buried

In case you've been perplexed by my absence, I have a very simple answer for you.

I have been buried by boxes!  We are t-minus six days until we close on the new apartment (!!!) and my husband and I have been non-stop packing for the last week.  Did you know it took seven large Home Depot boxes to pack my closet?  SEVEN. 

*Andy used four boxes to pack his closet, so I really don't feel too bad.

ho-ho-ho.

I have a very strict rule of not indulging in the Christmas season until the day after Thanksgiving.  Call me old fashioned, but I like when that Macy's Santa brings in the holiday at the end of the parade.  This year, I might need to break my policy and allow myself to make an early decorative purchase for these incredible rocks glasses.

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This weekend I intend to celebrate by finally having a weekend at home with my husband!  It's been a little while since we've both been in Chicago for a weekend so we fully intend to enjoy our city.  We'll also be packing and finishing thank you notes, but those are minor details.


Fun fact: Sunday will mark the one year anniversary of a very big day in my life.  On October 7, 2011 I walked away from the job that took me to Chicago -- a job that was incredible, stressful, exciting, and generally badass.  It's amazing how fast a year has gone by.  This also means that we're about to mark the one year anniversary of when I was gainfully unemployed, blissfully happy, and very into yoga.  Like I said earlier this week, it's amazing how fast 2012 has gone by.

Happy weekend!

(photo: doughnut vault)

printing press.

Some of my favorite things to pin on my beloved Pinterest are prints.  For a long time I stayed away from prints, finding them a little too boring and generic, instead favoring thick canvases splattered with even thicker paint.  Things have changed and now I can't get enough of them.  Depending on the quality, originality, and artistry, they can be a fun, youthful, delicate way to bring art into your home.

We're lucky enough to have some very large walls, and a very long hallway, in our new apartment and I've been busy mentally decorating them for the last few weeks.  Etsy has been my biggest source, where do you find your prints?  Is there a hidden gem of a resource lurking somewhere else? 

Print by CONCEPCIONSTUDIOS available here

musical interlude.

I have been listening to the new Avett Brothers album, The Carpenter, non-stop the last few weeks.  Have you heard it?  They are an incredibly talented, fun band and it gives me a twinge of pain knowing that I missed them in concert.

If you haven't given them a listen before stop what you're doing and open Spotify right now. Or watch this:

(P.S. - Have you heard of NPR's Tiny Desk Concert series?  It's incredible and quite stunning, so check it out if you can! Adele's is one of my favorites, obviously, and I love seeing a horn section in the Beirut set.)

goodbye summer.

To be totally honest, I'm a little happy summer is over.  Before you give me that look, I had an incredible summer!  Did I mention I got married in July?  A summer can't get much better than that in my book.  Still though, I'm happy the days of heat and humidity are behind me and I can break out the cozy sweaters and boots (boots!).

The end of summer treated me very well.  Here are a few photos of how I wrapped up the warm days of 2012.

 

A weekend on the lake with friends in Minnesota

 A quick five hour stop at the State Fair.

 

 Labor day in DC with my best friend and trusty tour guide.

 The Boss in the friendly confines.

 A trip home to New York to visit my family and a wedding in Kansas City last week.

Follow me on Instagram! @toriehajdu 

busy bees.

Will someone please tell me how exactly it's suddenly October?  I probably say this every year, but 2012 has, by far, been the quickest year of my quarter century plus life. 

And what a year it's been.

You can credit my most recent disappearing act to the fact that my husband and I recently bought an apartment!  Yup, we are home owners -- or we will be in three weeks when we close and (finally!) get the keys to the new place.  I don't want to jinx it and talk too much about it, but now that we're t-minus 21 days, I can't possibly contain the news anymore.  It's a very surreal and extremely adult feeling.  This is our first real home together -- the place where soon a puppy will scamper down the hall, the place where future gingers will play, the place where Thanksgiving dinners will be cooked and devoured. 

Like I said, what a year it's been!