Commune 2010: The Beginning

I moved this weekend. I migrated downtown a bit - but stayed in East Harlem! - from 118 to 104, and as you might remember, I'm now living in Zachary's building. Jenny documented the weekend, and posted some of the best shots to her blog. And now I'm re-posting them, because I'm sort of tired and it's my blog so there.

Impromptu shoot on Zac's new couch in the back of the U-Haul. Starring me, Zachary, Jenny and Susan.

 

This shot is really amazing, and really random and unexpected. Zac and I were dancing to Britney Spears' "3" in the empty living room slash kitchen of my new place, and we were recreating that part where she hangs on the pole and sort of arches her back and drops her head backward. You know the one.

We did a pretty good job, yes? He is dancing with a painting brush extender pole, and I am dancing with (wait for it) a Swiffer. One day our kids will see this and be all "GAAAAHHHHH how embarrassing what were you doing Mom/Dad/Aunt Meghan/Uncle Zac?!?!" And we'll be like, "Cleaning."

  

I love this photo. Zac and Jenny are currently obsessed with Barbra Streisand, and after Susan and I finished constructing my bed frame, we came downstairs to find them sitting on the couch in the U-Haul, listening to Babs on an iPhone and singing along. Then they started talking about Funny Girl and I jumped up on the back of the truck and re-created that scene where she's hanging on to a boat or a truck, or something. (I haven't actually seen that film in a long time.) But whatevz this photo captures how I felt about the move. Also, those boots are the vintage snow boots I wrote about previously; a gift from Schmom B., they are straight outta the 1980s and they are the shit.

 

 We had another impromptu photo shoot late in the night on the day we painted. We sat against the blank wall in my new living room and Jenny set the timer on her cam and snapped away. Then she edited them together into a photo booth-type strip. This is my favorite. I'm obvs going to print it and hang it on my pretty new wall.

Love.Art.Life.NewYork.Commune.

word doodle number two, for you

dear you

i am moving
away
away
away
yesterday i started
packing
sitting on the hardwood
of my first
new york
apartment
filtering through
my nightstand
recycling
keeping
throwing
away away away
surrounded by cardboard
half-empty
half-full?
i found this mixtape
you made for me
"ultimate road trip mix"
ha
i had forgotten it
the track list tucked inside
i bet you forgot too
tears welled
i laughed
how can something i forgot make me cry?
stupid 
the radiator fills with
steaming hot water
trickle trickle trickle
i try to decide
keep
throw
keep
throw
away away away
play?
play

--

he had a black eye
now i have two
they're healing (i guess)
i don't even miss you
is the crazy part
i thought you were gone
from 118
i put you in an envelope
letters, notes, cards
taped it up
and shipped you
away
away
away
through the dead branches
of winter
every moment together
an answered prayer
child, have you gone crazy?
(yes and no and maybe)
i was
dancing in the birmingham jail
when i met you
(we were so young)
there's no rap on this goddamn mix
any
way
way
way
tuesday
ruby
goodbye
love me

Chocolate cake, at long last, and a chair

A few days after I first arrived in the city, back when C was in town visiting, we went to dinner at a barbecue place in Brooklyn. After we finished, I remember walking around and saying, 'I really want some cake. Like seriously I want some cake, let's get some.'

Of course we didn't get some, which is fine, but my craving didn't go away. It hung on. It gnawed at me for weeks. It was a very specific craving. It had needs: chocolate cake, chocolate icing, lots of chocolate, extra chocolate plz. I had a birthday cake in DC that A got for me, which was quite good, but it wasn't exactly what I had been craving, so the beast remained, calculating the perfect time to nom. Tonight, that time came.

Siiiiiiiiiiigh.

I made this cake with my bare hands. And a fork. Z and I decided to take the evening to finish season one of our Mad Men Marathon (M3), eat dinner, and make cake. If I have two weaknesses in life, it's chocolate/cake and beautiful men in beautiful suits. Check and check; done and done.

Don Draper plz to have babiez wif me

In other news, I got a chair today! Well, I went and looked at a chair and made a commitment to buy it. It's a big oversized arm chair, light green with red pillows (to match my room!). I'm paying $100 for the chair + the two pillows + the moving truck and two guys to move it into my apartment. I think it's a pretty good deal. Here's a pic:

Courtesy of Craigslist = terrible quality

It's almost four feet wide. That's a big chair. I'm going to put it in the corner of my room where my radiator is (in front of my window), and maybe some time in the future I'll add a little TV stand with a TV and a DVD player. It will be my own personal living room. I'm so excited. This chair is basically perfect for wrapping up in a blanket, sinking down, and watching DVDs or reading a book. More pics to come after it actually arrives.

Until next time.

PS. Avenue Q was lolllllz.

I can't believe I live in New York

I've been in New York for 10 days now. A week plus three. In those 10 days I have: visited the MOMA, gone to the Met, rode the Staten Island ferry (which is free, BTdubs), had an HR interview at a huge mag company, interviewed for a style internship at a huge mag, and gotten an apartment.

What? Oh yeah, I got an apartment. It happened really fast. I found this posting on Craigslist for a "huge room with two windows" in East Harlem, and I responded on a whim. Craigslist is so shady and you never know what to expect, so I tend to think of replying to any post as replying on a whim, but whatevz. The girl e-mailed me back the next day explaining that she was moving out and needed someone to move in her room ASAP, so I went uptown with Z and C to check it out. I walked in the room and immediately knew I wanted to live there. The room is, indeed, HUGE, and the girl is also selling me her king size bed for $150. Basically, uhmazing. And the rent is $790 plus utilities. I'll be living with two other girls (the living room space is converted to a bedroom), but for the price I can deal with that. The neighborhood is cute--despite what you may have heard about Harlem--and it's a brownstone walk-up.

Mah front door and one of the windows of my room.

I love the outside of the apt, I love the room, it has a really nice kitchen, and there's a pretty good-sized bathroom for NYC. And it's in Manhattan, so the commute is not too bad. Yeah, it's way uptown, but it's only three bus stops (about ten minutes) up from where Z lives, which will be super nice for going out and hanging out and stuff.

I've been walking around the city a lot, and sometimes I look up and feel the cold wind on my face and see the glow of the city reflecting off the sky at night and I really can't believe I live here. I don't understand when people say they don't like New York, or even when people don't choose the place they start their lives based on how that place affects them. I can't imagine starting my life somewhere I don't absolutely love, or anywhere but New York actually. Everything cheesy New York lovers say about the city is absolutely true for me. It makes my heart beat faster and sometimes I feel like crying because it makes me so happy to be here. I first came to the city when I was 18, and as soon as I stepped off the bus I knew I was meant to be here. And here I am, starting my life and making and watching my dreams come true. How many people can say they have done the same? I really am just so thankful that I have people in my life who love me enough to help me and support me in this.

I love life.
Majorly yours.