New Year, New Phones

Trent and I finally got a phone plan together yesterday. And got new iPhone 7's! It's been a long time coming. We got our old iPhones way back in 2013, so it was time for an upgrade.

Trent got the black one, I got the pink. And we got cases to match. Below is just a picture of my box, but isn't it purdy?

So far, we love the new 7's. It was super easy with the iCloud backup to transfer all of our photos and apps over from our old phones to our new ones, too. I'm also excited about the new and better camera.

We decided to make the switch to Verizon - we each had something different before. Our decision was mainly based on the best coverage area, and the carryover data. So far, no issues! But it's only been one day. :)

My Latest Discovery: The Apple News App

I've been an Apple user for several years now, and I've had an iPhone since 2013. But I've just recently discovered the News app that comes standard with the iPhone. (And yes, the Podcast app was another recent discovery of mine. Where have these apps been all of my life?) 

I discovered it by "sliding my screen over to the right" one day, then scrolling down to find a bunch of news headlines.  It was in June right after the Orlando shooting happened, and I saw a headline about it, so I clicked on it. It took me to a news article about the shooting, and from there I started exploring the app and finding other articles that interested me.

Since then I've been taking a few minutes almost every night to read a few articles, or save new ones to read later.

What I like about the app is that you can customize it to your specific interests. If you like traveling, or sports, or art/ design, you can search for these topics, which then appear in your "Favorites" screen, and the app finds stories and articles related to your favorite topics. Here's a small portion of my Favorites page for example:

Since I've been planning our Colorado vacation this coming August, I've read a lot of articles related to Colorado and National Parks lately! The articles that the app collects for you, are all under the "For You" tab.

A lot of times, I will save an interesting article I see by swiping the headline over to the left, and clicking on "Save". I'll then go over to my "Saved" tab, and click on the articles as I want to read them.

If I want to go back to an article I read the other day to reference something, I can either leave it in my "Saved" list, or I can go to my "History", and every article I've visited / read is listed there. 

I mean, who doesn't want to read 17 random facts about "Gilmore Girls" before heading off to bed?

Seriously though, whether you prefer to use this app for entertainment, travel planning, acquiring knowledge, or to check the latest top news stories - or all of the above like I do - I've found it to be a pretty cool and useful little app once you start customizing it to your interests. It's now on my home screen and I check it just about as much as my Weather app these days. Thanks, Apple! :)

My Favorite Bloggers, Now in Podcast Form

Hey guys! If you haven't heard by now: Young House Love has a Podcast. And that's literally what said podcast is called.

My favorite home bloggers, John and Sherry, are at it again. And you know I endorse every new endeavor and product they come out with. They are partly what inspired me to start a home blog of my own! So when I found out about their new Podcast yesterday, I was immediately listening and subscribing. These two are the most fun and entertaining people.

Screenshot from here

I listened to the first episodes, and they are awesome! I laughed out loud, and learned some pretty interesting home-related facts, at that. I invite you all to check it out here. (It's free, and you can also find it and listen on the Podcast app if you have an iPhone - it comes pre-installed on most. Don't worry, I didn't know that app existed until now either.)

I'm now a first-time Podcast listener. :) Looking forward to hearing more of John and Sherry's entertaining banter and mad interviewing skillz in the future. 

Loving the New Pinterest Mobile Design

So, I'm not sure how many of you all go onto the Pinterest app on your phones, but just the other day, I was browsing Pinterest on my lunch break, and discovered the really awesome new layout on the Pinterest app! 

I have an iPhone, and I recently installed a new update, so I don't know if the new update brought these changes on, or when they first appeared, but I'm loving the some of the new features. 

I went to my profile page to find my Boards, scrolled down a little, and this is what I saw:

Have you seen this before, or am I just late on this?! Not only can you change the way you are viewing your boards on this page, either by most recent or alphabetically, but now it gives you "tags" for each of your boards that you pin to.  

It made me laugh to see "Little Houses" as one of my tags - obviously this here blog, "This Little House of Mine" is in the category of Little Houses. :) I also apparently tend to save pins related to Jennifer Aniston (my idol), Kate Spade, Deviled eggs, Fall front porches, Weddings, and the list goes on. Pretty cool feature!

Scrolling down, I then saw what kinds of furniture I pin most to my Furniture board - and if you click on one of the tags - say "Ottomans" for example, it will show you all of the pins on that Board that relate to Ottomans. This is the greatest thing since sliced bread - and makes it super easy to sort for the exact kind of pins you are looking for within your own boards.

Needless to say, I found myself pretty occupied for a good 15 minutes just browsing through all of the categories that I pin the most. I can't say I'm surprised though, that my pin boards are filled with tags like "Ceramic animals," "Tassels," and "Throw pillows." You know, the important things in life.

What kinds of things do you pin often?

My New Toy

Popping in because I've completely forgotten to post that I've been blogging from a new computer! My old Macbook Pro has pretty much bitten the dust (I've only had it since I graduated from high school, no big deal).

But it's been replaced now. By this guy:

Yep, this is what I'm blogging from these days. Well, since last Tuesday when it came in the mail. I was quite a happy girl. :)

It's much lighter, faster, has a lot more space, and the battery life is much better. So overall life is good...just had to shell out a few pretty pennies. And I still have a perfectly good iMac upstairs, but it's upstairs. And sometimes I just want to blog from the couch and watch my shows at the same time. You know how it goes. Up there I'm kind of isolated, and my office is now pretty much where Saleen calls home, so that means I have to burn some smell-good candles and all that jazz.

Anyway....just wanted to post about my new toy. Now is it the weekend yet? :) 

Watercolor Fun with Waterlogue

Have you heard of the Waterlogue app? I've been seeing things about it everywhere lately, and I finally got the app last week. It is so cool! I'm kind of obsessed.

If you haven't heard of it, Waterlogue is an app that takes your photos and transforms them into a watercolor painting right before your eyes. It was $2.99, but I thought it would be worth it in the long run, since you can transform your photos with the app, and then get them printed and hang them for some awesome art.

I've been playing around with it a lot and have been pretty impressed. This photo of Trent and Saleen is one of my favorites so far:

I think these turned out pretty cool too:

I know I can never paint a watercolor painting like this, so the fact that you can now "fake" one so easily is pretty darn cool. And I love how they even kind of have the texture of the canvas.

I've found that photos of people tend to look a little weird, but scenic and outdoor photos turn out really nicely transformed into watercolor. Here are some of my favorites from our East Coast vacation:

How cool would these be printed? I'm definitely going to have to get prints of some of these and hang them up in the house!

Decisions, Decisions...

So, I mentioned the other day that I'm finally about to become the proud new owner of an iPhone! I have been waiting what seems like years for this. (Let's face it, it probably has been years.) November 8th is the day my cellular carrier will finally carry the iPhone. (Hello, US Cellular what have you been waiting for?) But now comes the hardest decision I've had to make in a really long time...choosing a case. I figure I might as well start picking one now, since it might take a while to arrive if I order it online. So which do I choose? So many cute ones! After looking around, these are my current favorites:

1. Pie for Breakfast case, Emily Rickard - from Society 6, $35
2. Asking for Directions case, Emily Rickard - from Society 6, $35
3. DANNIJO case - from Shop Bop, $98 (This one is a bit out of my price range, but isn't it pretty?)
4. Glitter Jubilee case, Kate Spade New York - from Nordstrom, $40
5. Le Pavilion case, Kate Spade New York - from Nordstrom, $40
6. Paint Strokes case, from Rifle Paper co., $36
7. Lyla case, Tory Burch, from Shop Bop, $60
8. Pastel Leaves case from shopampersand on Etsy, $39

I cannot wait to get my iPhone next week! I know I'll love it! I'll keep you updated with which case I choose. :)


**UPDATE: I  finally got my iphone, and I got the 2nd case above - "Asking for Directions" by Emily Rickard, bought on Society 6. I love it!!