Wow, 2016 you’ve been something else. Not all bad, but a turbulent year for most for sure. We decided to move all the way across the country in the middle of this insane year, which only seems fitting to add to its absurdity. It’s turned out awesome for us though, so no complaints. What I have been wanting to do as we finally are feeling at ease with unpacking and figuring out where everything should go and what should go, to make our small apartment feel like home, is celebrate the last place I lived: on the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City (with Fred and George the cats).

My lemon apartment was an interesting place to branch out on my own in a new city, with the entire complex flooding multiple times, three animals in 700 square feet, my upstairs neighbors consistently doing something loud and weird, the “reply all” emails to management from angry tenants… I could go on. But I loved the way I embraced what I knew inside could be the last time I lived alone, and I decorated that cute little place to my girly shabby chic heart’s content. This apartment was a sweet mixture of mementos from moving up from Memphis, Southern eclectic charm, family heirloom furniture, grit, sassy sayings, some Kansas City West Bottoms finds, lots of my own DIY, painted thrift store furniture, and some cherished pieces from Midwest makers markets.

Sadly, Fred and George the (alien) cats, who I adopted as a two-for-one shelter deal in Memphis could not make the Seattle trip, but are still living it up in Missouri with little kids giving them tons of the attention they hog. Some things did make the journey west, but it just seems fitting as we are almost ready to slide into a new year that this home and boys deserve a look back. I may be the only one who enjoys looking at these photos, but it’s a nice wrap up for me, like blowing a kiss from a moving train to a place I’ll never see again, but was just so cute. Love you, Fred and George!

Cheers to not looking back ~ Amanda