Houses and Family Portraits

We have become slightly obsessed with the real estate in the area. Knowing that we'll probably end up here for the long haul (if we can afford it) since our families are here, we can't help thinking, "Wouldn't it be nice if we had a house?" Don't get me wrong, we love our shoebox. But we can't live here forever. Rufus' crate is already in the middle of the living room floor, and our one storage closet is already stacked as high as my chest.

Here's a house I wish I could call my own. It's in Arlington and every time I drive by it I drool a little bit. I'm not loving the new wooden gate, but other than that it's perfect. It has a bigger yard and driveway to the left and even has a little brick oven and a garage!

It's not for sale, and judging by the new gate and the fact that it wasn't always white-washed, I'm guessing there are fairly new owners living in it. Oh well.

Houses around here are expensive, and many are expensive and old that need updating. But I think there is something to be said for the lived-in look. Why buy a pretty, recently renovated house for more money when you could spend half as much and buy a fixer-upper and fix it up just the way you want to? Something about that really appeals to us.

We're also into the idea of a townhouse. For the long haul. Cheaper. Not as much yard work. Cozy.  And we love cozy (as long as it's a bit bigger than a shoebox). As long as I have a teeny yard where Rufus can run around and I can pretend I am a gardener and try to grow a few plants, flowers, and some herbs and veggies before running for cover when my hands get dirty and I see a grub or a worm, I'll be happy.

One day we'll need more space, but for now we'll look at houses and learn about what we like and don't like (white-washed brick, at least 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, fenced-in yard, no pool). I'll continue to browse Apartment Therapy and dream up the rooms of our future house (mostly white/neutral interior with pops of bright color).

For now, we'll stay in our shoebox where we can call a maintenance man and don't have to mow the lawn or rake leaves. I'll grow my dinky basil plant indoors for lack of gardening space. We'll take Rufus to the dog park or the lake when he needs a good romp-around off-leash. And I'll try to appreciate our floor to ceiling mirrored wall while we have them because goodness knows if we buy a house with them I will consider taking them down myself... with a hammer.

Film

I want to get back into shooting film.  There is a new iphone app that shoots like a Holga. I have always wanted a Holga so I can have fun with their dreamy-quality photos. Now I have a digital version of one (as long as I have Jason and his iphone with me, haha)! Yes, it's terrible quality and very pixelated but it's still fun to shoot even if they're not fantastic in the end.

The other day we got a thunderstorm. A real one. Thunder and lightening. It only lasted a few minutes but it was beautiful.

As much as Jason and I love thunderstorms, we have one little dude in the family that does not.

I still want a Holga. And I still want to shoot film again on an SLR. I have my dad's old film SLR from maybe the 70's? It has a very 70's looking strap on it so I'm going to go with that. I took a few shots with it back in middle school and haven't really touched it since. I think it might be broken - many of the shots were half dark, but I'm going to buy a roll of film and see what happens. Why not, right?

I Heart NYC, Hanson, and my Hubby

Back in December, my loving husband bought me the best Christmas present ever: tickets to see five Hanson shows in five nights in NYC – each night they'd perform a different album.  I found out about the shows late one night right before heading to bed. For three hours, I stayed up and went back and forth about whether or not I should buy tickets and go.  I wanted to go, but it seemed ridiculous to take an entire week off from work to see a band.   That said, they're my favorite band... aaand playing each of their albums in a concert series sounded (epic) like something that really couldn't be missed.  I checked how much vacation I had left – exactly five days more than Jason – perfect.   So I got the tickets.  After purchasing them, I still went back and forth and tried to sell them.  Twice.   I could have sold them because they sold out very quickly, but I was still hesitant to get rid of them.

In the end, I kept them and I'm damn glad that I did!  April 26 – April 30 were the five nights.  The shows were amazing and I was on a high from them for days afterward.  I met my friend Elyssa each night to go to the shows.  Her friend Randi also joined us for two shows and my friend Ali for one of them!  It was so much fun to go to a bunch of shows in a row and hear all different music each night.  It was a great experience!

It wasn't just the shows that made my time in NYC great though – it was the all-around vacation experience.  I got to see a lot of friends and some family.  Kerri was my personal tour guide for the week.  Here we are at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens.

I spent the first two nights with her and Beans (her sweet pup), but was also lucky enough to spend each day with her.  We scheduled our days around food because we both love it.  One night we even got to see her and Jason's cousin, Jen, for dinner!  Of course I didn't take a picture.  That would have been too perfect.  We ate vegetarian food, Mexican, Japanese, Thai, more Mexican, and an awful lot of Pinkberry (my #1 craving that I can't have because it's not local).  We walked around everywhere – Chelsea Market (where I saw Shia LaBeouf or his doppelganger - meh, almost not worth mentioning), Central Park, the MET, the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, and all around Brooklyn in general.

The last three nights I stayed with Ali.  She had to work during the days, but it was fun to hang out with her after the shows.  One night we even got to see another college friend, Jessie!  Again, no picture of that.  I really need to learn to be more aware of moments in time which I should be capturing.

We got lucky and were also able to hang out a little bit on Saturday morning before I left.

We met up with one of my Aussie girlies, Ashbo, and her boyfriend Dan for brunch at one of their favorite places, Good Enough to Eat.  Aren't they cute?  I got pumpkin french toast.  Can't go wrong with anything pumpkin in my book!

I had been to NYC a few times before, but I was younger and was with my parents or aunt and never really understood the city. This time I took the subway nearly everywhere and walked everywhere else and really learned about the city.  I grew an appreciation for it that I did not have before.

I was a little sad for my vacation to end, but it was really good to be back home.   Driving into DC I couldn't help but notice how CLEAN it is in comparison to NYC.   AND I came home to a clean apartment because I have the best hubby ever!  Let it be known that the title to this entry is in reverse order of importance!