A Weekend Check-In: Investing My Time in The Right Place

The sun in shining through our large bay windows in our bedroom and I’m lazily lying in bed for just a few more moments. Even though there is plenty to keep me busy in this house, I am not ready to get out of bed just yet.

View from bed

The past few days have been a blur.  My parents, who chose to celebrate their 38th anniversary with a Brooklyn vacation, have been working non-stop helping us on projects around the house. We’ve changed light fixtures, hung shades, stained wood, pulled weeds, broken down cardboard boxes, explored Brooklyn and enjoyed some delicious food in between at both local Brooklyn favorites and at home.

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Daily life here in Brooklyn is quite different than what they know in Savannah, Georgia but they love getting to know and understand the differences.

Other than a few Snapchat (Healthyhappier) and Instagram  posts, I’ve really been investing time with them while they are in town. In my goal of being fully present, I have been off social media for three days. I had a blog post planned in my mind for both Friday and Saturday, but somewhere between the drilling and laughter, they remained in my mind versus on the screen.

So instead of making excuses for you guys, I’m checking in with pictures from our past few days and the promise that as Summer winds down and our new home gets under control, I’ll be back here for my four to five time a week update. I miss connecting with you all but at the same time, I know that my time has been spent in the right place these few days.

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Dad staining the center island

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Have a great weekend guys and remember, invest your time and attention in the ones you’re with versus always being attached to your screen.

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Moving Weekend in Pictures

Happy Monday gang!

After a weekend of moving, work feels like a welcome relief! Bo and I woke up this morning sore and exhausted, but smiling because we made so much progress this weekend. Our Brooklyn apartment went from feeling like a sea of boxes and chaos to a home in 48 hours thanks to the help of many friends and lots of hard work.

This is what the entire apartment looked like at noon on Friday. There was STUFF everywhere as the movers unpacked all the boxes and left things on the “nearest flat surface.”

This is how the weekend started. Boxes and stuff EVERYWHERE!

 

 

 

 

 

This weekend required LOTS of iced coffee including Smith Canteen’s Nitro cold brew. It is so strong and delicious without being acidic.

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We took a break from unpacking to celebrate our friend’s 30th birthday at Swan Dive, a seasonal pop-up restaurant and bar in Gowanus. Just a few blocks from our apartment the space served up delicious cocktails and an awesome Summer atmosphere. Unfortunately, the barbecue portion of the pop-up, known as Pig Pit, was pretty disappointing. Oh well, we will definitely come back for an evening of drinks with friends and just skip the food.

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We woke up naturally around 7 AM, deciding to take advantage of our energy and finish organizing and setting up the kitchen before starting our long run. We are so in love with our kitchen as it has PLENTY of space to not only prepare and cook meals but also for guests to congregate around the kitchen island. It is an inviting and communal space that will definitely get a lot of action on the blog in the coming months!

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We didn’t start our 9-mile run until 10 AM but luckily the breeze from the water kept us cool as we ran through Red Hook, Columbia Street Water Front, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Fort Green and Boerum Hill neighborhoods in Brooklyn.

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After our run we spent the rest of the afternoon going through boxes and building the massive, Ikea Pax closet. By 6pm the closet skeleton was complete and the car was filled with donations. I think we counted 20 bags in total!

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We hosted our friends Scott and Irene for dinner as part of Bo’s belated birthday gift. Bo and Scott first became friends while building a grill together so I thought it’d be nice to continue the tradition. Dinner included grilled clams, rib eye steak and fresh corn.

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Yesterday seems like a blur, as we were going non-stop and did so much during the day that it felt more like multiple days. With the help of Russell and Meg, we hung paintings, moved furniture, donated more things to Goodwill, rearranged three rooms, organized all my clothes, finished the Pax closet and built my new desk. We owe them so much for their help as it wouldn’t have been possible without extra hands. After twelve hours of work we finally took a break to relax over a Summer spread including rotisserie chicken, heirloom tomato salad and corn.

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Even though we made great progress this weekend, I can already tell there are going to be a few late nights of projects and unpacking this week! I’ll give you guys a video tour of the house once we’ve made more progress.

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We Need A Weekend to Recover from Our Weekend

It’s official! As of 2pm on Saturday we have the keys to our Brooklyn apartment! It was a jam-packed weekend including a lot of new apartment adventures, fun with friends and a perfect long run.

Our weekend started with a Saturday morning long run with Theodora. We spent four miles together, running down Summer Streets and over the Brooklyn Bridge before parting ways. She headed back towards home while Bo and I explored Brooklyn Bridge Park and finished our run near our new apartment.

Summer Streets with Theodora

Brooklyn Bridge Park

We refueled with a sesame bagel and lox while driving to Randolph, New Jersey. The wine portion of our sea shipment was separated from our furniture due to FDA rules and customs. We figured we’d pick it up to ensure it wasn’t sitting in the heat.

Bagel and lox

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As soon as we finished that adventure we made record time back to Brooklyn to meet our landlord for the key exchange. Oh yes, I’m still in my long run clothing 5 hours later.

New apartment keys

We spent the afternoon in our back yard with paint samples and taking lots of before pictures of the apartment.

Saturday evening a few friends came by for beers and a preview of our place before the work of moving in begins.

New Living Room

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We spent the rest of the evening sipping wine from our friend’s rooftop and dining on a delicious Summer meal including a corn Chorizo dish as well as grilled Branzino.

 

 

Rooftop

Branzino Dinner

Instead of heading back to Manhattan we opted to sleep in our new apartment using a friend’s air mattress. If you need an air mattress, Bo and I are amazed at how wonderful this mattress worked!

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After grabbing an iced coffee from our corner coffee shop, we found ourselves in line at Ikea 10 minutes before it opened, hoping to get in and out as quickly as possible. We had one goal – design and buy an Ikea Pax system for our office area. We had great success due to the very helpful staff and early hour.

Around 11:30 I left Bo, Russell and Meg with the mountain of Ikea boxes as Theodora and I headed out to New Jersey to shower Gia with love and laughter. I am so glad that I was able to see her and celebrate their good news. The party was perfect from the delicious food, super fun photo booth using the app Simple Booth Event Addition and hanging out with fellow NYC runner friends Meggie and Jocelyn. I’m also thankful that Theodora and Taylor Swift kept me company for the drive out to New Jersey.

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The rest of the afternoon was spent laughing our way through new apartment adventures. We were a bit over-eager in thinking that we’d grill dinner only to realize minute by minute we were lacking key tools such as oven mits, tongs, matches, olive oil and just about anything else.

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Multiple beers later we went to bed at the early hour of 9pm.

While the weekend was just a preview of the adventures we’ll have this entire week as we move into a new home, it felt amazing to go to bed smiling and knowing that we picked the right neighborhood and that we are surrounded by such wonderful friends and family members who are always willing to help!

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