We Are Moving...Again!

The stars have aligned for my husband and I to embark on our next journey, and it's taking us to North Carolina!

Tommie was recently offered a job at a non-profit based in Durham, NC. I really think the change will be good for us and will help us move on to the more "grown-up" stages of our lives. Let's be honest, with the household income of a writer and an organizer, we really should be in a more affordable place. 

The truth is, Tommie and I have felt a pull to North Carolina since our first road trip together six years ago. It was the first stop on our drive from Massachusetts to California. Since then, we have been back to visit on several occasions. My Mom blames Dawson's Creek, which is partly true. I fantasized about rowing down a moonlit creek where they filmed the show until I learned there were gators down there. Anyway, we won't be by the creeks in Durham, but there is still a lot to like about the area. It's warm, it's cheaper, it's up-and-coming, and it's an interesting place to explore.

Before Tommie landed his interview, we started a Vision Board on Pinterest with North Carolina in mind. Now, a couple months later, we are getting excited to head down there and start pinning in real life.

DIY State Art: California Love

I have been loving the look of those cute, modern "I heart my state" prints that people sell on Esty, so I decided to try my hand at making one myself.

Even though California isn't our home, it was at one time and it will always hold a special place in our hearts. Plus, it seemed like an easy shape to outline!

Some people create prints on the computer, others paint it on canvas, but I wanted to use an old wooden frame I had just spray-painted white so I decided to make mine using two pieces of scrapbook paper--cheap and easy.

I first found the silhouette image of California from a simple Google image search. After zooming in to get it to the desired size, I printed it out.

The second step was gluing the image to the back of a cereal box to give it some stability. Once dry, I cut out the state and used an exacto-knife to trim the stencil onto the patterned scrapbook paper. The blue piece of paper just had to get taped behind it.

I cut out a little heart (first in green, but it blended in too much so I swapped it with yellow) and put it down near San Diego.