As many of you know, I finally moved out from home in September. I knew for a while before I moved out that it was time for me to be on my own — I just couldn’t decide where I wanted to go. And since I have always dreamed of living in California or Hawaii, I wanted to at least try to see if it was possible after doing some research. I had been researching Hawaii extensively when out of the blue, Megan said one of her brides lived in Hawaii and had invited her to go. She knew how badly I wanted to go and invited me to come along. When we booked our flights, I almost cried.

When I finally visited Hawaii last March, I knew that’s where I wanted to be. I left my heart there and absolutely LOVED it. I had been in touch with people who lived there about photoshoots so I had a couple contacts after going and I mentioned to them to let me know if any apartments came available. I also connected with some Delight girls who live there who were about to move out and asked them to let me know if they found anything. I waited and waited and waited. Nothing. There were a few nights that I couldn’t help but cry because I wanted to go so bad but I wasn’t sure if it was meant to be. I knew I would love to live there but I didn’t want to sabotage my business, be 5,000 miles and an ocean away from home, and be broke after two months. I prayed one night and asked for my mom’s blessing to go and although she gave me her blessing and my heart felt free to go, I didn’t feel at peace about it. Looking back now, I know it would have been really stressful to have built my business back up and support myself in the process but I didn’t really think realistically about it then. I just wanted to make my dream come true.

Well, rewind to a month before I even went to Hawaii… I had contacted some of the Young Life staff in Charlottesville to ask if they knew of any girls looking for roommates. I didn’t hear anything for four months. And finally, after I had been home from Hawaii for a few months, I get an email from a girl in grad school at UVA, looking to find a new place. I still had my heart set on Hawaii but I also knew that Charlottesville was a great place and if I found good community and could move closer to where most of my business took place, I’d probably be fine. So I met this girl named Monika for coffee, having no idea what to expect. She ended up being so sweet and after deciding Charlottesville was where I was meant to be, the search began. It was a nightmare finding a place because at that point I was traveling a lot and Monika was in New Jersey but after about a month of searching and viewing apartments and townhouses, we FINALLY signed a lease in September for a three-bedroom, sunny townhouse about a mile from downtown.

Moving in was a bit hectic with it happening in the middle of wedding season but the transition in general was really easy and thankfully, I still love our place as much as when I moved in. It’s taken a while to fill each room with furniture and decor and although it will never be completely finished, I think we did a pretty good job of furnishing a place on a budget and I’m excited to share my home with you today. 🙂

BEDROOM

Bed & side table – Overstock

Comforter – Bed, Beth, & Beyond

Picture frames – Amazon

Arrow shelf & side table decor – World Market

Desk – Staples

Desk chair – World Market

Desk book ends – Z Gallerie

Bathroom picture & plant – Home Goods

LIVING ROOM

Couch & chairs – Habitat Store

Coffee table – Home Goods

Pillows – T.J. Maxx

KITCHEN

Coffee mugs – World Market

Coffee/sugar containers – Marshalls