National Book Lovers Day

August 9th is a great day for many, many reasons. August 9th is officially National Book Lovers Day! If the two towers stacks of books on my side of the bed is any indication, I do love me a good book.

So to help you celebrate the day in the way you love, I have compiled a list of crafts, events and books to commemorate the day.

Go to a local used book store.

There is something magical about entering a used book store, the stacks of books exploding from every crevice is homey to me, and if I was a horder if I chose a different path, I would want my house to be like that. Barnes and Noble and Amazon are fantastic, but on Saturday, go explore a used book store. 

My favorite one near my house is Hole in the Wall Books. It is the epitome of a used book store. So darling, I cannot wait to be a millionaire so I can spend all my time/money/life there and read. ALL THE TIME.

If you are in D.C. There is a great store near Eastern Market and another one in Dupont.

While I am all for supporting authors, and buying copies of books that they will actually make money on, don't forget about your local used book sellers, too!

DIY Book Crafts

If a DIY adventure is more your speed, check out some of these!

Cover books with pretty paper for decor!

Image via etsy

You can glue the sides of a book together, then with a heavy duty exacto knife, cut a hole. Then fill it with dirt and viola! A book planter!!

Want other ideas? check out my Pinterest board! (Because who doesn't have book inspired pinterest boards?)
http://www.pinterest.com/missmallory11/national-book-lovers-day/

Watch some Outlander

Outlander is my favorite book ever, and my newest obsession. If you haven't heard of it, then educate yourself. Now. I'll wait. http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Outlander

You're back? Great.

Buy the books and read them now. They are fantastic.

Now guess what? Your dreams are coming true. They have made it into TV show on Starz. Not quite sold yet? Watch the full first episode on Starz right now for free.

The series officially premiers on August 9th, so get a Starz subscription and get on it.

Simply, read a book

If you want to adventure through the magic that is books, here is my reading list.

1. The Merchant Emperor -Elizabeth Haydon
2. The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern
3. The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared - Jonas Jonasson
4. A Breath of Snow and Ashes -Diane Gabaldon
5. Quitter - John Acuff
6. The Game of Kings -Dorthy Dunnett
7. A Walk in the Woods -Bill Bryson
8. Magic's Pawn -Mercedes Lackey
9. Steelheart - Brandon Sanderson
10. Frances and Bernard - Carlene Bauer

Also! Don't forget to attend the 2014 Library of Congress National Book Fair on August 30th. More information here:  http://www.loc.gov/bookfest/



Enjoy your book weekend.

Our Farm Fresh Breakfast

I know that farm fresh is such a popular trend right now, but I am so happy Kevin and I have made that switch. Not only do we love knowing where our food came from, but that we are also able to support local businesses and farmers. This weekend we stopped by our local year round farmers market and got some groceries. We got our fresh eggs, cheese, bread and some cuts of beef! We are not at a place to supplement our whole diet with farm foods, but we are so happy with our start. The one downside I can forsee is just the cost, it is definitely something that we will have to budget for, but as for now, I think it is worth it. I am so curious though about other people's locally sourced goods. What do other people like to get and where can I get it around me? 

I decided to cook a huge breakfast with our locally sourced ingredients! Eggs, toast, grapefruits, orange juice, cheese and avacado!

Here is our feast! Kevin drinks his coffee black.

I love these Target cloth napkins, they make me so happy!

Weekly Wrap Up

Looking back at my pins this week, I am noticing that they are mostly CLOTHES! And while I would not call this a fashion blog at all, I am dreaming of some warmer weather and skirts! Are you following me on Pinterest? You can follow me here!

I have also been in love with some tutorials and inspiration for decor.

This is a BHG Tutorial. Check it out here!

I love this one from the Nest, I hope to be doing some of these soon! Check it out!

I am also loving these from Apartment Therapy!

I also just started the P90X workouts this week.

I know it will give me results, but man I am tired! 

My DIY Weekend

I spent this past weekend DIYing it up! When I came back from my California trip our house was overloaded with awesome gifts. We were thrilled to have them, but unfortunately our small apartment can't comfortably hold big boxes and packages. So I spent the weekend cleaning up and trying to decorate our space.

I love decorating with books! They are so versitale and can work for so many different styes. I have a huge case of books at home. However it they are back on the west coast. I only have favorites and regular reads here in DC. I needed some older books that could be used only for decorating, that I wouldnt want to take down and read. 

When I lived in Simi Valley, CA there was an awesome $1 book store that I used to frequent. I needed a spot like that in Northern Virginia. I started doing my research and found an awesome little second hand books store called Hole in the Wall Books--check them out here--www.holeintheweb.com  It is so great! They have so many used books, and by that I mean, It has books on every single wall and stacked on the floors. Most of their classic books start at $3.50. I was so excited to have found a great little shop, but I wasn't looking to spend $3.50+ on books for decoration.

I decided last minute to ask the owner if there was a section of cheap books. I only wanted to spend $1 per book at most. It was a good thing that I did. I was able to find 3 huge boxes of books for $1 a piece. I got 31 books. I also found Gone with the Wind and another copy of Pride and Prejiduce! So $40 later, I had my books!

teehee this is one of my favorite books I was given for $1!

I came home, whipped out my scrap book paper and then got to work! Here are some of the results.

Love these books along with my pottery barn bowls!

I got a pretty holder for Kevin's Grandma's china from The Container store! This keeps it all safe until we are settled into a house!

1/2 way done with moving!

If you have been following me on Facebook, you know that we are in the process of moving. Moving is, in a word, sucky hard. The worst part of it is that moment when you are feeling good about the progress you have made, and then you go back to your old place and see all the other stuff you forgot, or need to still get. 

But, the great part of moving is that you begin to have a new space to dream in. If your like me, you get rejunvinated and inspired by the new quirks that your apt has. My space is a tad oddly shaped so we had some trouble learning how to place everything to make it look good!

We spent last weekend with out internet (Gasp!). It is supposed to be coming today, so that will be great! Here are some preliminary pictures of our new 1 br! 

Fiance, Kevin, is really excited to get painting! Can you tell??

We painted the bedroom Green and Blue, we need to get some pallets to tone down the blue and add my county rustic vibe that I am going for.

Here is our entryway.

 Gallery wall before and after!