...after!

well...i finally feel like my apartment is home. i know it took me a while but here are some pictures of the finished product. i just love it!

it's the most wonderful time...

well dear friends, clearly i've been a very bad blogger. let's just say that things have been crazy. here's a quick recap of the last few weeks:

• spent thanksgiving with my girlfriend from college, Felicia at her house in hoboken. we had a fabulous dinner cooked by her friend, Emily who is an amazing chef. it was so nice to have a place to spend the holiday with friends, and was lucky enough to skype with the family.
• i've spent lots of time walking around and getting really familiar with my neighborhood. i've found a couple fun restaurants, bars, wine stores, and a great mani/pedi salon.
• all of my stuff has officially delivered and i'm settled in my new place. i'll put up some new photos soon. i really, really like it and feel so at home. 
• my mom came to visit and we had a great time! we went to the top of the rock, rockefeller center, took a free water taxi to ikea which went right past the statue of liberty, went to times square, walked around central park, saw santa at macy's (there are 8 of them for the record), took subways all over, went to grand central, and carnegie deli...we did it all! we also went to the most amazing bbq place that's right by my apartment, which is equal parts awesome and dangerous. it will definitely be on the agenda for everyone of you who come to visit.
• we had the nfl christmas party this past thursday. it was very fun and i got to meet the commissioner. 
• i found my new hair salon and as any woman can attest to, is huge. my friend, Whitney works at the ted gibson salon and she takes good care of me. 
• i've been reading 'the girl with the dragon tattoo' series and i love it. i'll forever think of the sound of the subway whenever i think of those books, since i'm usually reading in the tunnel or on the train. 
• i'm heading to my first giants game tomorrow and i couldn't be more excited! i'm also planning to go to the knicks game on christmas day, which should be a blast! and kyle's coming to town for christmas and i'm super stoked about that!

i think that's about it for now. new york is amazing this time of year. it's really cold but i just love the energy of the city. after the new year, i'm heading back to seattle for a weekend in late january before heading to hawaii for the pro bowl and then dallas for the super bowl. i'm so blessed and am just loving it here!

a must read.

...this is an inspiring blog of a friend on the journey of his life. 

these kids make me smile!

i'm so blessed with beautiful little cousins that keep me smiling! so excited to skype on turkey day!

apartment pics

ok, as promised...here are some really rough pics i snapped of the place today. remember, these are the BEFORE pictures (as in before all my stuff arrives).

view from living room toward kitchen and hall

living room with makeshift office

kitchen

more kitchen

bathroom

washer/dryer outside of bathroom

bedroom closet

more living room

patio furniture (it's a pretty fall day!)

my 'no view' from the patio

bedroom

can't wait for early december when all MY stuff (and my mom) arrives so it will really feel like home.  stay tuned for the AFTER pics!

day 2 and 3...

so, as previously mentioned the first day and a half were a little rough to start with. once i got to my place, i realized i didn't have some very necessary items, which made things very, uh, interesting seeing as how i felt like i was going to die. that said, i started to feel human again after lunch yesterday (something about not eating for 24 hours...) so i decided to run some errands last night to get said necessary items. after work, i jumped on the subway and headed to find bed, bath and beyond, upon a recommendation from a co-worker because they deliver same-day. let me tell you - EVERYTHING in this city revolves around delivery. it's awesome (until you have to wait for the FedEx guy to deliver 8 packages containing vital things like my coffee maker...which is why i'm at home...waiting.) anyway, i gladly made my purchases, jumped back on the subway home, stopped at a corner market to grab some eggs and water, stopped at another deli to grab dinner, and came home to wait for my items. within a couple hours, everything was delivered! so cool. then i got online and ordered some groceries (for delivery tonight) from freshdirect.com. got a good night's sleep and headed into the office for a meeting this morning. i'm already totally comfortable taking the subway, and know my way to and from the office with no trouble. and it's a beautiful fall day to boot! i'm definitely loving this city, but missing my loves back home. now it's time for everyone to get skype so i can see all your lovely faces. XOXO from NYC!

well...

...i'm here. i woke up yesterday feeling queasy, and had to get on the plane. let's just say, i got very familiar with those little white bags. it was brutal. BUT, made it to my place and crashed...for 15 hours. at the office now (i'm not slacking...my IT guy is fixing my outlook, which isn't working) and looking forward to getting up to speed. after work, i'm heading to a store (not sure where yet) to get some supplies and food. more to come!

it's almost time!

i just can't believe it...i've spent the last monday in my office here in seattle. this time next week, i'll be in my new office 3000 miles away. things have been absolutely crazy but i'm so excited to get out there! i've been so blessed by a going away party with some relatives on my dad's side of the family, an amazingly fun party with friends and family at the black bottle and then an early thanksgiving dinner with my mom's whole side of the family. so many people to hug goodbye! i'm humbled by every one's excitement and love! my next post will be from NEW YORK!!!

purging and couch hunting.

on sunday, i started the purging process. i got up early and started putting things in boxes to be hauled away. my mom came up and helped me go through things, then scotty came up with his truck to load everything to be sent to the goodwill. i posted a free ad on craigslist for the large chair in my room and within an hour, a nice girl came and hauled that away. my dustbuster got lots of work in as well...amazing how those dust bunnies build up! yuck! we had pizza, then went to penny's to look at couches. within 30 minutes, i found the perfect couch with a queen sized sleeper sofa and a storage ottoman. believe me, in an apartment that's only 519 square feet, storage is a premium. i'm very excited about the couch. i ordered it in a nice charcoal color and it's super comfy. here's a smaller version of the couch.

...and here's the floorplan of my new place, just for fun!

i'm so shocked at how well everything is coming together. now the next step is to meet with a couple moving companies to get quotes and then i need to get my car sold!! praying (and trusting) that it happens at just the right time.

planning, planning, planning.

so i've been back from NYC for almost a week and i can barely believe how fast this week has gone. moving across the country is NO easy task, let me tell you. i've been on the phone with a number of moving companies getting quotes and making plans, working with my hr department on tax issues associated with a corporate relocation, prepping my car so it's ready to sell, thinking about everything in my apartment and what i'm taking/donating/trashing, and just trying to figure out the timing of everything. needless to say, i'm extremely overwhelmed. but i know i just have to trust it will all work out. on a more positive note, i found my apartment in NYC! that's definitely a blessing, to know i have a place lined up. i don't even want to think about how stressed i would be if that box hadn't been checked off the list. here are some shots of the place, just so you have an idea of where i'll be calling home for the next 2 years. it's fully furnished now, but i'll be bringing some of my own things out soon. next order of business is to get a sleeper sofa for all of my visitors!

calendar.

i've added an availability calendar to the bottom of the blog. obviously, it's a little pre-mature but hey, i'm excited! definitely looking forward to having guests. i'll do my best to keep it updated so if you want to plan a trip, you can see which weekends work best for me!

i'm baaaaaaaaacccckkkk!

well friends. as many of you know, i've accepted a position with my company in new york city and will be moving in exactly 2 months! that said, it's time to bring back the blog to keep everyone updated on my new adventure! stay tuned for more.