Before & After: Kitchen (Step 1)

We went back and forth deciding what color to paint the kitchen (the first of many steps in fixing this space up).

We were going to go for white, because we want a clean, open, light space...but decided on the same pale blue (Behr's Cool Sky) with white trim (Behr's Creamy White) that we used in the living and dining rooms. One reason is because the first floor of our house is very open and you can see each room from the others. We wanted things to feel connected, cohesive, and not broken up (since the rooms aren't huge and don't need to feel smaller than they are).

Another reason we went for the pale blue/white combo is because it's just so pretty. Every time I look around at the walls I say, "Isn't this so pretty?" So, why not spread that love to the kitchen?

Before
After
Before
After
See how light it is now, without that dark green keeping everything in shadows?
The blue might not go with things yet, but soon it will all come together.

The next step we plan to take is to paint or stain the cabinets white. I say paint, Andy says stain so they're kind of white-washed with the wood grain still showing through. I'm open to anything - does anyone have experience/knowledge pertaining to this? Please share!

Eventually we'll also (over who knows how many months) replace the sink (I hate this one!), replace the counter (probably with granite, though a big part of me yearns for butcher block), put up a tile backsplash, and change the floor. Speaking of which - what do you think of the floor? Sometimes I love it, sometimes I hate it...

What's Cookin'?

Our kitchen - the color, that is.

(Wait, does color cook? or does a kitchen cook? Whatever. The question was "What's cookin'?" meaning "What's happening?" and the simple answer is "We are painting our kitchen." Whew. Sorry.)

We spent the last two days priming & painting the kitchen. We finished today, and although we still plan to paint or refinish the cabinets, I'm really not one to wait, so I'll post (pre-changed cabinet) before and after pictures tomorrow.

Am I making sense? I don't think so. This is what two days of painting does to my brain. Ouch. Consider this a word problem.

Dog Days

Introducing our new puppy, Vivian!

We call her Vivi. She's a West Highland Terrier, and very smart - she has learned her name, to fetch and to come AND has been AWESOME in her housebreaking (for the most part). And it's only her second full day here!

See more pictures of our little Vivi here.

We're not really the kind of people to call ourselves our pet's "parents" or her our "baby," but seriously, she's so cute and little and we have to wake up in the middle of the night to take her out, so it certainly feels like we are getting some preparation for a baby (and no, I'm not pregnant yet!).

We've wanted a dog for loooong time, but never could get one in our NYC apartments. We knew we wanted one as soon as we moved here. We thought we would get a mutt or something, but we happened upon a litter of Westies, and my mom's dog Buster is a Westie and a great dog, so we went for it.

And it's not just me who loves terriers! One of my favorite sketches by "The Kids in the Hall" is Bruce McCulloch singing the Terriers song.

Your Average White Suburbanite Slob

Wait, you don't know the song "Asshole" by Denis Leary (my favorite line conveniently perfect for the title of this post)?? Before going further, go watch the video NOW!!

(and yes, our other, often-quoted, favorite line is "When handicapped people make handicapped faces"... don't judge!)

Little did we know that one day we'd be what we've been laughing at all these years.
It all started with... a mower.

That's right - we got a lawn mower.

Not just any mower...

a ride on mower.

We have a big yard.
A push mower would take hours.
Everyone else has a ride on mower.
It makes the air smell really nice.

Never mind the excuses, here's my own white suburbanite slob, taking that bad boy for it's first spin.

It's absolutely thrilling. I know. Don't be jealous.

I don't know what's next - me wearing an apron, baking a pie? What other suburban stereotypes can we act out?

Painting (Before & After)

Painting, painting and more painting. That's where I've been.

But today was a change - the big carpet cleaning expedition! How exciting!
We rented a carpet cleaner and just finished up four hours of intense cleaning.
I hate carpeting.

Here's some before and after shots of some rooms we've done so far, in terms of painting. We have lots of decorating that will be coming up soon; just not yet. foyer before (looking into the half bath)

foyer after

half bath after (never got a decent before pic)

guest bathroom before

guest bathroom after

guest bedroom before

guest bedroom after

dining room before

dining room after

living room before

living room after

Paint Colors:
Foyer & Half Bathroom: Glidden Antique White w/ Creamy White trim. (We were dumb - we went ahead and bought the Antique White based on a suggestion on a website that it's a great cream color, without actually testing it first... it's a little more grayish than cream, but it looks clean so I guess it's okay for now.

Guest Bathroom: Behr White Bathroom paint (mildew resistant, all that good stuff) w/ existing wood trim

Guest Bedroom: Behr Grass Cloth w/ existing wood trim.

Living room & dining room: Behr Cool Sky w/ Creamy White trim.

House pictures & Boston!

Okay! For all the exciting moments of our first week and a half in our new house captured on film (well, my digital camera) AND a quick trip to Boston on Saturday, click here.

And for just a glimpse of dusk from our back deck, here's a quick video to give you and idea of the surroundings. We love it!

New House Stuff

I am so exhausted from painting and cleaning (still) that I can't really think of a halfway interesting or intelligent title for this post. If you've come here for the complete entertainment experience, my apologies.

I am desperately trying to post pictures from our first week and a half in the house online and provide a link, but I think the Charter internet makes is difficult. Or it's Facebook, which is where I create my photo albums.

Soon I'll write more and show off all the cleaning/black ant/oven-smoking fun.

Lions and Tigers and BEARS?! Oh My!

We met the next door neighbor today.

She told us there's wild turkeys, foxes, coy dogs (whatever the HELL those are) and BEARS here. Sometimes you see them in the front yard.

what the HELL.

Great Looks

If you've been paying attention, you know that my mind is in overdrive with decorating this new home. I want clean, calm, organized but warm...I want colors and patterns but nothing too busy but instead all cohesive and beautiful... yada yada yada.

I'm inspired by Parisian apartments, French Country, Victorian (especially because of the exterior of the house) and am working with a lot of inherited old wood American furniture.

Here's some great sites I frequently drool over that definitely inspire me and keep my eyes on the prize (and remind me that there's so much more out there than Ikea or Pottery Barn!). Check them out! The last one is great for DIY stuff and clean, organizational ideas (their place is sooo clean looking, especially their kitchen!)
La Maison Bohéme
The Paris Apartment
Southern Hospitality
The Inspired Room
This Young House

Here's some pictures that I've found online that are also inspirational for colors I'd like to use (rich cream, soft lavender, grey-green, sunny yellow, pale and deep blue).

I'm a Homeowner - Get Me Out of Here!

No, actually, I love it...

But for the record...

96 Hours in our new house and so far:

- Slugs (outside, thankfully, but still - ew!)
- Dead critter in the pool
- Discovered water in the basement after a major downpour (above the foundation, thankfully)
- Discovered a leak in the ceiling of the guest bedroom
- Pretty sure the house was hit by lightning today while we were painting (flash, boom, buzz, electricity out momentarily)

And finally, an hour ago...

- The oven caught on fire. On the inside. And smoked the whole house up. We moved it out, aimed the fire extinguisher and had at it (pictures to follow). It's sitting in the backyard now, and I'm about to search online for a new one.

I've always been terrified that bad things happen to good people. Or that there be balance in the world. Or whatever. I just hope this whole house thing works out...

Closing on our House

We did it!

After years and years...

and years...

...of dreaming and planning, we finally have a house. It's weird and crazy and didn't go quite as smoothly as we'd wanted (nothing ever does, right?).

The original plan was that we were supposed to close at 11am with a final walk-through beforehand at 9:45am.

But, last week we were told that the seller had movers coming at 8am today, and probably wouldn't be done in time. (Hey - I bet I know what you're thinking... you're wondering why wouldn't the seller move out any day OTHER than the day of closing? Hm. Good question!)

So we changed the closing time to 1pm with a final walk-through of 12. Of course at 11:45 today our real estate agent called to let us know that the seller was still at the house, along with lots of his things, a storage pod and a big garbage container (like, you know, for construction projects?). They'd be all moved out by three o'clock. ANGER!

But we knew we couldn't do anything. So we walked-through, we went and closed but withheld some money till the seller left, signed our names and initialed tons of papers, and finally went back to the house. At 3pm. And hung out there while the seller continued to move...

til 5 o'clock!

But he's gone. So is the trash container, his pod of stuff, and everything. We have moved some stuff in there, and now, sadly, are back in Pittsfield till Wednesday. Then we move some more things from the condo to the house, go to New Paltz, and meet the movers at the storage space there the next morning.

And, finally, by Thursday evening, we'll be home sweet home.

Finally!

SO Frustrating!

What's frustrating, you ask? Trying to set up utilities for the new house (which, in case you're counting, we close on in 3 days!) and being told I can't set up an account or appointment for my cable and internet until the current owner of the house JUST MAKES THE CALL to disconnect his account.

Just call. He can schedule it for anytime, but he just needs to MAKE THE CALL!

But, no. I've been passing the message through my agent to his, to him since Tuesday. Just called, thinking, surely it's Friday, he's SURELY gotten his act together by now...

But no. Still has an account. Hasn't made the call.

Frustration.

Preparing for The Big Move

We close on our house in one week. From today. Oh, goodness.

Next Monday we will, presumably, do the final walk-through, sign lots and lots of papers which basically promises we'll never be able to afford to eat out again (or for at least 30 years), and then get the keys to our new place.

I say this is all "presumably" taking place because although we were pre-approved for the mortgage, we are still technically in the process of getting the whole thing tied up because of little details here and there, as well as a delay with some underwriting something that had nothing to do with us...all of which is causing things to be just a little less than definite for my liking.

But, everyone involved assures us everything is normal and set and we've got our plans for next Monday, so we are under the impression that the show will go on next Monday, as planned.

It's really a wild thought that we'll soon be in a house at all, much less our own house. Living in apartments all these years has felt to me to be temporary, and then this past year has been made up of living in even more temporary places... it's amazing to think that in a week I can unpack my things and find places for them, and not have to consider packing them up any time soon. It's completely surreal.

More on relocating plans later... have to go call cable companies and set up an appointment!

I Have No Style*

(*Sung to the tune of "I have no legs," sung by that guy on the subway in "Kids.")

I have totally been lazy about posting and I'm so sorry! It's been a crazy couple of weeks. Mainly, two HUGE things have happened!

Last Monday was my birthday! 31 years ago I graced the Earth my arrival. I've been going strong ever since.

I never thought I'd have a problem turning 30, and I didn't. Now that I'm 31 I feel I know myself even better and have come to terms with who I am. Mainly:

- I get super nervous before going somewhere or dealing with a situation that is anything outside of my normal routine (new job, doctor appointment, seeing anyone for the first time in ages, etc.). Even thinking about it makes me one anxious lady.

- When I am mad or upset I cannot respond to someone or something immediately. If I do, the chances that I will regret my response is inevitable. Instead, I need to take at least 15 minutes to consider all sides and possible repercussions and calm down. My response is then better thought out and much more level-headed.

- I am an unbelievable softy. Nearly any sentimental or cheesy movie, commercial, story, person - anything - can bring me to tears.

- While I can be a real powerful, professional ball-buster at work, I can be a whimpering, fearful fool in my personal life.

- I have no style.

This last point I bring up because it covers a lot of territory. In terms of personal style, mine has become one of dressing way too much for comfort and not enough for style. Having little style is my style, I guess.

I have great aspirations to dress in one-of-kind, great clothing, looking hip and stylish and classy and creating mass envy among everyone I meet.

But, realistically, I'm lazy and end up at Old Navy buying the same cheap shirts that are cute but really do nothing for me. Ah, whatever. I'll work on that later.

This lack of style carries over to interior decorating.

The first apartment Andy and I had, in Brooklyn, was painted with bright reds and turquoises and had a ton of colorful Ikea furniture. It was exhausting and headache-inducing and I ended up hating everything there.

Then our apartment in Queens was white and plain and cramped with a lot of hand me down furniture. It was comfortable but messy and had no style. Followed no color scheme, incorporated no flow with objects or anything. It was a senseless mish-mash.

I have great, stylish ideas, but I kind of suck when actually making them a reality.

And so, the real reason I bring all this up...

The second HUGE thing that's happened to me...

We've found a house!

It's awesome. We found it last Saturday when looking with my mom and step-father. We found it, made an offer, haggled just a little, signed the papers, and yesterday had the inspection. It looks good.

We close (it's ours) on June 8th.

So, right now I'm obsessing over style. And sofas. And paint. And color palettes. And everything.

Needless to say, that's what I'll be thinking of and writing about for the unforeseeable future (at least until the 8th... and probably for a while after that).


Our lovely contemporary Victorian (contemporary because it was built in 1991) in Easthampton, MA.

Recent Activity In My Oh-So-Riveting Life

Besides watching "The Hills," here's some recent activity in my life:

Andy and I visited my brother, a freshman at George Washington University in D.C., on Easter weekend to see him in a production of "Jesus Christ Superstar." (He was an apostle.) It was a great production (especially the leper scene!) and my bro rocked!

Besides seeing my brother, we also saw my mom and stepfather (who also drove down for the play) and my stepsister, her husband and their two kids. It was great!

The rest of the time was spent:
- Walking around the White House.

- Eating at Logan's Roadhouse and experiencing their amazing rolls!

- Staying at a Hilton for the first time (it was awesome!)

- Lamenting over the very few cherry blossoms that were still on the trees (where we were, at least).

Another exciting thing that happened was... I got my driver's license!
It's true. It's amazing. Seriously, I didn't think it would ever happen. But it did, even though my parallel parking was a little sketchy, and I was extra cautious when taking a left turn. Whatev, I'm officially licensed.

The next day Andy *conveniently* locked his keys in his car, so I had to go pick him up, thus initiating me into the solo driver's club. I wonder how much of that was accident vs. unconscious (or conscious) decision. No matter, it gave me the push I'm sure I needed.

A less-exciting event that took place was I became completely up to date with "The Hills." That show sucked me in like quicksand, and the more I resisted, the more I had to watch for hours a day the goings-on of those people.

I'm trying to take some time back for myself, fighting the urge to jump into "The City." Struggles.

Finally, I'm preparing for this weekend. My mother and Harvey, my stepfather, are meeting us on Saturday in Northampton to do some house-hunting. We're putting a lot of pressure on them because we want a house but have serious fears and doubts about just about everything at this point, and feel like we really need some adult pov's. They are staying the night with us, as is Buster the Westie! Can't wait!

Speaking of being an adult - my birthday is this Monday! 31! Woo hoo!
I've been pretty chill and happy with my 30s thus far, so I'm not too depressed.

I am, however, looking for a good Italian restaurant to go to this Saturday night with the family. If you know any in the Pittsfield/Berkshires area, please let me know!

Ticks in Massachusetts!

Yes, it's true - there are ticks, deer ticks, here in Massachusetts! Not only that, it seems there are some right by a house that we are interested in!

Long story short: We like this one house. Before asking the Realtor for a showing, we decided to drive by and take a look. Since it's empty, we parked and walked around the house, peered into the windows (looks good! we'll see it in a week!).

Two days later Andy's sitting in the driver's seat of the car, at a stop sign, reaches down to scratch his leg.

(You get where this is going, right?)

He pulls up the leg of his jeans and there it is - the dreaded bullseye that everyone and anyone who's ever taken a walk in a wooded area has heard about. No doubt about it.

I mean, the tick, the lyme disease, everything makes it so obvious - that red circle looks like it was drawn on with a pen!

(It was disgusting. And terrifying.)

So we rush to the ER, have them take that sucker out, and Andy starts a 3-week long antibiotic fest. Fun. Seems we caught it early enough so everything should (hopefully) be okay.

Remember kids - always check yourself after taking a walk, or walking around, spying into a house.

(Obviously, we've learned our lesson.)

And for those of you who are strong of heart - here's a close up of our little friend. Yuck!











And here's a picture of the brave patient, just because he's so dern cute.

(How can anyone smile with this parasite embedded head first into their body?)

House Hunting in Western Massachusetts

We are still at the house hunting phase in our relocation to Western Massachusetts process.

We are looking for a home in the Pioneer Valley, specifically Northampton, Hadley or Southampton.

At this point we have actually made offers on two houses. The first was way out of our price range, but the seller's agent said the sellers were very motivated and we should not hesitate to "throw out a number!" So we did, expecting nothing. And we got nothing. The sellers responded by saying they weren't going to respond to such a low number. How rude! (Yes, I hear Stephanie Tanner from "Full House," too.)

The second house we made an offer on was very cute, also at the very top of our price range, and the best house we'd seen that particular day. But, really, in hindsight, we acted way too hastily. We put the offer in, discovered we were dealing with house flippers who started haggling over weird things and acting a bit shady. They rejected our final offer, and then called two days later saying they accepted it.

After that we started realizing that the house was really small, AND we'd go broke having to fix the things that needed fixin', considering the price we were paying for the house was so high. So, ultimately, we backed out of the sale.

Now we are searching again. We've walked through nearly 20 houses at this point. I wonder now if we are going to be one of those couples who is unrealistic in our search, or end up seeing 100 houses before finding "the one."

We also have been a little disappointed because we haven't seen as many of the houses in the style that we'd prefer - colonial or farmhouse.
We've seen some, and a lot need updating or renovations, which we're totally fine with, but they are already nearing the top of our price range, so that doesn't leave much money for those renovations.

We'll see what happens. We're on a little break right now, mainly because we are going away this weekend, Andy's weekend off, so we won't be seeing houses till April 25th, when my mom and step-father come up to visit from NYC.

I'll let you know what happens!

Fin Sushi & Sake Bar

I was craving sushi last week, so Andy, Edith and I went to Fin Sushi in Lenox, Massachusetts. I'd never been to Lenox but heard it was nice, and it was only an 11 minute drive from Pittsfield.

I found Fin Sushi & Sake Bar on Trip Advisor which is a site I have used often (usually when traveling outside of the US) and the place had good reviews. I think these reviews must all have been created by staff and friends of the owners.

Overall, the food wasn't terrible but the experience was so disappointing that I will never go back...and was inspired to write this post to encourage others not to go, as well (in the event you happen to be looking for sushi in Lenox or Western Mass).

The Fin Sushi menu was not available online. But because it was in Lenox, and it was sushi, we decided to go for it. One review said it wasn't "as expensive as NY sushi."

Being from NYC I've had great sushi at not crazy-expensive prices. I will typically pay $4-$6 dollars for a roll (my usuals are Eel Avacado or Spicy Salmon). And usually I'll get gyoza or shumai for about the same price.

Fin Sushi was the only open spot on the street, and it had about half of its tables occupied. We were seated and reviewed the menu. Gyoza was $9. I didn't see shumai, perhaps I missed it but I don't think so.

Entrees like chicken teriyaki ranged from $20-$23. That's pretty pricey, but maybe it was spectacular. Based on the food we got, though, I doubt it.

Edith and Andy chose off the "Soups, Noodles and Salads" list.
Andy got the udon noodles with vegetable tempura for $10.50. We didn't realize it would come as a soup, but it did. The broth was okay, decently spicy. There weren't too many noodles and the tempura was nothing special.

Edith got the Beef chukka something for $14.50. When she asked if it was a soup, the waitress described as having a broth, and specifically used the word "savory" to describe it. Of course it ended up being sweet and really not savory at all. Nice waitress, but poor description.

Sushi rolls ranged from $5 to $9 per roll (6 pieces). The cheapest were avocado or cucumber. The eel avocado was $8. I got that and an avocado roll. There was nothing special about the sushi - and the fact that the sushi roll was rolled so pathetically that it was not closed completely and falling apart, was quite frankly a disaster. I mean, are you a sushi restaurant? Then roll your rolls properly. Come on. It really pissed me off.

Of course, it wasn't a surprise that the rolls were sucky, since the sushi guy was chatting with some customers instead of paying attention to the sushi. I had to wait for the sushi and didn't get it till about 10 minutes after Edith and Andy got their food.

Afterward, we waited for a while before we could flag someone down to get a check. At this point there were only four other tables. There was no teamwork between the two servers, so the other waiter passed us about five times (and even looked at us!) before our own waitress finally asked if we wanted the check.

If the food had been great I would have been fine with everything. But, again... poorly rolled sushi! Yuck! With everything together we were all disappointed and we won't go back. Sorry Fin Sushi!


Sad sushi

Healthy Living, Budget Living

Before we get to the healthy living and budget living portion in this post, you need some background.

In case you didn't know...

Back in July we up and left the United States and took a long vacation to the Czech Republic. We then returned to the U.S. this past February with no home and no jobs, and big dreams of relocating to, and buying a house in, Western Massachusetts (Northampton or Amherst or somewhere in the area).

Needless to say, things have been crazy.

We left our old lives to start new ones. This is crazy. This is exciting. Sad. Fun.
Scary as sh*t.

To add to this mish-mash of emotions, we also know that we want to start a family.

Ha! That's right! For those of you who thought we'd get knocked up as soon as we were married, we surprised you, didn't we? We've gone almost eleven years (with the dating and all) of being baby-free, but now we are looking to go there.

Because we want to procreate we know we have to get healthy.
This has been an ongoing theme in our lives (and most others, I'd think). Lose weight, get healthy. Not smoking. You know.

So, we're not smoking. For exercise I'm using the workout room downstairs in our building since it's free and no one is ever in there. (And there's a big TV. Nice.)

Because we are living on only one income right now (more on that later), and times are tough for everyone, we are on a budget. I'm hoping that some kind of "back to basics" food life will help our weight as well as our wallet. This goes along with my whole anti-preservative and chemically-laden, pro-whole foods talk back when we got to Prague (and I did lose weight while there, despite eating baked goods and butter).

So, I find myself channeling my inner Donna Reed right now as I search for good deals in grocery stores and cook things myself instead eating lots of frozen or packaged processed foods (to a degree - I'm not psychotic and am still using bottled and canned things as components in my homemade meals).

I'm feeling my inner Donna Reed today, that I'm about to make a spreadsheet for my own personal use to compare prices of items at different stores.
Don't laugh.
I've been saving my receipts from Stop & Shop, Target, Trader Joe's, Walmart and Guido's (a market here in Pittsfield) and am totally gonna save money by studying where to go for what. It's research! It's fun!
Don't laugh.

Anyway, I'll let you know how our healthy living and budget living attempts go.

In the meantime, here's some links and suggestions that I've found entertaining and/or helpful.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver I've never read anything by her, but heard about this book and was intrigued. Considering that locavores are alive and kicking in Western Mass, this book about the author and her family living for a year off only what is grown on their land and neighborhood (resulting in each meal costing only 50 cents for a family of four), seemed like it would be an interesting read and good for my own healthy, budgeted living.

A Year of Crockpotting This is a great blog with great recipes for the crockpot. I love my slow cooker (it's the same thing, in case you weren't sure. Crock Pot is just the brand name. It's like Kleenex or Bandaid). No matter what I put in there, it always ends up good. And there's always enough for leftovers.

Great Depression Cooking with Clara
If you don't know about Clara, you must watch this now.
She's great, her recipes are simple and cheap and look very tasty, and her stories are wonderful. I love Clara!


Finally, for the celebrity gossip-loving a-hole that I am (and you know you are, too!), enjoy this site:

Celebrity Body Gossip
I know one of the writers and she's snarky, witty and great. And what better way to spend my time not working out or being healthy, by reading about (and judging) celebrity body issues ? You know you love it.

Truth Be Told

Condo living is weird. Mainly because we came into this lovely space and were all impressed by it and it's all open and chic and a bit trendy...

but really, all it is is an apartment.

Yeah, it's got a 2nd floor bedroom/bathroom loft. But we don't use it, because it's easier to have everything on one level, and we like the shower in the downstairs bathroom better (it's a walk-in standing shower with no tub, which we're all about. We don't care for tubs. Tubs kinda suck. This probably comes from having no hot water in our apartment for years... who had a chance to even fill a tub halfway?? Not us!).

And it's loud!

As I write this it's 11:24pm on Monday night and we're getting ready for bed and our neighbors are clearly living it up. There is a part-tay going on over there. Their living room shares a wall with ours and we can hear everything.

Speaking of neighbors, we've met a bunch of them. Since the Clock Tower Condo building is this new fancy place in Pittsfield, it's not yet a fully occupied building. There are two sides, or wings (that sounds very fancy so we'll go with that) and a lot of the apartments (or should I be saying "condos"? Do condo people get all riled up if you call it an "apartment"?) are still under construction.

As explained to us by the couple we're renting from (she's from Queens, he's from Long Island, they've lived in Mass for a long time now), some of our neighbors are here full time and some are weekenders.

All of our neighbors seem to know each other. Or, if they didn't know each other before they moved in, they seem to become instant friends.

We've deduced that our building is a hot spot for recently retired nature-lovin', natural (i.e. no one covers their grey hair) people who like to ski. After all, we can see two different slopes from our windows: we are in the heart of the Berkshires.

I'm sure we're the youngest people in the building. That's fine. But it just makes the whole experience even more surreal than it already is.

Don't let my cheery and optimistic writing fool you. (You weren't fooled, were you?) It's strange here. And when I say strange, I just mean different. One thing I've learned about myself over the years is that I'm not one for change. I like stability. I'm sure it comes from being a wild child. Don't get me wrong - I'm enjoying the whole change of surroundings and I love Northampton, where we want to move (but, mind you, is not where we are currently living). But that's all okay. It's an adventure.

But, you know what I miss so much? About NYC?
This is besides my friends, my family, favorite restaurants and all the obvious.

I miss New York 1 News. You know, channel 1.

We just watched the local news here, and it was just not the same. I also realized that here in Massachusetts I won't see my normal local news people.
It's the little things that throw me off the most.

We're off to bed now, hopefully able to fall asleep amongst the rollicking time the neighbors continue to have.
Middle-aged hippie skiers apparently know how to party.
On Mondays, no less.

What do they care, I suppose?