Monday 24 April 2006

newlywed in new york!

we're still recovering from the newness of it all, so here are some photos for your viewing pleasure. more details once we have had a chance to process everything!

xo, s & b







Sunday 16 April 2006

back home in berkeley

i am back in berkeley, california visiting my family for one week. we moved into this house when i was seven years old. at that time, i thought the house was HUGE. my sister and i each had our own bedrooms.





the bathroom was SO BIG that there were two sinks in it!



we had a cavernous, dark basement that we didn't use for much more than storage.

as soon as i went to college (age seventeen), my parents remodeled the basement and turned it into a bathroom, two offices, and a family room. great party space; too bad i wasn't around to use it!

i have come and gone a lot since then - after i moved back from japan; between jobs and apartments; for visits from england.

last summer, my parents remodeled the kitchen, living room and dining room. now, they're about to tackle the bedrooms and master bathroom. so here i am, facing boxes and boxes of books, photos, memorabilia, dishes, and everything else that i left here nearly two years ago before i moved to london.









now it is all in storage until i find the heart to throw it away, donate it, or ship it to england (sorry, s! the harry potter books will make their way to our shelves someday!)

now that the heavy lifting is done, i am enjoying some quality time here...

Sunday 9 April 2006

bye, bye balham...

...hello cohabitation!

at the beginning of this blog, i introduced you to my purple palace in balham. now i have shacked up with s and become a borough of merton resident in colliers wood.

because i had some time on my hands, i decided to move gradually over the course of one week. if you, like me, are ever inspired to use transport for london as a moving company, allow me to offer some helpful tips. (please note, also, that this is definitely one of those things i would have *never* done back home, along with taking public transport to IKEA and walking anywhere as a destination and not just exercise.)

first, invest in a travelcard. it really is worth it.



next, wear suitable apparel. i find a ski jacket with pockets is ideal for easy access to my travelcard and keys, as well as coming in handy when it starts to rain.





duffle bags are great. wear one on your back and pull the other one behind you. put heavy items in the wheelie duffle bag.





appropriate footwear is essential. it is a ten minute walk to the tube from my flat in balham; and another five minutes from the tube to s's flat in colliers wood. times two for the trip back.



not pictured, but also immensely helpful, is an ipod. it drowns out the noise of the duffle bag wheels grinding down the street, and gives you implicit permission to ignore other passengers on the tube.

moving statistics:

trips from balham to colliers wood with full duffle bags: 7
trips from colliers wood to balham with empty duffle bags: 6
trips by car (thank you, j!): 2
bruises: 3
broken nails: 4
number of times i was offered help going down stairs to the tube: 0
number of trips in the rain: 1

all things considered, it was not as traumatic as it could have been, and cost much less than renting a van or calling a minicab.

our next big project is tackling some of the mess.



i am adjusting to the "floor as organizational system" and s is adjusting to having my girlie things around the flat.



it is sooo nice to be together, though, and we're already taking advantage of the short commute across the sofa to see each other.

hi honey, i'm home!