Painting Part 1: The Bathroom

Our New (Humble) Home

a place to call home??

We have begun the application process for an apartment in brooklyn! Today we filled out the application and put down a deposit on a studio in the Clinton Hill neighborhood. It's not the space we had in Seattle, but it's got a big terrace and all new kitchen appliances. We will probably build a loft bed to add more living space. It also has an elevator (not to be taken for granted in nyc!) a gas stove, laundry in the building, a nice bathroom and two, yes two, big closets. Photos to come if our application is accepted...

Laundry Day

Apparently, laundry day is as much a part of being a new yorker as apartment hunting. Travis took us to real nice place. Be careful using the extractor, though. Your hat might fly off.

public service announcement

just a reminder

Dominoes

It's been hot, hot, hot here in Brooklyn town. After making dinner for friends, Travis & Naomi's place was a heat cave. So in true new york style we took the party to the streets for a game of dominoes.


We played "portrait to the left." Here are the results:











And the whole gang:

Hay Creek Festival & Tractor Parade

Not just tractors at this country fair. We also enjoyed a glass blowing demonstration, candy making and candle making booths, and a dousing exhibit. According to the douser, 99% of the population can find water using two metal rods held loosely in each hand. Now if only I could find an apartment in new york city...

creepy

a forgotten exit between stops on the F train

The search goes on

We have begun our apartment hunt. Let me tell you, folks, it is ugly! Our cute 1 bedroom in Seattle that was $875 would easily go for $2,000 a month here in the big apple. For real. The studios in Manhattan that came up on our search for $1200 to $1400 per month had "living spaces" that were 8 feet wide!! That's right, the entire space including kitchen was 8' by 18'. Several were 9' wide and the really big ones were like 12'.

In Brooklyn it's better but not by much. We looked at a really cool loft in East Williamsburg. It's 550 square feet for $1325. It's in a warehouse district with actual warehousey stuff going on. There is a gated building nearby with lots of Boarsheads trucks parked inside the lot. I don't know if it's a distribution center or what. Unfortunately, the area feels really desolate and industrial. We are hoping to find something in a more populated area. Tonight we're looking at a couple places in Williamsburg, the Capitol Hill of Brooklyn. One is a 6-floor walk up(!!) and the other is a studio for $1400. I'm in sticker shock, for real. It's hard to not get discouraged about housing. Otherwise we love this crazy town so far.

open for business

i already started my own business....

qwik post

we arrived at our destination......

from jersey we could see lady liberty...

then through the holland tunnel

and over the brooklyn bridge

Pet Post

More pics from the road

Corn...

Onions!



Farm Thingys

More corn...

I don't think this is our exit...

Forboding

Mississippi River Bridge

PA

A little delayed in posting, but here is our arrival at Mom & Tom's house in Reading, Pa:

why yes, i am...

Iowa? You a wa!

We had nice drive from northern Minnesota to Des Moines, Iowa. Traffic around Minneapolis was heavy, and our scenery has changed a lot:




We spent two nights in Des Moines at my dad's house. It was nice to see his new apartment and Marta enjoyed the extra space to run around in. On Saturday we went to visit my Gr. Golda who is now living at the Iowa Senior Jewish Living Center. It was bittersweet to see her, as she has lost most of her cognitive functions due to Parkinson's and old age. At times it seemed that she really was able understand and respond to the things we were saying. I thanked her for supporting me through school and said how grateful I was to have the opportunities that she had made available. I told her that I was on my way to New York City to pursue my career and that I didn't think I could have done it without her. She said, "No, I don't believe you could have!" Whether a wry comment or a random answer I will never know, but I'm so glad I got to see her and tell her thanks for being my grandma Golda. On our way out she told my dad, "You don't know how much it means to me."








Later we went to the Science Center of Iowa with Dad, Aunt Barb & Deidre.




Riff's trapped under ice.

Melissa & Dad: a family portrait

Learning about science. Together.

What's inside a girl?

Later that night we went to Barb & Deidre's house. As were were getting ready for a family portrait my step brother Emile called from North Carolina, so we included him in the photo. After the portrait we had just enough time to visit for a bit, play a few exciting rounds of boggle, and then sadly, more goodbyes. It was great to see everyone but much too short of a visit.