New apartment!

So, again, I must apologize for the long absence. School, work, commuting, moving, and planning to move across the country really cut into one's free time. 


Anyway, let's just skip the preamble and cut right to the chase. Although we are going to continue looking (in the event that we discover a rent-free townhouse), Matt and I think that we have found our new apartment! Thanks to my parents- they were the boots-on-the-ground reason we were able to find a place at all. Thanks so much for your help, guys!


Although I won't feel like it is completely ours until I cross the threshold, I wanted to post photos so that everyone (who am I kidding? So that Matt's mom and my grandparents) could see what will very likely be our new digs.


So here it is...

Our apartment is the on the second floor, right behind the palm branches (just follow the graceful arm gestures of our lovely realtor).


Next, the pool:

And the koi pond!

Moving inside- the (tiny) dining area....

The kitchen...

The bathroom (or, as the French say, la salle de bain)...

The shower...

And one of the two bedrooms (you're seeing a reflection in the sliding doors):

Also, while it is not included in the photos, there is a large living room with two big windows- yay for natural light!


Although it is not quite as glamorous as, say, Versailles, or the Taj Mahal, I think Matt and I will be quite happy here. And, with our extra bedroom, we can't wait to have visitors. 


Because who doesn't want to visit southern California?!

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil...

Has anyone else seen this movie? It is based on a book of the same title, written by John Berendt (Hey! This would be a perfect opportunity for me to use the word 'eponymous.' How could I have missed that?). 


Anyway, I saw it for the first time about twelve years ago and have wanted to visit Savannah ever since.


The book was based on actual events that took place in Savannah- with a fair amount of Georgia/Savannah flavor thrown into the movie for good measure. There were a lot of scenes featuring oak trees covered with spanish moss. Kind of like this.

Sooo, when Matt and I started talking about taking a road trip to celebrate our birthdays (we are both June babies), my thoughts immediately went to Savannah.


Matt, who is much more ambitious than I am when it comes to planning trips, thought our itinerary should include Alabama (to visit friends), Georgia (to see Savannah), South Carolina (to visit Charleston and the beach), and North Carolina (to visit Duke, friends, and the Outer Banks). 


Like I said, he is much more ambitious than me. I would have been content to visit Savannah. Why, you ask?


Well, for starters, the FOOD! Anyone who knows me well knows that I am a sucker for good food. And there was plenty of that to be found. We visited Paula Deen's flagship restaurant, Lady and Sons, where we feasted upon; fried chicken, collared greens, macaroni and cheese, grits, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, and more. 

I was very excited, to say the least. 

We also decided to stay in a bed and breakfast while in Savannah- Park Avenue Manor. We had a wonderful time staying there. It was such a different experience from a hotel. We actually felt like we had our own home in Savannah. 

The two gentlemen who run the bed and breakfast, Maurice and Glen, were delightful hosts and make good on their advertised promise to always have sherry and brownies on hand. 

I discovered that I am not a big fan of sherry myself but how cute are those glasses?

Savannah is a beautiful city, and the downtown is made up of about twenty squares. Although we had our car with us, much of the charm of Savannah is experienced by sauntering through all of these squares.

However, as you southerners are well aware, Savannah is hot and humid in the summer. Emphasis on the humid...and the hot, come to think of it. 


Because of the heat, I found myself very grateful for those of the twenty squares that had fountains. 

Very grateful. 

Nothing like dipping your feet in cold water on a hot day. Unless it's getting the rest of yourself wet, too. 


But one of the highlights of the trip to Savannah, for me at least, was visiting the Mercer Williams House. 

It was built for Johnny Mercer's great-grandfather and later restored by Jim Williams (one of the main subjects in John Berendt's book) in the 1960s. 


Although this history behind its recent notoriety is sad (you have to read the book or see the movie), its current restored state and the interior is a lovely testament to Savannah's rich architectural history. 


I will most likely post additional photos from other parts of our trip but the Savannah portion was by far the most well-documented. 


We were too busy being apprehended by park rangers to take photos on later parts of our journey (I wish I was kidding). 

The Prodigal Blogger

Well, perhaps the title above is a bit misleading. I haven't exactly been off squandering my inheritance while living the wild life.


Actually, that latter part of that description might be rather accurate. Things have been pretty hectic for Matt and me until this past week. Starting in April, these are the things that have prevented me from posting updates of any kind:


1) Matt submitted and successfully defended his thesis. 
You may now refer to him as Doctor E. Which means that you should refer to me as Mrs. Doctor E...thank you in advance for remembering this. 


2) I finished my first year of graduate school. 
Booyah! I am officially 50 percent done. 


3) Matt officially graduated from Princeton University.
Why only have graduation festivities on one day when you can spread it over FIVE days? That is the question that Princeton University must have asked itself at some point. However, the graduation was wonderful in that both our families were able to attend. Yes, we called in all of our visits at one time. 


4) I started a full-time summer position in NYC.
This involves commuting 5 days a week into the city, a step up from my student schedule (which required commuting 3 days). 


5) We took a 7 day road trip to the south (more on this later), making stops in Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. 


6) We moved from our home of two years.
The packing and moving process started almost immediately upon returning from our epic road trip. We have great timing. 


Anyway, this is to explain my absence...sorry to all you who were waiting with baited breath to learn more about our lives...I am sure there are dozens of you, right?  <Crickets chirping> Right?


Be on the lookout for some posts in the near future!

Spring Comes to New Jersey...finally!

Winter has died a long, slow death this year. It appears to have finally breathed its last, but not before showering the northeast with snow one final time on Friday.


Matt and I have developed a technique for determining when spring has arrived in New Jersey- when the weather forecast predicts that the high temperature will not fall below 50 degrees over the next ten days, it is safe to say that spring has sprung.


And guess what, baby? That day has come! Take that, winter!


For those of you who do not live through long, cold winters, let me explain what this means:


No more heavy coats, no more snow boots (although my snow boots totally rock), no more wearing leg warmers under my jeans, no more centralized heating. No more salt caking up on my windshield. Done! Fini!


So, to celebrate the end of winter and the arrival of spring, Matt and I decided to seed our front garden patch. I should have taken a 'before' photo but didn't think of it. It pretty much looked like this:

Actually, our patch of earth looked much worse. Use your imagination to add brambles, random twigs, and dried leaves. And a screw. And a glass bead. 


After attacking the weeds with the grossly inadequate tools at our disposal- old kitchen gloves and a rusty trowel- we managed to clear most of the space. 


Just clearing out the junk made it look SO much better.

 

As my knowledge of gardening is pretty much non-existent, who knows if these seeds will actually result in flowers. But I will (hopefully) post photos within the next 10 days or so that show the beginnings of a flower garden. 

At any rate, flowers or no flowers in the garden patch, I am so glad that Spring has finally come. 

Let There Be Light...

Sometimes, I just get the urge to be creative. 

I don't want to focus on being practical. Or efficient.

I just want to make something pretty.

Monday was one of those times when the "be-creative-and-make-something-pretty" urge came upon me. 

So I decided to make these:

Our kitchen doesn't have the best lighting...and it is amazing what a difference a simple garland of lights complete with origami lanterns will make.

Sometimes the smallest things can bring you a disproportionate amount of happiness.

Is there something you do when you feel the urge to be creative? 

If so, I'd love to hear what it is.

Hiking and Pie: A Good Combination

While visiting my family in California earlier this winter, Matt and I took a trip to the Palomar Observatory with my brother Aaron. 

Although many think of California as the land of eternal sunshine, it is quite possible to experience legitimate snow in the Golden State. 

After our two-hour drive to Palomar, this trail marked the beginning of our hike:

Note the tiny animal footprints. We were headed into the wild. 

As many of you know, I spend my days commuting in and out of New York city. So a lot of my time is spent running to the train, racing through the grimy subway, and dashing through city streets. 

It was a nice change of pace to be surrounded by pristine snow and green, growing things.

Our trek through the snow also provided me with answers to several burning questions I have had throughout my life. 

Question 1: How do chipmunks store their food in trees? 

The only frame of reference I had were cartoons featuring Chip and Dale (before they were Rescue Rangers). 

And some might say that a cartoon from the 1980s is not a reliable source.

Well, folks, here's your answer. 

Yes, that's right. Chipmunks can actually store their nuts in trees! Amazing. (And no, we did not carve the "E" into the tree. But it is cool that it was there.)

Question 2:  Does "X" really mark the spot? 

Answer: Yes. And here it is.

Question 3- Are there indigenous woolly mammoths/elephants in southern California?

Clearly the answer is yes. 

After hiking for close to two hours, we decided to take a rest. We found a great spot, one with a view of the observatory and a large, high rock for us all to sit upon. 

Aaron the-eternally-prepared had thought it prudent to bring pipes for us all to enjoy.

I went along with the boys but, alas! I found myself unable to enjoy the fine, English tobacco as much as Aaron did. 

I myself am more inclined towards sweet things. Fortunately for me, we were headed to a land famous for its sweets.

As we left the Palomar Mountains, we were treated to some spectacular views. 

Having left the snow behind us only minutes before, we could now see all the way to the ocean. 

Not too far from Palomar is a small town called Julian. It is famous for its apple pies. 

My parents used to take Aaron and I when we were kids. It was always a treat for the four of us to hop in the car, heading towards the mountains and anticipating that first bite of apple pie. 

Nowadays, Julian apple pies are shipped to nearby grocery stores. But everyone knows that eating a pie in the town of Julian is still "the real thing."

There are several stores that sell apple pie but we always went to Mom's. 

There are a variety of pies- apple, apple boysenberry, strawberry, cherry...the list goes on. You can choose between an "American flakey" and a "French crumb" top. 

While both are good, my vote is always for the crumb top. 

But you can't really go wrong. 

Hiking in the great outdoors, fun with family, and apple pie. 

It was a good day.