House Beautiful

Eureka! Après une si longue absence, I at least have several good things to report, starting with the fact that my ♥ and I found a spectacular apartment in the Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago:



As of early July, we shall deliciously inhabit the whole top floor of this beautiful 1920s building—the fourth floor, though the architects went the European way and designated it as the third. Light pours in from all four sides, and the rooms are decently sized, including a smallish east-facing sunroom in the back and our matching pair of bedroom-sized His 'n' His workrooms/offices. Also delicious, at least in those precious months of un-winter: an entire half-lot of greenspace along the southern face of the building, wrapping around to the back, and complete with lovely flower gardens and (get this!) our building's very own gazebo. To wit, the view from the sidewalk:



Here ceases the self-satisfied slavering over our new digs, but since you all knew why I was away, I thought I'd at least follow up and declare the Chicago sojourn a very successful trip—to say nothing of some delightful socializing time with good friends in the area and with extremely friendly and inspiring colleagues from my new job. On a whim that I'm very glad to have followed, I expanded the trip into a veritable two-week vacation, returning from Chicago in time to grab a Greyhound from NYC to my old haunts in Ithaca, NY, and celebrating with a dear friend on the very day she became Dr. Dear Friend, Ph.D. (Congrats again, KDS!) Lots of lovely moments were shared with some of my favorite people in the world, and as someone who rarely takes vacations in the fullest sense of the word, I feel rested and re-connected and hugely energized by these last two weeks away.

The only downside was that I missed all the fuzzy and fond community of you, my internet buddies! I hope you've all been enjoying the onset of summer as much as I have, and I'm looking forward to catching up on lost time—beginning very soon with #51 on the Picked Flicks countdown. Given the new banner at the top of the blog, it's hardly a mystery as to what's on the way...