Today I rode my bike to my friend Sara’s house.

No no, you don’t understand: I RODE A BIKE. With petals. On the street. In the sun. Near trucks. I’m hoping, by now, these two word sentences have conveyed to you that you should be quite impressed.

I’m not a “bike rider”. I’d normally be willing to take my bike to the coffee shop two blocks away, maybe, but so far that hasn’t seemed worth it. Actually, since I bought my bike a few months ago it hasn’t been ridden, ostensibly because I don’t have a bike chain, but really, I’m scared. It feels dangerous, and sweaty, and like EXERCISE. I hate all of those things (and, yes, in that order. Le sigh.) But I rode my bike several blocks… Ok, I just checked Google Maps:21 blocks, or 1.2 miles. Holy shit! I had no idea. That’s probably a good thing, too; I’d have punked out.

I got to her door in one piece, but kind of sweaty, and proudly announced my accomplishment, expecting her to say, “Feh! I do it all the time!” but she confirmed my status of Brave One, and now I feel smug.

What possessed me to ride my bike like that, I’m not sure, because I’m sitting here now going, “No way. No freakin’ way!” I think it’s because we have a good parking spot and I wasn’t in the mood to drive around looking for another one. Also, it feels kind of weenie-ish to take the subway one stop. Also-also, I knew it would be healthful. Rob’s been riding his bike to the studio on an almost daily basis, and I can’t let him get skinnier than me.

I know it’s not a big deal for normal people, but I feel cool! Go do something brave today!

Last night I hit my head. There were stars and birds and shit flying around my head while my eyes crossed and then faded into slow, circling spirals. I was pretty sure death was eminent, and I cried and cried and cried while typing a last love note to Rob on the notepad application of my iPhone. Romantic, right?

I put peas on my head, Nicole came over so I wouldn’t be alone, and all was well eventually.

***

The local independent book store has a resident bunny, a resident elderly dog that sleeps in the doorway, and a pond in the back. It used to have a resident iguana, but he died. The local pet shop has a resident gray kitten, who likes to climb up the cat tree things and, from there, climb onto customers’ shoulders and help them shop.

***

Our grass is growing! We’ll have a lovely lawn in a few weeks.

***

Moving isn’t done yet. There’s still a bunch of stuff that needs to go to the basement in Connecticut, where it will sit until we figure out what to do with it, which means eventually selling it or throwing it out. I miss being settled into one place. I’m really loving this neighborhood, though; I like being able to walk around and shop without having to get into a car or get on a subway. It feels luxurious.

***

Photos are coming soon of the new place; I need to figure out where to put all of my art, which is normally the fun part, but feels overwhelming right now.

***

After a hiatus, I’m back to working on Hey Brooklyn and there will be a new episode this Friday. Woohoo!

So, we’ve landed in Park Slope after a very self-sufficient move. In addition to going DIY with the painting, we packed everything ourselves* and then ran some of the boxes of stuff over to the new place and unpacked them in the weeks before the Big Moving Day with the Movers. These small chunks of moving were not only sanity-preservers, they made everything way cheaper: our by-the-hour rate movers had finished everything in just under three hours, including the drive over to the new place. Even they were stunned. Rob and I celebrated with a high-five.

One of the things we did early was put our bookshelves in the empty apartment and fill them.  By “we” I mean Eric.  The wall they are on is drywall over brick, and I said to Rob, “There is no way we are tackling this ourselves.

If you ask nicely he’ll wear his tool belt while working (you know, for the ladies who are into that sort of thing) and he gives a discount if he can bring his dog.

Thanks, Eric!

It doesn’t feel like home yet, and I wonder if it ever will. It’s very small here, and it’s clear that we will have to move eventually. Not just because of the space issue, either; the landlord actually told our real estate agent, “Three dogs is no problem, but NO KIDS!” It’s quite nice for now, though.

Stu! came over Saturday with champagne and cupcakes to celebrate the new place, and we spent the afternoon with me shirking unpacking responsibilities to show off the new neighborhood and slowly but surely convince her to become my cup-of-sugar neighbor.

Thank you to Effed In Park Slope for the Twitter welcome! This 4-part-series of videos they did of the local Target explains, to a level I don’t have the ability to blog about, why I feel like I’m descending into the seventh ring of Hell when I go.

*Apparently the really rich people leave their homes and go away for a few weeks and people come and pack them up and move them. Then they come back from vacation to a newly set up home somewhere else!

This is what I bought from the Renegade Craft Fair:

A small bundle of soap odd ends from Biggs & Featherbelle. They create huge rectangle logs of soap and then cut them into individual bars to sell. There is always an odd end left which they cut in half, bundle with other odd half ends, and sell for $1. Much better than going to waste. Brilliant! (first photo from their website, second photo by me)

A blondie from the Treats Truck. (I nomed it before I got a photo)  They’ve named their truck Sugar.  (photo from their website)

Some much-needed body lotion from Bunny Butt Apothecary. (photo from their website)

A mish-mash of “seconds” coasters from Sesame Letterpress that I might not let you use if you come over; they’re really pretty. (Listen to me and Breck from Sesame Letterpress having a great interview here).
(photo by me)

One pin for my purse from Miniature Rhino. It took mere hours of wearing it for someone to ask me if I gave blood. I’m going to have to make up a meaning for it so I don’t have to explain it doesn’t “symbolize anything, I just thought it… looked… cool” which makes me sound like a total poseur (sidenote: do people say “poseur” anymore?) Any suggestions?
(photo by me)

A stone magnet from by Cary. I saw it and liked it, but wasn’t going to spring for it (it was only $5, but still). Rob, in a fit of brilliance, sneaky-bought it by sending me to “check out that stuff over there” while he slid Cary his money. He gave it to me later at lunch, which was so sweet. When we went back on Sunday she beamed at us both and asked if I was surprised and happy (and did Rob have a brother?) Her website is coming soon, and I suggest you keep checking back. I really liked her coasters, too, which are slightly bigger versions of the magnet.  (photo by me)

(And also, I might start blogging entirely in lists.)

Seeing John Hodgman and Johnathan Coulton at Union Hall. (Tickets are a mere $10. Rob and I needed something cheap and special to cheer us up. It’s been a rough week.)

Going to the Renegade Craft Fair, which I have been looking forward to for ages.

Going to a late showing of Away We Go with Carissa. It’s finally out!

Happy weekend.

I left with plenty of time to get to my appointment today but I went to 8th Avenue, not 8th Street. With fifteen minutes to spare, I drove the few miles to the proper address and arrived at 3:04. Ok. Not bad. I dropped off my gear and dashed off to park, thinking it would take me no time at all.

I ended up driving about ten miles in a three-block radius. After about fifty swear words, several angst-filled poundings on the steering wheel, and a handful of prayers to gods I don’t actually believe in, I found a spot and arrived back at 3:45. This was a new personal low of mine, and I was ashamed. Also, we are nearly out of gas, and I’ve gnawed off several fingernails.

My interview went well; I get to meet the most interesting people and today was no exception. Lotta offered me water, I accepted, and it came sparkling, in a glass, with a lime. Classy! Note to self: buy limes and put them in guests’ drinks. It shows thoughtfulness.

Her newest book comes out today, and I flipped through it while we were interviewing. The projects really do seem simple, and there are several patterns included with the book. There are things to make for toddlers, too, including bibs, rattles, crib bumpers and quilts.

Order here

When the Brooklyn Flea had it’s opening weekend, I noticed that a lot of vendors had done special items for the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens 2009 Sakura Cherry Blossom Festival. There were cherry blossom tee shirts and pink cupcakes and things like that. Jane, from Foxy & Winston, made a Cherry Blossom print, and I admired it while I shopped her booth (and chatted with her Mum, who is the loveliest lady ever). I didn’t buy it, but I thought her Sakura print would be a good addition to Baby Art week, so when I went home I looked for it in her Etsy shop. It wasn’t there, so I asked about it the following week (and if you’re wondering now if I go to the Brooklyn Flea every Sunday, the answer is, “yeah, pretty much.” I know this makes me teh lame. You don’t have to send me with emails telling me so, certain people.)

She said it wasn’t up on Etsy yet but if I gave her my email address she would send me photos of it. I handed her my “Hey Brooklyn” business card and (because I am networky! and a savvy business lady!) and was all “Oh, by the way, I think you’d make an awesome guest for my podcast!” and she was all, “Oh! I’d love to be on your podcast!” and now I have an interview scheduled with her next week. So awesome. Anyway, this is the print. I think that it, too, would make a very pretty addition to a little girl’s nursery.

There are matching note cards, too!

Limited edition print, $15

It’s fire-in-the-backyard season. I’m not sure if this is legal in Brooklyn or not, but if the police come knocking on my door trying to confiscate my fire table, I’m going to tell them they should bust the crack dealer across the street first. You know?

These marshmallows are effing fantastic toasted.

We cleaned out the backyard so we could hang out in it and enjoy the fire table and have everything be neat.  I’ll plant grass eventually.  We don’t have a hose, so I have to wait for the rain.

I spent my whole weekend with Rob.  We slept, we ate out, we ate in, we did yardwork, we did stuff I’m not going to talk about, we watched TV and we played with the dogs.

It was a good weekend (except for the part about Bea Arthur dying, which is NOT OK.  Also, the swine flu is not ok, either.  But everything else was good.)

photo by Rob

Currently weighing what I can and cannot live without in an apartment.

Space? I can definitely sacrifice space. We own a sprawling five bedroom house with a mondo-sized basement an hour’s drive away, and only one Grandma lives in it. She’s is thrilled when we “invade her space” because she loves us so much, so coming and going is never an imposition. Storage is the easy part.

I can live without a dishwasher. It’s was really difficult, and now it’s easier. We’ve both learned to be responsible with keeping up with the dishes. Having to deal with the pile ups that result in mandatory two hour dish washing marathons, the broken cups and plates that slid off and shattered because there wasn’t enough room for them all crowding on top of the stove, and even a few maggot incidents made us more responsible by necessity. We have a system: Rob washes the bigger things that are too heavy for me to manage, and I wash the silverware he detests. We both do plates and cups. All this, and we’ve never had to resort to paper plates and plastic forks. Go us!

I can live without a washer and dryer, although it pains me to say it. Sending laundry out isn’t horribly expensive, and, if one is close by, going to a laundromat won’t be that bad.

We think we can live without a yard. This is kind of a tough one for me. I don’t care for me, I care for the dogs. They’re used to having a yard, and I’m afraid they’ll be sad. The necessary walks will be good for them, though.

I am dreading the hunt, though, but I’m inspired by Katie‘s “about” page. It says simply this:

brooklyn

two girls

one boy

one husband

600 square feet

If she can do it (and manage all the wonderful crafty things she does, too) I can, too. It’ll be worth it to live in a nicer hood. Thank you Katie, for the inspiration!

Saturday I went to the Brooklyn Flea. It’s back to rocking in the sunshine in the Fort Greene neighborhood after being only indoors all winter, and I’ll probably go several times this summer. You see the same stuff every week, pretty much, but instead of being boring, it’s comforting and nice to see familiar things.

This was what I scored:

One package of homemade maple marshmallows from Whimsy & Spice. I also got to meet the husband half of this baking duo. We had an interview scheduled post-SXSW, but I had to bail due to The Horrible Sickness, and I felt terrible about canceling. (Not as terrible as I would have felt passing on The Horrible Sickness, but it was still a really disappointing decision to make.)

He gave me a cookie sandwich with chocolate-whiskey filling to try. Chocolate and whiskey cavorting on cookies is a double thumbs up from me, although it took us three girls to finish the one. It’s really rich. I want more!

One ridiculously cute tiny cupcake, courtesy of Keavy Landreth of Kumquat Cupcakery. We had an interview last week for Hey Brooklyn that you’ll hear Friday. I picked a red velvet cupcake, and it was the best red velvet I’ve had in my limited experience; I only just discovered this flavor back in October. Why hadn’t I heard of it before? Is it just not “a Connecticut thing”? Hey CT, you’re missing out! (Or I’ve just been oblivious for a really long time, which is entirely possible, too.)

One “bargain bin” greeting card from Foxy & Winston. She has the sweetest animal prints and note cards. I selected a purple bunny print greeting card for $1. Someone special will get a couple of cute bunnies in the mail one of these days.

One jar of beets! (Sidenote: is anyone else rendered wholly incapable of saying “beets” without thinking “Bears, beets – BATTLESTAR GALATICA.“? Just me? Really?! Well then.) I got them from Rick of Rick’s Picks, who I wrote about in my Foodzie post. I recognized the packaging instantly and made a quick u-Turn to go check his stuff out. In addition to the “phat beets” he makes all sorts of canned pickled things, and I will be purchasing more in the future. Lots more. There’s German in me, and that German demands I feed it vegetables soaked in brine and vinegar. (When I said this to Carissa, she said that sounded gross, but it’s totally true! It’s not gross, is it? Discuss.) … (On second thought, don’t.)

Rick let us all sample his “Handy Corn” which is not as dirty as it sounds. When I told him I am a world-famous blogger that wrote about his company, he gave me a “handy corn” tee shirt. I wore all day Sunday, and it is quite cozy. Thanks Rick!

Later that night we went to the Bell House to see the Kaiser Cartel play with their friends Lucinda Black Bear and the Winterpills. You can tell all three bands like the people in the other bands very much. Everyone played on everyone else’s songs at some point, and they all have a similar vibe and feel to their music. If you like what you heard of the Kaiser Cartel, you’ll like the other bands, too.

There’s a song that Courtney and Ben play while they walk around, and they look into audience members eyes as they play and sing. It’s all very quiet and hushed, and when they were walking, it reminded me of a Jewish service, when the Torah is passed around the congregation and everyone wants to kiss it quietly and respectfully. It was like Synagogue for hipsters, and it was beautiful, and it choked me up in such a good way. I hugged them after, and they signed my CD. 

People of Brooklyn, I love you.

photos from their respective websites