between hello and goodbye

Tonight I'm going home to pack up and begin moving out of 70 E Street. Turns out I don't really own anything (except I'm discovering, a crapload of vases), so it won't really take me much time which makes it easy.

But since I'm a baby, it's very bittersweet. We moved around often enough when I was younger, that in my adulthood I have felt that staying in one place feels like a real accomplishment. And I am definitely looking forward to the change because the past few months I've thought a lot about moving, feeling like it was time. Originally I told Naomi about my plans with every intention to find a place of my own. I've never lived alone and I would love to. But as I looked I didn't find really anything that fit what I wanted (and could afford). A few weeks into the hunt I was talking with my friend Michelle about it and she mentioned that she and her roommate Elin were also looking around for a new place. One with some of the things both they and I were missing; a washer and dryer, a dishwasher, perhaps an actual house with garden and yard space versus the apartments we are currently in. We decided to see if maybe looking together would work and quickly ran across a familiar house on Denver Street (familiar because months ago Frances lived there!). The kitchen is newly remodeled and big, there is space enough for a craft room, and most importantly- this girl gets her own bathroom.

But...I have lived at The Sula on E Street the past three years. And before me two other friends lived there, so it's been around as a social constant for a little over 4 years. And I have loved it. I love that apartment. I love the hardwood floors and exposed brick walls, I love the kitchen shelves loaded with colorful plates and serving dishes, I (mostly) love my little cave room and the entry way full of bikes. I've loved the parties and brunches Naomi and I have hosted, the friends who stop by and running at night through avenues streets. And this past year -as I may have mentioned once or twice- it's been so, so much fun having Nate and Joel living right upstairs.

I guess the thing I come back to is, stuff changes. When I think about the friends who have hung around over the past 3 years, it's been a shifting and changing bunch as lives go different ways. Naomi will finish up school in the spring and most likely leave the state. Nate gets married in a week and has moved out. Michelle and Elin have a DVR. So feeling like it was time for a change means that overall I'm looking forward this move. And you'll all think I'm ridiculous for dragging you through three paragraphs of boo-hooing when I say that Aaron took over Nate's spot living upstairs, so I'll actually see The Sula with regularity still (sorry!). Regardless, you're all invited to Denver Street anytime you like...I'll even let you shower in my bathroom if you want.