Community-Based

I am a lone wolf this week since Peter is out in California filling his brain up with knowledge about the Gilded Age. Don't be jealous! I'm certainly not. I've got big plans.

On Sunday I saw a bunch of girlfriends for a truly epic five-hour brunch. I'm meeting up with book club girls for a picnic on the Common. Later this week, there might be some ladies golf. And I'm totally organizing all my closets :)

After thinking about our move last week, I was struck by how far I've come in the last year building up my community of peeps. Of course, I still wish all my friends and family would move to my neighborhood (and I tell them this every chance I get). But one-year in, and I'm doing okay. Better than okay: I have new friends! If Peter did this trip a year ago, the only thing on my list would have been...organizing my closets. That's a very lonely list. 

I used to say to myself, "Give it six months! Then you'll be established." I have since revised that to a full year (hindsight being 20/20, and all that). That's sad news if you're moving to a new place without many contacts, but I think that time frame would have me go easier on myself in January when I still felt like I had hardly anyone to reach out to for a random glass of wine.

You can hardly find a top-ten most emailed list that doesn't include an article about the difficulties of making friends as an adult, but it is hard to do. I didn't go to any crazy lengths, though - I basically followed the advice given to single people looking for dates. Join clubs, take lessons, meet friends-of-friends for coffee. Yes, I felt dorky at time, but seriously. I felt dorkier when I had no one to talk to about the pros and cons of maxi dresses or the TomKat fiasco :)

Relaxing by the hearth

(1; 2; 3; 4)

I've been throwing myself into all sorts of projects these last few weeks. Once I make my list and get started, it's hard for me to stop until I've reached completion. Messes and things out of order get me twitchy. It's silly - I know it is - to get bent out of shape for not sanding the legs of a chair or completing a sewing project fast enough. These things don't matter in the grand scheme (or even in the not so grand scheme!), so why do I let myself obsess? 

I don't have any fantastic insights to share (except to tell myself over and over, "Relax, cuckoo head!"). I guess this is just a little reminder to myself that it's okay to sit down by the fire with a book and some cheese, and my new, ridiculously awesome Lilly Pulitzer fireplace matches.

P.S. If you don't have a fireplace, I heartily recommend this DVD! It even includes life-like crackling sounds.

October snow

(via LIFE)

Last night Peter and I went out to Ashland and met my Dad for dinner. When we came out, huge snow flakes were swirling around all over! And there's more in the forecast this weekend. Mother Nature wants to remind us that we are back in New England.

This weekend, I'm having lunch with a dear girlfriend, my mother-in-law is coming for a visit, and I'm going to try to collect all my supplies for the chair project. Also - just to be festive - I'll probably have to eat a lot candy.

Hope you have a wonderful (maybe snowy!) weekend!

Concord, MA

(Hiking around Walden Pond. I've come a long way.)

Peter and I went to Concord on a bit of a whim Saturday afternoon, and found ourselves completely charmed. This town was once home to Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and Louisa May Alcott. All their homes are open for tours, including Thoreau's teeny tiny cabin by Walden Pond!

(There's a man inside dressed in period costume answering questions like he is Thoreau. "I walk four hours a day...nature is my holy place.")

The center of town is darling, boasting not one but two independent book shops, an antiques store and The Cheese Shop, which is essentially my idea of heaven.

They stock wine, pate, fancy sandwiches and salads (I had a truly fantastic broccoli salad with dried cranberries, almonds and a creamy buttermilk dressing), and of course, huge amounts of delicious cheese.

When we were there, the Concord Museum was celebrating its 125th birthday, which included live music outside, apple cider, and free admission. I'd recommend it even without the free admission if you find yourself in the mood to learn a lot about Concord.

The Concord Festival of Authors is taking place over the next two weeks. The Lobster, Champagne and a Dash of History event (which includes a free glass of champagne!) sounds especially fun.

Afternoons like this make me feel confident that we made the right choice about moving to the Boston area. I might be singing a different tune come February when I've been cold for months with no end in sight, but for now, it feels like home in a way that no place has before.

Making yourself at home...at work

(Inloveness Revisted, 20x200; Owl lamp, Target; Polka dot glass, Fishes Eddy) 

I don't speak very much about my professional life here on Fresh Basil, but I can tell you all now that the last few months have been a bit strange for me, work-wise. When we moved away from New York, I left behind I job I adored. After many (many!!!) interviews, I've recently started a new position. It's early days still, but I think I will love it just as much!

I've been slowly bringing things into my new office that make it feel a bit more homey. I have a painting hung on the wall, a cute table lamp, a drinking glass, real silverware for when I eat lunch, some tea and a scarf. I usually have cute stationary and stamps at my desk too, just in case I need to send a note. These would be perfect!

Tell me, do you nest and bring personal things into the office, or does this seem sort of over the top?

P.S. My family went to the Big E last weekend, and my sister put up a couple cute posts about we saw and ate! The fair is still going on this weekend, in case you want to experience fried cookie dough balls for yourself :)

State of awe

 

(Photo courtesy of my sister)

After being gone for a few weeks, I'm at a bit of a loss as to where to begin. 

Let's start with the most basic: we have moved to Boston! We've been here for about a month now, but were away on vacation for two weeks, so it still feels very new. I love our apartment and cute little neighborhood so much. It still feels like we're on an extended home-away stay, actually. There's just so much space! So many free places to park! All the cocktails seem very inexpensive! I'm sure this state of awe won't last forever, so I'm trying to savor this glowy feeling about our new area for as long as possible.

I've missed being here very much, and can't wait to get back to chatting about cooking and decorating and travel adventures. I've got a few recipes, a little house tour, a Martha's Vineyard travel guide and a fun sewing project all coming up!

How is your summer going?! Read anything amazing? Are you eating your maximum quota of August ice cream? Tell me!

Happy summer!

(photo from my sister!)

We took a break from packing last night to walk over to Brooklyn Heights one last time. We had dinner at Jack the Horse Tavern (a serious favorite of mine -- the smoked trout salad is insanely good!) and then walked along the promenade. 

Speaking of breaks: the last few years I've taken a few weeks off from posting while in Brazil and then Hawaii. While we aren't going anywhere very exotic this year, we do have engagements and weddings to celebrate, cute babies to snuggle and beach days to enjoy. Posting will likely be light (if at all) until about mid-August.

Wishing you a very happy few weeks of summer! Hopefully there will be lots of sun and sand and gin involved :)

Something enviable

"You don't weep unless you've been happy first; tears always mean something enviable."

- Graham Greene 

The tears came for the first time two weeks ago. I had actually started to wonder if they would come at all because I'm so excited about our upcoming move. But we were hurrying out to meet someone to pick up a giant pile of moving boxes, and it made me impossibly sad to think about packing our things away.

Instead of walking out the door, I sat on the bed. I started crying and told Peter we'd never have any friends in Boston, and why are we doing this again? I tend to fall down hard on the friend excuse, though I know we already have friends there, and family, too. But it felt like a tangible thing to be upset about, versus the actual fuzzy conflicted sadness I have about leaving our life here. Our life that is so lovely, it feels very bratty to want to turn away from it for the hope of something better.

The thing is though, the hope is that it will be better for us, not better better.

This weekend we are packing up the rest of the apartment, and maybe trying to fit in one or two more things from the list. But there has been so much happiness here, I think more tears are coming.

Pretend shopping: Beach day

Last night around 11:00 PM, I decided it was the perfect time to fill up a bowl with soapy water and start cleaning the radiators with an old tooth brush. Peter was like, "Darling dearest, do you maybe you want to tackle this one another time?!" No time like the present, honey pie!

Moving is making me extra crazy.

Peter sent me a list of the best beaches in Massachusetts this morning, and I'm so excited to visit a few this summer. Unless you'd like to read about my strategies for minimizing the amount of bubble wrap we use to pack up breakables, I think we should do a little pretend beach shopping this afternoon, what do you say?

1. Blueridge backpack beach chair.
2. Floral beach towel - water color.
3. Embroidered gauze swim cover up.
4. Turn Right at Machu Picchu by Mark Adams. Other great adventure reads found on this NPR list.
5. Salt water sandal, shiny yellow.
6. Haribo Happy Cola gummies.

East and West

I think we've been in New York for a record amount of time these last two months. Typically, one or two weekends a month are spent out of town -- sometimes more. But because we've known that our time here is limited, we've been sticking around and treating our weekends like fun summertime staycations!

We went on two epic (for us...) dates over the weekend to a fun mix of old and new spots.

East side date:

1534 is a great spot to grab a drink. It's in a basement, so it doesn't have that summertime outdoors thing going on. But the drinks! The drinks are so good. And they do a good job of not taking themselves too seriously. One of their rules (printed inside every menu) is that when an awesome power ballad is playing you must sing along. Ha!


Prune is an old favorite. I was a little worried that it would be impossible to get into after the book and award, but we were able to make a late reservation the day of. It was as wonderful as we remembered. Also, proof that NYC can sometimes be very small town: we ran into one of the sweet ladies who was at our food and wine pairing class!

After dinner, we wanted cheese instead of something sweet. Since Prune doesn't offer that, we headed to Terroir. One of the most wonderful things about New York is that when you want cheese for dessert (or whatever the thing is that you desire) you almost always have easy access to it.

It was 2 AM at this point, but gosh darn if it didn't feel like 4 AM. I'm counting it :)

West side date:

Sockerbit was everything I hoped for. I like gummy candy a bit more than your average Jane, but I still think this is one of the happiest shops around. I'm still working through my bag of treats, but my current favorite is the raspberry Swedish sailboats.

Taim is another old favorite, so this really pains me, but it just wasn't as good as I remember. There's no specific complaint, but it just felt a little less...delicious? Lame analysis, I know. I still think the fries with saffron aioli are a gift from the gods.

Amorino was a fantastic way to follow up our slightly disappointing falafel. I had amaretto, cherry, chocolate chip and salted caramel. The amaretto was the definite winner for me. I'm already trying to figure out how to get back there a few more times before we leave. Like, maybe go every night on my way home from work? Just a thought.

So easy!

(Via Real Simple)

After our first apartment hunting visit in Boston a few weeks ago, we found a place that we loved. Sadly, someone rented it just before we sent our paperwork in. During that visit, we only saw a few places, but I loved all of them. Finding a fun apartment would be so easy!

You know where this is going, right?

We went back on Saturday with a giant list of appointments. Starting at 10:00 AM, we bopped all around from rental agent to rental agent looking at one crazy-town apartment after the next. There was the one where the backyard served as a dumping ground for old lawn mowers, garden tools and children's toys. There was the one with the baby blue painted brick walls in the kitchen and the almost black paneled living room. And then there was the fully carpeted one where the tenants supposedly had one cat, yet there were three massive, quite full litter boxes in one of the bedrooms. Gah!

Around 4:00 PM, I was (embarrassingly) near tears. Peter sweetly tried to give a pep talk, but I was having none of it. The situation was dire! We had only one appointment left!

You know where this is going, right?!?

That last apartment was absolute perfection. Beautiful hardwood floors, gorgeous built-ins in the living room and dining room, a kitchen pantry, a pretty backyard with a hammock (!). We applied immediately, and found out last night that it will be ours!

*     *     * 

As a somewhat related aside, we have agreed to help our current landlords with their search for new tenants. If you know of anyone looking to rent a lovely apartment in Park Slope, Brooklyn, email me at fresh.basil.blog AT gmail.com. I'd be happy to send along the details and a few photos!

Pretend shopping: Living room

1. Suffolk settee 2. Pkaufmann Cross (for drapes) 3. Festival Rug 4. Chloe Metro Living Sofa 5. Alexis Ceramic Table Lamp Base 6. Eiffel Tower pillow cover 7. Gold Circles Mirror 8. Morgan small cocktail table

All the shopping posts on Fresh Basil may lead you to believe I have some sort of skill in this department. In reality, I'm terrible at deciding on something to purchase, and then I wage a long internal battle to convince myself to part with the cash necessary to complete said purchase. Plane tickets and restaurants are easy, but a couch?! Oh my.

That said, I would really like to make a few grown-up furniture purchases for the new apartment. I tend to lean heavily on neutrals, but I'm trying to branch out a little more. I made the top collage first, and was having so much fun, I made an alternative, lighted-up version, too!

1. Suffolk settee 2. Annie Selke Indra Citrus (for drapes) 3. Vernal Cusp Rug 4. Chloe Metro Living Sofa 5. Eva Colored Glass Table Lamp 6. Stacked ruffle pillow covers 7. Gold Circles Mirror 8. Morgan small cocktail table

Do you have a favorite? I think I like the top one, but I go back and forth!

P.S. Thank you all so much for your good luck vibes -- I think they worked! I'll share more soon.

On the hunt

(Via LIFE)

At the very last minute, we decided to head up to Boston this weekend to see an apartment that seems too good to be true. It's a great deal, in a super cute neighborhood, available when we need it, and cute as a button. It can't possibly be that perfect, right? We must be gluttons for apartment shopping punishment. Still, maybe you could cross a finger or two for us?

Since we decided to go late last night, I acted like a crazy lady and crammed all my weekend chores into a forty-five minute time slot this morning before I left for work. Changed the sheets, took care of trash and recycling, swiffered the floors and even scrubbed the bathtub. Somebody bring this lady a mimosa (Or arrange for a pronto appointment with the O.C.D. police? Hmm.).

Wishing you all a very happy Friday the 13th!

Goodbye to all that

Peter and I have been thinking about moving away from New York for some time, and all of a sudden, the idea of it became a reality. In July, we'll be moving to the Boston-area!

It feels a bit bittersweet, even though we're very excited about our upcoming move. We have a lovely life here. Jobs we adore, a darling little apartment, a group of very dear friends, and an endless list of restaurants to try. But living in New York long-term requires deep reserves of love for the city. It can be an incredibly fun place to live, but also incredibly challenging.

In the next couple of months we're going to do our best to take advantage of all the fantastic things this city has to offer. We've even made a big official list of things we'd like to do (and eat!) in that time. In all likelihood, we won't be able to do it all, but we decided to go for an inclusive rather than exclusive approach. The cream shall rise to the top! I'll be crossing things off and blabbity blogging along the way.

Tell me, what would be on your list? Any can't miss stuff in NYC I should add?