62. July 11th, 2011 Picture.

Now that we live in our awesome new apartment [and yes I realize that I am currently blogging a YEAR in the past, it's cool, I'm willing to overlook the time warp if you are], and since we have the perfect farmers market outside our window every Sunday [I'll tell you right now, it get's OLD, real quick!], I scooped up this book and egg container at West Elm.  I am sort of obsessed with eggs, specifically farm fresh, and have convinced Ratty that when we someday own a house, it will come with a handful of chickens.  I want pet chickens!

The book is filled with recipes that call for eggs, so I will be well prepared for when we have copious amounts from all the chickens that will be running around!  Plus, I really like the container - it's very Giada.

62. July 10th, 2011 Picture.

Since we had spent the night at the Hull house on Saturday, we got to enjoy Sunday on the infamous porch!

I woke up bright and early, even though we had gone to bed a mere 5-6 hours earlier - it's really hard to sleep on a 75 year old bed with a picture of Jesus above you.  A really creepy picture of Jesus.  

I also vaguely remember my cousin Susan telling me a story about how she thought the Hull house was haunted and it was somehow tied to the calendar from 1940 that hung in one of the guest rooms.  Obviously I can't remember even basic facts about the story, she told me when I was about 12, but just thinking about how the house might have the potential to be somewhat haunted, maybe, is enough to get me outta bed!

We spent the whole day sitting on the porch, soaking up some sun, drinking beers and eating burgers.  It wasn't totally warm enough to go swimming, but that didn't stop me from taking a dip and trying to sun myself on the beach.  I've been known to go to the beach on a miserably foggy day, just because it was a summer day.  I think it's safe to say I'm obsessed.

Here we are anxiously trying to shoo a mouse out from under his grandfather clock.  A real live Hickory Dickory Dock, apparently!  And yes, I am standing on a chair. 

After spending the entire day sunning ourselves, we headed back to the city for an impromptu BBQ at our friends house.  The weekend was crazy busy, with us getting home after midnight, but that's what summer is all about, right?!

62. July 9th, 2011 Picture.

Saturday night Ratty and I headed back down to Hull to spend the night at my Uncle Paul's house.  Since Ratty wasn't able to make it to the impromptu party on Thursday, it was casually suggested that we stay at the house on Saturday night, guaranteeing Ratty's opportunity to hang out with some Downey cousins who were in from out of town.  We headed down to the Gunny [short for Gunrock, named after the beach across the street] and spent the night drinking beers and playing darts.  It was pretty low key, the Gunny is a total dive, but it was really fun.  Judging by this score card I *think* I won at Cricket, but it's kinda hard to tell plus my memory is a touch fuzzy since it was almost a year ago.  All I remember was that I kept hitting bullseyes but couldn't get a 17 to save my life.

After spending the majority of the night playing darts and watching my Uncle Paul run the pool table, we headed back to the house for some good porch hanging.  Susan had made a batch of Sangria the night before, and by Sangria I mean she just threw in odds and ends from various liquors into a pitcher and added red wine.  It was interesting to say the least, but we all drank it anyway.  We stayed up far too late, chatting and listening to music, but that's what happens when everyone is having so much fun!

62. July 8th, 2011 Picture.

July 8th was a Friday, and it was also the night of my friend Mark's surprise 30th birthday party!  You all remember Jamie's 30th I'm sure, well it was Mark who put that whole shindig together, and this time it was Jamie's turn to return the favor!

We headed to Barlows in Southie, where we had a group of tables reserved in the bar.  I'd carpooled with Ratty, Erin, Butchie and Kevin, who had all been at my apartment prior for some pre-party adult bevvies.  

Jamie did a pretty fab setting this whole baby up, there were tons of flair and even a Polaroid cut out for us all to pose with.  You'll see what I mean below.  There were LOTS of photo ops.

SURPRISE!  We were actually on the other side of the bar at this point, so Mark's eyes were darting around, trying to figure out, first off, where the noise was coming from and second, who we were screaming for.  He was pretty shocked when he realized it was all for him!

Yay!  Party time!

So much flair.

Get my Polaroid description now?!

Jamie went to great lengths to create a really awesome party.  There were faux lips for us all to pose with, noisemakers, buttons, Mardi Gras beads, you name it, she had it!

Strangely, this mustache actually works on Butchie.  I could see him having one in real life!

Oh hayy Justin Bieber!  Casual cameo.

Me and Kev!

It was a really fun evening, where we all celebrated Mark, drank beer, took silly photos and ate way too much delicious cake!  When the party decided to move locations and hit up Lucky's next door, Ratty and I said our goodbyes and headed over to Eastern Standard to meet up with some of his friends from college.  Oh the life of the popular crew - it's so hard being us!

62. July 7th, 2011 Picture.

Since my family will pretty much jump at the chance to hang out, no special occasion required, it seemed pretty fitting that we would have an impromptu get together at my Uncle Paul's house in Hull on a Thursday night.  I mean, why not right?!  A few of my cousins were home [they live in Florida, Virginia and Canada], so I guess it wasn't completely random, but getting cousins together from all over the area on a weeknight with limited notice is no easy fete.  It's summer - who cares about work or responsibilities!  The days are longer, the sun is brighter, the weather is warmer, it's impossible to be in a bad mood when the weather is gorgeous.  I just love it.

Unfortunately, Ratty wasn't able to go, though that didn't stop me from calling him and telling him to hop on the ferry and I would pick him up at the Shipyard, I think I had him for about 10 seconds before he thought better of the idea.  Oh well, I tried!

We spent the whole night laughing, eating, drinking and staring off into the fantastic view from my Uncle's porch.  Seriously, I am not sure if there is anything better.  I'll have to research this and get back to you.

I think this has to be one of my favorite porches of all time.  It's the perfect party porch! 

I cannot wait for summer to get here - I am itching for the warm weather and all the awesome other things that summer brings!

62. July 6th, 2011 Picture.

Now that our apartment is somewhat set up, let's take a little tour, shall we?

This is our coffee corner.  We love our coffee.

Kitchenaid Mixer is finally out of the box!  YES!

The first and only piece of artwork hanging on our wall.  I've talked about this picture at length, which you can read about here.

Our bed, complete with our amazing brick wall, which is pretty much the only decoration you need!

And finally, the ONE closet that both Ratty and I share.  One.  Just one.  This should be interesting...

62. July 5th, 2011 Picture.

Check out my plants I snagged at the farmers market!  We've got Thyme, Rosemary and Mint.  We have really wide window ledges, so I plan on making one into a little apartment garden.  Let's hope I don't kill them!

Full disclosure: I do.

62. July 4th, 2011 Picture.

Since we were moving over the 4th of July weekend, we had pretty much written off the holiday.  We figured we'd still be getting settled into our new place, and really didn't want to over schedule ourselves during an already insane weekend.  But, when all was said and done, we still wanted to do something nice for the 4th, and since the weather was absolutely spectacular, we decided that drinks by the water were completely necessary.  We hopped in the car and drove down to Marina Bay [which is perfectly acceptable during the day, at night it's a totally different story!]  We got a seat at the outdoor bar on the dock at Captain Fishbones and had a few frozen drinks to keep ourselves cool.  

After enjoying some frozen mudslides [but seriously I am RUINED by the ones at The Gazebo on Nantucket] we walked around the pier to The Water Club, not to be confused with the other restaurant/bar called The Ocean Club, and grabbed some lobstahhh rolls.

It was a really nice afternoon, filled with sun, drinks and yummy food - just what summer should be!  

We headed back to the South End and decided to walk one block over to Peter's Park to see if we'd be able to see the fireworks out over the Charles.  We thought we might be able to see them over the Boston skyline from our neighborhood - and we were right!  They were pretty spectacular, even with the Hancock building in our way!

I'll leave out the part about how I was worried about getting shot.  I told Ratty that the best time to shoot someone would be on the 4th, during the fireworks specifically, because no one would hear you, or would mistake the gunshot for a firework.  Seriously, this is the way my brain works.  It wasn't because our neighborhood is unsafe in anyway, it's because I'm insane.

62. July 3rd, 2011 Picture.

Our first Sunday in our apartment means our first SoWa Open Market!  I know I've shared a few shopping trips on the blog before, and I am super excited to now live, LITERALLY, right above the market.  I know the first picture isn't the finest quality, but I wanted to show just how CLOSE we are to the market - this is the view from our living room window!

I was actually pretty surprised at how quiet the set up was - some vendors arrive as early as 6am to start putting their tent together, so I was ready for lots of clanging around and maybe even some yelling.  I was pleasantly surprised at how quiet they were, Ratty even uttered the phrase 'quiet as a church mouse' at some point.  Fast forward a few weeks and we won't feel the same way, they started bringing speakers and playing music - that gets old REAL QUICK.

Anywho, it was really awesome to just pop downstairs, grab some lunch off a food truck, walk around to the other side of the building and grab fresh veggies from the farmers market and do some window shopping.  I love our new place!

62. July 2nd, 2011 Picture.

After our world wind couple of days, we decided to take it pretty easy on our first official day as South End residents, I mean, we deserved a little break, RIGHT?  We walked through the neighborhood, grabbed lunch on the patio at Pops, complete with raspberry mimosas, and spent some quality time at the dog park [with our invisible french bulldog, Cisco] soaking up all the adorable little puppy faces.

 

Then, after spending some quality time immersing ourselves in our new neighborhood.  We went home and continued to unpack.  So.many.boxes.  Pretty sure the unpacking will never end.

62. July 1st, 2011 Picture.

MOVING!  Day 2.  Here we go.

Our awesomely fabulous movers met us bright and early at our new apartment to help us unload all our stuff/junk into our new, spacious, gleaming South End .  I make this sound so much easier than it was, we ended up moving in around noontime, as we had to wait for the painters and cleaners to finish sprucing up our place.  Honestly, after all the nasty apartments I've moved into and bedrooms I've had to paint on my own, I was more than happy to wait for our new place to sparkle.  I picked up our 'keys', I say this because they are actually fobs, which are keyless tokens that we keep on our keychain.  We just swipe to get in our front door - we don't own real keys!  Welcome to the swanky South End!

Moving in was SO MUCH easier than moving out.  I felt like the process was a breeze and our stellar movers got us completely in our apartment in less than an hour.  AN HOUR!  They had a dolly which was amazing, plus the fact that we had an elevator made everyone super happy.  YAY!  I'd say we loved moving, but we all know that is a straight up lie.  I'm just all caught up in this recap.

So!  Take these photos with a grain of salt, I snapped them right after we finished bringing in the last load of boxes, I couldn't wait to document our new place!

Our bedroom:

Ugh, don't you just LOVE the brick wall?!

View from our bedroom door into the living room:

[Warning: we have A LOT of stuff!]

Our awesome new kitchen that is totally going to ruin us when we start shopping around for houses:

I've since learned that our awesome cabinets are IKEA, so I might not be totally ruined.

My mom painted this fab armoire for extra storage [our new digs only have ONE closet, le sigh].  My only request was that it be painted the same color as the Sparkling Lemon candle from Yankee Candle.  Those of you who know me know that I am not joking in the slightest.

SO!  What's the first thing you do when you've finally completed your 2 day move?  

GO TO IKEA!

Our completely logical rationale for this was the fact that we needed to buy a couch.  We had a nice blue Ektorp sofa all picked out and the only way it was making it from the IKEA warehouse to our apartment was in the UHaul.  I drive a 2 door Civic, which means that I can never transport something larger than a medium sized overnight bag, so we figured that while we still had our massive moving truck, we should use it to pick up all the big ticket items at IKEA.  See!  There is rhyme to our reason.

We loaded up on all the apartment necessities, like a pillow top, mattress pad and bedskirt for our bed.  Can you imagine that Ratty never had any of these things?!  Men.

But the biggest, BESTEST purchase from our IKEA outing was our couch!

Wait!  I know what you're thinking, you're thinking 'Amy said they were getting a BLUE couch?!'  And you're right, I did say that.  We had gone in with the intention of getting a nice navy couch to compliment our nautical themed life [seriously, who doesn't love a good nautical theme], but when we saw the cover in person I was underwhelmed.  It was more of a denim blue that I compared to a sun faded couch on a frat guys porch.  Yes, I went there.

Ratty still liked the blue couch, but I wasn't feeling it.  I dragged my feet through the rest of IKEA, internally feeling all blah about our lack luster couch.  Earlier in the week I had floated the idea of a red couch to Ratty [I seriously love red anything], but he didn't like it.  With our yellow armoire, gray kitchen and dark floors, he was having a hard time picturing a bright red couch, but in my head, I could see that it would look awesome.

I tried unsuccessfully to convince Ratty to forgo the blue, but he just really couldn't wrap his head around the red.  I own a white slip cover for this couch, so I just assumed that we could swap out the blue when we got sick of it AKA immediately.

Fast forward to us in the warehouse picking up the couch & slipcover and boom, the blue bin is empty.  NO BLUE SLIPCOVERS.  I told Ratty that I would run to the information desk, telling him I'd find a blue one but secretly hoping I couldn't.  I chatted with the rep and he told me that the blue slipcovers were completely out of stock - SOLD OUT!  I asked him which colors they did have and wouldn't ya know, THEY HAD ONE RED.  If this isn't a sign from God that I was meant to own a red couch then I don't know what is.  I merrily skipped back to Ratty, failing to hide my excitement, when I gave him a run down of what was going on.  He thought I was lying.  He thought I was just saying they didn't have any blues just so I could get my red couch.  It was obviously not a ploy to get my way rather the most spectacular turn of random events that just happened to work in my favor.

THANK YOU UNIVERSE!

FYI, now he loves the couch.

Now that the UHaul had been returned, IKEA items unloaded & set up and a space cleared for our candles, wine and cheese, we spent the rest of the night enjoying our new place!  Without TV though, Comcasts' first available appointment was July 5th.....yay.

62. June 30th, 2011 Picture.

MOVING!  Day 1.  The thought of typing up all the details of our move is giving me slight anxiety, I don't think I'll ever be able to see a U-Haul ever again and not break out in hives.  There is no reason that I need to pour over the inane details of our move, and also I think that if I have to relive it again in such detail I might die right here on the spot.  So!  That being said, I will just give you the highlights!

Stop numero uno.  Sidewalk.  This is a Southie institution, famous for their coffee, and I needed to close out my 5 years as a Southie resident with a large snickerdoodle iced.  Seriously, you'd think I was dying.  I am moving LESS THAN A MILE.

Good bye Sidewalk!  So long, farewell...

Off to my next stop, the North End to pick up Ratty and then subsequently Somerville to get our U-Haul and then BACK to the North End to START moving.  Sheesh, I'm tired already and the day legit just began.

So, here is where it gets good, and by good I mean terrifying.  Ratty wasn't *totally* done packing, though he was in really good shape, promise!  Okay, not really, I had heart palpitations walking through his place, but I couldn't TELL him that.  The psyche of someone moving is very very fragile.  You say the wrong thing and the person absolutely breaks down and cannot perform a simple function.  Maybe I'm just talking about me here but I was NOT taking any chances.  I couldn't tell Ratty that we were in tough shape because I'm pretty sure it would send us both into that 'I'm so overwhelmed I'm going to sit here and do nothing' phase.  

So, I helped Ratty pack, cleaned up around his place while he and our friend Bill moved couches into the U-Haul.  This process took approximately 2 hours and was absolutely horrible, or at least it LOOKED horrible - I was just watching.  Our movers didn't move couches due to liabilities, so we were left with moving them out on our own.  Bill was inheriting them for his man cave, plus he works around the corner, so he came over to help load them in our truck.  Getting those babies down 5 flights of North End stairs proved to be difficult.  Very very difficult.

So, of course while the boys are working away, I continued cleaning [aka throwing everything away because I was sure Ratty wouldn't miss it, if he even knew he owned it in the first place].  I also walked around and took photos of all the rooms, documenting this apartment we'd spent so much time in.  Ratty lived there for 5 years!  And I knew him before he moved there, I can't believe how long it's been, I met Ratty when I was 22 and he was just 26, gah, we were just wee little ones.

Bedroom:

Living room/kitchen:

Aren't North End apartments so glamorous?!

We break for photo ops:

I also decided that the easiest way to get all the couch cushions into the truck was to throw them out the window.  Obviously when no one was around.  I might have also done this with bags of clothes.  Hey, you become resourceful when there are 100 vertical steps between you and the truck!  

One last look down the street:

I swear, I am really excited to move!  Though I will miss sitting in this window and watching all the drunk college kids come home at 2am.

Ugh, I will NOT miss this airplane style bathroom.  It was awful.

Ratty saying goodbye:

Then, we went to my place and loaded up the truck.  I took zero photos because we were working quick like a bunny, er bunnies.  Plus I'd only lived there for 1.5 years so I had zero attachment to the place, which sounds heartless but it's true.  This leg was quick and easy due to the fact that I had already stacked everything downstairs, by the door, ready to go.  We have A LOT of stuff.  Like a lot.  The U-Haul place bumped us up from a 14' truck to a 17' one because they ran out of inventory, and thank GOD they did!  We barely squeezed it all in the big one, plus some stuff in my car, we would have been up a creek with the smaller one.  God, have I mentioned that next time I'm hiring people to pack and move everything for me?  Moving is for the birds.

As if this doesn't seem stressful enough, there was still more work to be done when we got to my mom's house!  My niece Devon was taking my super awesome pillow top bed, mainly because it was a full and Ratty's was a queen, and we were also taking a few new pieces my mom had acquired for us.  That required calling our neighbor and cousin Timmy to come over and help.  Jeez Louise.

After this we all went inside, poured some wine and settled in for a relaxing night.  We need it, tomorrow we unload it all.  Yipee!