My ultimate dream home and other magazine memories
As y’all know, I just finished sorting through the boxes my parents brought to our house from my childhood home. Though I brought a good chunk of my things when we first moved to North Carolina, there was a lot still left up north – we weren’t sure how long we were going to be here and we were only moving to an apartment, so we didn’t have that much room for storage! The remnants have been slowly migrating for the last few years, whenever my parents had room in their suitcases. The pile I just finished tackling represented the last big haul, so working through it felt like the completion of an epic project! There were all sorts of goodies to sort through, including Irish dance trophies, elementary school yearbooks, and graduation gifts, but the bulk was magazine clippings. I’ve been a continual subscriber to Better Homes & Gardens and Martha Stewart Weddings since the seventh grade, and kept meticulous manila files of my favorite tear-outs over the years. I tossed the majority, but when I got to the Coastal Living Idea House from 2001 (13 years ago!), I stopped. It’s the first home inspiration I remember saving, and after all these years, it’s still my ultimate dream home. That porch!! As I sat on the floor of our spare room and flipped through the pages, I was overcome by a really sweet feeling – a realization that I now have what that 14-year-old self dreamed about: a home of my very own, shared with the one I love most. Pretty amazing. Some folks asked to see more when I posted this on instagram, so I thought I’d share a few more scanned shots here! After all, I may have a house of my own, but I think I’ll