ya'll are fancy!

we got fancy. i mean-- fancy. we donned our black dresses and heels. we walked the red carpet. we ate truffle oil and lobster macaroni in a place dripped with diamond-studded peacock feathers and black-lace chandeliers. invite only. black and white apparel. yes, that kind of gala.

and then we dipped into the free stoli. and a couple dirty martinis later... we tested how many people you can fit into a photo booth, made friends with the media, and danced our way down broadway passing out peacock feathers to all.

turns out life is really fun. like, ridiculously fun.

m + a

the new house is... (how can i describe the new house in a way that will evoke calmness+excitement+enthrallment+brilliance+laughs+snuggles+drinks+cooking+shock+gasp+music+art+happiness+more+more+more all at the same time?)...magic. my cheeks hurt from smiling so much. my eyes are tired from so much fun. my fingers have a constant garlic tinge to them (so much cooking!). needless to say. it's magic.

and you know what else is magic? the flannel scarf i have on today (thanks, karine!), the pumpkin beer i drank last night, the tights i had to wear yesterday.... this autumn crispness really crisps my life up. in a good way. yes, a very good way.

xoxo. all my magic+autumn love.

oh, ps. have i mentioned? this is the view from our new home....

tee hee! <3

the move.

it's always so odd to approach the end of an era. you have been living in it for so long that it has become the normal.....you forget what it's like to move forward. but at the same time you are anticipating the future so strongly.... you forget what it's like to live in the present.

it's that melancholy nostalgia that really bites you....


this past year has been one of living alone in a beautiful gingerbread-house apartment building. it's been independent, proving to myself that "hell yes i can live alone and thrive!" it's been one of parties and plans and go-go-go-never-miss-a-beat-always-running-to-the-next-thing-because-there's-always-the-next-thing-and-no-time-to-rest-must-fit-it-all-fun (phew, that sentence exhausted me!). it has been a beautiful year, and i owe so much of that to my stunning home.

photo by Allison O'Connor: http://urbanresearch.wordpress.com/

it's odd for me to be at a loss of words about everything that this gingerbread house was to me... but i am. i don't know how to describe to you how it built me, helped me grow, helped me mature, made me wiser. i don't know how to evoke the emotions that came with that dim lighting, that stained glass, that blue floor, that clawfoot tub. i'm unsure how to convey to you the beauty of this year. it was warm. it was solitary. it was good.

photo by Allison O'Connor: http://urbanresearch.wordpress.com/

 

and thus, while i am at a loss of how to writalize (verbalize? but in writing? get it? oh god i'm sleep deprived) this place to it's fullest, i know this much: i'll carry this with me to the next era. i'll carry these things (so many things!) and this feeling and these memories and stories and moments. gingerbread house, you've been lovely, but it's time for me to go. and here i go!

because change is good. and beautiful. and exhilarating. and refreshing.

and thus, it is on to the next era. upward. onward. the forward move. i raise my glass to karina and erin and jill and emily and sophie and sean who will be my lovely roommates this year, cheers to my best friends. i raise my glass to our 3.5 story home and view and jacuzzi and balconies and fireplace and sunroom and chandelier. clink*clink*cheers*cheers!

we smile. we look around. and then we say, "this will be our year, took a long time to come."