I was just thinking about all the different places that I've called home. I've lived in 11 different places in my 27 years. Somehow that doesnt seem like a lot, but I guess it is. How many homes have you lived in? Here's my list...
1.
Den Hagg, Netherlands(1982- 1984) My first home. I don't remember anything about it, but I've seen in pictures that it was a sweet little row house with beautiful wood floors and a back yard garden.
2.
Dallas, TX (1984- 1985) Dont remember this house either. Again, from pictures I've seen that it had a brick fireplace painted white.
3.
Pittsburgh, PA (1985-1987) This is the first home I have actual memories of. My bedroom was very sunny. There was kind of a finished attic upstairs that I found very cool. There were raspberry bushes along one side of the house and I had a swing set in the back.
4.
Winston- Salem, NC (1987- 2001) The home I grew up in. My parents still live there. A lovely Ranch home with a huge back yard and a swimming pool. Love that pool. When I was a growing up my neighborhood was full of young kids. We were all on the swim team in the summer and rode our bikes everywhere. Do you find that summer's are what you remember most about childhood? Or at least, what you reminisce about most?
5.
Marymount Manhattan College Dorm- 55th St, NYC (2001- 2002) My first home in NYC. The dorms were brand new when I moved in. In fact, they weren't even totally complete. For the first few months you were awoken by drilling and hammering. The washers and dryers weren't installed for a few weeks so the school payed for our laundry to be sent out. We had no television connection for a few weeks either, which meant I didn't see the 9/11 news coverage that day. I only heard about it from the car radios I passed on my way to class that morning.
6.
Yorkville Towers- 93rd St, NYC (2002- 2003) A really amazing building. At the time, my school owned a couple of co-op's in this awesome high rise that they would dorm a few select upperclassman in. Well, I wasnt a select upperclassman, but my roommate Krista was! I got to come along and we shared the master bedroom which had its own bathroom and walk in closet.
7.
75th St and York Ave, NYC (2003- 2005) My first non- dorm! I loved this neighborhood and its where I spent my junior and senior years of college. Sometimes weeks would go by where I never left a 10 block radius. School, work, and home were all in the east 70's. Most of my friends lived near by, too. My room was a cozy 8' by 9.5'. I had my twin bed and a narrow desk, a lamp, and a tiny t.v. perched precariously on the window ledge.
8.
Providence, RI (2005- 2006) After college I began a 10 month internship at
Trinity Repertory Company. Six of the twelve interns lived in a litte 1920's bungalow. It was run down but it had sooo much character. I often fantasized about how I would renovate it if it were mine. There was a great front porch where I spent a lot of my free time. (It was the perfect smoking porch. *3 years smoke free, by the way!)
9.
21st St.-Astoria, NY (2006- 2007)When I returned to NYC after Trinity, I found an apartment with two girls via Craigslist. It was a cute apartment on a quiet street. The two girls were from Africa, and one of them had a little white puppy. The apartment was on the third floor of a home owned by this very old Greek lady. Her very odd daughter lived on the second floor. Well, this is a long story for another post, but basically the daughter hated me and one day she slapped me hard across the face. I called the cops and I had to move out.
10.
23rd St- Astoria, NY (June- October 2007) I had to move in with Eric. He was living in this house a few blocks away with our friend Ben from school and this other really weird girl. His room was in the basement. We slept in a twin bed. One day we witnessed the aftermath of a
termite mating swarm. Note the line "
There will most likely be a lot of evidence left behind once the termite swarm pattern has dissipated, such as shed wings and demised insects." Um, yeah.
11.
38th St- Astoria, NY (October 2007- Present) Needless to say, we couldn't wait to find our own place! It was a very annoying and grueling process. We put in five different applications before finally finding the wonderful apartment we're in now. Its a small building with only four units. Two of the units are young couples like us and one is the elderly, widowed sister of out little Italian landlord. We call her the
dungeon troll because she spends most of her time in the basement and she has a horrible hacking cough. Her name is Maryanne and she is totally sweet. At least think she is. She doesnt speak any English. As long as she doesnt slap me, we're cool.
Anyways, we love our place and we plan to stay here as long as we can. Our little Italian landlord (Pietro) is very nice and adorable, if not long winded. Our neighbors are quiet, we have no rodent or insect problems, and the space is just right for two people. Who knows how many more places I will call home in my lifetime. At least one more, I know, as we plan to eventually leave the city and buy a house to raise our family in. Still, that could be one year or five years from now. Who knows. All I do know is that no matter where I live, as long as Im with Eric, I'm home. Awwwwwwwwwwww.
(Adorable knitted socks courtesy of Mama Susan)
