Hi, it’s been a while…

My last blog post was back in February, & if I’m being completely truthful, I never intended to disappear for this long. Life just started moving very quickly, in the most beautiful way, & somewhere between one major life change & another, I decided to allow myself to simply live it.

So before we get back to our usual NoteBlair programming, I thought our first post back needed to be a little life catch up. Because a lot has happened since February.

& by a lot, I mean… we bought a house.

From “Maybe We Should Look” to Homeowners

Back in February, Tadeh & I decided that we were going to start looking for a house.

It was one of those decisions that felt exciting but still somewhat far away. I imagined months of searching, countless open houses, making lists of what we wanted, compromising on things we thought we needed & slowly figuring out where we could picture ourselves building our life together.

Apparently, life had other plans for us.

To our surprise, we found our dream home in March.

& by April, we were officially homeowners.

Even writing that still feels surreal.

There are certain things you dream about for so long that when they finally happen, it takes a while for your heart to catch up with reality. Owning a home was one of those dreams for me.

Tadeh & I moved in together in July, & ever since then, life has felt incredibly special. There is something so beautiful about waking up every morning next to the love of my life, making coffee in our kitchen, walking through rooms that are slowly becoming ours & realizing that this is the life we are building together.

It has truly been blissful.

Turning a House Into Our Home

If you know me, you already know that decorating this house has become one of my favorite things.

Every little corner brings me so much joy.

From deciding where the coffee machine should live to finding the right piece for an empty wall, I genuinely love the process of creating a home that feels like us. I want it to feel collected, warm, timeless & lived in, not like everything was purchased in one weekend just for the sake of having a “finished” house.

I promised myself from the beginning that I wasn’t going to rush the decorating process.

That being said… I am still me.

I definitely wanted the basics of our living room, dining room, kitchen & bedroom to come together as quickly as possible so that the house felt comfortable & functional from the beginning.

But is the house finished?

Absolutely not.

Not even close.

I still have a very full Pinterest board waiting to be brought to life. There are rooms I want to change, corners I haven’t figured out yet, furniture pieces I’m waiting to find & approximately a million little ideas living inside my head.

& I actually love that.

I’m learning that creating a home isn’t something you finish. It evolves with you. I want to find pieces slowly, discover things unexpectedly & give myself permission to change my mind along the way.

This home is truly a dream come true, & there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t feel incredibly grateful for it.

The Part I Wasn’t Prepared For…

Now let’s talk about something I was slightly less prepared for:

How much work it takes to be the woman of the house.

& before anyone misunderstands me, no one is putting these expectations on me.

Except me.

Which, arguably, might be worse.

I am naturally an extremely neat, organized person. I like everything to have a place. I want the kitchen counters clean. I want the pillows sitting properly. I want things organized inside the cabinets that literally no one besides me is going to open.

I want the house to look nice, smell nice & feel nice.

The problem is that all of those little things take time.

So. Much. Time.

There is always something to clean, organize, put away, wash, rearrange or add to a running list somewhere.

& then… there’s cooking.

Apparently, I’m Learning How to Cook

I am not going to sit here & pretend that I’ve suddenly become an incredible chef.

I haven’t.

But I am learning.

& surprisingly, it has become one of the most exciting parts of this new chapter.

There is something incredibly satisfying about making something from scratch, putting it on the table & realizing, wait… this is actually delicious.

I feel ridiculously proud of myself every time I make something that turns out well.

At the same time, cooking still takes me approximately three business days.

I’m learning how to time everything, what flavors work together, how much of something is actually a “pinch,” & how people somehow cook dinner without destroying every surface of their kitchen in the process.

It’s challenging. It takes me much longer than it probably should. But I’m enjoying learning.

Maybe one day I’ll casually throw dinner together without looking at a recipe twelve times.

We’re not there yet.

Learning My New Normal

Long story short, the past few months have been about adjusting.

Adjusting to a new home.

A new city.

Living with my man.

Taking care of a house.

Learning how to cook.

Finding new routines.

Figuring out how to balance work, content, home, relationships & everything else life brings.

& somewhere along the way, I realized that I didn’t want to rush through this chapter just so I could keep up with everything I thought I was supposed to be doing.

These moments won’t come back.

We’ll never have another first summer in this house.

There will only be one first time decorating these rooms, figuring out where everything belongs, cooking our first meals here & slowly creating the routines that will eventually feel completely ordinary to us.

Right now, they’re not ordinary.

They’re new.

& I really wanted to soak that in.

So I gave myself permission to be present.

& yes, somewhere in that process, the blog got a little neglected.

So… Here We Are

The funny thing is, even while I wasn’t posting, I missed this space.

I missed sitting down & writing.

I missed sharing more than what can fit into an Instagram caption or a 30 second Reel.

I missed having this little corner of the internet where we can talk about fashion, beauty, home, life & all of the random things I’m loving at the moment.

So here we are.

NoteBlair is officially back.

I’ll be returning to the content you’ve always known me for, fashion, beauty, lifestyle, favorites & everything in between, but this new chapter of my life has also given me so much more that I want to share.

There will definitely be more home content, decorating updates, things I’m learning as a first time homeowner, hosting, cooking adventures, everyday routines & some new series I’ve been dreaming up.

Basically, NoteBlair is growing up with me.

I don’t know exactly what every part of that will look like yet, & I think that’s part of the fun.

For now, I’m just very happy to be writing again.

If you’ve been here for years, thank you for still being here. & if you’re new, welcome to my little corner of the internet.

I hope you’ll stick around for this next chapter & subscribe to the blog so we can catch up here more often.

There is so much I can’t wait to share with you.

Talk soon,