Quite the accomplishment

Over the summer I moved from my apartment in Brookline to an apartment in Winthrop. I have lived with my aunt and uncle (who are 30 and 31) for a little over two years now. I moved in with them after my freshman year because they are still young and needed help with rent. It was the perfect situation because I needed roommates and help with rent as well.

I have lived in Boston for three years and one summer (I just say 4 years) in five different places. When I stayed for a summer before my senior year in high school I lived with my aunt and uncle on Beacon Street in Brookline near Coolidge Corner. Then I lived in the residence halls my first year of college, another apartment near Coolidge Corner, an apartment near Brookline Village, and now an apartment in Winthrop. I moved from each place for good reasons like saving money, or the landlord was selling, etc. I really do enjoy change in life and new adventures (which moving to a new place every year brings much of) but I hate moving! It's stressful and expensive and exhausting. What's funny is that I also don't forsee myself living in Winthrop for more than one year.

Anyway, my aunt and uncle had a baby in March and were looking for more room and to save money we moved over the summer to this three-bed apartment which is actually half of a house. Winthrop is east of East Boston and is in some ways your quintessential beach town. I live a five minute walk from this tiny little very New England beach. So getting to the whole point of this story...


My room was painted this mustard yellow color with bronze sponged on top. It was kind of a Tuscan look. Unfortunately everything I own is black and white. My bed is black, desk is white and everything else is black and white themed. I love the b&w prints of various scenes in Paris, pictures of old movie stars (especially Audrey) and other pictures of old. Naturally I have plenty of them to decorate with.


So the Tuscan look was not only a bit dark for my tastes, but also didn't go with anything I own. So I decided to paint! It was my first painting project all by myself so I was really nervous that I wasn't going to be able to pull it off. I always feel really uncomfortable when walking into a hardware store because I feel like I'm that girl with big sunglasses who is trying to explain her fix-it problem in girl language. But lucky for me, my dad is super knowledgable when it comes to painting so he walked me through all the details of what I needed.

My aunt and uncle went away for the weekend, so I was truly all by myself painting. First I painted everything a flat white color to cover up the dark gold and brown.

I painted in dingy clothes and bare feet. According to some of the Ambassadors, painting without shoes on is weird. But my point of view is 1). No shoes is way more comfortable, and 2). Why would I waste a perfectly good pair of shoes by getting paint on them when I can just wash paint off myself? The only problem with no shoes is that I'm ridiculously clumsy and dripped paint all over the place. My feet evidence this. Kind of a gross picture, I know.

This is the finished product! Doesn't it look beautiful!? Not bad for a first time painter, if I do say so myself. Thanks Dad for teaching me so well!

The only thing I didn't get done this weekend was my closet (and the unfortunately small-sized closet I have). That will be a project for another weekend. But I must say that I feel like this was quite the accomplishment. It was my first hands-on, fix-it kind of project and I did it all by myself. It made me feel capable and independent. I'm sure I'll have many fix-it projects in my future and it is so comforting to know that I can do what I set my mind to. I don't forsee myself fixing any plumbing problems in the near future, but at least I know I can paint a room :)