before and after

budget to decorate my room allowed for: a friend's leftover yellow paint, 2 paintbrushes, a drop cloth and some sand paper and a new pillow and sheet.

this week i left this corner of home to a summer intern and left the city by the bay for two months.

 

i realized that my 10.5 months in this house is the longest i have lived anywhere since i was 18.

 

i've long adored (as the ward members call it) "the dollhouse," but this past week i recognized that it is actually beloved (a nearly sacred place) and will always live in me as a home that built me.

 

on my last night i stood on the roof with a 360 degree sunset (purple behind, orange in front) and felt amazing gratitude for all these crazy months - for the adventures and the rejections and the nights crying the car and the glorious jump-out-of-my-skin happy days and the dark, heartrending moments and the new friends and fierce love for the city and for my deepened spirit.

 

this picture was taken within minutes of arriving at my new home on august 2, 2010. little did i know... this place is now part of my fabric.