tiny houses

I have a thing for small houses. Love small houses. There is a great neighborhood near our new apartment full of the cutest little houses.



I think a batty old art teacher must live in this one.



For the past few years, Twin and I have talked about the mythical "little cottage" of our dreams, which will have tiny shutters and two dormer windows and a wee little chimney pot. So cute you could puke--this is what we are aiming for.

Our new apartment is a house-apartment-cottage sort of thing. A step in the right direction. And now that every last box is unpacked (yippeee!), now comes the fun part. Also the slightly overwhelming part, as I think about which curtains need to be hemmed and which windows need new curtains all together, how to work the darn drill and the ever-mysterious location of studs, and what my new bedroom will look like, as I have graduated to a grown-up big-girl bed (or returned to it, having been forced to sleep in a twin bed the last few years thanks to the closet-size of my Brooklyn bedroom). The plans are amorphous and I just need to sit down and start somewhere, anywhere, and I'll pick up some momentum. It is exciting. I'm pumping myself up for this, can you tell?

Kitchen curtains. That's the place to start. I've got the fabric all picked out.

i shall call him sparky and he shall be mine and he shall be my sparky

vroom vroom.

:)

moving is FUN! (no not really)

Last weekend I drove to NY for one last time to pack up the last of my things and then move it all back (including Twin-yippeeee!). Above was our last glimpse of Manhattan as we drove across the Verrazano Narrows. Yes, Manhattan is there if you look really closely. It was so hot and humid that day—the haze was pretty intense.

Our movers (Brooklyn-based) were named Francisco and Zeus. I think they privately thought we were nuts for moving away from the city. When we got to NC, Francisco asked, "so can you get any takeout delivered way out here?" and then Zeus asked, "so, what? You gotta drive everywhere you want to go?" Erm, yes, unfortunately that is how the rest of America gets around. Although happily there is a public bus system here in Chapel Hill that is pretty good. I am going to try to maintain my NYC mass transportation habit as much as possible here.
Speaking of transportation, let me introduce you to Brunehilda. Brunehilda has been our stalwart mode of transport since moving to NC. We're borrowing her from my dad until we get around to buying a car. She's a VW Vanagon camper--we named her Brunehilda because she is German, brown, and definitely female. One of our cousins thought Bessie was a name to better suit her, but I don't think that's quite as elegant. She does, however, respond to both names. Like any good VW bus, she has a few quirks. Not as many as the bus in Little Miss Sunshine, but almost as many.

Not to hurt Brunehilda's feelings, but we are headed out car shopping this morning. I think we're going to look at the Honda Fit. We want a hatchback. Anybody have any strong hatchback feelings/advice?

The apartment is coming together slowly but surely. Did I mention we have a third bedroom? Woot! Jennie has agreed to call it the craft room, though half will technically be her home office. Here's the craft room now:
So, yeah, that needs a little work.

Our parents are coming for the weekend (Mom is going to help us with curtains and unpacking and Dad is going to hang pictures and protect us from car salesmen. Aren't parents great?)

Yay for parents, new apartments, and big strong movers who can lift bookcases with just one arm. Yay for feeling a little more settled and hoping I'll soon have more time to devote to crafting and my poor neglected blog.

Happy weekend!

quiet weekend

A few scenes from my explorations of Chapel Hill. I've been riding around on my bike and walking around downtown, snapping pictures as I go. The mosquitos and I are re-acquainting ourselves and I am slowly losing my ghostly NYC pallor.

I had lunch with the lovely Maura and her sister Meg yesterday (Meg where is your blog? I forgot to ask!). I move to a new city and here I find blog friends who live in the very same neighborhood I do. Very cool.

I finally picked up a craft project this afternoon—were you wondering if you'd ever see a project from me again? Possibly. Probably. Before too long, I'm sure. Though it's slow going when Wimbledon is stealing my attention. I'm going to predict here and now that it'll be Justine Henin and Andy Roddick this year. Because she deserves it and because he is incorrigible. I wouldn't necessarily put money on Andy, but I'll put my heart behind him. I always like an underdog.