rental kitchen

We haven't closed on our house yet so in the mean time we are working on one of Liam's rentals. He has been prepping this house since the winter and it has taken so long! We are still not done and I will be heading over there tomorrow to finish painting the bedrooms. Does anyone want to come paint for us? With that said, we did have a friend of ours come by and help me paint, but we are not experts.

I took this before and after picture of the kitchen. Painting things white has made such a difference on how clean it looks. It has not been lived in for a few months and it is coming out really well. We are moving right along with the process and it's time to try and enjoy it instead of stressing about the laundry list.

In the meantime, I am lounging on my couch watching the men's gymnastics Olympics and women's beach volleyball. It has been long awaited and I love watching the games and cheering on USA!

first home

After passively searching for a new home this year, I finally found the perfect one for me. It was only a few weeks ago that I searched the Realtor app for houses in my area and I stumbled upon this one. The little blue dot showing it was newly uploaded to the site, as I scrolled through it I knew it was the one.

In four days, we walked through the house with the sellers agent, I found an agent to walk me through again, put in an offer, wait and wait, countered back and forth. It all began on a Monday night and by Thursday afternoon, they had accepted our bid. I AM GOING TO BE A HOMEOWNER. The shocking words have not hit home yet, but I could not be more excited for this next chapter in my life.

We close August 31st.
I am hoping sooner so we can begin painting the living room, dining room, and hallway. Liam does not want to do this because he thinks it's fine but before we move in, we might as well paint it the color we want (okay, maybe I want).
My Pinterest board has been a nonstop flow of house renovations, styling tips, how-to's, and home home home. I am thrilled.

As we get closer to our closing date, we will be renovating one of Liam's rental properties and I will attempt to take progress pictures. We dream of being Chip and Joanna Gaines one day (ha). Follow along my Pinterest board to see what we're thinking!

a look back

Timehop on Facebook is a bittersweet application and also a genius idea by the brainiacs at Facebook. It gives you a brief look at what itccf was like this exact day a year, two years, three-four-five years ago and sometimes those memories suck, whiles others are the err-mer-gawdd I miss that!

Yesterday was three years since I bought my Jetta.


Three years since I broke up with the person who was the "love of my life."
Three years and three boyfriends later because apparently it's hard to keep one.

But, in the three years it has been a growing period and it's nothing but happiness through those rough times. When the Vegas bachelorette party happened I was having a conversation with one of the girls, she is about six years younger than me, and we talked about life and timelines. She just recently graduated, has had one boyfriend since high school, is working full-time and living at home with parents. She mentioned how she feels like it will be so difficult to find a boyfriend, move on with life, etc etc. I chuckled and told her that at 29-years old I still have no idea what I want to be when I grow up and since the time of age 26 to 29, there have been 3 serious boyfriends, almost 3 different moves, and a plethora of growing up and finding out who I was in the process.

When taking a look back on how much growing has happened in the last six years of my life, it puts a smile on my face and truly makes me see how different I am from that 23-year old who wanted to quit her job and move to California with her boyfriend to the 29-year old miss independent moving away from everyone and everything she knows. Even when I look at this blog, I started it when I dated Steve, through the break up and so much more. In the periods of my life where I thought nothing could get better, it always did and learned so much from it. We worry so much about things that only matter in that moment and not the big picture. The whole seeing the forest through all the trees, something like that. I'm learning to take a step back and decompress. The dishes will get done, the project will be completed, that vacation will be awesome, and everything in between because at the end of the day things will fall into place.

And here I am, twenty-nine and not married, new live in boyfriend in a new state with a new career. It is amazing how time can fly by and you don't even realize how much time has passed.

life lately | snippets

My passion around blogging is still intact, it s the fact that I can never find the energy to finish a post or upload photos. I find that the ones from my iPhone are much more accessible then looking for my camera cord (which is still missing). So what has life been like in the world of Sam? Besides a crazy Vegas trip that deserves its own post, a lot.

Memorial Day weekend I drove six hours to Cape Cod to visit a friend of mine. It was beautiful there and the weather was pretty on point. The drive sucked but I came back a day early to miss all the traffic going home, which was nice since I hadn't seen Liam in a few days.

Last weekend my little from DG got married! So crazy! Big, beautiful wedding in the heart of Philadelphia. The photos don't do it justice but the photographer did an awesome job here. I was even able to wear my dress from the Sweetheart Ball in February (#winning).

The weather has finally started to get warm and I was home this past weekend to be able to sit by the pool! Oh joys of having a pool at your apartment! It's the reason I pay so much here in rent. We are on the lookout for a house to buy and by we, I mean we are going to move into the house I buy. Big steps, not exactly since we are already living together. It has been a long while since being on the back of a motorcycle and it was so exciting to be on one again! A bit nervous but it was so much fun, except I need a smaller helmet. More rides to come this summer.

Overall, all is well in the neighborhood of Upstate/Western (depending on who you talk to) New York. The summers are beautiful here and I can not wait to hike the gorge, visit the lakes, and enjoy the summer with a ton of new friends and my partner in crime by my side with our pups.

Hope all is well with everyone else in the world!

hide and seek

I swear I'm still here.
Every time I start a post, I get distracted by life and planning.


We're looking at the house tomorrow and I'm so excited. Wish us luck everyone because I need a bigger kitchen.