Blank Space

But not like the Taylor Swift song. This blank space is our new house.
When we first saw our future home, it was beautifully staged.

 Of course, that's very different from how it looked when we moved in.

But ya gotta start somewhere, right? I'm not one to buy out the entire living room section of West Elm and have our house polished from head to toe the first week we move in. I like to go slow and take my time with each piece, moving and changing things, switching out pieces of furniture or decor, as we grow into our home. My first move: make this home ours.

If there's anything Alex and I have in common in terms of our background, it's our mutual love of books, books, and more books. We both wrote (multiple) novels and were avid readers at young tender ages.

My third grade bestseller, Mr. Mole's Glasses

And so, sans furniture, sans appliances, the one thing we decided to splurge on to make this home truly ours--even before we had anything else-- is to build in the bookcase that we have always dreamed about, using this Design Sponge pic as my inspiration:

I asked our contractor, who's also a carpenter, to build in a floor to ceiling shelving unit right by our dining area. This way, we can pull books at random off the shelf while we eat, or they can be topics of conversation when we have guests over. Here it is, in progress. He used solid walnut for the vertical inserts to match our floors.

Wait for the reveal on the finished project in my next post! In the meantime, this is the blank space we were starting with.

 And here's me, waiting in an empty house for the refrigerator delivery guy to come.

Just me and my vintage salmon handwoven Persian rug.

Hello, Goodbye

Three years ago, I started this blog with ambitions of documenting the process of turning the new apartment my fiance and I had just moved into...

..into a first home for us.

From weird, leftover furniture...

...to sunny, colorful afternoons.

It wasn't a lot to look at from the outside. 

But I still loved the little things that made it home to us. 

Dew drops in our garden in the winter...

 ...and mornings spent in the garden writing and drinking coffee.

Taking it from slightly creepy...

...to very sleepy.

 ...where it was impossible to get out of bed some mornings.

I embarked on lots of weird, crafty adventures trying to make our home as "us" as possible.

After three years, it's time for us to move on. You've served us well, home.

Next up...

We begin again.

Puerto Rico Si! Hollywood No!

Yes, yes. I know it's been a long time. I have big posts coming, I swear. But in the meantime, I'm working out in Puerto Rico on a new show!

Here's my temporary home for the week:

It's a historic hotel in the Condado neighborhood, the "Fifth Avenue" of San Juan. 

Not a bad place to blog from...

...although I just can't tear myself away from this:

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

It's time, y'all. Goodbye old home, hello new. Updates coming soon! 'Til then, here's pretty much what's happening:

Simple Things

Peonies, a new mint green tray that reminds me of childhood, and a sunny yellow candle. Together they make my Saturday a cheery one. 

I ❤ New York

I was in my old hometown of New York City a couple of weeks ago for Passover. It's spring there right now, my favorite season - and I remembered why I love the East Coast. Here, a few random reasons why I heart New York.

Crocuses in Central Park, the first sign of spring.

In just a few months, you'll be picnicking in the sun on Sheep's Meadow lawn, hoping those frisbee guys move further away from you.

The skyline. Still one of the best. (Chicago's a close second for me).

The animals (minus the rats and flying rats, aka pigeons)

Can you believe this was on Roosevelt Island? Looks kinda familiar...

Oh yeah, Van Gogh's wheat paintings, in particular, Wheatfield with Sheaves.

Guess ol' Vince liked the view from Long Island City.

I've always wanted to check out this spooky old abandoned smallpox hospital. It appeared in the 2002 movie Spider-man when the Green Goblin and the eponymous hero have a showdown, and every time I drove past on FDR drive, I'd look across the river and try to see ghosts.

Spooktacular from afar, and beautiful up close.

The gorgeous view from the Roosevelt Island Tram. I never bothered to go there when I was living in New York, but coming to visit makes you do weird things.

Another one of my favorite things about New York City: Bodega cats.

"Whooooaaah, man. I'm soooo high right now."

We spent some time at an old bar I used to love but had forgotten about, St. Dymphnas. Great burgers and beer. In the daytime, it's practically all Brit, with open windows, rustic wood, and hydrangeas in the window.

Speaking of burgers, my favorite thing about New York: The food.

Here's a cheese plate from the Seder dinner. Yes, that's six types of cheese. All for one person. The third course. With more to follow.

I love classic New York apartments. (Not so much my overpriced fifth-floor walk-up with vermin, though).

Walking on air in my old hood, the Lower East Side.

See ya next time, New York! Back to sunny and 70.