sundays, new york, and other delights

sunday has slowly but surely become my favorite day of the week.

while saturday might seem like the obvious choice, there really is something special saved just for sundays. know what i mean? sundays are quiet and relaxing and cozy in a way that all the other days of the week just can't seem to be.

in the true spirit of sunday, today i woke up to the sound of rain. based on my reaction, you'd think it was christmas morning or something. i admit, i have a lot of favorite things, but rain really is at the top of the list. plus! it's been months since we've had any rain around here, so i'd say it was about time for a good downpour. without missing a beat, i threw open the windows, brewed a pot of coffee, and settled in to watch breakfast at tiffany's for what must be the one-hundred-and-eighty-seventh time (another favorite).

if you ask me, breakfast at tiffany's really deserves a whole post to itself, but i'll save that for another day.

what with the rain and holly golightly and Cat (the poor no-name slob) i couldn't help but think about new york. if you've been following house of h for awhile, you know that in a few months, j & i are moving from oregon to new york city. i've resisted the urge to start crossing days off the calendar or even to count how many days are "left" until the Big Move because i'm pretty sure if i do, i'll just wind up driving myself mad and months will start to feel like years.

while i try not think spend every second of the day thinking about new york, sometimes there really is no avoiding it.

these are a few photos from our last trip to nyc. 

it was the first time i've ever worn 3 jackets at once, and the last time i really felt at home. the last time i really felt that i was in the right place at the right time. do you know that feeling? that, of all the places in the entire world, somehow you've managed to land right where you're supposed to be? 

that's what new york feels like to me. 

there are still a few unknowns when it comes to the Big Move.

haha.

just kidding. i'd say it's 95% unknown. a big jumbalaya of unknowns! a giant pot of unknowns that we're choosing to dive into head-first. (where are we going to live? how are we going to pay for things? hooray!) maybe in a few years we'll look back on this stage in our lives and laugh at what fools we were to think that things like 'moving across the country without a secure job' sounded like an adventure.

maybe we are fools. but i think i'm okay with that.
j & i have both reached a point where we're ready for change. big, big changes. and we've decided that new york is just the sort of change we need. it's funny, really. besides all the fun, sparkly things that come to mind when you think about nyc, lately, most of the things i've been reading have been pretty daunting (or so they try to be). it's all about how new york will kick your ass and take your money and your happiness and your soul and turn you into a bitter, rotten tomato.

i'm sure any seasoned new yorker can attest to this, to one degree or another. if you'd like, you can read about the true devil that new york really is here and here. most of the time, when we tell people that we're moving to new york, we are met with one of two reactions. the first is the blank stare. just a long blank stare, usually followed by "you know it's really expensive over there, right?" or reaction two - the always reassuring look of shock/horror/awe. based on their facial expressions, you'd think we were telling people that we were voluntarily cutting off our limbs.

new york is funny in that way, i guess. have you ever heard of a place having such an effect on a person?

well. even if we do end up as bitter, rotten tomatoes with no money and no souls, we're still going to give it a try. how could we not? how could YOU not? (secretly, i think everyone should live in new york at least once in their lives)


if you ever need to feel a little bit better about new york city, try this, this, and this.

and look! more helpful tips that have been reassuring me that we are not in fact crazy for making this leap:

+ a guide to moving to new york city

+ tips for life in a tiny apartment

+ nyc guide: 10 ways to not look like a tourist