Did laundry tonight and it feels so good, so rooted. To see our old socks and shirts, and refold them, all fresh and new.
All is not lost or buried under rubble and plaster dust.
Clean wash. Clean slate.
Showing posts with label vagabonds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vagabonds. Show all posts
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Wash Day
Did laundry tonight and it feels so good, so rooted. To see our old socks and shirts, and refold them, all fresh and new.
All is not lost or buried under rubble and plaster dust.
Clean wash. Clean slate.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Sugar on Top
Our Sug is doing fine, but doesn't like losing sight of me. That fat little ball of fur must have been shaken by us unceremoniously moving her out. She's very possessive. When I walk her by our house, she tries pulling toward there. When I go over to get something, she insists on coming. As I turn the key in the door, she's pawing eagerly at it, to get in.
Pretty in Pink
Today was a better day. My boot camp friends did something really special this morning, and in the late afternoon, I ran an errand for Patsy. That errand involved going to Bobbi Brown, The Studio here in town to get two pink lip glosses--one for Patsy's friend's birthday tonight, one for Patsy.
Private Eye
While there, I got the Extra Eye Balm, soft and cucumbery, to put on at night and under concealer for day. I really love how it smells and am about to go upstairs and use it for the first time. Also got Figgy a $20 gift card from H., me and Sug to soften the blow of moving. She loves Bobbi Brown makeup. [Bobbi lives right in our town. She has three boys. We've trick-or-treated at her pretty home, and she gives out both lip gloss and candy.]
I must go to sleep now. We are meeting with two different contractors tomorrow. We are moving into Marriott Extended Stay on Sunday [with Sug] at least for the time being.
P.S. I would have to say that true happiness does exist in a Tory Burch turquoise-trimmed white cotton tee....the Bomen Tee, $165, pictured above. It's not real turquoise, but it's so beautiful....saw it at Bergdorf's the other day. Lusted after it. Love that it combines the classic white T, with a flattering neckline [not Fruit of the Loom crewneck] and built-in necklace, as only Tory can do it. Brilliant.
Pretty in Pink
Today was a better day. My boot camp friends did something really special this morning, and in the late afternoon, I ran an errand for Patsy. That errand involved going to Bobbi Brown, The Studio here in town to get two pink lip glosses--one for Patsy's friend's birthday tonight, one for Patsy.
Private Eye
While there, I got the Extra Eye Balm, soft and cucumbery, to put on at night and under concealer for day. I really love how it smells and am about to go upstairs and use it for the first time. Also got Figgy a $20 gift card from H., me and Sug to soften the blow of moving. She loves Bobbi Brown makeup. [Bobbi lives right in our town. She has three boys. We've trick-or-treated at her pretty home, and she gives out both lip gloss and candy.]
I must go to sleep now. We are meeting with two different contractors tomorrow. We are moving into Marriott Extended Stay on Sunday [with Sug] at least for the time being.
P.S. I would have to say that true happiness does exist in a Tory Burch turquoise-trimmed white cotton tee....the Bomen Tee, $165, pictured above. It's not real turquoise, but it's so beautiful....saw it at Bergdorf's the other day. Lusted after it. Love that it combines the classic white T, with a flattering neckline [not Fruit of the Loom crewneck] and built-in necklace, as only Tory can do it. Brilliant.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Secret to a Smoother Life
When I go to Vamp salon and get my hair shampooed by Rachel and blow-dried by Christina, I feel like a new and calmer person. My life will go more smoothly when my hair is smoother, I just know it.
It costs $25 and lasts me for about 3 days unless it curls up from rain, snow or humidity. This is a bargain compared to the blowouts I've occasionally gotten at Frederic Fekkai on Fifth Avenue in New York City. They were impeccable, and I love the locale, but they start at $65 for short hair, and mine's not short.
Christina also told me to put my hair in a ponytail and then slip a shower cap over that when I take a shower, and to always have an umbrella with me in the rain. The ponytail trick works really well.
Powder Nap
Today, I was so exhausted with the stress of being homeless that I fell asleep more than once in Christina's black chair. She had to wake me up, have me lift my head. [Figgy, who has a good sense of humor, is joking that now Montclair High School has a hobo. But State Farm is finding us a place to stay.]
Christina's chair was a safe refuge after hours spent reviewing our damage this morning with the insurance adjusters--two men, Collin [from Missouri] and Brooks [from Iowa]. They started in the basement and worked their way up. When they got to the third floor, where half the roof is gone and things are strewn around and broken, Collin said, "This is where the rubber meets the road. We're going to have to take a break and come back up."
You Win Some, You Lose Some
It was sad to learn that we will lose some old charming details in our home, like maybe the old sunroom windows. The whole room has to be rebuilt. We will be displaced for months, but we will return to a pretty, smooth new sunroom, living room, bedroom, office for H., new hardwood floors on the first floor, new roof, new exterior paint job etc.
My friends Anne, Moey and Elly helped me paint my sunroom office last summer--they did the Herculean part of the job, even meeting to work on it one Friday when I was visiting my friend, nickname Candy, up near Saratoga. The walls are a beautiful Caribbean turquoise. I want the same color again.
Taking it all one baby step at a time. But will have to move on to giant steps pretty fast because we have to "pack out" almost every room in the house with a company that will store everything while the work is done.
Fashion Fairy
I wore the same black skirt and navy top for three days in a row now. Feel like a street person, clinging to my comforts. Too busy, too exhausted to change. Tomorrow, something new!
Feel better since I went back into my bedroom today and retrieved my Vivienne Tam silk chiffon scarf, the one HP sold along with my floral Vivienne Tam designer HP Mini notebook. Might put scarf under my pillow tonight and see if Fashion Fairy visits.
Gotta sleep. Overwrought. Good night.
It costs $25 and lasts me for about 3 days unless it curls up from rain, snow or humidity. This is a bargain compared to the blowouts I've occasionally gotten at Frederic Fekkai on Fifth Avenue in New York City. They were impeccable, and I love the locale, but they start at $65 for short hair, and mine's not short.
Christina also told me to put my hair in a ponytail and then slip a shower cap over that when I take a shower, and to always have an umbrella with me in the rain. The ponytail trick works really well.
Powder Nap
Today, I was so exhausted with the stress of being homeless that I fell asleep more than once in Christina's black chair. She had to wake me up, have me lift my head. [Figgy, who has a good sense of humor, is joking that now Montclair High School has a hobo. But State Farm is finding us a place to stay.]
Christina's chair was a safe refuge after hours spent reviewing our damage this morning with the insurance adjusters--two men, Collin [from Missouri] and Brooks [from Iowa]. They started in the basement and worked their way up. When they got to the third floor, where half the roof is gone and things are strewn around and broken, Collin said, "This is where the rubber meets the road. We're going to have to take a break and come back up."
You Win Some, You Lose Some
It was sad to learn that we will lose some old charming details in our home, like maybe the old sunroom windows. The whole room has to be rebuilt. We will be displaced for months, but we will return to a pretty, smooth new sunroom, living room, bedroom, office for H., new hardwood floors on the first floor, new roof, new exterior paint job etc.
My friends Anne, Moey and Elly helped me paint my sunroom office last summer--they did the Herculean part of the job, even meeting to work on it one Friday when I was visiting my friend, nickname Candy, up near Saratoga. The walls are a beautiful Caribbean turquoise. I want the same color again.
Taking it all one baby step at a time. But will have to move on to giant steps pretty fast because we have to "pack out" almost every room in the house with a company that will store everything while the work is done.
Fashion Fairy
I wore the same black skirt and navy top for three days in a row now. Feel like a street person, clinging to my comforts. Too busy, too exhausted to change. Tomorrow, something new!
Feel better since I went back into my bedroom today and retrieved my Vivienne Tam silk chiffon scarf, the one HP sold along with my floral Vivienne Tam designer HP Mini notebook. Might put scarf under my pillow tonight and see if Fashion Fairy visits.
Gotta sleep. Overwrought. Good night.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Did Not Blow That Little House Down
As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Here, in that case, 5000 words--pictures taken by our neighbor and friend Patsy. Insurance appraiser set to come tomorrow morning.
Come On Baby, Do the Locomotion with Me
If I stand still too long, I'll have to face the complications of living in an extended stay suite or rental for months. I'd have to contemplate how this could impact Figgy's life, her schoolwork. She seems distraught, exhausted, blurts out that she's homeless. My eyes look small and red. And we can't have Easter dinner at our house anymore.
So I just keep moving.
Last night, when my head hit the pillow, had to face my fears in the dark. Tossing and turning. Not just our roof splintered but our lives splintered. Literally, our Easter baskets scattered in the side yard because the guys who tarped the house to keep the rain out on Sunday threw a lot of the attic contents on the lawn, and then tarped those too.
Like I said, I hate housework. So this is not a very pretty picture.
So I just keep moving.
Last night, when my head hit the pillow, had to face my fears in the dark. Tossing and turning. Not just our roof splintered but our lives splintered. Literally, our Easter baskets scattered in the side yard because the guys who tarped the house to keep the rain out on Sunday threw a lot of the attic contents on the lawn, and then tarped those too.
Like I said, I hate housework. So this is not a very pretty picture.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Hello from the Crowne Plaza
H. and I are at a hotel in Fairfield, NJ for tonight--we got here after 11, after my plane landed. Figgy is at her friend's house, close to the high school, so she can walk there in the morning. Patsy and Andy have Sugar; Patsy told H. that the kids love having Sug there. I miss that Fig and Sug. Will see both tomorrow, can't wait.
We're waiting to find a place that will have a couple of rooms that all four of us can stay in, plus, ideally, a kitchen. I snore loudly and though H. can sleep through it, my "sawing wood" would keep poor Figgy up and she'd never be able to stay awake in algebra class, which she hates already.
H. has been in touch with the insurance agent....things are moving along. The tree was removed, the house has a tarp over it.
Almost Home
He did something really sweet. He set up this room like home, with the special family photos I had in the living room and my office. He set up my jewelry box, opening the lid, like I had it on my dresser--there's my pretty cocktail ring, gold with a light blue stone, that I bought at an antique store in Maine. There's my engagement ring, in the box and not on my finger because one of the emeralds popped out and went missing and we have to get it to a jeweler.
The man at the desk was very nice, too; even before we told him we were here because of a tree falling on our house, he gave us two coupons for free breakfast buffet.
Reality Check
I don't in any way think that living out of bags or suitcases or whatever, without all the comforts and privacy of home, will be without stresses. We will likely be on top of each other, and H. and I can be like oil and vinegar sometimes to begin with.
But I am grateful for tonight, for the ride from the airport and the photos on the nightstand.
We're waiting to find a place that will have a couple of rooms that all four of us can stay in, plus, ideally, a kitchen. I snore loudly and though H. can sleep through it, my "sawing wood" would keep poor Figgy up and she'd never be able to stay awake in algebra class, which she hates already.
H. has been in touch with the insurance agent....things are moving along. The tree was removed, the house has a tarp over it.
Almost Home
He did something really sweet. He set up this room like home, with the special family photos I had in the living room and my office. He set up my jewelry box, opening the lid, like I had it on my dresser--there's my pretty cocktail ring, gold with a light blue stone, that I bought at an antique store in Maine. There's my engagement ring, in the box and not on my finger because one of the emeralds popped out and went missing and we have to get it to a jeweler.
The man at the desk was very nice, too; even before we told him we were here because of a tree falling on our house, he gave us two coupons for free breakfast buffet.
Reality Check
I don't in any way think that living out of bags or suitcases or whatever, without all the comforts and privacy of home, will be without stresses. We will likely be on top of each other, and H. and I can be like oil and vinegar sometimes to begin with.
But I am grateful for tonight, for the ride from the airport and the photos on the nightstand.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
