The Highlight of My Summer? House/Pup-Sitting!
1:17 PM
Hello, Internet!
So, I know I haven't exactly been active on this blog all summer... I did one blog post at the end of June, when it was actually pretty cold out and the hot weather hadn't quite arrived. But that's it. Now, I would say that this has been an incredibly eventful summer and that's why I haven't been updating... but that's not entirely true. For the most part, it's been a pretty laid back summer and I've mostly just been working and reading in between.
But with summer now coming to a close, I thought it would be only fitting to write a post about the highlight of my summer: my two-week stay home/pup-sitting for my sister. Enjoy!
For the first two weeks of July, my sister asked me to house-sit for her while she and her now-finance (!) went on a trip to London and France. It was mostly to babysit their dog, Ruby. I would've just babysat her at our house, but... well, Ruby can be a bit of a handful. So we both thought it might be easier for Ruby if she was still in her own home, where she felt familiar with her surroundings and her daily routine. Thus began my two-week stay in North Seattle. I was actually really looking forward to this stay because to me, it was like a practice run for what it'll be like when I actually move out. And not just that, but what it'd be like to actually have my own house!
I absolutely adored staying at my sister's house for these two weeks. I've always felt like her home reminded me of a quaint English cottage in the countryside. The house is pretty small and made of brick, and it sits up away from the street a bit so that there's a certain privacy to it. There's even a little wooden gate and a side door...
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| Like staying in an English cottage...in North Seattle. |
...leading into the kitchen! This is such a neat detail of the house that gives it an old-fashioned feel to it. I loved just being able to give Rubie a treat and going out the side door every morning when I left for work. Whenever I was home, I would leave it open for Ruby to run in and out of the house, and I would play music while I cooked dinner and feel the cool air come into the house. It was such an easygoing way of living that I absolutely loved. I felt like I was living in the country with my little beagle.
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Also hanging by the window is this cutting board that has the map of all the Seattle neighborhoods on it. I got it for my sister for her birthday, and I don't mind that she's used it more as decoration than a cutting board.
It looks really nice where it is. Plus, it's fun to look at it and see all the neighborhoods in relation to one another.
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| I love this cutting board. It makes me love Seattle that much more. |
Now let's go into the living room!
It's a bit smaller than most living rooms, but I still really like it because it's a nice little hangout that gets lots of natural light, and there are all sorts of little charms that make this room special....
...like these potted plants and things sat up by the window.
One of my favorite details in this room is the fireplace and the mantle. There's so much potential for decorating it how you want and I think it just brightens up the whole room. I got these ceramic flower pieces for my sister at Christmastime, and I'm so glad she liked them enough to place them on the mantle.
And finally... I discovered while I was at my sister's that she has quite the book collection: a total of two bookshelves crammed with books:
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| This was heaven for me to gaze at. |
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| And MORE books! |
Thank you thank you thank you! What way to make my stay better than to have so many wonderful books to choose from! This is one bookworm's paradise...
After long consideration poring over my sister's shelves, I came up with my own little TBR to choose from during my stay.
Did I get through all these books in two weeks? No. Was I disappointed? Yes. Unfortunately, I only had time to get through Mindy Kaling's book. But going into this stay, I did have two other books I brought with me that I'd had to get through first, so it's understandable. Either way, I now have a ton of new books to add to my TBR!
* * *
Well, I've stalled long enough. We all know I didn't stay at my sister's house for two weeks just to marvel at her house and take pictures. It's time to show you the real reason for this staycation.
Introducing, the cutest dog in the world...
Yes. For two weeks I was responsible for taking care of this little nugget. Her name is Ruby. I adore her to death (most of the time, when she's a good girl), and her being here just made my stay that much more enjoyable. I loved having her as my little companion and having her near me wherever I went. And because she is so cute and unbelievably photogenic, of course I have loads of pictures of her to shower you with. (!!!)
The bedroom was pretty much me and Ruby's hangout for much of my stay. I just loved how cozy it was. I mean, look at this. It's something out of a Tumblr post:
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| Just throw in some fairy lights and call this a Tumblr bedroom photo! |
Clearly Ruby liked it, too.
The bed was also a nice place to curl up and read—which, it turns out, I did a ton of while I visited. Between my sister's bookshelves and how much reading I did, this was more or less a "bookish stay-cation." But I absolutely loved it. I loved ending my workday by laying in bed in the evening with the bedside lamp on, immersed in a good book. I loved waking up on a lazy Sunday morning and reading in bed until noon.
And Ruby was always a great reading-time companion...
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| My reading pup is always closely to keep me company. |
(It also turns out that my sister's bed set was a great backdrop for book photography.)
Ruby is, without a doubt, the snuggliest little pooch. There are endless ways she can find to be cute while curled up in bed and make your insides turn to mush. In example...
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| Just... AWWW. I CAN'T. |
Another cool feature of the bedroom that I fell in love with is that the bed is right up against a large window that looks out to the backyard. It's just so lovely to wake up in the morning and be able to pull back the curtain and look outside and even faintly hear the early-morning sounds like birds and lawnmowers. The window's also big enough that you can open it and easily step right outside onto the deck. There were some mornings where I just crawled out the bedroom window and lounged out on the deck with my breakfast and a good book.
Having this window was an especially helpful feature for Ruby, who liked to wake up early in the morning and run around the yard. Rather than have to get up and let her out the back door, I could simply open the window as she'd wait in anticipation, and then she'd zip out the window and run all the way to the back of the yard. It was so stinkin' cute watching her little legs go... and of course nice that I could curl back under the covers and sleep while she had her fun.
And sometimes even when the window's open, Ruby likes to just stare outside from afar...
Oh, but rest assured, Ruby did get plenty of outdoor time! While I was out walking her, I discovered this neat walking trail pretty closely to the house. So every time we went for a walk, that trail was our go-to... and I have to say, it was really cool! There were all sorts of trails to take and a lot of cool sights to see:
There was also this bridge that went all around, and on either side was a large pond with ducks and their ducklings swimming around, and a couple of times I even saw a heron!
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While it was fun spending time around the house with Ruby, I did want to do at least one fun thing while I was here. So one weekend I decided to take a good ol' trip to University Village and visit Amazon Books! I'd been to the Amazon bookstore once before a couple years ago, which you can read about on my book blog.
It turned out to be an incredibly hot day when I went out, so it felt like a reprieve from the hot air when I walked into the nice, air-conditioned Amazon store.
It's always fun walking into the store and exploring your way through the different aisles and sections. Here are just a few of the sections that I liked the most while I was there:
And of course it wouldn't be a trip to the bookstore—Amazon or otherwise—without winding up adding a few books to my TBR...
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And so, that about wraps up the two weeks I spent home and pup-sitting for my sister, which ended up being the highlight of my summer. Even months later, it's so fun to look back on all of this and remember all of the fun I had. It was also just fun to be on my own for a bit and get a taste for having my own home and my own dog and having our own little adventures together. I would definitely not mind doing this again...
Until next time!
Danielle
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