Away We Go Has Moved!

Away We Go has moved! Andrew designed a new website so that we could blog together and keep our friends and family updated as we plan our wedding and start a new chapter of our life together.

So be sure to check our our new blog In The Nook, and subscribe to see our stories and latest posts by me!

The Sweetest Gift

This weekend was full of so many amazing surprises! I flew up to Santa Cruz to celebrate my birthday early with Andrew. After eating breakfast on a cliff overlooking the ocean, he gave me this birthday present. It's an antique box that he upcycled into a music box!


He punched out every single hole in the strips of paper that make the music play. The first one was the happy birthday song, and the second strip was "Hoppipola" by Sigur Ros, which is a song we talked about playing at our wedding one day. After giving me my present he asked me to marry him and of course I said yes!

Not only was I surprised by that, but he also planned a surprise engagement bbq party at his parent's house later that day and he had my sister show up!

Thank you for such an amazing weekend Andrew, you are so thoughtful and constantly showing me love. I love you and I am so excited to spend the rest of my life with you :)

Renegade

Stephanie and I went to the Renegade Craft Fair in LA a couple weeks ago. I had been wanting to go to this for what seems like forever, and it definitely lived up to my expectations! I didn't take too many pictures, but I was able to take some of my friend Keiko's Booth!


Her booth had so many amazing handmade products, it was hard to buy just one.


I was good though and practiced some self control. Here is what I ended up buying - a print of her paintings of birds, which I still need to frame. It was so good to see you Keiko, and your shop looks great :)

A New Herb Garden

I visited Stephanie (Andrew's sister) at her new apartment in Westwood yesterday and gave her these herbs as a housewarming gift. She's a vegetarian and likes trying out different types of vegetarian recipes, so I thought she could use some herbs:) To make these, I used chalkboard spray paint on plain terra cotta pots and wrote the name of the herbs in chalk. This way, when the herbs get too big, she can plant them in bigger pots, erase the chalk, and grow new ones!

I had a great time hanging out with you Steph, next time we'll craft or go thrifting!

Inspiration : Sibella Court

I know it's been almost a year since this book came out, but I just recently discovered it. Everything inside is so beautifully captured, and the way Sibella Court displays her collection of curiosities gives me ideas on how to work with my own! Consider this added to my design book wish list.






Visit her website here!

Happy Bird Day

I decided to try out stitching on wood to make this birthday card, and I must say...it came out pretty cool! Happy belated birthday Mrs. Dunn!

A Very Special Birthday

Isn't this picture of my grandma and grandpa on his birthday adorable? We celebrated his 80th birthday early this past weekend, which was such a blast! And watching them dance and blow out the candles on his cake made my heart so happy.
Happy 80th birthday Grandpa, I love you so much!

Succulent Love

I have a new love...succulents! My friend/co-worker Helene and I have recently become obsessed, and I'm pretty sure we talk about plants everyday. A little weird, I know. But how can you not love these adorable, little guys? And the best part is that they don't require a lot of watering!


I visited my local Salvation Army and picked up some glass dishes (all 50% off!), and got to work planting. I even made a little terrarium :)




Isn't this pink one gorgeous? I think the contrast between the pink and the green glass cup is so great.



I hope you are all having a lovely weekend, and are inspired to plant something for the summer!

Chicken & Broccoli Casserole

I remember there were certain meals that I wished I could eat everyday that my mom would make while I was growing up. One of them is a total comfort food casserole (she only made this once in a while) - Chicken & Broccoli Casserole!


Lay cooked broccoli and chicken down in an oven safe baking dish.


Mix together mayonnaise, cream of chicken soup, and curry powder.


Add a tsp of lemon juice, and pour mixture over broccoli and chicken. Sprinkle bread crumbs and a little bit of paprika. Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.


I must say I am pretty satisfied with the way it turned out, but my mom's cooking will always be the best:)

My Mom Never Ceases to Amaze Me

These pictures were taken when my mom was pregnant with my older brother, Chris. Look how much she glows! I still think she's beautiful and I'm so thankful for her. As a way to say thank you to all of the special mothers in my life (mom, grandma, & Mrs. Dunn), I made some cards. Happy mother's day mom, I love you!

Today's Thrift Store Finds

I scored this gingham picnic basket complete with dishes, utensils, and matching napkins at the thrift store today for only $4.50 !


And I also picked up this adorable floral printed mason jar for only $2.

Don't you love it when you find things that are in excellent condition for a great deal? I Do :)

Acai Berry Bowls

On my walk back from the gym the other day, I stopped by the Brazilean market (a major plus to living in LA!) and picked up a frozen package of acai berries for only $5, so that I could make breakfast for Andrew and I this weekend.


After blending the frozen fruit with some OJ, I added some sliced banana, strawberries and low fat granola on top. Tasty,easy, and healthy!

A New Tablecloth

One place I haven't given much attention to in my apartment is the kitchen. So I checked out Design Sponge for some DIY kitchen decor ideas. I came across a lovely table cloth project by Elenor Grosch ,and I knew I HAD to try making one.



I ended up using 10 dish towels to make this one , which cost me only 6 dollars! Pretty, clean, and topped with delicious food, like chicken and veggie stir-fry - just the way I like it.

DIY Inspiration : Packing Crates

I love the idea of using unfinished wood to decorate and add some character to an empty wall. Now that I know old crates and pallets are pretty easy to come by, I'm keeping an eye out for some to use in my apartment as a way to organize and display my things. I haven't decided where to use them though - kitchen or above my bed? Maybe both? I guess we'll have to see what I come up with after some dumpster diving!

Below are some images of crates and collections that I found inspiring.


Image from Design Sponge


Image from Design Squish Blog


Image from Apartment Therapy

Tea Towel Pillows

My Apartment has been in need of some color and character ever since I moved in. So I picked up some tea towels yesterday, and got to work on the sewing machine and made throw pillows in 4 easy steps!
(1) Fold towels in half(printed sides facing each other) and iron any wrinkles out.
(2) Sew straight lines around edges, leaving an opening large enough to fit your hand.
(3) Turn pillow right side out and fill with polyfil stuffing.
(4) Sew opening either by hand or with machine.


Isn't the ship design on these fun? I can't wait to start collecting unique towels and fabric to add to my collection.

If you try this DIY project out, I'd love to see what you come up with!

Stuffed Bell Peppers

I haven't lived with my brother for 7 years, and now I get to be his new roomie! My brother is an amazing cook, and his fully stocked spice drawer inspired me to cook something new today.


So I put on my apron and got to work making stuffed red bell peppers completely from scratch!


I must admit I was quite excited about the way these turned out! They were simple, healthy, and quick. Now I'm excited to start cooking again and try out some new recipes.

What's your favorite dish to make? I'd love to give them a try :)

New Places

1) I apologize for the lack of posting lately.
2) I've been working on lots of projects at work and at home, I promise!
3) And... I've moved! I'm now living in Culver City with my brother for the next couple months, and it's been quite an adventure finding my way around this city.

This past weekend, Vy came and visited me so that we could find some new places to visit (thrift stores, flea markets, cafes, coffee shops, art galleries, craft and fabric stores), you know...the usual!


We ended up going to the Venice Beach flea market and eating a delicious lunch at a cute little cafe called Cafe Laurent.


She ordered pasta, and I ordered a tropical shrimp & mango salad. And of course, we ended up splitting and switching our food :)

Now that I'm getting more used to the area, I'm excited about having a new place to myself. And with new places, comes decorating!

Lots of DIY decorating projects in the works, and I promise I'll post them as I complete them!

Mail Sorter Makeover

I picked up this little guy at the thrift store the other day for only $3.50, so cheap and so much potential!


And after busting out some old tubes of paint and mixing up a nice chalkboard green color (yeah painting class!) , I gave it a little makeover, plus a little sanding here and there to "age" it.


This is my favorite part- a cute little knob I picked up from Anthropologie for an extra special touch. I Can't wait to fill it with some mail and pretty stationary!

I hope you're all having a lovely weekend and enjoying the rainy weather!

Vintage Cameras

This past weekend, Andrew and I treasure hunted for more props for my grandpa's travel themed birthday party coming up in June. There were a lot of great finds that I wanted to take home with me, but I had to remember to hunt only for grandpa's party. In the end, I purchased several vintage cameras because they were such a good deal, and I get to keep them after the party is over!



Maybe I will create something like this from Apartment Therapy, or put them on a shelf and slowly add to my collection. All these cameras make me miss shooting in film and printing in the dark room!

Valentines Day

For Valentines Day this year, I flew up to Santa Cruz to spend the weekend with Andrew and his family. I kind of feel like we celebrated it all weekend, because we did so many fun things together! But on Sunday, we woke up early and made some heart shaped chocolate chip waffles and scrambled eggs, with some pear slices on the side.


And since I'm always telling him I want to ride our bikes together, he planned a tandem bike ride for us at the beach, where we rode our bikes to an ocean front cafe and relaxed over some mimosas!



And this was our final stop, a lighthouse! I get so excited to do these types of things because they remind me of when I lived in Newport Beach, and got to partake in little adventures on the weekend.

Thanks for making my valentines day so fun Andrew!

Be My Valentine

I can't believe it's that time of the year already...Valentines Day?!
I try to make handmade cards as much as possible because I know they're fun to keep. So this year, I made a non traditional Valentines Day card - hand-sewn lined paper(fabric & embroidery thread), with a Yes(checked!),No, or Maybe Box. If I have more time, maybe I will be able to create and embroider a matching envelope.

A Long Overdue Thank You

Andrew once told me that his grandpa has an amazing memory, and never forgets to send cards for special occasions. Truth be told, he remembered to send me a Christmas card this year! I didn't get it till last week because he sent it to Andrew to give it to me, but I think that it still deserves a handmade thank you card.

Thank you for the Christmas card, Grandpa Dunn! It was very sweet of you :)

Vintage Pyrex

I've always admired vintage Pyrex but I never thought to collect it, until I started coming across some really great and affordable pieces while treasure hunting. Here is what I've collected so far.


I absolutely love the color mustard yellow (too bad it looks terrible on me..grr!), so I'm glad Vy found these for me when we were out thrifting last week! I can't wait to start collecting different colors and patterns because I think they look great mix matched. There are lots of people who collect vintage Pyrex, and have found some great ways to display their collection. Here are some pictures I found of collections I really enjoy:



Image from ShagPhiladelphia Blog


Image from Apartment Therapy


Image from Apartment Therapy