A Not So Quickie Update

Project: Unpack Before Will Gets Back From The JMT is well underway, despite its lengthy title (and despite the curveball he threw me...he's coming home a week early!).

I've made lists of things I need to buy, and with the help of a few friends, have actually gotten quite a bit of unpacking done. Dude, I did like, 5 boxes tonight. Because I like to organize my brain in lists, here's a little list of to-do's. Warning: it's long. This is the next two weeks of my life. Starting with...tomorrow.

• Thursday after work
• get a massage oh yeah woo hoo!
• Google+ hangout with Aly
• unpack swag bag suitcase from BlogHer
• pack bag for LA (going home this weekend)
• mail something to Will. It's tricky, because he gets to his next resupply in 4 days, and the one after that only 6 days or so after that. So I have to get on it. And possibly pay for some quick shipping. Hopefully I don't have to do this Friday/Saturday, but I might have to. 
• Friday after work
• fly home
• Saturday
• relax with the folks, maybe ship a package to Will? Send Lyz her post-blogher "left behind" package?
• evening dinner with Los Angeles bloggy ladyfriends
• Sunday
• Disneyland!
• Monday
• Fly home in the morning
• Disqus beach trip in the evening
• Tuesday after work
• pilates!
• unpack something! 
• move gift wrap stuff to guest room
• assemble kitchen cart, assuming it's arrived? maybe wait for a friend to help with this one.
• do some laundry? I can only assume I'll have a ton by then.
• Wednesday after work
• ballet...hopefully I'll find my shoes by then
• dinner with a visiting friend (Hi, Rachel)
• unpack? assemble kitchen cart?
• Thursday after work
• happy hour officewarming party fun times at work
• Reed flies in
• Friday
• take the day off work, spa day! I have a feeling this will be much-needed.
• evening at IKEA :)
• main closet organization?
• dinner at Biere or Homeroom?
• Saturday
• brunch? 
• pick up stuff I bought from Steve & Kate's Camp in El Cerrito
• Target run?
• unpack, assemble IKEA furniture (bookcase, dresser, tv stand)? 
• Taskrabbit the assembly while we unpack?
• reorganize office/guest room furniture?
• dinner at Biere or Homeroom?
• Sunday
• unpack
• Reed flies home
• haircut
• Monday after work
• NOTHIN BUT UNPACKING!
• Tuesday after work
• pilates
• unpack 
• make sure things are tidy enough for the housekeepers to come tomorrow
• Wednesday after work
• ballet 
• walk around the house, marveling at how clean it suddenly is (hopefully)
• unpack - can I please be done unpacking by this time?
• Thursday after work
• office managers meetup night?
• Friday
• drive to Yosemite to pick up Will!
• Sara B concert at Shoreline
• sleep over in San Carlos?
• Saturday
• Monterey Bay Aquarium with Katherine.
• Sunday
• lounge around all day with Will, finally.
• Sleep.

Unpacking schedule may vary based on my mood.  Things to unpack: pots and pans (waiting on kitchen cart), books (waiting on 2nd bookshelf), movies (waiting on tv stand), games, tech crap, office stuff, canned food, dresser stuff...and I feel like there are more things but I don't want to walk around the living room taking inventory right now.

I think it's reasonable, though looking at the list makes me feel a little crazy.  I can do it!!?

PS no plans (well, besides Tues Pilates and Weds ballet) the week after this list of wonders...except oh wait, that next weekend we fly to Washington for a wedding, and the one after that we go to Colorado, and the one after that probably a wedding in Santa Barbara (travel plans permitting), and then we will both crash and sleep for a few days?


I feel lucky to have so much awesome in my life, but um, am I a crazy person?  Seriously, please let me know.  I'll be in bed.

In which I compare apartment hunting to online dating

The hunt continues.  "Having a relaxing evening at home" and "eating dinner before 9pm" have been replaced by "finding a place to live" and "eating dinner at 10pm"*, and we're seeing an average of one place per night. Sometimes two. It's a frustrating experience, as anyone who has ever had to look for an apartment will attest, filled with ups and downs and a bit of bipolarity, what with the high hopes and low expectations.

I imagine apartment hunting must be similar to online dating**. You wish there was a little more information in the listing, and maybe a picture that wasn't angled and slightly out of focus. You have to act quickly, to show interest without seeming desperate. Sometimes it's already taken by the time you send the first email. Sometimes it's ugly. Sometimes it's too small.

When you try to determine whether you want to take the next step, you recognize that it doesn't quite have everything you wanted, but decide you can probably make some compromises. Nothing is perfect, after all. You worry that if you choose something, you'll miss out on something better that comes along a few days later***.  If you're picky like me, you don't take the next step very often, because you are also stubborn and don't want to sacrifice things like hardwood floors or square footage.

You probably also get your hopes up, despite your best efforts to keep expectations low. You start picturing how your furniture will look in the space before you even see it, before you realize that "huge" and "spacious" are apparently synonymous with "under 700 square feet". Oops.

Eventually, you find something with enough of what you're looking for that it makes the compromises not seem like a big deal. These same things might turn out to be dealbreakers next time around, but for now, you pack your things and move forward.


*though to be fair, this isn't always because of looking for apartments. Sometimes I get home late because of pilates/ballet. And we do a pretty good job of trying to relax afterwards, even if it means eating late or watching one less DVR'd episode of Jon Stewart.
**disclaimer: my experience in online dating is entirely based on stories from friends. Blame any inaccuracies on them.
***It's easier to stop dating someone than it is to get out of a 12 month lease though, or so I've heard.


--Please leave comments here, rather than on Facebook (you can be anonymous, or even use your Facebook account to comment if you want). I like to keep comments all in one place, and Facebook makes it hard to go back and visit those comments later.--

Putting it out there

While I have many friends and family members who are into The Secret and all that, I'm not really big on the whole "put the positive vibes out there into the universe" thing. However, with this We Have To Move thing being as it is, I figure it can't hurt to try...right? Especially if I'm all obsessive about checking PadMapper and stuff too?

We have just about 6 weeks until we have to move, and so far, it's slim pickings out there in Apartment Rentals Land. If anyone out there knows of anything (the perfect little 2-bedroom Craftsman house?), please do let me know.

Anyway, Universe, here's what we're* looking for:

• ~850 sq ft, + storage or lots of closets - for ski gear, camping gear, hockey gear (and all our stuff)
• parking either off-street, or easy/safe on-street
• walking-distance to BART because we both take it to get to work
• laundry, preferably in-unit, or with a hookup for a w/d. Shared, coin-op laundry in the building is acceptable...though I really don't want to. I'm spoiled.
• outdoor space. We have a BBQ and two 1/2 wine barrel planters I do not want to leave behind.
• nice kitchen. It doesn't have to be huge or sparkling new, but it should not be so small that two people can't comfortably cook together. And the appliances should work.
• 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom - though I wouldn't say no to 2 of either! 

It would be great to have:

• extra storage - our current place has a closet across the hall perfect for all that outdoor/sporting gear.
• wood burning fireplace - this is the biggest "we probably won't get it" item, but our current place has one and a girl can dream, right?
• outdoor space for gardening, like real dirt, ya know? a yard?
• hardwood floors
• a building with character - sadly, many of the cooler, older buildings don't have parking or laundry, but they do exist somewhere. I'm convinced of it. 
• dishwasher
• garbage disposal
• loads of natural light
• magical fairies and unicorns to fluff my pillow and present me with gold coins

We're paying $1500 right now (I know, it's a great deal - shut up, Lyz, with your gorgeous and affordable house in Iowa), and we can afford to go a little higher. I'd prefer to stay well under $1800. Like, maybe, $1600 or even $1700.  I guess I'm thinking up to $1800 if it has EVERYTHING on the list. 

My request is officially Out There, In The Universe. So...apartment. Where are you?

*I say "we're" because, well, I'm writing this on behalf of us. It should be noted, however, that Will doesn't actually care about some of this stuff. For example, he'd be fine with the shared, coin-op laundry, and he's usually convinced we can fit into a smaller apartment. But for the purposes of this blog...it's "we're." And looking back over the list...he cares more than I do about the hardwood floors and character and I care more about gardening space and space in general. So...teamwork.

We're Moving

We're moving.

Our landlords contacted us last night to let us know that unfortunately, they would not be able to renew our lease, which is up at the end of July. For personal reasons, they want to move back to the condo, and well, they own it, and they're not breaking the lease or anything, so it's totally within their rights. And I understand why they want to move back. But I'm still sad about it.

Ok, let me cry for a minute. I feel like we've barely gotten settled here. I mean, we've hardly finished unpacking. Only a week ago, I finished mounting the final HDMI cable with wall clips so that it looks nice and neat. I've just started settling into routines, enjoying my morning walk, decorating and planting things on the patio. Just in the last few months, I've started to feel one hundred percent at home here, in this condo, in this neighborhood. I have ballet and pilates just up the street. I stop by Whole Foods on my way home from work, and I finally feel like I've reached the point where I feel...settled. The thought of uprooting and starting new, again, is daunting. And sad.

Honestly, there are two parts to this: the frustration of having to move again and the sadness of leaving a place that I genuinely love. Sure, it doesn't have the Craftsman charm or a gas stove or floods of natural light, but it had everything else on our list (and more). I've really come to love it here. I love that when it's cold out, Will can make a fire. And I love that our patio is large enough for a small couch, table, chairs, and delightful potted plants. I love the way our stuff fits. I know it's kind of silly, but as I sit here and look around, I really like the way our things fit. I love the linen closet and the coat closet and the storage closet across the hall. Of course, I'd love a bigger kitchen and dining room, but our things fit just fine. I knew that we would move eventually, but I really thought we had another year or two in this space. And it makes me sad to look around at what feels like home and realize that in less than two months, it won't be.

The frustration comes from the fact that I've been moving or thinking about moving for the last 12 months. We officially started looking for a new place last April/May (we had started casually looking in August), and found it in July. We were still unpacking in the fall, when I started working at Disqus. By December, I was starting to plan an office move at work. I'm still wrapping up the move at work, and now we have to start looking for apartments again. I mean, what?! That's three moves in 12 months. And don't they say that moving is one of the top stressors in modern life? I believe it. Thinking about moving again right now (or ok, in the next 7 weeks - SEVEN WEEKS OMG) is seriously worrisome. I'm afraid I'm going to develop that eye twitch again.

All that said, I know it will be ok. And I feel like a major idiot for crying about this while there are people out there who have lost their entire homes to tornadoes, floods, and the like. There are people who are losing their homes because the banks are screwing them. There are people losing their lives, their loved ones, and so so so very much more than I can imagine losing. I know that. I know it's just a condo. I know that we are lucky to be able to afford to move again; even though it wasn't quite in the budget, it's not going to break the bank. And I know that we will find something. I know that being sad, thinking that we might have to downgrade or give up some of the things we've been spoiled by over the last 10 months is well...sort of lame. But you know what? I'm still sad.

In typical Type A, Control Freak Kim fashion, I started looking for places as soon as I processed the contents of our landlords' email. I was in a little bit of a state of shock, and instantly, my fingers drifted to Craigslist (I wasn't thinking clearly, or obviously I would have gone directly to PadMapper). This morning, I opened up a PadMapper account so that Will and I can easily track our apartment interests, and I set up a bunch of email alerts for different geographic regions, based on where we looked a year ago. I will probably cry about this several more times over the next 7 weeks, but gosh darn it if I won't start taking action. It's what I do.

For now, I suppose the hunt is on. I'm glad that I didn't start my "frame and hang a bunch of pictures on the walls" project...or sell the washer/dryer (thanks for taking care of it, Jenny and Jeff). And hey, maybe we'll find a nice place with everything this place has and more! Who knows? Miracles can happen!

I'll do my best to keep the blog updated so you can all play along. And if you're looking for a little humor, here are some posts I wrote for Berkeleyside during last year's apartment hunt.

• Home Hunting in Berkeley: Lessons Learned
• Home Hunting in Berkeley: Lamenting the Listings
• Funny Business: Listing Scams and Malapropisms
• Message to Renters and Landlords: You Have Rights

Enjoy! And if you are the praying/well-wishing/sending-positive-vibes-out-into-the-universe type, please wish us luck (or whatever).

The First Round of the Pictures...

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the whole "we're all settled and unpacked" situation, because, well, life got in the way, and sometimes there are more important things to do than unpack every single box (thanks, Will, for reminding me that it doesn't all have to be done yesterday).

I was finally able to upload some pictures from Moving Day though, so here you go...some pictures of our empty, clean, beautiful new apartment!

The view from the kitchen sink (how appropriate).
The nicest landlords ever left us flowers.
And Triple Karm.

The view from the living room (remember all those "from the couch"
pictures I've been posting? Well, this is what it looks like empty).

I don't know why Blogger won't let me import this picture
vertically, so you'll just have to turn your head. Or not.
Pretty floor.

Having a hallway makes the apartment feel more spacious.
Also, it's 200 sq feet bigger than our last place.
That could help.

The view of the living room from the dining area...you can kind
of see the patio out back.  It's nice.

 

Me saying a blurry bye-bye to our old place.
Yes, I painted it myself (with help).

A celebratory mimosa-filled brunch with cousins.
Not pictured: Will
Guess who was the designated driver?
Hint: he was also the designated photographer.

So there you have it.  Moving Day 2010.  We are about 2/3 of the way unpacked at this point, which at only 10 days into the month is not half bad (get it? because it's more than half? I slay me). Last night, I closed the linen closet door for the first time, which I'll count as a small measure of success. I'd like to be fully unpacked and settled in by the end of the month, but I am also trying to work on just relaxing and not stressing about a few more boxes.  Because (and maybe you know this already) there is more to life than that.  Such as: walks around the lake, photo shoots with Em the Gem, seeing my favorite 10-year old in a play, and last-minute trips to Cafe Biere for Taco Tuesday (if it seems like we're there a lot...well...we have been going a lot in the last two weeks. so you're right).

You know what?  It's all going to be ok.  :-)

I promised you pictures...

...and pictures you will get. I finally found the cord that connects my camera to the computer, but alas, we do not yet have internet at home. I will try to get those photos uploaded as soon as possible, but until then, here's a little preview, courtesy of my iPhone.

Before. The view from the couch on Sunday, August 1, 2010

After. The view from the couch on Sunday, August 8, 2010.

What a difference a week makes.

Also? We have a lot of books.

Two Kitchens That Are Not Mine (also: Way too many parentheticals)

Obviously, they can't both be mine. I can't have two kitchens (or can I...).  But actually, neither of these are mine.  They are just pretty, and I thought I would share them (as I am wont to do).  ("wont to do" is one of my favorite phrases in the world, by the way)  (parenthetical!)

Even as we (slowly but surely) (what is with the parentheses, Kim? jeez!) get settled (last night, I unpacked the linen closet, which was thrilling to me, but probably boring to most. let me know if you really want to see pics and I'll post them), I find myself daydreaming of other people's kitchens.  I do that a lot (see Tiny Kitchen Roundup, circa March 2010), and if you hate looking at other people's kitchens, well, then I just don't understand you, and maybe this is not the blog for you. Or you can just ignore all of the posts labeled "HouseLust".  But I digress.  (PS - that's two sentences starting with "But".  And this is parenthetical number 10.  Eesh)

Since I haven't gotten around to uploading and posting (or even taking, since the weekend) photos from The Great Unpacking, I'll just keep sharing pretty kitchens and such from other people's lives.  Because sometimes, when we're living in Cardboard Castle, even if we are pleased as punch about our new home, we just need a little break.  (and yes, that's the royal "we" - y'all know I'm talking about myself here)

In case this week has been getting you down, or you too are just crazy tired and wishing it was Friday, here are a few beautiful distractions (or inspirations, if that's your thing. I prefer to be distracted).  Oh, and apparently today is International Beer Day.  Guess where I'll be after work?  Hint: here.  (ok, that wasn't so much a hint as it was an answer. so sue me. no wait, don't. I can't afford it.)

I am extremely charmed by the fake window over the sink.
Check out the before pictures (via TheKitchn)
and you will be even more impressed.
I love the floors, the cabinets, the sink, the decor...sigh

Isn't this just yummy?
(via TheKitchn)

This is now the third time I've used this phrase today, but
"I want to go to there"
(via the same post on "window treatments" at TheKitchn)

PS - Starting today (and for the next month) I am advertising on The Soap Bar.  You may know of my love of Product Body, and this website is the soapy goodness (aka "soap porn") roundup of sorts from its owner.  If you found this blog from that ad, let me know!

PPS - The ad was made by my lovely friend Cheshire, who turned my "oh my god this is the worst ad I've ever seen I did not know I lacked so much artistic talent even using Photoshop I am embarrassed to even be sending you this" sample ad into the thing of beauty you see in Joanna's sidebar.  In fact, I like it so much I am now looking for other places to put it.  Unfortunately, I can't justify spending any more money on advertising right now.  Any bloggers out there want to do an ad-posting trade?  I'll show you mine if you show me yours?

Moving? What?

I've gotten a few concerned emails from you wonderful people, asking how the move went and if we survived, hoping everything is ok.  Really, you shouldn't be concerned when I miss 4 days of posting updates.  You should know me better by now!  :-)  I really do appreciate it though, because BOY HAVE I WANTED TO FILL YOU IN!  If you haven't been following me on Twitter (which you should), then you missed a few updates (with pictures!).

Such fun things as:

• Still packing, ten minutes before the movers arrived.
• Arriving at our new place to realize how truly awesome our new landlords are.
• Multiple problems with our movers.
• Rewarding ourselves with Cafe Biere after clearing out of our old place...and then being too "tired" to unpack.
• Settling in to the quiet that is an apartment without a TV.

So you see, it was a busy day.  And a busy weekend.  And yesterday, when I was getting all, "Woe is me, we have so much to unpack, how have we lived here for so long surrounded by boxes?!" I was reminded that it was only Tuesday.  And we had, in fact, moved in a mere three days prior.  Hello time, it seems we need to be reintroduced.

We made a fantastic dent in the unpacking on Monday night, and as of last night (still only Tuesday night) we had almost unpacked the entire kitchen.  The bedroom is unpacked; though we still have to install some lights, it is fully functional.  On Monday, I wore Crocs to work (cute ones though) because they were the only shoes I could find, aside from the EasyTone tennies I had been wearing for the last 48 hours.  Note for anyone planning to move: pack yourself a duffel bag with outfits and shoes for the first two days or so after the move. It will make your life less stressful.

Anyway, it's been exhausting.  We had an absolutely terrible experience with our movers. We have way more stuff than we thought we did.  But we love the place, and it feels great to be getting settled.  

Hopefully I'll find the camera-to-computer cord soon...I have moving day pictures (pre-Cardboard Castle, so it's nice and clean and empty), and by the end of the weekend, I should have some settling-in-progress pictures too.  :-)

Almost there...

We have less than 24 hours now until the big move...a mere17.5 hours, to be precise. There are still things to be packed, but we are seriously almost done now.  We are living in Cardboard Castle, and I'll be sure to take pictures tonight or tomorrow morning before the movers show up...boxes piled high atop every possible surface, in piles on the floor, on shelves in closets - we're surrounded.  Last night, as my dear friend Emika and I tried to find places for each box we packed, I just turned around in circles laughing.  Because guys, it's kind of hilarious. We have so much more stuff than we thought (and yes, most of it is technically "mine" and yes, this is always what happens, and yes, we donated a few big bags to Goodwill), and I have been severely underestimating our need for boxes.  Every day, I bring a load home from work (thank goodness for working in a big building with lots of tenants who have many boxes to recycle) and say, "Ok! I think we're good on boxes now!" only to find that by the end of the night, we're all out.  We have about 5 boxes left, but I'm going to grab another stash from work today just in case.  I can't believe tonight will be our last night in this apartment - even though the place is clearly in transition, it hardly feels real.  But real it is, and the trucks will arrive at 8:00am tomorrow morning whether we believe it or not!

Not our kitchen, but it's very pretty.
The floor reminds me of a carpet, and I'd like it to
be lighter, and the overhang of the sink is kind
of odd, but hey, it's not my house.

And it's pretty.
via The Kitchn.

See y'all on the other side!  :)

Apartment Tour

If you've been reading this blog lately, you know that we are moving this Saturday.  You also know that last night, I went to our new apartment to get keys, take pictures, and do a general walk-through with the landlords.  The landlords are leaving a few things behind for us - some pretty lights, a TV wall mount, firewood...and the 3-4 tomato plants that are on the patio.  Apparently, the plants just started growing a few years ago from seeds that literally fell from someone's 4th floor balcony into their pots on the patio. Hello??  The plants have been producing tomatoes ever since.  I think I'm going to get some cages for them and prune them a little, but right now, the vines are spilling over the edges of the pots, and there are at least 10-15 little green tomatoes that will soon turn red. The landlords said they eat them all the time - Score!  They also said we should feel free to do whatever we want with the pots (tear out the plants, plant new stuff, etc), so depending on how the tomatoes do, I might try to grow something else in there too.  Either way, now I don't have to buy a bunch of big pots and potting soil (they're leaving some for us)!

As usual, I went over there expecting to be there for 20 minutes, and ended up staying for over an hour, walking around the place and chatting with the landlords (who, by the way, are ridiculously nice).  I think it's a good sign.   Oh, and fun fact: I measured the bedroom closet-rod-hanging-space in both our current place and the new place...right now we have just under 7 feet (includes the space-doubling hanging rod I bought a few years ago).  Our new bedroom closet has just over 12 feet.  Yes.  The coat closet is about three times the size of our current one as well, and the linen closet is bigger too.  Plus there is an additional storage closet across the hall from our unit that will be big enough to hold all our camping gear, ski gear, hockey gear, etc.

I made a little photo tour slideshow for those of you who want to see the place as it is now.  It's not totally cleaned out (they are still fixing things up, and still have to paint and have the professional cleaners come in), and I'll try to snap some pics of the totally empty place on Saturday, but for now, this should give you an idea of our lovely new place. What it lacks in 1930's charm (one of the only things on our "list" that we didn't get with this place), it makes up for in space and general awesome features (need I remind you of the dishwasher, garbage disposal, in-unit laundry, and wood-burning fireplace?).

Less than two days till the big move!!

Floorplans and Packplans and Letting it Go

It feels like we've reached the halfway point in this whole omigod-the-last-week-before-we-move thing, and I have to keep reminding myself that it's only Tuesday.  Ah yes, the days go by quickly, and time will fly away before we know it, but for now, it's only Tuesday, and I sat in the sunshine while I ate my lunch, and well, sometimes an hour of sunshine in the middle of your Tuesday is just nice.

Tomorrow evening, we get to visit our new apartment (hooray!).  We're going to take the "before" pictures and get keys and ask all the questions we didn't ask before.  We'll do the official walk-through with the landlords; even though it's not being professionally cleaned until Friday, they will be moved out and we can take stock of any repairs that need doing, or any scratches in the floor, or whatever else you notice in such events.  The landlords are having the unit repainted and professionally cleaned - I know this is standard in many areas, but around these parts, it's definitely a rarity.  It's such a radical change from our current place, where I had to make the landlord help me clean the previous tenant's crusty food off the ceiling in the kitchen before I moved in.

I made this floorplan with
www.floorplanner.com
 based on rough sketches from our landlord

The landlords sent us a rough sketch of the floor plan, but I'll probably take some extra measurements too, just for peace of mind.  You see, I can be a bit of a control freak at times.  I have this fear that when the movers bring our furniture in, we won't know exactly where it goes and it'll all just end up in a big clump in the middle of the room.  I want to minimize the shifting we have to do, and basically know where stuff is going to go before we get there.  I worked it all out in my own fancy way (see picture), but the measurements we got aren't all correct, and the dining room and Will's desk area are not quite worked out yet in my head (or on paper).  So there are just a few little things I want to know about, and then I'll feel ready.

I'm trying to relax, and for the most part, I'm doing quite well.  I'm proud of the fact that I chose cooking over packing last night, and that I am feeling remarkably calm (minus a little teeth-grinding) about the fact that we are moving in just over three days, and we are not done packing.  There are things in life that we cannot change, and even when we can, it's sometimes best to relinquish the control and just let life happen. Know what I mean? Last night simply felt like it needed a home-cooked meal, so there!  Tonight, tired as we might be, we'll pack a few more things (personally, I have a big pile of papers to file).  And tomorrow, after we've (ok, I've) taken a million pictures of our new home-to-be, we'll celebrate with dinner and drinks at Cafe Beire (this has now become our go-to place).  Thursday evening, the packing will resume, and Friday I'll be playing on the football field with a couple hundred ladies.

And Saturday?  When the movers show up at 8:30am and we inevitably have to scramble for last-minute items?  Well, it's not going to freak me out.  We're only moving about 5 miles away, after all, and if anything gets left behind and we have to make a trip back with my car later in the day, we'll just do it.  We don't have to be 100% out of the place until the end of the day on Sunday, which gives us a little more leeway and a little less stress.  At least that's what I say now - we'll see how I feel when it actually happens!

Photos of our empty new apartment to come, but for now, enjoy this wonderfully bright and "quaint" (I hate that word; it always sounds sort of condescending to me) kitchen, courtesy of TheKitchn (of course).  Just looking at this picture is calming, isn't it?

Why yes, I could absolutely imagine myself here.  Thank you for asking.

Why pack when you can cook?

For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to do a lot of cooking on our last Monday in this apartment.  I'm not really feeling sentimental (anymore...or yet again) about moving, but there is something nice about a good-smelling home, even if it is piled high with boxes.   I can definitely get behind the whole "we're moving; let's order in" rationale, but I guess I wasn't quite ready to give in to it yet (though I did not complain when Will brought home pizza from The Cheeseboard on Saturday night!).  I guess I figure that as long as we haven't packed all the cooking paraphernalia, we might as well use it.  Save those "oh my god I cannot cook tonight" meals for when we can't find the spatula.

Delicious muffins.

When Jacqui posted a recipe for what is simply one of the best kinds of muffins on the planet, I knew it was time to pull out some frozen bananas.  I thought there were probably 3 or 4 hiding in the freezer, and that I'd use them all up - you know, a good ole pre-move freezer cleanout.  Whoops. There were 6.  I feel a little like I will turn into Dooce when I have a larger freezer.  Note: before I found that link to Twitter, I was trying to find a post on her site about an overabundance of bananas in the freezer, but I could not. The search function on her site kept asking if I was looking for "front banana" or "banana freedom".  I found this amusing.  So yes.  I figured it would be a good idea to make some chocolate chip banana muffins.  My cookbooks are all packed, and I like to play in the kitchen, so why not try a new recipe?

Meatloaf + Rustic Sourdough.
Bad photo, great dinner.

And when I found myself wanting to make something healthy with ground turkey for dinner tonight, I simply did a search for the ingredient on Food Loves Writing, where there are just a ton of recipes on my "gotta try it" list.  Voila!  That turkey meatloaf recipe I bookmarked so many months ago!  Shanna makes any recipe seem approachable and worth the time and energy, and while my version was not perfect, it was delicious.

I used almost 1.5 lbs of turkey instead of 1. Whoops.  The turkey  came all the way to the top of the pan (borrowed from our neighbor, because whoops again, we already packed the loaf pan), and the sauce spilled over and burned.  Whoops whoops whoops!

It didn't matter though; it tasted so dang good.

And a little salad, just for good measure.

Tonight was my first attempt at meatloaf, and I'm pretty proud.  It was fun to make, squishing up the meat and egg and breadcrumbs and such with my hands, blending the ingredients and trying something new.  And the muffins came together in about five minutes, ready to pop in the oven as soon as the meatloaf came out.  I don't care that the kitchen got swelteringly hot and crowded with dishes (hey, we're moving soon!), or that this meal took about an hour to make, or even that now I am so tired I just want to pass out on the couch and not pack a single box.  It was delicious.  It was new.  And right now, I am all about starting fresh...even as we spend our last days in our "old" apartment.

Mid-Pack Update

As the weekend comes to a close, I thought I'd provide a little photo update of the rest of the weekend's process.  We've packed the entire living room, as well as most of the kitchen.  What's left in the kitchen now is stuff we'll use this week, so there wasn't much we could do about it.  Can't very well pack every single dish a week before you move, can you?  :-)

Things still to pack:

• linen closet (yikes)
• coat closet (yikes, but it really shouldn't take more than 10 minutes)
• bedroom (just the shoes, top-of-the-dresser stuff, and desk stuff really - clothes will all go into wardrobe boxes, thank goodness)
• kitchen (a few baking things, plates, bowls, glasses, plus food)
• bathroom (um, does throwing shampoo and towels into a box count as packing?)

We have all week to finish after work, except for Friday, when I'll be at the Cal Women's Huddle.  Will reminded me that even though the movers arrive at 8:30am on Saturday, we can still pack last-minute things (power cords, last-minute kitchen items, etc) while they're starting to load the truck.  

The good news?  The disaster zone is no more!  T-minus-5-days-till-moving-day-omigod!

Boxes, boxes, and more boxes!

Mid-Pack

Last weekend, I made a promise to myself: Pack one box per weeknight, minimum. I've been doing really well.  In fact, as of bedtime Thursday night, I had packed 7.  Will hadn't really done much; he's more of the "get a lot done at once" type.  That's fine; most of what I packed last week wasn't his anyway (yeah yeah, we live together, it's all "ours" blah blah blah).  The plan is to pack as much as humanly possible this weekend, since oh yeah, we move in a week.  That's right, one week from today, we will be in our new place.  Wowza.

This weekend so far...oh boy.  We took a night off from packing last night to go to our favorite place, where the owner just so happened to be debuting a new menu.  We had flatbread complete with carmelized onions, herbed goat cheese, garlic, and a balsamic demiglaze.  We had the most awesome chicken wings ever.  We had succulent lambchops with garlic mashed potatoes and a balsamic reduction.  And then, for dessert, "chocolate cake" (chocolate stout with a shot of raspberry framboise).  It was a welcome break, to be sure.

Today, we dove right into the packing...after we slept in and had a late brunch.  But we packed almost all of the living room, and I'd say we made excellent progress.  Tomorrow we'll pack the majority of the kitchen, the kitchen island, and probably some bedroom stuff as well.  Then starting Monday, it's back to "one box a night" or so until we finish!  Hopefully we'll get so much done tomorrow that there won't be much more to do during the week!

Because I loved A Serious Girl's mid-packing update photos, here are a few photos I took today to give you the full visuals.  One week to go!

I am afraid of this closet.  It still looks like this.
Luckily, most of it will be taken out in wardrobe boxes.

We have a lot of books.  This isn't even all of them.

Piles of boxes, everywhere.

It's a disaster zone.  Yikes.

The neatest, most orderly pile. It makes me feel good, even if we are being surrounded by boxes.

PS - If you can guess what's on TV, you win bonus points*

*note: bonus points are of no actual cash value

It's been so long

I haven't blogged in about a month, and for that, I'm sorry.  Some of you have been guilting me into writing again, and some of you have been harassing me on Twitter, and it makes me feel truly loved.  And ashamed.  Bad blogger, bad blogger!

Ok, enough of that.  Truthfully, things have been busy around here in the last month.  From a little legal battle with our landlord (he wasn't making repairs) to finding a new apartment (we move in a few weeks) to five days of camping in Yosemite (our families met each other for the first time), well, blogging has just taken a back seat.

I will definitely share photos of our new place when we have them, but for now, I will tell you that it has almost everything on our wish list (hardwood floors, laundry in-unit, plenty of storage), and a few things on our "don't even want to say it out loud" wish list (dishwasher, garbage disposal, wood-burning fireplace).  The landlords are wonderfully nice, and we can already tell that they care about maintaining the property.  Not that it's hard to care more than our current landlord, but let's just say that the look of pure shock and horror on our new landlord's face when I told him about the lack of repairs in our building won me over.  And we'll be living by a lake, which is pretty cool too.

Yosemite was wonderful, as it always is.  Our families met for the first time, and everything went well. We went on some great hikes, and grilled some delicious meat.  I got a ton of mosquito bites, but it was worth it - I miss the mountains already.  Note: the "Four Mile Trail" is actually 4.8 miles, and it's all uphill, gaining 3,200 feet in elevation. Grueling, but the views were unbeatable.  We also hiked to the top of Sentinel Dome and then around to Taft Point.  We saw Bridalveil Falls (my favorite) and Yosemite Falls (and again at night, all alone), and hiked to Carlon Falls on our last day in the park.  We camped at Hodgdon Meadows, in the two best sites in the campground, slept under the stars and swam in the ice-cold river.  On the way home, Will and I stopped at a Gouda cheese factory, Big Dipper (I think that's what it's called) for homemade ice cream, and at a farm stand (Costa Farms?) for fresh-picked corn...10 ears for $1.00.  The shower I took after a quick unpacking burst felt amazing, and now we're turning around to go on a short camping trip again this weekend.  

For now, enjoy some Yosemite photos, and I'll return with a giveaway soon!

 Tunnel View

 At the top of Sentinel Dome

 Checking out the view atop Sentinel Dome

 I love Bridalveil Falls!

 Carlon Falls

Yosemite Falls and the Merced River