Houston Hillbillies

 And so it begins, living in small quarters as a family of four. And by small, I mean one room - all four of us. Today was crunch day, sort of like having a baby or planning a wedding. You can only do so many things in advance and no matter how many things you plan, life has a funny way of throwing it off. 

It was a long day of packing and re-packing our exploding suitcases, last minute cleaning and needing a second shower by 10 AM. Somehow moving seems to make you look extra grungy and extra attractive to the public. I really appreciate people asking if I'm okay because I look tired. I probably look tired because I AM tired from waking up every night at 3 running through to-do lists in my head. #sleepdeprivation 

Obviously we ate Chick-Fil-A and Mexican food on our last day, (duh) and picked up our enormous (ha) rental car. We got hooked up with a sweet Impala.  For some reason we can't get in it without singing: 

Wanna be a -- baller, shot caller

Twenty inch blades -- on the Impala

(You know you do too...) 

Luckily, the one thing that is giant about this car is the trunk. I mean, you could fit at least six people in there, which explains the lack of space elsewhere.

See above hillbilly-ness.

Mind you, we show up for the night at our hotel looking like straight up hillbillies.  Nothing I haven't experienced before, but this was a whole new level.  People look at you with sympathy in their eyes as you pull up and things fall out of the car onto the valet guys and you hand them multiple tiny backpacks and laundry bags full of snacks.  We are definitely living the high life.;) Mind you, my "potty-trained" three year old immediately announced she has to go potty and get the brown out.  Eek!!! We hurry up and find the nearest public restroom which was obviously being cleaned at that exact moment.  

Get to room: it is not said suite. Sigh. We are in one room all together. Sigh. This is a first. Next bump: no bathtub. Is this really happening??? Deep breaths - one year old gets a sink bath and three year old takes a shower. So much for normalcy!!!  We manage to destroy the hotel room in a matter of minutes. I am soaking wet but laughing hysterically as my one year old crawls away fast as lightening, bare bunned.  Gotta love it - can't wait to see what the plane flight brings tomorrow!

The Great Tiny Kitchen Debate

It's election season people, and there are some serious issues being addressed in our household; such as, to bring or not to bring a tiny pink kitchen to Manhattan? Makes sense right? Many of these apartments do not have full size appliances, or possibly ANY appliances, and we are really having this discussion. #littlegirlproblems

For those of you that may not know, my husband and I bought a secondhand Pottery Barn Kids pink kitchen for my one-year-old daughter on her birthday (and let's face it, equally for my almost three-year-old) to play with, even knowing we would soon be moving to NYC. Are we foolish? Yes, maybe, but I COULD NOT RESIST IT.  Not to mention they have had hours and hours and hours of playtime with it already.

It has really become a fixture in our household, made it into our professional house pictures for our rental property (sigh), and I almost broke my fingers moving it on multiple occasions.  Pottery Barn does not disappoint - this stuff is the real deal and weighs about a thousand pounds.  It has turned into an appendage of sorts, and it's safe to say we are pretty attached to it.

As you can see, pieces of furniture.

The vote currently, is to bring the dang thing, and luckily as you can see it is in three parts.  My daughter though, not to be tricked into anything, is not satisfied unless the pieces are "realistically" close together so she can "cook soup" and "wash her hands".  The irony is not lost on me.

Let me also mention, we are opting to initially not bring a kitchen table and chairs, but we are stuck on the tiny kitchen. And to think it comes along with all of the thousands of pieces of plastic and wood food!  Yippee! I'm sure when the movers load the sofas and living room furniture we will find some additional fake tacos and mini spatulas hidden underneath.  Oh, the sacrifices we gladly make for our children.  No, I don't need a kitchen table to eat at!  I can sit easily at their tiny (also pink) play table. Right now, the kitchen goes!

On another note, my obsession with pre-war apartments and detailing is most likely setting me up for disappointment while house hunting, but I remain optimistic!  I'm sure I can find one like the apartments on Pinterest, right??? It seems a few more units are showing up every other day on StreetEasy, zoned to the highly rated elementary schools.  My husband hates when I call real estate "cute" so we will call them wonderful!  To be continued...

Lastly, I did check out more thoroughly another blog: Love Taza that a Facebook friend recommended I read, and sure enough, there was a wonderful post recently (June 12th) on the blogger's Manhattan apartment, a 750 square foot space occupied by her family of FIVE! That's right, five. PHEW. Her tips on apartment living were very insightful, showing that it really can be done, and still not lose your mind (or all of it anyway)!  She's a big fan of the wash and fold services, so this may pretty much change my life for the better.

To read more visit: www.lovetaza.com

Next Wednesday, the movers will be working to pack us up!  NYC here we come!

UWS

Upper West Side On the Horizon

After a brief trip to NYC, my first time away from my girls, we fell in love, with the Upper West Side.  I always thought that was an "urban" myth (pun intended) to fall in love with a city; but it is true!  So YAY we have a decision.  We don't get to immediately move into our perfect dream home (HA), first things first.  We have to cross a few MILLION t's and dot a few i's.  

We are about two weeks out from the actual moving crew packing us up! Is this really happening? Are we going to fit a 3 bedroom home with ump-teen closets in a 2 bedroom, 1 bath?  We shall see.  My main task these days is downsizing, downsizing, downsizing.  This is a task most Texans would never be asked to do.  Around here, we get older and gain more and more square footage.  This is almost a rite of passage around here, more land, bigger house, MORE car garage.  Instead we are opting for less of everything!  What do I take, what do I store, what to give away?  It is all making me numb to things in general.  I don't even know what I like and don't like anymore.  I have realized most things can be replaced if need be. One of my good friends had a nice tip:


If it is less than $25, and you haven't used it in six months, get rid of it!

There's a handy little site called:

www.apartmenttherapy.com

If you haven't checked it out, you will surely catch the DIY, OCD, FYI vibe for small spaces and decorating tips.  These people are seriously creative.  It's Pinterest with the actual instructions.  

Now I have always been one to love a good purge, but this is another level.  It is amazing how many tiny things one can acquire - pictures, craft supplies, books, makeup, costumes... Where does all this stuff come from? Do I have a serious shopping problem? Maybe...but that is neither here nor there - the stuff has to go.  Another problem: two mini-me's who equally like STUFF.  

Anyway, I think we have finally narrowed down a neighborhood, which gets me really excited! As I have mentioned before, I love visualizing all the different possibilities that can transpire.  I love dreaming about the different restaurants we will eat in, the parks we will go to, the museums we will visit.  Of course in my mind, things such as double wide strollers, sticky fingers, no naps, and tantrums don't come up.  Real life, I know, will not be quite so shiny - but it will still be an adventure nonetheless! 

UWS while house-hunting

So the things that drew me to the Upper West Side (UWS is what the cool kids say - #uws), were the wonderful pre-war buildings, top notch elementary schools, and WIDE sidewalks.  In our particular neighborhood of Houston, off the Washington corridor, the sidewalk department is seriously lacking, as in THERE ARE NONE.  When I am not dead lifting the stroller up on a curb, I am dodging a low hanging, untrimmed branch that is trying to decapitate me.  So obviously I was drawn to the well-groomed, grandiose UWS.  Go big or go home! (In three years that is.)  Now, I do realize that these sidewalks may be obsolete if ten feet of snow occur.  But please let me continue to have this fantasy for a while!  It had a strangely old-world, residential feel, different from the feel of the hustling and bustling downtown or midtown area.  If I can't have the suburbs, at least let me have somewhat quiet.

Another not so great thing will be the shockingly small square footage, and most likely no washer/dryer or CAR! GASP! Not being able to drive to the grocery store? Gym? TARGET? IS THERE A TARGET? Whatever will I do without a Target, Chick-Fil-A, or YMCA? Man, I'll have to get some new hobbies.

Meanwhile, I have a whole house here in Houston to try to show to potential renters while managing two toddlers whose primary job is to "unclean" what I have just put away. ;) I love them for it (normally) but this is a challenge.  Somewhere I heard cleaning up after babies is like brushing your teeth with Oreos.  My two (almost three) year old is sort-of understanding the concept of the move in that it will occur as part of her birthday celebration (which cracks me up), like this is all for her!!!

Well, soon my whole house will be covered in post-its (storage, temporary housing, NYC...).  A moving truck is on our horizon.  We can do it!