OUT: Virginia Beach, VA. So Much Thrift.

(First off, let me apologize to those I have convinced that I am a faithful blogger. As you may have noticed, I have great intentions and poor follow-thru. Ahem...)

Obviously, an update is in order as you have no clue where I have been in the past two months. It would have made a damn good set of blogs if I had consistently written as we traveled. Well, after a month of traveling to Honduras, Nicaragua, Southern California, and across the United States, we are in Virginia. And we plan to be here until the end of May when we will fly back to hometown California. Crazy things have happened in our travels, as is the custom; and it would take forever to tell you all of the stories. So, hate me, but I'm just going to start from where I am at right now. (Pause. Begin...)

Its snore-thirty in the morning and I am still awake; not just awake but actually functioning at this evil hour. I have been staying up later since we have been on the East Coast and it has nothing to do with the time difference from California. When we first arrived in Virginia, I had a subtle revelation that I need more encounters with Holy Spirit. I remember because I was in the shower when I told him nonchalantly that I would like to have more encounters. And its been real; he has been rad in giving me exactly what I asked for. Anyway, what does this have to do with the fact that I am still up right now while everyone else is sleeping? I guess I just feel that the two are connected somehow.

On another note, I realize that my blog is supposed to be about how awesome I am at nesting while traveling. This trip, however, has been the least nesting-friendly of any that I have taken this past year. It may be the speed at which we jump from place to place- or maybe it is just the realization that we have no house and no idea when we will live by ourselves again. As much as I love living in community (and the roommates I have had in the past), your things are never as sacred to them as they are to you. So I tend not to fully invest my heart into creating something that could be totally ruined. This is one lame fact about myself that I would like to see changed- but I'm not desperate. Anyway, bunny trail to the real intention of this paragraph: I nested this week! I nested in the form of being in charge of the decorations for my best friend's bridal shower and I am feeling awfully crafty now! In fact, Pinterest is open in another tab on my browser as I type this, in case I find the urge to quickly browse garden ideas for my non-existent yard. So, for the rest of this post, enjoy my creations. (I am not opposed to being pinned...)

I hand-made basically everything for the decorations as my goal was to use things that Lydia could re-use for her wedding and for her new apartment. So obviously I was fairly detailed in my preparation. I am also pinching pennies and was in the white-knuckle/arthritis stage of pinching when I had to make the stuff for the party- so I did all of this unbelievably cheap! Thriftiness is sometimes a gift. We gave her herbs to start her own indoor/porch herb garden: I bought the little pots from thrift stores and Michael's for $0.45-0.99 per pot and spray painted them black($7); the herbs and soil were free donations. The sign was made out of cardboard and I spray-painted that black ($7) with semi-gloss paint and pasted some old buttons I found in my parents house to each letter; hung with twine that I already owned. The pictures were instagram photos printed for $4 at Walgreens and I sawed grooves in the top of logs (free from a friend's wedding last week) to hold pictures; others I fastened to the logs with twine (my own- so, free). Anyway, all this to say, it's easy to nest on a traveler's budget and have everything look wonderful- it just takes being intentional; which, in my opinion, is the only way to decorate as an expression of who you are (my favorite). Well, enjoy!

food table- flower pots w/ spoon label, logs with pictures & quotes,
buttons from my house, paper flower bouquet from my wedding shower
 almost 2 years ago, & lots of lace!

details, details, details. Three favorite things in this picture:
lone strawberry, spoon label my Honey drew, & picture
fastened with twine around a baby log.

the beloved sign reads: "lydia & tim sitting in a tree,
K I S S I N G." Words inspired by my housemate, Kate,
but designed by yours truly. (cute little button letters!)

hodge podge table: I'm still fully in love with the spoon
 labels for the herbs. "Come live in my heart and pay no rent."

I love your way.
-L