes at all. Best. Gift. Ever. ;)

We got a lot of other really incredible gifts from generous family members and friends, including a lot of things for school! I can’t believe it but I start next week!! WOOOOO!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend… drink an extra one for Walker tonight! ;)

Christmas 2012 Recap Part 1

Hello and happy new year! I hope you all had a happy, healthy, and safe holiday season! We just returned home from our Christmas vacation and thought I would post a few photos from our trip.

We left for Nebraska before dawn on Christmas Eve and landed around midday. We spent Christmas Eve celebrating with Walker’s immediate family and some of his extended family. It was so wonderful! We exchanged gifts and had a delicious dinner (artichoke stew and chili to warm us up… it was 9 degrees!). On Christmas morning, Walker’s extended family came over and we had an incredible breakfast (including homemade cinnamon rolls and a delicious smoked salmon hash!). We spent the day watching movies and enjoying each others’ company. We finished off the day with a turkey, gravy, and mashed potato feast. We were totally spoiled. :)

The day after Christmas we went to the movies (Django Unchained for those who are curious) and then had a family get-together to celebrate Walker’s 30th birthday a little early. Of course, he received scotch as a gift so the night turned into a lively party with his cousins! ;)

We spent the 27th relaxing with his immediate family before I had to depart for the airport that afternoon. I finally arrived in New York by 1am (and had to wait for an hour for my bags of course). Little did I know I would be walking into a house full of sickies! My parents, brother, and entire extended family all caught/spread bronchitis on Christmas. Yuck! :(

On the 28th, my family celebrated a belated Christmas and they were MORE than generous as always. I spent the afternoon drinking coffee, scratching lotto tickets, and exchanging gifts with my best friend. When I got home, I fed my family soup and/or toast for dinner because they were all so sick! :(

On the 29th, I was eager for some fresh air that was not contaminated with sick germs, so I tagged along with my best friend and her husband to West Mountain to go snowboarding! It was so much fun and it felt great to enjoy the winter weather. In fact, we got about 4 inches of snow while we were on the slopes and had a bit of a slippery drive home.

By the 30th, my family was starting to feel a bit better so we spent the day watching movies, playing games, and relaxing. It was so nice! :)

On New Year’s Eve, I left the house at 4am to get to the airport and flew back to LA. I arrived around midday, only 45 minutes or so from Walker in the same terminal. We gathered our bags and headed home. After a long nap, we decided we were too tired to go out for New Years Eve and instead opted to have a date night in (since we hadn’t seen each other in days!). We cooked an amazing meal of ahi tuna filets and garlic mashed potatoes, drank lots of wine, played Yahtzee (I got three Yahtzees on our last game… crazy right!?), and listened to great music! It was the perfect night! We began 2013 with a champagne toast and a solid night’s sleep in our own bed!

January 1st was the (2nd) anniversary of our first date so we always have a fun time celebrating New Years Day! We got up and watched Nebraska play in the bowl game while we drank coffee and got ready for the day. As tradition dictates, we then went to lunch at the restaurant where we had our first date! After lunch we walked around downtown Burbank and went into a few shops. Also in keeping with tradition, we found a photo booth to take a few anniversary pictures (we forgot a camera last year so this was our solution)! When we got home, we exchanged gifts and watched one of the movies we got for Christmas.

Then yesterday I had to get up and go back to real life… BOO! Oh, well. At least our vacation was amazing and relaxing! I will be back tomorrow to share some of the awesome home-related gifts we received for the holidays!

Now onto the good stuff… a few pictures from the trip. Enjoy and happy 2013!

One of the handmade ornaments on Walker’s family’s Christmas tree! :)

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care.

Three sleepy boys!

Puppy love!

Baxter is ready for a nap after he and Bo played all morning!

…and Bo’s already passed out!

What a beautiful Christmas in a beautiful home! xoxo

This was our attempt at getting a Christmas picture right before bed. It’s not great but at least we actually got one this year!

New York had a bunch of snow the day after we went snowboarding so I took the pups out to play!

Bo LOVES the snow!

…Koda not so much. This is as far as she got before running inside! :)

Bo on a mission!

“Hey, Mom! Look at meeee!”

Snuggle pups! So cute!

Walker got me some pink anniversary roses!

So pretty!

An iPhone picture of us at the restaurant where we had our first date!

One of many cheesy photo-booth anniversary photos! :)

Merry Christmas and a Happy NeuYear!

Merry Christmas everyone! I am here today to spread a little Christmas cheer and announce the winners of last week’s NeuYear calendar giveaway!

Congratulations to:
Cindy P.
Christine @ Casa-De-Christine
Melissa K.
Ashley @ The HumberHome Project
I love giving gifts! We will be spending the week surrounded by family, good friends, and lots of puppies so I will see you in 2013. In the meantime, please enjoy a few pictures of some gorgeous Christmas flowers! Have a wonderful and safe holiday! xoxo

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Santa Claus & Ho-Ho-Ho & Mistletoe & Presents to Pretty Girls

Ten points to anyone who got the blog post title reference! ;) It has been an absolutely crazy few weeks but I am finally here today to share our Christmas decorations! Walker and I got the tree and put up the decorations on Sunday while listening to Christmas songs and watching Christmas movies. It was a very festive day. :)

Our tree is about 4 feet tall and is filled with colored lights, our fun zoo animal ornaments from last year, an owl ornament we got for our first Christmas together, the ornaments my parents gave us last year, a few fun ornaments (Charlie Brown and the Beatles), and our new guitar/bass ornaments for this year! We also busted out the Christmas song book and put it on our music stand for all to enjoy.

Most of the lights are the same as last year (around the door to the kitchen and around the living room window/door), with the addition of another strand by the stockings. We have the same “Let It Snow” snowman on our front door from last year because the idea of snow in Los Angeles is STILL humorous to us!

Anyway, I will stop blabbering and start posting photos already. I will be back EVERY DAY next week for Our Cozy Cubbyhole’s BLOGIVERSARY!!! Yippee!I will be linking up my holiday decorations with Decor and the Dog’s Dare to DIY: Deck the Halls link up party on Monday so be sure to stop by and check out lots of other holiday decorating ideas! :)