BluePrint Cleanse Wrap-Up Day 2

Wow. Yesterday was plain awful. I’m posting the above video from Annie in hopes that today will end on a high note. The catalyst which kicked off the horror that was my Wednesday began when the movers finally brought our furniture (22 days later). I was so excited and happy and then I started opening boxes. I soon learned that if I wrote “fragile” or “glass” on anything it was completely ignored. So many lovely items were smashed to bits. It was really devastating. Some of the items that were broken were irreplaceable.  So my good mood went sour very quickly and then the overwhelming reality of unpacking set in.

We literally gave away more than half of our possessions when we moved here and it seems that we should have parted with three-quarters instead. I have no idea how our things are going to fit in this apartment and as the day progressed I became more and more frustrated and the OMG MUST EMOTIONAL EAT RIGHT NOW mood set in.


Obviously it wasn’t the fault of the cleanse for my ever increasing insanity over the day but I don’t think it helped. I ended up taking out and putting back an Amy’s Rice Bowl from the freezer four times. Somehow I managed to keep my willpower in check and not eat food but it was ridiculously difficult. My advice to you is not to do a cleanse when you will experience any kind of major stresses in your life.

Anyway, my apartment is still filled to the ceiling with boxes and I’m just getting ready to drink juice #4 for today (spicy lemonade in case you were wondering). Day #3 on a whole has been a much easier experience but I’m very much looking forward to eating tomorrow. I’m craving avocado, which is a good thing. At least I’m not craving cheesecake.

Goodbye Loft. Hello…Lexington?


The loft we’ve lived in for barely four months has been sold. CK and I looked at a number of apartments locally and they were all either lacking hugely in aesthetics, or completely devoid of necessities like parking, closets etc… The one place I loved was the second and third floor of a renovated Victorian with the most fabulous kitchen but it just wasn’t practical or frankly affordable. So other avenues had to be considered and CK managed to find us a cute three-story townhouse for a really reasonable rent in Lexington.

It took me a long time to agree to this new arrangement. My biggest issue is that I like living in the city — or at least a city like neighborhood. In fact I was a little hysterical about the whole thing until CK rationally pointed out that I was being ridiculous and that we were moving a whopping ten-minute drive from Cambridge and not to Antarctica. So while I can’t roll out of bed ten minutes before work anymore (I suppose I’ll have to push it to 30 now) and when I feel like a bottle of wine I can’t walk out my door and down one block — I will have an on-site gym, swimming pool, central air, a private garage, kitchen cupboards (!) and an enormous balcony for my tomatoes and herbs to grow on. There’s even a complimentary shuttle in the neighborhood that will drop you off at Alewife in the morning and pick you up at night to bring you home.

The management company also offered to paint accent walls if I want. I’m pretty excited about that because I haven’t lived in a place where I was allowed to paint in 5 years. What color do you think I should use in the bedroom and which should I use in the living room? I really like the blue that is the fourth from the left. I’m sure that would work for the bedroom…maybe the creamy yellow for the living room?

One small potential issue is that the door handles are once again “Dexter friendly” so CK and I will undoubtedly be locking ourselves into our bedroom at night, but at least we’ll have a door to lock.

Here’s the thing though…I know NOTHING about Lexington. Is there anything exciting there? Good places to eat? Nice grocery stores perhaps? Please clue us in to what we need to check out in our new suburban hood.

The New Loft

Very Tall Ceilings

It’s official! We have a lease, movers are booked, and (like the good little procrastinators that we are) not a single box is packed. The apartment we ended up renting is in Davis Square. The loft is 1600 square feet of beauty and for the last two weeks I have been envisioning CK and I living there like a couple from a romantic comedy. In case you’re wondering, CK will be played by his idol Ryan Reynolds and I envision myself as Princess Anne (aka Anne Hathaway).

Into the Kitchen

I know I said that I was devastated about losing my kitchen but I’m fickle and pretty much over that completely now. This new property has so many cool design elements like radiant heat flooring, rainwater recycling, and this really wild walkway system between units that makes you feel like you’re in an Ewok movie.

Cool Countertops

It’s so hard to tell what a furniture-less space is truly like in pictures so you’re probably looking at these images and maybe not feeling very into it, and that’s ok, but trust me when I say that when you see the apartment in person you’re going to love it!

Gigantic Closets

The floor plan is open, but the middle of the unit is broken up by several large closets. This is a bit of a miracle because CK and I looked at a number of typical city apartments that literally had one closet on the premises. That obviously made my head explode as did any apartment that plastered their kitchen layouts with laminate countertops and cheap white appliances. Our new home has these really cool butcher block countertops. Of course the one drawback in the kitchen (as you probably noticed) is that there aren’t any cupboards so a trip to IKEA for creative storage solutions will be in order.

The New Office/Place For You To Sleepover

Our Bedroom

Thankfully we will still have two bedrooms and two bathrooms. I’m not sure if I could ever share a bathroom with CK at this point. We also scored a coveted garage parking space again, a closer commute to work, and I’ve heard rumors of a community garden being in the works. Needless to say we’re both extremely excited to move in! Now if you’ll excuse me I have to try to find a million pairs of cute curtains that are at least 90 inches in length.

The Living Room

Saying Goodbye to Your Kitchen

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The kitchen the day we moved in: crisp, clean & empty

As you’re probably aware, via my incessant lamentations via Facebook and twitter, Chris and I have to move this spring as our home has been sold. Our pretty apartment that we’ve lived in for almost 3 years has always technically been a condo, but we were fortunately able to rent it (at what I’ve come to realize was a spectacular price) when they came on the market.

I originally chose our particular model because it featured an enormous eat-in kitchen with a large island. The floor-plan was pretty screwy otherwise. The master bedroom is ridiculously large and has the unfortunate distinction of having teeny tiny closets while the guest bedroom boasts a pair of more functional closets as well as a connected bathroom. But this seemingly mismatched room situation didn’t bother me. I only had eyes for my kitchen. I seriously miss it already.

We’ve looked at several places so far, all very very expensive and none really met my expectations entirely. If I could pick my current place up, clone it, and drop it off in Davis or Porter I’d be happy. Obviously that isn’t going to happen. So I need to come to terms with our impending separation. Goodbye fabulous and functional island! Goodbye oodles of cupboards! Goodbye gas stove that bakes perfect chocolate chip cookies! Goodbye shiny refrigerator!

Chris and I do have our hearts set on one place. We’ve applied for it and are waiting to hear back. I don’t want to say too much because this will inevitably cause some sort of jinx to occur. Time will tell. In the meantime I need to begin parting with a large amount of accumulated things for the inevitable home downsizing that is about to occur and also attempt to curb my book buying addiction for a few weeks. The great moving purge must go on even if we don’t technically have a new home yet. Farewell pretty kitchen. You served me well.

On occasion the kitchen was used very strenuously. Especially during high stress times of pre-dinner party prep, but we always took care of her afterward.