Home Sweet Chaos

After a hair-pulling, emotional train wreck of a week and a transcontinental flight the first thing I like to do is walk into a an apartment full of boxes where a wife-less husband has been "bach'ing" it for a week. Now there's a dose of reality for you. Remember how I explained my ideal Saturday scenerio in New York? Well, not so much, not right away.

MDHK had had his own chaotic week getting started in his new position at work. We were both road weary and beyond ecstatic to see each other. It wasn't a teary movie reunion at all. I felt like I'd done what I needed to in that department the day before. No, instead it was filled with relief and giddiness.

I've always found that sushi and bubbles will usually cure what ails. So we headed out to explore our new neighborhood in search of both. Sushi wasn't hard to find. We live near the East Village which has been deemed by Traveller magazine as the new "Little Asia", thanks to the likes of David Chang's Momofuko and others.

The bubbles weren't hard to find either. When we found our apartment we celebrated at Bar Veloce, an incredibly small, incredibly clever design of a wine bar. So naturally we headed back there for more bubbles and celebration.

So there you have it! Our first night together in our new home, in our new city. Not bad for two weary road warriors, one of them rather jet lagged, but both very happy. Now about all of those boxes. I suppose you can guess how the next week went, right?

One of the Hardest Things

One of the hardest things I've ever done is to let go of everything I know and most of what I own. The last few days in Seattle were absolutely the hardest. With MDHK already gone and the remaining crucial details in my hands I was a bit of wreck. As I made my final exit from the home that housed our entire 13 year marriage I decided I couldn't do it alone. So, I phoned Kent at our aprtment in New York and as soon as I heard his voice I burst into tears. Through my sobs I managed to get out only two words; "I'm leaving". Cutting the rest of the sentence short I realized it sounded like I was saying that I was leaving HIM. So I pulled it together long enough to sob; "The house. I'm leaving our house. I can't do this alone". He shared my sadness and then walked me out the door, making sure I said 'good-bye' and 'thank you' to every room.

I spent my last evening in Seattle in the company of what I can truly say are 4 of the most loving and supportive friends a girl could ask for; Jennifer Worick (we've shared some big stuff in a short amount of time), Annie Rihnsmith (a.k.a. BFF & Calla's mom), Dawn Hobson (kind & generous hostess, even kinder and more generous friend) and Christin Snyder (a good cousin, and even better friend). Sitting outside at Ponti's I confessed my emotional breakdown earlier which they quickly re-named a 'break through'. The point being that it had to happen sooner or later, right? I quickly recovered (as you can tell by the funny face making in the photo which unfortunately doesn't include Christin, acting as a photographer).

The next morning as Annie (and Calla) drove me to the airport I felt prepared, at peace and excited. Once I boarded the plane and settled in next to two completely stoned people I felt amused. Luckily they were too busy inhaling bags of snack mix to notice the little tear I shed as the plane pointed towards my new home in the Big Apple and the Apple State faded into the distance.