Happy New Year...

25 days late. 

2011 is sure to be filled with milestone moments as our little family grows from 2 to 3. and the start of the year definitely did not disappoint on BIG changes. j & i brought in 2011 with a cross country move back to california. after being in NYC for a little over a year, dealing with some challenges in our current work situations & a sweet little bundle on board...we decided to thank our lucky stars for the wonderful year we did have, pack or bags and head back west. we are excited to see what this new adventure holds & we are delighted that we are able to share this 1st grand baby on both sides with of family & friends.

it was definitely bittersweet to say farewell to NYC & Classic. it isn't how either of us imagined saying good-bye but we are looking forward and holding tight to the lessons learned in the past. 

so, we drove. from NYC to LA. 55 hours of driving, over 3,500 miles (we took the southern route to avoid the winter weather) & 5 1/2 days later landed us back in california. 

want to see a peak in to our trip...

before we left the movers came & helped finished up some packing...loaded everything up & left us with an empty apartment. gosh empty houses always make me so emotional! this was our first place. just the two of us. it's where we began to make our family. it's where we celebrated our first christmas married, our one year anniversary, our first house guests. it was our home.

i will miss our fireplace & snuggling on the sofa. 

i will miss watching the pups cuddle as close to the radiator as they possibly could. 

i will miss walking out of our apartment & having 50 or more tasty restaurants to pick from & none of them being chains. 

i will miss our walks to central park.

i will miss exploring the city & seeing the shows on broadway.

i will miss this being our home.

we headed out on thursday afternoon after the movers had come & gone. 

we decided to make our first stop & stay in DC.

do you know what's on the way to DC? Philly...which equals a philly cheese steak.

of course we had to stop. 

since we didn't have a chance to explore DC. we made it a "must see" on our road-trip list. 

we were only there for a couple of hours & definitely want to go back. maybe when the kid or kids (weird!) are a bit older so they can enjoy it too!

we continued our drive with a stop in richmond, virgina to see jason's cousin dustin & his sweet wife jessie. we forgot to grab a photo...dang it! 

but, we had a great visit and they treated us to some tasty ice cream!

final stop on new year's eve...right outside charlotte, nc.

we stayed with my aunt & uncle!

we had a great breakfast with them & my cousin. we don't get to see them nearly as often as we would like. i have so many amazing holiday memories with all of them before they moved to the east coast!

thank you uncle bob, aunt marsha & carin for treating us to a tasty southern breakfast AND letting us stay with you guys!

we made a LOOOOOONNNNGGGG push to biloxi, ms (about 90 miles outside new orleans)

the next morning we explored the big easy or at least the french quarter. 

we devoured a tasty brunch.

 

 and took the pups on a good walk around the french quarter. which totally feels like a movie set!

 how cute are these two? 

they know exactly what to do when we want their picture! 

if only the behaved this well all the time!

then we were off...again. next stop san antonio, tx! talk about a drive!

we were honestly so lucky with these sweet pups. they just rested and napped most of the trip. 

by the end you could tell they were so OVER being in the car. but. so were we.

the next morning we made our final tourist stop. the closer we got to california, the more eager we became to get out of the car permanently!

after one more night in a hotel. we saw the sign we had been waiting for!

and then this.

welcome home! welcome home!

it is good to be back! i am sure many adventures lie ahead for us. 

AND i am so freaking excited to take a REAL vacation again...soon!

Home Sweet Home

sigh. an enormous sigh of relief is in order today. why? simple. we found our apartment in new york. we have a home, we know where our heads will rest at night in a few short weeks. seriously, a gigantic weight has been lifted from our shoulders.

let's briefly discuss the rental process in NY. i am sure at some point all of you have heard what a nightmare it is. well, the stories are not a joke (and this is a downturn in NYC, it's not even competitive right now). honestly, it is easier to buy a house in california than it is to rent an apartment in NY. they look through every aspect of your financial profile to make sure you are a fit tenant. my stomach was in knots yesterday because i was so nervous we wouldn't get the place we wanted. but...after our interview and a nice extra deposit amount...we scored the place we wanted. phew!

here are some details about our new digs!

located on the upper east side

doorman & elevator
our apartment is on the 4th floor - two bedrooms & two full baths
around 1,200 sq ft
wood floors, open kitchen with dining nook & working fireplace!

placed two blocks from the subway

three blocks from the east river & five blocks from central park

now a small photo tour!
the outside of our building

the entry hallway

the wood burning fireplace

the living room facing the dining nook & kitchen

the kitchen

i think we will be super happy here. great location & a beautiful apartment to come home too!
do these photos make anyone want to come visit??
i hope. i hope. fingers crossed. holding my breath!

LA to Hawaii to New York...OH MY!

exhaustion doesn't even begin to describe what we are feeling right now. how sad, considering we just spent an amazing week soaking up the hawaiian sunlight with friends.

the reason for the dark circles & pouty face, an extremely LONG weekend of packing up an entire house to MOVE! now, none of this has been easy...for more reasons than i can count. here are some of the BIG ones...

we don't know where we will be living in NYC yet (which means we don't know how much we can take, they consider an 1,000 sq ft apartment BIG...eek!)

we are now living with my parents (that's not the bad part) which means everything of ours except about two weeks worth of clothes is in a POD storage unit (that's the bad part) everything and i mean EVERYTHING has to be packed in boxes (seriously!!)

and did i mention we still are working and don't have a final, final move date (just a very rough end date)

so, on a positive note, our first home that we shared together is all packed up & stored away. always sad to leave an empty house...feels like you are leaving something, forgetting something (perfectly said Linds).

This weekend (tomorrow) we will be flying back to New York to hunt down a dog friendly, two bedroom place, near central park. wish us luck!

i feel so behind on life...we have had some fun little nights here & there that i need to blog. two galaxy games & a trip to hawaii.

And because post are way more fun with pictures...

here is a pic from every city we have been in, in the last two short weeks!

Happy long weekend...can you believe summer is OVER?!?

It's OFFICIAL!

the rumors on the streets are true. jason & i have made a decision about NYC. our trip was truly a whirlwind adventure. seriously...i think i am still recovering!!

everyday was jam packed with "what if" type activities. like...

jason: "what if" you worked in the bronx? hmmm...let's go see! lot's of work...i mean LOTS of work!!

megan: "what if" you worked in manhattan? hmmm...let's go see! pretty cool loft space in the garment district.

megan/jason: "what if" you lived on the 52nd floor of a high rise with floor to ceiling windows? hmmm...i would freak out daily because it scared me silly & jason would fall in love with...YES, i admit unbelivable views of everything New York...including the Statue of Liberty. but, honestly, you are not supposed to live that high. period. i hear a brownstone singing my name!

so what did we decide you ask? well, i have a feeling that most of you might already know! but, for those of you who don't...we are MOVING to NYC. so needless to say. life is...ummm. hectic.

we have a pre-planned vacation starting Friday, oh wait that's tomorrow...better get packing(aloha!), have to be out of our current place the very weekend we are back, moving in with my parents until our big move to NYC. that will hopefully happen around mid - late september. oh did i mention. we are squeezing another house hunting trip in over labor day weekend. we do need somewhere to live!

Ahhhh...breathing is good. breathing is very good.

so anyone & everyone we will be hunting down a two bedroom place over labor day weekend. why two bedrooms you ask? nope. no babies, yet! for our friends & family to come visit us and have a place to stay of course!! so, please, please, please feel free to come stay and vacation in the big apple. the more visitors i have the less homesick i will be!!

for my hub's sake...help keep me sane!! he will LOVE you forever if you come visit us! AND of course i will too!!!