Nesting Season

In case you aren't addicted to Facebook like I am, here's what you missed this week:

our apartment = rat central

Apparently it is nesting season around here.  A rat chewed through our screen window in our kitchen and climbed on in.  That little punk gnawed through a banana and roamed all over our apartment, pooping on everything: kitchen counters, kitchen table, sofa, bathmat... you name it.  We were pretty grossed out, especially since we've been hearing horror stories about all the diseases that rats carry around here.

So, I spent the following day disinfecting our entire apartment.  A special thank you that that bi-atch of a rat for making me re-wash all of my clean dishes that were drying in the drying rack... you suck!  Really, the worst part was not knowing if the rat was still in our apartment.  Had Splinter nested in suitcases?  Dresser drawers?  Kitchen cabinets?  You may think I'm being a bit dramatic.  But this was a RAT.  Mice, I could handle.  But the rats here are nasty and filthy and disease-y.  Yikes.

We searched the apartment and found no rat.  I even bought and set up some scary metal mouse traps and left those out with cheese and crackers on them for a few days, just in case... but no rat.  Lucky for us, the rat is out, and the windows are closed for good.  (Bad news: being the in the kitchen without the windows open feels like death).  Unfortunately, the rat visited my neighbor and chewed through her screens the following night... ewwww.  Enough with the rats!

If you know me, you know that I love my family and friends, and I love Richmond, but I'm really not one to be homesick.  This rat, however, has made Charlie and I both really miss home.  Family, friends, homes without rats... we miss you all!  {Please know that even though sometimes we're both really bad at keeping in touch, we still love you and think of you often!}

Since I've been a little homesick, I've been doing some nesting of my own, dreaming of the future, of our someday one-day home, of quality design, artful homes, fun colors, cozy beds, "real" furniture, dishwashers, non-fluorescent non-exposed-bulb overhead lighting, dream kitchens, fluffy pillows, washing machines, clean sheets, soft towels, comfy sofas...  My fabulous friend Emily taught me how to use a fun photo editing program called Picnik, so I've been "window shopping" online and making some collages, trying to beef up my pretty pathetic graphic design-ish skills.  Here are some collages I made of favorite things I'm coveting from far away places like Anthropologie and West Elm...