Moving Weekend

The past weekend was the big move - hopefully the last for a good, long time! With only a week and a half between returning from Peru and moving day, I did rapid fire packing. If it fit in the box, it went in the box regardless of where it might end up in the house. I would have liked to have been a little more organized, but I'll find everything eventually. I had a confused, but willing helper, especially with the boxes and packing paper.  

On Friday, the awesome crew from Arthur Perez Moving got all the big stuff down from the second floor apartment, loaded into the truck, and placed into the house in a matter of hours. A summer thunderstorm briefly interrupted the process, but it was welcome relief from a hot and humid morning. 

With my Fitbit in my pocket, I clocked 45 flights of stairs ferrying little things and valuables between the apartment and the house (a result of the rushed, disorganized packing process). Last, but certainly not least, I brought Chicory over from the apartment to the guest bathroom in the new house where he could slowly adjust to the sights and smells of his new home. First reactions: he's completely freaked out. He promptly hid under the bathtub, and he's only briefly come out from under there for food and water since Friday afternoon. Not even a favorite treat could entice him out. Poor baby!

I celebrated the first night in the house with pizza and champagne amid the boxes. My wonderful friend and real estate agent Celeste put that gem of an idea in my head and even provided the champagne to make it possible. 

The remainder of the weekend was spent unpacking boxes and running a few essential errands. I made sure to take a break Saturday night to get cleaned up, put on real clothes, and meet a friend for dinner and drinks at Longway Tavern in the French Quarter. Side note: the Sidecar is an underrated cocktail. Order one!

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It finally dried out enough on Sunday to start to tackle the jungle that took over my backyard during the month between closing and move-in day. That's about 3 feet of grass and weeds burying the landscaping and patio!

While I attacked the weeds with the trimmer until the battery needed to be recharged, the mosquitoes attacked me from head to toe. (Remind me to buy fogger and weed killer during the next Lowe's run.) But, the yard thanked me for the attention with the gift of my first harvest of figs.

 Anyone have good fig recipes to share?

There's still a long way to go to get everything in order, but I'm excited to take it all on!