our new pad

I've been MIA from the blogging world for the last week (I'm sure the 6 of you reading this, took notice), but it's only because I've been trying to get unpacked from our move.  Which is no excuse...not a good one anyway.  Mostly because in all honesty, we are completely unpacked...with the exception of my bedroom which looks like a tornado has has hit. 
Although we're unpacked, things are not totally put away...I'm sure that won't happen for months.  However, I am going to post some really poor quality photos that I took last night (with no sunlight, and a flash).  The pictures are awful, I'd like to just throw that out there. 
I did take a few more this morning that are equally as craptacular...because it's raining here.  Are you shocked?  I am (that last comment was dripping with sarcasm, in case you couldn't sense my tone through the computer).
First off, as promised, here is a picture of my wretched haircut...one word: mullet.  Keep in mind that I had NO layers when I entered the salon, and asked for a T-R-I-M.  Instead I received a 'nice framed face'...aka mullet and tons of layers, starting at my cheekbones.  Awesome.
Don't judge:

Also, please note the look of joy on my face.  I can't stress enough how awful my hair looks. 
PS: I'm slightly dramatic, but if you know me at all you already knew that.
Oh and it's been raining for 2 weeks straight.  Which makes my hair frizzy. 
But on the bright side (not literally bright...remember, no sun), I woke up to these this week...:

...courtesy of my sweet husband, who was trying to brighten (again, not literally) my life day.  So beautiful.
Now on to the house pictures:

kitchen

kitchen 2



wall between kitchen and entry hallway



living room



dining room...look at those cute kiddos

always in our entryway

sitting area in living room



above coat rack in entryway



hallway, taken from entryway

entryway (taken from living room)

A few things: first off, note the 'new' carpet.  Although it looks like it's straight from the '70s, it's actually very fluffy and soft and lovely.  And new...it's the first time I've ever had new carpet.  I'm pretty excited about it. 
Also, the humongous storage shelf is new to us since moving....we bought it for the wall between the kitchen and entry hallway, and then realized it did not fit once we moved.  We need it to store Dylan's 18000 school books and very expensive eyeball equipment.  So for now it's living on the same wall as the television...just taking up lots of space.  Until I make it to IKEA for some natural fiber bins, I am storing all my various treasures in the spaces instead of books. 
It was fun to pull out some of my favorite things and finally have a place to put them (for now at least):

cast iron keys...these literally weigh 20 lbs and we hauled them all over s. california...that's how much i love them



cast iron jacks...yellow, red, and green

vintage tins

bird candy dish

a gift from my sister jen...skeleton keys that hang on my front door. one of my favorite things.
these also double as an alarm when my children are trying to escape.

All in all, we're settling in.  The kids all slept through the night for the first time last night.  Which makes for a happy mother.  And because of my new-found energy, I actually cooked a real meal tonight.  As long as pancakes count as a meal.

xo,
tracy
ps: I'll post upstairs pictures soon.  promise.