Back Porch

In our apartment, there's a front porch which is in direct sunlight the majority of the day (=too hot to play in), and has a random dirt patch at the end of it which I didn't want Marjorie messing with. It became where the dog did his business and I lamented the fact that I couldn't just send M out to play.

But we actually have a back porch as well, off of our bedroom. It had leaves all over it and was a bit dirty so I didn't think of M being able to use it for a month. Because I'm a thinker, I finally got it through my brain that if I simply swept it, M could hang out "outside" and have space for messy play. Please ignore the box spring we stuck out there. Dan has dreams of re-purposing it somehow. I think at this point there are too many bugs and outside things involved with it and it needs to go over the fence into the trash. I think I will win eventually.

You can't go wrong with a bowl of water and measuring cups.

Everyday moments

In August, in the middle of our moving craziness, I took an online photography class (I had signed up long before we knew we were moving). I really wanted to be able to understand my camera better and be able to use it in manual and have an idea of what I'm doing as I spin settings up and down. I've been wanting to capture every day moments of our lives in a beautiful way and feel more confident when taking pictures for friends and family. I feel that as I've practiced and become more comfortable, it's easier for me to get what I want, so I can put the camera away faster and enjoy the moment in the moment more, and I look for the beautiful moments more often in our day to day lives.

M was quiet for a while in her room one day and this is what I found when I snuck in on her. Love that little reader of mine.

Torrey Pines Gliders

A few weeks after we first moved to San Diego, my NYC BFF Julie came down from Santa Monica to visit. We drove all around La Jolla and went up to Torrey Pines and were surprised to find a bunch of hang gliders jumping off the cliffs and soaring around. It felt pretty magical and reminded Dan and I that we were happy to be living here despite all of the new moving stresses. And now a billion pictures because that's all I really want to do here, and because I don't know how to format them into a cool collage, you just get a big long list of them.

Goodbye NYC

It's been almost two months since we left NYC in a whirlwind. It still feels like a dream. I can't quite believe this is our new life and other times I can't quite remember how we lived for so long in a one bedroom with a baby in the busiest city. How did we survive there? And how am I going to survive the suburbs? It's so quiet!

I miss it, but I don't. I'm so glad to have more space, and sunlight (although I am seriously missing fall), and the ease of doing errands with a car!!! The other day I went to the car wash, Costco, Target, and Walmart grocery within an hour and a half. Something like that would have taken me 2-3 days to do in NYC and I would have been exhausted at the end of it. But when I'm sitting at home wondering what to do with ourselves, all I can think of are my favorite places in NYC. I haven't replaced them yet and I miss going fun places, eating delicious food, and being a "part of it all." I know all of that will come with time in San Diego, but sometimes it's hard to remember to be patient.

Before we left NYC we took a few pictures in front of our bridge.

 

And because I'm all about keeping it real...

 

Oh George Washington Bridge, I learned to love running on you, we watched for you sparkly celebratory lights, and I loved seeing your huge patriotic flags. I sure miss you.