Evolutions

I'm constantly posting apartment pictures. But the thing is, Craig and I love change, and we love ambience makeovers of our homes. For instance, since moving into this place less than one year ago, we've managed to lose a huge glass dinner table, acquire a smaller higher table at which to eat plus a handsome coffee (butler) table. So today we added new elements to our apartment to make it all the better, even still.*When Craig returned from Florida, he had a hundred stories and I embraced all of them. But one thing he told me, in particular, had him very excited, something about our friends Christine and Paul having these frames hanging in their house which were joined by beaded chains and each window held a map of all the different places they've lived. Now, I've been a map lover most of my life, without being very talented at reading them, just loving the mere look of a map, and all of those veins leading somewhere. So, as one might imagine, this prospect excited me greatly, especially because we've respectively and together covered a lot of territory over the past several years. I knew Craig was wanting to steal (or borrow, with thanks) Christine's idea, and I appreciated how much he appreciated her clever idea. So this morning we woke up early enough for a Sunday (despite the unbelievably long day we had in Long Island yesterday, after I swore upon my life we were leaving Long Island at 3 p.m. and we wound up not leaving until who knows when after dark), drank coffee, lounged around - I spent quite some time composing a grocery list with fat-free everythings for the week, went to the grocery, cooked a fantastic round of Huevos Rancheros with brown rice, egg substitute, tomatoes, red pepper, onion, green chiles, garlic, black beans, cheese and a ton of seasoning, and then we headed to Pier 1 at 3rd Avenue, because Craig was more than certain that Christine's frames were Pier 1 in origin. Walking to Pier 1 this afternoon with Craig was so divine - the sun was blazing, the streets were flooded with New Yorkers, and we both felt good. And as we walked into the store, Craig wandered with me lazily through the housingwares, stopping so often to see if there was anything we'd like to have and so on (including the candle tray on the coffee table as seen above with the three glorious-smelling candles). And then we found the beaded frames - Craig was so happy. We picked up two (as seen above) and then went to Barnes and Noble for an atlas to cut up, and now we have in our apartment a stolen idea from a friend, but I'm sure she won't be mad. We decided to put the following maps in the frames: Detroit, because we met there; Hartford, CT, because that was Craig's next stop after Detroit; St. Louis because it was my next stop after Detroit. Then, Atlanta, GA, which was our first home together as an official live-in couple, Richmond, VA, our second home as a couple, and of course, last and certainly far from least, Manhattan Island (plus surrounding boroughs) because that is where we now reside (and where I hope we will be forever!)*Tonight I made a brilliant Bolognese with Broccoli Rabe and whole wheat Penne, and Craig and I spent too much time longing for larger portions than we should have. I am in love with Broccoli Rabe, with cooking, and with dieting. It's all such a puzzle. I love being in New York with Craig, and I love his knack for interior decorating. I love my world, today, but of course, tomorrow we return to work. Maybe I can just daydream at my desk about what I get to have when I get home each night.*Now to watch The Queen with Craig before we polish off our Sunday.