My new life …

It’s funny how a new situation or scenery will bring along new realizations. Deciding to make the move from a house to an apartment brought about a serious cleaning of material things and an easing to some of the mental things as well. And, after a conversation I had today, I was reminded of the new life I began as a divorcee.

Almost four years ago I separated from my now ex-husband and almost immediately lost friends (I guess I was no longer suitable to be the friend of a married woman or couple) and family (I’m assuming none of my in laws saw me worthy enough to keep in contact). Life as I knew it changed. It was a long, painful, unhappy change, but a change nonetheless. The physical change of location has been long, but it’s been happy and refreshing… and it also reminded me of the friends I lost. I’m beginning again, so to speak, and I’m hoping to meet a few new friends in the process.

I don’t think of myself as a divorcee, I’m a writer, mom, friend, lover… and, uh, of course, woman who happens to be experiencing quite a few transitions. One thing that remains the same is my presence here at It’s a woman’s world. It’s my world and I choose to share it with you as much as I can. I know you’ve noticed I haven’t been around much.

The most recent thing I’d like to share is how I’m settling into our new place. There’s one thing that makes it a lot of fun and gives me a sense of excitement and connection with myself. I’m spreading my favorite color – red – all around the place. Take a look:

 These are the curtains in my bedroom. The window faces the parking lot and is right next to the front door so I wasn’t exactly comfortable with just the blinds there because, for one, they are cut a little short. You probably can’t tell by the picture, but the outer panels have very thin stripes in gold, brown, and red; they’re sheer and match nicely with the red under them. As soon as I get a chance I’m going to add a little *bling* from the rod… I’ll show you that in another post.

 There are red candles placed around my bedroom {giggle},a few  around the apartment and a couple in my bathroom. Speaking of my bathroom: This is the first time I’ve EVER had my own bathroom in all the time I’ve been on my own. My first year in college, there was a communal bathroom. Yuck! When I was in the Air Force I had to share the bathroom with a roommate and/or suite mates.

Even with my first few apartments I shared with my oldest daughter. So I’m particularly pleased and excited about this:

I love how I’m able to mesh the old, new and stylish. For instance, the candle holder is actually a dish that belonged to my grandmother and I’ve used two for that purpose.

The table in the corner is one I bought more than 10 years ago. I’ve added a cute plant, which I found on sale (YIPPEE!), and used a ceramic piece I made in 1994 to offset. I love that piece and what you can’t see is the red clay that I added.

My sweet daughter bought a few of the silver accents that you see (there’s also a trash can and a little dish that’s handy for Chapstick and hair elastics) as well as the shower curtain, bath towel and the bathroom rug peeking out in the previous picture.

Throughout the rest of the apartment, there’s the Betty Crocker spoon rest on the stove that I found at the dollar store, my grandmother’s red vase on the top of the cabinets, the analog clock to really help the kids tell time, the candle display on the bar, the little entry table lampshade and the sheer panels that cover my living room windows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What do you think? I still have to put up some artwork and pictures, get some barstools and quite a few other things like decorating the kids’ rooms. All in all I’ve been having fun and enjoying my new space in my new life. :-)

Tell me, what’s your favorite color and do you have it splashed around your house?