It's been a few weeks since I have written a Something for Yourself post, so I figured it was time to do another one.  This week I'd like to talk about making your house a haven, which can mean different things to different people.  To me it means that you have created a space for yourself where you are comfortable and relaxed.  

Home should be a place you look forward to returning to, and these are some of the ways you can make your home a haven for yourself:

• Make sitting areas more comfortable with pillows and blankets
• Install dimmer switches for your lights or use low wattage light bulbs for more serene lighting
• Decorate with low-maintenance plants and flowers
• Hang beautiful artwork or motivational quotes to give depth to each room
• Use candles to provide a relaxing warm glow to any room
• Have diffusers or plug-ins to give each room a nice scent

And here are some other ideas from Pinterest on making home feel cozier.

The best way to feel relaxed the minute you walk through the front door is by having a a great entryway.  This type of entry provides organization as well as comfort to your home.

After a long day at work there's nothing better than curling up with a good book and a glass of wine.  This reading chair looks like a perfect place to relax after a long stressful day.

Another great way to relax is by taking a bubble bath.  This tub would be ideal for a long soak because it is so deep.  All you would need are some candles and you would be all set to go!

Of course, the best way to unwind is to have an amazing bedroom to rest and relax in.  I love that this room has soft lighting and a lot of comfy touches to make the room more cozy, like the warm colored walls and the soft throw pillows on the bed.

These are just a few ways you can make your home a haven.  If you have any other tips and tricks, please leave a comment below to share your ideas.

I got my first Erin Condren planner at the end of April and wrote about it in this blog post.  I have been using my planner every day since then and decided to show you what this week's spread looked like now that it's done.  I'm also going to show you some storage ideas and talk about the Etsy shops I use for my stickers.

First, let's look at the pages for this week:

And next, here are my storage ideas for your planner supplies:

• First, I use a small photo album to store my stickers.  I found this one for $0.99 at Walmart.  
• I also use a craft caddy I found in the dollar section at Target for $3.  
• And lastly, I use a toiletry travel case to store all of my other planner supplies, like sticky notes and stamps.  I got this one at Target for about $20.
  

At first I was just writing in my planner but soon decided that I wanted to make things more colorful by using stickers.  My inspiration was one of the "Plan With Me" videos that Elle Fowler does on YouTube.  You should check out her videos for ideas and for coupon codes to the Etsy stores I'll mention below.

Here are the Etsy stores I have purchased stickers from so far:

• ScribblePrintsCo
• HelloAshleyann
• SweetKawaiiDesign
• Willowfields
• VintageGypsyRoad
• OneOrangeSnowflake

All of the stickers I've gotten from these shops have been a really good quality.  Just be aware that most of these stores have a 1-2 week shipment window (and sometimes as much as 3 weeks), so don't get frustrated if your stickers don't come as quickly as you might hope.

I've also learned to make my own stickers that are full boxes, like the two you can see on Wednesday.  I'll write up the instructions and post them in my next planner update post.  It's really easy and very affordable!  I'll also talk about stamping in my next post.

I hope you enjoyed getting a look at this week's pages and seeing my storage ideas.  If there is anything else planner related that you would like to see, please let me know in the comments below!

Ever since deciding that I want to move to San Diego next year, I realized that I wanted to go there in person so that I could do some apartment hunting.  I asked my good friend, Marisa, if she would come with me to help me out and we made plans to meet there.  Here's a quick recap of how the trip went.

I took Thursday off work, so I was able to fly into San Diego early in the day.  Marisa worked that day so she flew in later that night.  When I arrived at the airport I picked up my rental car and headed to our hotel, which was the Sheraton in Mission Valley.  I had made plans to have dinner with my family that night, so I went to their house and spent some time with them.  Next it was time for me to go pick up Marisa at the airport.  Once she arrived we waited for her bag to come, which seemed to take forever!  After waiting a while we got her bag and headed back to the hotel.

Friday was our first full day of apartment hunting.  I had already called the week before and made appointments at each property, so we had seven scheduled for Friday.  In the end we skipped three of them because we were told they are all undergoing construction which would be disruptive for me since I work from home.  The other four properties we saw were nice.  We took lots of pictures and notes so that we could remember each one later.

Saturday and Sunday were also full of apartment hunting.  All together we saw twelve properties in three days.  I'm glad we ruled out some ahead of time because I'm not sure we would have had the energy to see all nineteen places I had scheduled!  Here are some pictures from the properties that I really liked.

So those are some of the amazing properties we saw during the trip.  It wasn't all business though, we did manage to do a couple of fun things.  On Sunday morning we headed to La Jolla and saw the coast.  It was really foggy, but still beautiful.  Also, my cousin had her birthday celebration at Ski Beach so we went and hung out for a while.  I could definitely see myself doing that on any given weekend once I live there!

So that's how our trip to California went.  I am super excited that I'm one step closer to moving there!

Last week I talked about creating a relaxing morning ritual for yourself to get your day started off on a nice note.  Today I will talk about ending your day with a "me" night that will let you relax before bedtime.  Here are some ideas for your "me" night:

• Light some candles
• Take a bubble bath
• Spend a few minutes meditating
• Journal about your day
• Make a list of what you want to accomplish tomorrow
• Set out your clothes for the next day
• Drink some tea
• Go for a walk
• Watch a sunset

Here are some YouTube videos that have other ideas on how to have your "me" night:

These are just some of the ideas you can add into your night routine for a "me" night.  You can mix and match whichever ones you like and keep switching up your choices until you've created a routine that works for you.  Let me know in the comments if there is anything else you like to do on your "me" nights.