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Why I Love Miami Beach

Not gonna lie, I get pretty annoyed whenever I tell someone I live in Miami, and they automatically think I live on Miami Beach. There is definitely more to Miami than the beach, but being a Miami native, there sure are a lot of amazing memories tied to it. I figured I would share some of my favorite Miami Beach memories and activities for those of you that may be visiting the Magic City soon and may want something that can’t be ticked off a traditional travel to-do list.

  1. Watch a show at The Fillmore.

My 20’s were a time for live music. I basically lived in music venues, with a perma-smile on my face and a beer in my hand swaying to my favorite bands’ music. Now I am lucky if I get to go to a show a year and am gluten intolerant, but I digress. The Fillmore Miami Beach is a beautiful Art Deco building situated on Washington Avenue that has intimately hosted many an amazing act. My most favorite memory here is going to a Justin Timberlake after show where we were resting our elbows on the stage watching JT get down with a seemingly endless amount of energy despite having come straight over to perform after his huge stadium show with Jay Z. Fun fact: I later found out that all the members of *NSYNC were watching from premium seating above.

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Geek Out: Home Is Where The Geek Is

When the hubs and I first moved out and got our own place, we thought we had to decorate it “like adults do.” This resulted in a home that looked nice, but didn’t go with our personalities at all. By the time we bought our first home, we knew that had to change. Just because we were adults and now owned a proper home, did not mean that we had to make it look a certain way. Nothing makes a house a home more than looking around and saying, “yep, this is my space.” For that reason, we started incorporating more fun elements that reflected our interests and personal style. Now people walk in and can’t say our house looks anything but us.

I love that Brad-Pitt is chilling in both shots!

Obviously, our home decor has a strong geeky theme. We buy most of our art at conventions, and enjoy figures just as much as any other nerd. What was important to us was to showcase this in a very subtle, modern and classy way. Despite being in our home for 4 years now, we still are working on it every day to make it our perfect little cave, but I’m happy to say that I love the progress we’ve made! I especially am a fan of our living room and bedroom. Wanna see?

One art wall where you can display all your fandoms in a simple, yet strategic way is great for a living room space.
I still can’t get over how amazing our Tara Mcpherson LOST piece is.

Incorporating geek is all about the little touches in a home, like our Harry Potter Pop-Up Coffee Table Book.

I always laugh at this photo op we have up in our bedroom of us with John Barrowman because it looks like we are one, big, happy family (which we could be, of course).

The little touches continue in our bedroom. My nightstand houses a Fiona figure and is graced by the beautiful Rose Tyler, as drawn by Pooka Machine of Ocho Placas Tattoo.

These are some of our new pieces that are going up this week throughout the house. I can’t sing enough praises about Artist Alley’s at conventions. They are my absolute favorite part about attending! The prints above are from Upside Down Grin & IdeaStorm Media

Some other great sites to visit for quality geeky home goods is;
Etsy
Look Human
ThinkGeek

When creating a home that is YOUR own space, you really need to sit down and think about what matters to you. Here are a few ways to do so:

 

Don’t Fall Into Trends

First and foremost, do not fall into keeping up with the newest trends. They tend to change quickly and if you do this, you will fall into the same trap that I did – just decorating my home like most adults do. The point of decorating your home for yourself is to bring you happiness every day and create a space that feels safe and like yourself, not someone else. 

 

What Are Your Interests

So, in order to skip over trends and really zero in on what you want your home to be filled with, start with your interests, like we did. Have a love for movies? How can you incorporate that into your home? Love the color gold? Add it in! Love words of positivity. Find ways to throw them in here and there. While you do not want to go overboard (or maybe you do), you can add just the right amount of your interests into your decor to make it feel like your home. 

 

Use What You Have

It can be overwhelming to start when it comes to creating a home that truly fits you – on your mind and on you wallet. To help ease the pain when it comes to your wallet, try using what you already have. Don’t like old furniture? Maybe renovate them. What about your paint color? Try painting the walls yourself.

 

Your Decor Is Not What Matters

At the end of the day, know that your decor is not what matters. What matters is that you have a safe place to live with the people you love. Keep that in mind when house hunting too. Think of the song Bones by Maren Morris: “When the bones are good, the rest don’t matter. Yeah, the paint could peel, the glass could shadder.” When looking for a home, consider the bones, not what is inside. Not sure where to start? Call up local Florida-based realtor, Erin E. King with Jax Historic Realty. Erin can help you find homes for sale in San Marco, Riverside, Avondale, Murray Hill, and other areas around the Jacksonville area. His website was created with you in mind. You want to get a clear picture about life in whatever city you are looking in for your family. That’s exactly what you will find on his website: the highest-quality property images, the most informative guides, and blogs a-plenty. He is there to help your home buying and/or selling process extremely smooth and stress-free. If you are looking for a home with good bones (because that is what matters when it comes to your home), give him a call. At the end of the day, your decor doesn’t matter: it’s what is in your home and how safe your home is.

Welcome to America, Bluey!

Finding quality TV for Luna is hard, especially in a YouTube world. I know everyone has their own opinions on screen time and how little or how much they let their kids watch and where. It’s an even bigger topic of contention for me, being a behavior analyst, but I take a realistic approach that can be addressed on another day, at another time!

I really love for Luna to watch things with appropriate and relatable lessons, that also teach her how to be a good human. We had funnily enough stumbled on Bluey, an Australian cartoon series, on YouTube of all places (well, let me clarify, Luna stumbled on it). Luna adored it and so did we, but we noticed that it wasn’t available to watch on our Disney+ app, despite being on Disney Junior. So Luna would continue to watch short clips of the few Bluey episodes she could find on YouTube, until we found out Bluey was finally making her way to America to join the lineup over on Disney+!

We were lucky enough to be invited to Bluey’s welcome party this week at State of Kid, and it was so fun! The kids got to have plenty of 1:1 time with Bluey, do some arts and crafts, watch 2 episodes, play games and finally have an epic dance party with Bluey! It was such a fun time in a great space, and Luna is even more obsessed with Bluey than before.

Make sure to check out this adorable show that centers around a very energetic, imaginative and curious blue heeler puppy and her family available on Disney+ now!

Holiday Outfitting

The holidays are upon us: Christmas tree tents are up, Target is impossible to visit on the weekends + Frozen 2 is out (can we talk about how amazing it was and how much you I cried?). It’s time to drown out all your relatives ridiculous comments in several bottles of wine while wearing your holiday best, and I’m here to share with you some of my personal favorites this holiday season. Also, warm hugs to those of you that struggle this time of year, it’s not easy for me either, but starting new traditions has made a world of a difference.

Now I’m not one for party dresses, or even glitter dresses (shocking, right?), but I do love me some glitter co-ords, especially if it’s a pant set. I am obsessed with this really fun one because not only is it super flattering with it’s high waist and stretchy material, but it is super comfortable and feels almost like you are wearing a pajama. If this doesn’t scream the perfect Thanksgiving outfit, I don’t know what would (aside from a giant muu muu, with plenty of pockets to stow away leftovers). I mean, it’s so comfortable I’m planning on wearing it on the plan when I fly to Vegas next year (so much more on that later!).

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Four.

I just cannot believe that I am drafting up another birthday post for Luna. That cheesy saying of the days are long, but the years are short? Yeah, it’s been around so long because it is facts. I don’t want to blink for fear of missing these amazing little moments. I think it’s the reason that I’ve stuck with the 1 second a day app this year – I want to remember all those little, seemingly mundane, moments that aren’t mundane at all.

But back to the birthday girl. Luna, you are pure magic wrapped in glitter + sunshine. You make everyone you encounter smile with your big personality and charm. You hate wearing pants, and would prefer to live your life in the most puffiest and glittery skirts and dresses possible. Every moment of every day is a special occasion for you, and I love that you inherited my lust for living. You wake up, and instantly ask what we are doing – the same exact way your mother woke up every single day before having you. You are fierce and tenacious: if you want something, it will be yours. You will achieve it, and all while having fun.

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