1). Last we chatted, we were in the middle of utterly horrible chaos. To be fair, we are still certainly in the midst. Last Thursday, though, I rushed to my third apartment showing (and just another of many that Chris has dutifully reached out to) and somehow, within hours we had a lease sitting in our inboxes. 20 minutes later we signed it. Yay! WOW. Jesus, what a relief. We can move in 6/1. Chris is currently still living in NJ with Bear. We still need to get out from under this apartment. But it now feels like there is a way to move forward.
2). This had been on my mind pre-crisis, but I've been thinking a lot about "Main Character Energy." A pretty nebulous topic, but in my head it consists of mornings spent reading and sunlit porches, a great pair of shoes and a bowl of garlic noodles, fun late nights with friends and early mornings spent running or thinking and just being. The photo above is a screen shot of my "Main Character Energy Spring '22" saved collection on Instagram. It has croissants from Joy the Baker (the queen of main character energy), a woman talking about relaxing on her porch after work, colorful framed art prints, a getaway cabin, and lots of talk of romanticizing your life. I'm ready for a change.
3). The only thing I don't like about this new apartment is that there is no outdoor space. We don't have a porch (or even our own staircase), no little spot to throw outdoor plants. I currently have a bunch of pansies outside as well as two peppers and two tomato plants. I'm thinking I will keep a pansie or two, and my veggies and put them in our one assigned parking spot and just park behind them? That's not crazy right?
4). To be fair there are other things I'm upset about: the cabinets are dark. It's in Dover, which will be so close to friends (fun!) but add a lot of time to my commute (sucky!). This house feels like a pretty basic apartment to me....none of the cute little cubbies or corners like some of the historical Portsmouth apartments I'd been looking at. But I realize I am being so picky!! It will be great.
5). Before we signed, our working plan had been to put all of our stuff in storage and then live in a motel or with my parents until we were able to find a place. So, I've been putting a lot of energy into purging everything we own. We are both pack rats; like it's bad. We have way too much stuff. And even though now we have a place, it will be smaller and we won't have as much storage space and I just don't want to feel crowded. I want to feel light! So I'm staying committed to getting rid of as much as possible. Those are two completely different purging questions: what can I move into the new space? And would I pay to store this somewhere? I'm loving the resolve that the second question is offering.
6). Connected to purging is my rediscovered passion for Buy Nothing groups. Honestly, Buy Nothing groups are probably the most pure and wonderful place on the internet, and certainly on Facebook. So far, I've gotten rid of: a few baby gates from when Bear was a puppy, a board game, a giant beer making kit we had gotten for Christmas, some old records we don't listen to, a bag of art supplies I don't like anymore, at least 20 books, and a bag of random old pots and containers for someone to make an outdoor music board for their kid! How fun is that?!
7). Outside of all this home chaos, work has actually been going really well. I am choreographing a few ensembles right now: two of my Artistry classes are each doing a number in their club show, we've started rehearsals for our first ever American Ice Theatre of NH Junior Company piece, and then I'm doing a very cute little Learn to Skate number for my group class. Busy busy! And so so fun. I should do a works in progress post soon.
8). With spring I've been fantasizing about a lot of the making I want to do. Here's my recipe list as it stands right now: ham and cheese croissants from Joy the Baker, chocolate orange and cream cheese pound cake from Joy the Baker (maybe for Mother's Day gifts?), these wraps from Budget Bytes (I'm picturing lots of dinners in the park at our new apartment, to replace our porch-sits), fish from Dinner A Love Story (I'm scared to cook anything other than chicken or ground beef so trying to get better), and lots of cocktails that use Aperol. On the non-kitchen side, I am planning to finally start this cross stitch kit from Elise Joy. I'm also dreaming of some sort of flower a day/one picture a day cross stitch to mark our first year married, and making a t-shirt quilt beach blanket from some old sentimental shirts.
9). For Christmas, I had gotten Chris tickets to see Sal Valcano when he was performing in Burlington, VT this winter. The weekend he was supposed to be there we had a snowstorm, so we still went to VT to see friends but his show got rescheduled to May. With all this moving stress, and finals, and so much work, and the fact that we're living in different states, I wasn't sure if we'd be able to go. But I think we need a break, so we're going for it. We booked an AirBnB for next Thursday and Friday night. Maybe Chris can board Bear in NJ and then meet me up there? Unsure of the details. But this is much needed; I'm excited!
10). Books of the moment: just finished listening to This Is The Story of A Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett on audiobook. Loved it. My goal for May is to read my second paper book of the year and I'm planning to restart The Incredible Journey of Plants by Stefano Mancuso. Shows of the moment: Chris and I had been watching Inventing Anna on Netflix, and I'm planning to start Dairy Girls soon. I continue to watch every single piece of content The Financial Diet puts out. Listens of the moment: Elise Joy's podcast is back and I've been finding this season very grounding and inspiring!
That's the update friends! I'm reminding myself that life is short: even if we are lucky, we still only get about 4,000 weeks to careen through our lives. Even in the midst of the upsetting, turbulent times, I want to remember to not waste a week by forgetting the moments of joy, meaning, fun, and connection. Spring is here, and we're moving forward!
No comments:
Post a Comment