Living Room Inspiration

Yesterday we made our second big ticket purchase together and splurged (not really thanks to Black Friday Deals) on a new stove. Ours hasn't latched in over three years, and we just sort of ghetto-rig it together whenever we need to bake anything, so this is a total dorky adult moment.

We've been planning a lot of renovations around here and I'm excited to finally get the house looking like my version of magazine living. I've been playing around on Polyvore and put together a little inspiration board for what I'm planning for our living room.




Words cannot begin to explain how excited I am to have laminate wood floors going in!! I'm finishing up the black accent wall this week after many months of procrastination. We originally painted it an eggshell/satiny finish, and unfortunately, old walls = lots of blemishes and imperfections, so hopefully flat paint will make a much cleaner presentation.

Are you planning any fun holiday renovations or remodels? 

Link up if you'd like to share your home decor or ideas ;)

Sunday Morning Dog Walks

Every now and then we take advantage of where we live and stroll down to the bay when we go on Liver's walk. There were a few divers out taking advantage of the clear water, but from these photos you would think we had the whole beach to ourselves.

Halloween Party

This year my boss threw a Halloween Party and asked me to help with the spread. I went a little white girl overboard on Pinterest with the menu, but it's a good thing because we had our share of Pinterest Fails.. *cough* anything with a face *cough*..

I wasn't able to capture the best pics due to the fact that I left my DSLR at home, but I snapped some photos on my iPhone before everything was demolished.

Not So Balanced Breakfast

30 Days Vegetarian

Lately my boss and I have been getting into some deep discussions on a wide variety of topics mostly stemming around punk ideologies. Long story short after I started telling him the other day in a sort of excusal manner that I had already gone the morning meat free, he called me on my shit and challenged me to go 30 days minimum.

So far it's been 4 days, and holy shit is my system cleaning out. Read between the italicized lines and take pity on my toilet.

I'm quickly realizing that my normal starch and fatty foods rich diet isn't going to cut it without the normal excessive amount of protein I usually eat to compensate; so in an effort to balance out I've been researching vegetarian diet plans and planning on trying some high protein recipes that are low on murder and torture (infographic).

Stay tuned for some recipe ideas!

Leather-Look Jackets

Leather Jackets by ashleyriah featuring a black jacket

Re-Finding My Voice

I can't even remember the last time I sat down in front of the Blogger Dashboard with something inside that I actually wanted to write.

A lot of us got into the blogging world for a variety of different reasons. Some of us were coming into adulthood, some of us traveling half way around the world, and some even documenting our transitions into married life, or parenthood (for the millions of mommy blogs out there).

At first I was doing all three, and starting to plan for #4.
Then life kind of threw me for a loop.

I went from wife, to roommate, to back in my parents' guest room, to a new relationship while mending from a preconceived concept of what I thought I wanted my life to become. In a lot of ways I felt like I lost my voice, and to continue propagating posts aligned with an identity or persona I no longer felt was me, seemed like a lie. 

For most of my adulthood I have been trying to conform to the gelatin mold of what I thought a "girlfriend/wife/woman/etc." should be, instead of simply being true to Ashley. It is my intention to sort of re-find myself through this blogging process, cultivate what inspires me (in a non-cliché white girl fashion), share what I find interesting, and ultimately connect with others out there that kinda feel what I'm talking about. 

So here goes nothing!