No Sleep 'til Brooklyn

We finally got moved into our new place in Brooklyn! I mean, yes, there are boxes piled everywhere and I can't find anything, but after the bed-bug fiasco of '08 I'm used to that.

I love the neighborhood(s)...we're kind of straddling three different ones. Officially we're in Cobble Hill. But just a few blocks away there's Carroll Gardens & Brooklyn Heights/Downtown Brooklyn. Our little section is mostly Middle-Eastern, so I've been discovering a mind-boggling amount of vegan-friendly groceries and restaurants. The best part, though, is the cost. Dry goods & produce is roughly half the cost of what it was in Manhattan.

Did I mention that there's a Trader Joe's TWO BLOCKS from my home? Not only do I no longer have to lug my food twenty-something blocks and up five flights of stairs, but the line didn't wrap all the way around the store and only took thirty seconds! Plus, it's in an old bank that looks like a train station, so the aisles are really wide. I no longer have to basically be inside another human to reach my salad greens.

We miss our roommates, but the trade off is that we can (and do) walk around naked. Plus, we don't have to restrain our insane chihuahua every time a roommate walks by the couch or pee in a bottle while waiting for the bathroom (although I might do the latter every so often for old time's sake).

While moving in I learned that my mom has a brain tumor (just like my mother-in-law!). Fortunately it turned out to be benign. She had it removed on Friday and is now out of the hospital. I'm going to fly home to Georgia to help take care of her and give my step-father a little break this weekend.

I got my first official order for "Old Man Winter & OST" from some dude in Missouri (or Montana...which one has the postal code "MO"?). Thanks, guy!