adventures every weekend

When we were talking about making the move up here one of the things we discussed was having access to so many new nearby places. Little did we know, some of those places are right here in town and Boston is less than 2 hours away! 

Our very first weekend up here, just the two of us, we got to hang out with these guys...

And when I say hang out I mean we got to see them at the Iron Horse music hall and then invited them to our onebedroomapartment afterwards. It was amazing we all fit! and Kudzu was in heaven with all the surprise attention during hours she's usually locked up in the kitchen on top of the fridge.

The same weekend we ventured down the road a few minutes to Chapel Falls...

Another weekend Markus had to fly out of Boston early Monday morning, and I really wanted use of the car that week so rather than have him take it to the Logan airport, I found a last minute Priceline deal in the heart of Boston at the Omni Hotel and we drove up Sunday afternoon after laundry, Sunday is laundry day, always. 

This is where we stayed...

When we got to our room there were three doors, our key didn't work in the first two we tried so we assumed we had the wrong key. We didn't try the key in the room with the plaque on the door because neither of us could believe we would have a suite...it was AMAZING!

We settled in and then explored the city...

Finally, last weekend was epic. We drove 3 miles down the road next time we'll ride our bikes and hiked up Mount Tom...

Don't get me wrong - the adventures are great, but most of the time we don't make it much farther than this...

Before and after shots of "1bdrmapt"...

So, very recently Markus and I moved from each living in our own homes in Mississippi (his, 4 bedrooms; mine, 3 bedrooms) to a one bedroom apartment in Massachusetts. Let me tell you it was touch and go there for a minute! I can't complain too badly, actually, I had no involvement whatsoever with the packing of the trailer. The trailer was packed thanks to family. Expert packers, if you will. 

Dad was convinced even with the pickup truck-bed and the U-Haul trailer, our stuff wasn't going to fit. He was right. A desk, side table and Kudzu's big khaki chair didn't make it (but the matching ottoman did, it's now our living room coffee table as you'll see shortly). Everything else fit though, once all knobs and feet were removed, and boxes were unpacked in to dresser drawers, and every piece of anything that could possible come apart was taken apart...it was miraculous.

That's mom and dad making room for me after I returned my rental car to the airport, they picked me up on the way in, it was glorious to see them. They had to carefully open only one side of the trailer to cram some things from the truck cab in so I could safely sit and ride the rest of the way to Noho with them.

If you've ever moved before you know the packing part is a pain in rah-rah. 

Then, you dread unloading the trailer - unless you have these handsome helpers to assist:

That's the last piece to come out of the trailer #photopp

Thanks to some of my new work-family, we unloaded that trailer in under an hour. But then the real work began: deciding where it's all going to go!

I feel like the next series of photos doesn't even begin to do justice to the state our apartment was in during the unpacking phase:

BEFORE (LIVING ROOM)

AFTER (LIVING ROOM)

BEFORE (OFFICE)

AFTER (OFFICE)

BEFORE (KITCHEN/DINING)

AFTER (KITCHEN/DINING)

BEFORE (HALLWAY)

AFTER (HALLWAY)

Mom, Dad and I got pretty much everything somewhat put away. But the pictures on the walls, the TV, the hall closet, the office and a few other things are all thanks to these good-lookin' fellas who drove up during the hurricane (the storm refers to our apartment, it's a metaphor folks) and spent a few days inside:

Sr., Jr.

Now it feels like home!

And so begins the adventure of living together...

Miss July

Hey, remember that time I told you I'm contributing to www.mississippiwomenbloggers.com? Say hello to

Tips to make the most out of any adventure

Let me paint you this picture

Wedding plan dreams

Enjoy.

And stay tuned for photos of the new place!

Where to even begin??

I have started this post multiple times and just can't seem to get it written before something else happens that I want to tell you about, so I'll stick with the highlights:

1. I love my new job.

2. I love our new apartment but will love it even more when our stuff gets here (tomorrow night).

3. I will love #2 ten thousand times more when my sweet fiancée arrives!

4. I learned how to light our gas oven thank you Bebe and was able to cook a pizza which meant no more pretzels and hummus for dinner.

5. Our grocery store is to die for...

(Exhibit A) and the entire section wouldn't even fit in the frame!

6. Not only is there a fantastic cheese section, but there is also an international wine section the real stuff, not the under 4% alcohol content or whatever it is they sell back home and a full deli, cake-making-shop, florist, salad bar and SUSHI! I couldn't resist the salmon-mango-avocado-brown-rice-roll. Delicious!

7. People are FRIENDLY! No, this doesn't really *shock* me per se because I'm a likable person, duh but people are actually interested in how my day was and curious to know why I just moved here and where from and then they want to share all sorts of winter weather advice #winteriscoming. 

8. There's a random what-appears-to-be-a-homeless-maybe-hippies-of-some-kind folk-ish band that plays on the sidewalk every day during my walk home.

9. Did I already mention I can WALK to work? I didn't even mind it in the rain the other day.

10. I live above a coffee shop and my barista is so welcoming every morning when I enjoy a cup at 7am before walking to work. However, said cup of coffee is a whopping $2.50 so I doubt I'll be making a habit out of that once my coffee maker arrives this weekend. 

11. There's so much to DO! There's an awesome music scene...we could see a new band practically every night if we really wanted to. Don't forget Rosco Bandana is coming at the end of this month! And we could eat at a new restaurant every week on date night for years or so it seems. PS, Markus Jones, that's starting once we're "settled".

Side note: Our zip code is 01060. Does that mean we were the one-thousand-and-sixtieth zip code to be formed in the United States? That would make Hattiesburg thirty-nine-thousand-four-hundred-and-one-th!

I have to stop for the night, I'm tired and have another day of work tomorrow #TGIF, y'all! yet I can't help but feel like I've let you down! There's just so many things still to say, stories to tell...and more things will happen it'salljustsoexcitingIdon'tknowwhatodoaboutit! But it can wait. Stay tuned...

PS: Kudzu wanted to share her own thoughts and progression of feelings about this relocation to Noho, too:

Kudzu on the plane <I curse you>

Kudzu loves looking out the kitchen door! <I shun you>

Kudzu loves to climb! <Hey look, something high>

This is Kudzu's world, I just pay rent. <I guess it ain't so bad>

We got the apartment!

We got the apartment! Our new address is solidified! Now, on to the move.

Wait, I'm in London.

WHAT?

That's right, London. As in the United Kingdom. As in, where our forefathers were birthed and fled. Dont' worry, they've basically forgiven us for all that mess at this point.

For the past 10 days I have been the "launch specialist" for a study abroad program I've been managing for the last five years over here. Since I accepted a new position in Massachusetts, I can spell it now! I agreed to come over for a few days to help get things rolling. As soon as I arrived, I started questioning my sanity in this decision.

I fly home tomorrow, so I might as well say, "on with the move", but it technically won't start until I get hom. Let me give you the short-hand run down of what that entails:

Wednesday, July 3 in the evening:

• Arrive home to Jackson Evers "International" Airport
• On way home swing by County Line Road to pick up wedding dress which has arrived
• Dinner with family in Brandon

Thursday, July 4:

• Leave car in Brandon, drive to Philadelphia, MS with sister and bro-in-law and Kudzu for family gathering
• Drive to Hattiesburg 
• Finally get to see Markus after two weeks apart

Friday, July 5:

• Finish packing up house in Hattiesburg
• Pack up Kudzu
• Drive to O.S.

Saturday, July 6:

• Finish packing up Markus' house

Sunday, July 7:

• Pack up Kudzu for airplane
• Drive to Gulfport
• Fly to Springfield/Hartford airport, CT
• Rent car
• Drive to Noho
• Move in apartment (only if key situation works out), otherwise stay with coworker/boss/friends? Clearly that step isn't set in stone quite yet.

Monday, July 8:

• Start new job

#wishmeluck!

This is when *it* gets real...

So we found a place to live and grow more and more excited about it as the moments pass. Of course we didn't measure anything and the square footage is missing from the details listed online, so we attempted to draw a floor plan from memory. This was our best one, drawn in the Atlanta airport on our way home yesterday I added some words in pink to help you navigate:

Drawing not to scale

Now *it* gest real, if you know what I mean. Condensing from two houses to a ONE bedroom apartment might be the most challenging part of this whole ordeal actually, taking Kudzu to Mass via plane might top this challenge, stay tuned.

Markus asked me before I accepted the position if I was "prepared to live under one roof" with him "without a Stopher or a Ben to call" to come get him when I'm tired of him and need him to get out of the house. My response was, "Markus, whether we live in Hattiesburg, MS or Timbuktu, living together is going to be a challenge for both of us".

Deciding which furniture to take, where to put things in the apt, merging styles...yikes!

Nevertheless we're just happy and excited to have a new place, and to begin our life together awwww.

Our "Ye Ol'" resting place

We found a place to live in Northampton! Assuming our application goes through, we'll hopefully hear at the end of this week. Being home-owners ourselves the rental agency ladies were quite positive about assuring our probability, so I'm going to go ahead and write this blog about our new apartment. 

Want to see a picture?

That's us, to the right of the Ye Ol' Watering Hole sign with the AC unit hanging out the window (not that we'll need it where we're going!).

The white door to the right of the awnings is the door that leads to our staircase, to our apt door! There's also a back entrance that brings you up a wooden staircase and deck-landing, that door brings you right in to our kitchen. We'll have a parking spot and perhaps most importantly, the snow will be removed for us!

It's small. The leasing information lists 6 rooms but even as we tried to stretch it we only counted 5. We'll have to condense a lot, and get creative with the space, but nevertheless we are falling more and more in love with our new home and can't wait to settle in.

What's there to love about it, you ask?

Here are 10 reasons to begin with:

1. The apartment is above Northampton Coffee, Beehive Sewing, The Oxbow Gallery and Ye Ol' Watering Hole. Huzzah!
2. It has hardwood floors throughout, except in the kitchen.
3. We are a 7 minute walk from my office - either through town or via the rails-to-trails path that spans several states. 
4. We are two minutes from I-95 which Markus will take to Bradley airport in CT another state I can't quite spell out perfectly yet.
5. There's a rails-to-trails path opening literally next to our building. 
6. We are minutes from the Iron Horse Music Hall where we just discovered our favorite MS band, Rosco Bandana will be playing July 26! and Calvin Theatre.
7. Go Berry is down the street. It's ah-mazing. And we already have our favorite brunch spot selected: Sylvester's. 
8. In addition to that local treat which we had twice during this 24 hour visit there are over 92 restaurants in Noho and a diverse cuisine - burger places, Thai, Indian, Moroccan, sushi, tapas, a raw bar, Italian, Mexican, and from what we've seen, pretty much everything is locally grown! 
9. Not only is Ye Ol' Watering Hole an awesome dive bar, it's also a beer can museum over 4,000 beer cans on display and the owner seems like a great guy, he was very friendly and told us all about the establishment, the area, the crowd that visits the bar (read: it sounds like we'll fit right in). 
10. We won't be "house poor". It costs half as much as any other place we looked at.

Here are some more photos: