Curbside Gathering

I'm managing to slowly clear away the debris that the hurricane that swept the apartment left in its wake.  I've put a Craigslist ad up for the dining room table and chairs that weren't being used for anything other than as a massive dumping ground for junk (Mounds of plastic bags, bills we didn't want to look at, old catalogs, extra bags of dog and/or cat food, and overdue library books are just a few examples.).  The very last thing we did at that table was eat, and the chairs were only put into use as hangers for wet laundry when our clothesline and drying rack were full.  So, as you can see, it was time to get rid of them.  Now I just need someone to actually buy them...

Anyway, I've moved the table and chairs into the bedroom until they're sold and I've recreated the corner - it's now my own personal book nook!  The "missing" chair I mentioned the other day turned out to not be - er - missing, exactly.  It happened to be in the hallway.  In my defense, I thought the giant box belonged to the couple that is moving into another apartment on my floor.  It took my non-English speaking super pointing angrily at the box and then gesturing wildly in the direction of me and my apartment for me to realize that the box was, in fact, mine. *headdesk*

Several minutes with a pair of scissors, a few garbage bags, and several curse words later, the chair and ottoman were unpacked and - this is the truth - it is the most comfortable chair I've ever sat in.  You can see it here.  When I sit in it, I feel like I'm sitting in a womb - warm, cozy, and enveloped in soft, fleecy, cushiony loveliness (I sure hope, for my future babies' sake that this is what a womb feels like).  It is so comfortable that I fell asleep in it the other morning for a couple of hours after I woke up at 2:30 AM.  Chair completed, the next step in creating the book nook was to acquire a bookcase.  I despaired of getting one soon, knowing it would take weeks for my father to build one, let alone get it 400 miles across New York state.  Now that I'm on a very strict budget as well, I further despaired over finding one I liked for an affordable price.  And then, the universe cut me a freaking awesome break. 

Because this morning, when I took Rupert out for his morning walk at 6:30, I stopped short fifty feet from my apartment.  There it was, my bookcase, calmly sitting on the curb waiting for the trash pickup.  I rushed Rupert through his bathroom routine, ran up the three flights of stairs, poured his breakfast in a rush, and stomped back downstairs and out the door.  I'll be damned if I was letting MY BOOKCASE go either to anyone else, or worse, the trash.  It was lovely.  It's about five feet long and three feet high, with thick, heavy outer boards and thinner shelf boards with an open back.  Excitedly, I hefted it onto my shoulder.  It didn't move.  Uh oh.  This was going to be harder than I thought.  Ten minutes later, I had reached my front door with it (fifty feet, remember?) while the line of homeless people waiting for the soup kitchen across the street to open watched interestedly.  I then spent another six or seven minutes navigating the bookcase through the obnoxiously heavy and too close together double door entrance to my building, politely turning down help from a passing mail carrier.  I'm sure I looked a sight: bright turquoise pajama shirt, flaming yellow sweatpants that say PINK on the butt, hair sweaty and hanging in my face, cheeks bright and eyes slightly maniacal with excitement.  Then came the fun part.  Okay, Cait, I thought, It's only three flights.  No problem.  Just in case you're wondering, the first flight has eighteen steps.  The second has sixteen.  The third also has sixteen.  Something about thunking a seventy pound bookcase up those flights kinda burns the numbers into your head.  Finally, I got it into the apartment, sanded a rough spot, cleaned it thoroughly, and set it up against the wall before gleefully calling my mom to tell her of my find (it's a good thing she wakes up early is all I'm saying).

It holds all the books that needed homes and get this - there's room for more.  There's even room for a certain someone to nestle into.  He seems to think that one cubby of this case was designed especially for him, which, of course, it was.

Here's the bookcase in all its glory (it kills me that this is blurry but I'm too lazy to try again):

Now, it's not a finished product.  I'm envisioning a colorful runner for the top, a different lamp, and some framed pictures (our apartment holds precious few and with this fancy new camera of mine, I'm determined to take some frame-worthy shots).  Decorating tips and ideas are always greatly appreciated!

Right now, I'm basking in the comfort of my new chair, admiring all my favorite books close at hand, and being grateful for the slow clearing of my home.  Wednesday, you've done well so far.  Let's keep it up, shall we?

All Good Things

Today's beautiful weather - 72 degrees! - had me feeling good.  My little guy and I enjoyed the sun with an outing to the bank (thrilling, I know).  Then I got off of work two hours early and Alix and I celebrated the occasion by deciding we wanted ice cream to go with the warm weather.  Even though our corner store has seven zillion flavors of Ben & Jerry's, I desperately wanted a cone for the full experience, so we took the subway way, way up the west side to the only scoop shop around.  I enjoyed their new flavor, Late Night Snack, which is basically this heavenly concoction of salty and sweet with chocolate.  Um...delicious.  Alix got her usual disgusting combination of coffee ice cream with rainbow sprinkles.  Talk about ruining a perfectly good opportunity for ice cream.  Sheesh.

 

Yeah, I know this is an awful picture.  Sorry.

Anyway, after taking the subway all the way back, we decided we weren't quite ready to head home so we hit up a local thrift store that we've been meaning to visit for awhile now.  It was hot and stuffy, and way more crowded than I expected, but I have an obsession for thrift stores so I didn't mind.  I love hunting for a good find amidst all the bad prom and bridesmaid dresses and XXL blazers with shoulder pads.  I came home with a dress and a rustic 1950's era kitchen clock.

It even tells time!

The dress was a contemplated decision; the clock a last second (haha) one.  We weren't even sure if it would work once we put a battery in it.  Then came a little home decorating.  The clock clearly belongs in the kitchen, so we hauled out the nails to hang it and then I got all excited about hanging up this world map we've had for ages but have never put up.  A strange combination, I know, but they both make our kitchen area look even funkier and charismatic than before.  (Who's ever heard of having a map in the kitchen, right?  Well now if I'd like to know where Kazakhstan is while I'm making dinner, by golly, I can just look up and find it.)

Our apartment is tilted.  So it's not our fault the map is crooked.  Ok?

The windows are open and our apartment smells beautifully of the lilies that a friend gave us.  The dog is sleeping, the cat is prowling, The Weepies are playing, and a pizza is on its way.  Life. Is. Good.

Holy Six Pack

And not the beer kind. The kind that is forming on my abdomen! I have never, ever had abs like these, and truthfully, it wasn't that hard. I mean, yes, the 30 Day Shred is effing ridiculous (and this is coming from someone who took about two months to do 30 days of workouts), but the actual ab exercises were never so impossible that I utterly failed. And now, 9 days into the last 10 days of the workout dvd, I can honestly say, I have the shadowy beginnings of a six pack. I also can't believe that tomorrow will mean I have done Level 3 for ten days (in a total of 15 days - but that included Christmas vacation!). While my last post was pretty much a load of kvetching about how hard it was, nine days later, it's definitely doable. I feel pretty kick-ass getting through the whole workout without needing to modify any of the moves. The last set of cardio includes two moves that originally were so hard I could barely do the modified versions - jump squats and rock star jumps. Now I blaze through them, apologizing in my mind to my downstairs neighbors who must think that for twenty minutes every night, someone is either having extremely vigorous sex or a domestic dispute, minus the shouting.

In other updates: the old apartment, you know, the one we're paying rent on even though we moved into our cheaper apartment to save money (don't worry, I know the irony is just killing all of you) - might actually be leased to someone new soon! They are applying, and have a guarantor, so things are looking good... That apartment (and its astronomical rent that we're still paying) aside, I recalculated and found that I am now spending only twenty-six percent of my income on rent, as opposed to the previous forty percent. This leaves me with much more of my earnings to go towards my small school loan (credit card bill is paid off!) and into my savings.

Last update: Christmas was wonderful this year, full of family, snow, and many unsuccessful attempts to control Rupert in a house full of cats to chase and tall people who kept picking him up. I received some wonderful gifts, including two cookbooks (one vegetarian, the other vegan) which I can't wait to delve into, as well as a book on urban gardening so that I'll be able to figure out how to grow my herbs even without a terrace. Add to that the fabulously exciting immersion blender from one of my brothers, and you'll have to agree that I definitely lucked out with gifts this year.

Also, check out the new pages at the top of the blog under the title. Happy New Year everyone!

Movin' and Groovin'

The biggest adjustment to our stretched finances occurred this past week -- Alix and I moved! To a place with lower rent, that is. Instead of our cushy studio in midtown, we now live in a cozy one-bedroom on the Upper West Side whose rent is $600 less than the old apartment. It's true that paying a lower rent comes with side effects: our super speaks almost no English, cannot comprehend why two women live together in a one-bedroom (awkward looks abound whenever he sees us), and is convinced that hot water dripping steadily from our ceiling is a problem that does not require attention until three days later. We also are now the proud owners of a fridge that doesn't open all the way (because it runs into the counter), two closets that are finicky about opening and closing, and a bathroom door that won't shut because it's been painted over too many times. Thank goodness Alix and I are way past the point of needing toilet privacy. If you come to visit us, I'm sorry, but you're going to have to deal with a cracked door. We'll talk louder while you're in there, don't worry. Despite all of it, we're so much happier here, it's only sad that we didn't move sooner. We love our huge windows, high ceilings, view of the church, the fact that we have a BEDROOM (!!!), that there is room for the boys to run, our counter space...the list goes on and on. Between the lower rent and my two jobs (hooray for working 70 hours a week...literally), we're definitely going to make it. That is, if we can find someone to assume the old lease at the midtown apartment...
But it's more fun to look at pictures than think about scary things like paying two leases, right? So here you go:
First, the old apartment (whose pictures are decidedly better, as they were taken during daylight hours)

The terrace where I grew my herbs and tomatoes

Living room area

Kitchen area

Tiny kitchen

Next, the process of moving:

Eating Indian takeout on a Zappos box because we no longer had a table.

Boxes galore

And finally, the new place:

The foyer

The main room

Dining area

Kitchen area...please excuse the mess (those dishes are actually clean, just haven't been put away yet).

And just for fun - the apple pie I made today. Jealous? You should be.