It took us awhile to get here and we’re still not technically “done” decorating (we want to hang more art, mostly!), but I can finally say that our living room and kitchen are fully set up! Today I’m sharing my process + home inspo to piece together a room without it looking like a bunch of pieces randomly thrown together. We moved 2.5 months ago after buying this house, but it took a full month for the movers to even arrive with our stuff, we had lots of expenses with more urgent homeowner things

Buying a house for the first time can be such an overwhelming, confusing process — it’s hard to know where to even begin! I’m answering all your FAQ’s here, like how much of a deposit we put down, how to figure out your home-buying budget, what to know about the real estate process, unexpected costs, getting a mortgage pre-approval, the pros and cons of renting versus owning, and so much more.

Hilariously enough, I can’t believe I’m writing this and that we actually did it. We closed on the house TODAY!

I think in the blur of the last 2 years of the housing market frenzy that came with the way the panini changed a lot of our priorities and day-to-day needs, it seemed like a “we bought a house!” announcement was popping up on my Instagram feed every other day— from IRL friends, to influencers, it felt ubiquitous, and also a bit difficult to watch when we were sharing 600 sq ft of space and WFH 24/7.

Every time I share a pourover video or WFH snap on my Instagram (which is indeed, often), I usually get a few DM’s asking where my ceramic mugs are from or what ceramic makers I like— so I’m gathering my current favorites here to share with you!

Chalk it up to getting older and feeling more of a responsibility to this earth we call my home, but my conscious knew it was time to start changing the way I lived. My endocrine (hormonal) issues with my Hashimoto's were the other major catalysts that made me spring to action to be a more conscious consumer and to clean up my lifestyle. But previously? I had eschewed all the ways to reduce my carbon footprint that I had then deemed too "extreme" and impractical to adopt into my life.

When I look back at all the swaps and practices I've adopted over the past few years, I'm proud at my efforts but I continually realize more changes I can and want make moving forward. For the person just starting out, I know this entire list can seem intimidating, but it's really just about starting. It doesn't matter how small, just begin-- and once those become a naturally effortless part of your routine you don't think twice about, think about the next change you can make.

I'm sure my mother is going to be a little shocked somewhere because I'm about to say the word "period" and "menstrual" and "uterus / vagina" about a million times in this blog post, but that's exactly the point. To little fault of her own, but rather the societal culture around us (particularly in our generation), women's reproductive health and menstrual cycles were never something to be talked about openly without some sense of shame and an "ew gross" attitude around it. Because of these stigmas, I felt the same way and I failed to understand my cycle, my hormones, and my reproductive health in a real way until my mid-twenties.

So as I'm sure you guys know, I moved to Brooklyn almost 3 months ago!

While I was SO excited to move, the actual prospect of moving scared me....

Not only do you have to be concerned about packing and protecting your stuff on the move, there are A LOT of logistics when it comes to moving in NYC. Insurance, permits, elevator reservations (if you have one); it's enough to make your head spin. I know what I'm an expert in and what is valuable for me to be spending my time on, and it is not this😂 I wanted a moving company that was very all-inclusive and it was actually quite hard to find one...

Eating locally has become all the more important to me in the past few years. The more I've gotten educated about nutrition and food practices, the more I've learned what is actually important versus what is just a buzzword. Eating locally has become a bit of a trendy thing, and people lump it into a bunch of healthy buzz words alongside "organic" "all-natural" "plant-based" "non-GMO." Consumers see those words and associate whatever they're buying to be healthy... but that's not exactly true.

Today, I want to share with you guys some things I've learned over the years about eating locally grown produce, and how to navigate those labels so that your dollar actually goes towards what matters and not just marketing speak. My good friend and fellow blogger Jules, of Om and the City, and I teamed up with Gotham Greens to talk about the importance of this and more about their innovative urban farming practices that...