Mountains and Marian

[Cue the melody of The Animals' House of the Rising Sun]

....They call the house of Matt and Nicole!

Hey everybody. I know, it's taken me forever to post photos of what our home looks like now that we are settled in. But that's because our settling in took place in stages.

We didn't have a couch for the first couple of months (our faithful camping chairs served us well during that time) and I had to come to grips with harsh reality of living without closets. For all of you with closets in your life...count your blessings. Thankfully, my generous in-laws have a spacious attic and anything that we could not purge is being stored there.

Plus, on top of the mere logistics of unpacking and finding a place for everything, I've found that it takes a lot of mental and emotional energy to transition to a new city, make new friends, find a job that is a good fit, etc. So I haven't even felt like updating this site until recently.

Anyway, I thought that it was high time I posted pics of our home. In addition to the photos that make our house look organized and put together, I also thought I'd include shots of some of the quirkier things about our home...the kind of details that aren't really worthy of being featured in Elle Decor but that serve as reminders that actual life happens here on a daily basis.

Case in point: A shot of what you see as soon as you enter the house.

Living Room

There is always a cat lounging around somewhere. I thought about moving her before taking this photo, then figured, what for?

Because where else do you store bikes in a city dwelling? If we weren't renting, I would consider mounting them (somewhere).

Our music corner. Again, I'd love to mount one or two of Matt's string instruments to the wall. But I think our landladies would die if we did that here.

A squirt gun. For taming the wild beasts who live with us. And sometimes for Matt.

Our couch! The camping chairs served us well, but we were happy to see the couch take its rightful place. However, we do miss the built in cupholders.

Squirt decided to get in on the photo action.

Dining Room/Library/Office

My lantern from Bryn Mawr; Matt's djembe from Ghana.

When faced with a total lack of closet or storage space, this is where we keep all of our camping and sports equipment.

We are currently using shoelaces to keep our curtains open.

Because we're classy like that.

Bathroom

We ultimately found the storage pieces we needed for the bathroom. Yay!

I know I keep mentioning the lack of closet and storage space as a negative thing, but it's been a really great exercise in eliminating unnecessary clutter from our lives.

Bedroom

Beloved Audrey.

Kitchen

Some things that remind me of California. A mermaid drawing we bought at Tiki Oasis in 2012, and various postcards from the Golden State.

My Trader Joe's shopping bag. Fortunately, there is now a TJ's in Baton Rouge. So some of my favorite California anchor stores are coming to me!

So, it's only taken 8 months or so for this post to come together, but better late than never!

Hello, folks!

Matt and I now are officially residents of the Big Easy. We are pretty excited about our new home. The last week or so has involved much unpacking and organization.

Although I am sure that someone out there has articulated their own theory about the stages of unpacking and settling in to a home, I am going to make up my own terms. Because I can! Muhahaha.

1) Stage 1: The Moving Truck is History
Everything is now out of the moving truck and located inside the home. This a considerable accomplishment and a moment to be savored.

2) Stage 2: Heart of Darkness
As everyone knows, unpacking gets worse before it gets better.

3) Stage 3: A New Order
In this stage, order of some kind has been created. Problems have been identified but not solved.

4) Stage 4: Home Sweet Home
The name says it all.

It was difficult for me to capture Stages 1 and 2 in photos, due mainly chaotic nature of those two stages. However, here are some photos that give you an idea of how things were during the first week or so.

Kitchen