Wearing the Yellow Jersey!

Dad's Birthday Dinner! There is a candle in his sorbet.

These lamps.. need to be replaced, right? Maybe just the shades? I need some online assistance with this one, girls!

Laundry room! Seriously, this is one of my favorite parts of the new house.

Our cute, but tiny, kitchen. Before cleaning. You can't tell the grossness that abounded in this picture, but trust me.. it was nasty. Just painted this room today. Except for the blue cabinets, I kind of like those!

Mean Jean makes her parents work when they are kind enough to drive across the country with her.. You guys are the BEST!!


Wow!! I am back! I am now sitting in the Caribou Cafe in downtown Chapel Hill. What a crazy couple of days it has been since the last post. No internet yet at the house.. which is so disconcerting, so I apologize for the lack of info. Here ya go-

So we arrived Monday and met up with Bob the landlord. We walked around the house and got situated. Immediately unloaded the car into the livingroom and finally got a chance to poke around in all the cabinets and closets that we couldn't before during our frantic dash around the cottage. Still adorable, has central air/heat, and a dishwasher as well as washer and dryer. However... not so clean. Weirdly not clean, really. Good thing the parents were hanging out for a few days!

We went to our homebase for the first few days, my Mom's college roommate's house. She came over to see the place, and then she took us to Whole Foods for lunch which was an oasis of beautiful salads after our I-40 food for the last week. We were all amazed and all got way more than we could eat. Luckily it is right by my house.. it is going to be very tempting! Then we followed her over to her house not too far away. We gathered our wits and chatted for a bit and then headed out for some serious shopping. First to the bed shop where.. I dunno, they all kind of seem the same to me, but I found a reasonably priced one that seemed to be very comfy and got it! Hope the Bubs approves! Then we went to "Tuesday Morning" next door which is like Ross. I got some sheets (the highest count I've ever had!) a couple pillows and some hangers. Penney headed home after directing us to Target. And man, did we go crazy at Target. TONS of cleaning stuff, shower curtains, bathmats, garbage cans, toothpaste.. everything! Glad I've been saving up my money these last few months, it is expensive starting over. We kept having to go back through after forgetting a few things, and finally rewarded ourselves with Starbucks before heading home to unload it all. Mom and I tackled the dirtiest room, the kitchen, while Dad was a trooper about my lack of furniture and set up a little camp with the newly bought pillows and a sleeping bag. The kitchen wasn't hopeless, it just never had someone come through and clean it. Weird. I am dying to know if the previous tenants got their deposit back. It was cathartic to scrub and lay new shelf paper.. and great having Mom to help. Finally exhausted we headed back to Penney's house for a wonderful shrimp dinner and lots of great fruit. I crashed on their basement futon after a long evening of telling stories.

Tuesday we were ready to work. After breakfast at their house, we went to explore Chapel Hill, getting maps at the visitor's center and a recommendation to eat at Momma Dip's for lunch. Apparently she has a cooking show and makes wonderful southern style food. We finally got our fried chicken, and it was wonderful. I am gonna have to bring all my western visitors here for a proper introduction! We dropped off Dad at the house, I thought to rest, but he was an absolute champion and spackled and sanded the bedroom and dining room. We had decided that although it would be a lot of work, a new coat of paint was necessary and would make the place look great. Mom and I headed out for a Craigslist adventure. First off to Cary, about 20 minutes away, to buy a fabulous old Shwinn Hollywood Cruiser (The exact same model bike I rode all through UC Davis, this time green though) from a very pregnant woman. Can't wait to get it all spiffied up, but it was a steal at $20. Then we went to a HUGE Lowe's and got completely lost. Finally just recruited someone to walk around and find everything on our list, birdseed for my feeder, a fire extinguisher, a step ladder, lots of "apartment off white" paint, and lots of other last minute things. We were ready to head home when Bubs called with a Craigslist deal we had to go collect on. Fortunately still in Cary, we followed his directions over the phone and showed up to buy two brass lamps from a man for $15. Can't argue with that.

Back home and we were super motivated and got the entire bedroom painted. I feel so mean putting my parents to work, but it was great having the extra hands and so much easier to do before the bed arrived on Thursday. Many hands do make light work and soon we were done and back to Penney's house for dinner and good sleep.

Wednesday we decided to take a day off. Penney drove us up to Durham and gave us a tour of Duke University where she teaches voice lessons. Mom had a meeting with a prospective collaborator, and Penney and I wandered around campus, coming across a Jewish conference, the beautiful Engineering building and the old Bio building. Beautiful campus, but oddly laid out with two distinct campuses nearly 5 miles appart. Apparently students have classes on both campuses though. Though it was pretty, I have to remember that they are now my mortal enemies. I bleed Carolina Blue now.. or so I should...

We came back home and rested before I thought it wise to check up on the house. Luckily I did for a ton of boxes had arrived and were (unlike SF) left on my porch! Great to have more than the same 6 outfits I had on the drive. I was also pleasantly surprised by how great one coat of paint looked and the house seemed to be really coming together with my cute bike sitting on the porch along with my first hanging plant and bird feeder (that no one has visted yet, even though I've seen cardinals flying about. A squirrel got into the seed bag which I left out.. lesson learned. It is fun watching the squirrels run about, really feel like I am out at camp or something!). I quickly drove to meet up with my parents and our friends at Aurora, a fancy Italian restaurant for my Dad's birthday dinner. Lots of great conversation, I can't wait for Bubs to meet Penney and Eric. Back home for my last night in their beautiful house.

Woken by singing (they are both great singers) Happy Birthday to my Dad. He is amazing and has had more wonderful stories in his past 77 years than anyone. And still is up for any adventure. We packed up and said our goodbyes, and then Penney came over to see the improvements on the house. She also took us on a walking and driving tour of the UNC campus which I desperately needed. I feel much better about finding my way around now and we even went to my future departments to snoop around. Such a beautiful old campus, with lots of history. And it is growing like crazy. But I can't believe how close our little cottage is to the school, I am only about 5 minutes away, walking! SO lucky. We did some last loads of laundry for my parents so they wouldn't have to do it immediately when they got home and then went back to our favorite Whole Foods for another spectacular salad. We dashed home and grabbed the laundry before heading out to the airport. Despite all the worries that yesterday brought they made it home on time, which is unusual even when security isn't elevated. I am going to miss their constant companionship, we were a neat triad these past weeks. I headed out to get another Craigslist gem, four chairs and a table for $20. The chairs need a little work and painting.. any color recommendations? They are very simple but cute, and I want something fun. Advise away!

So now it is just me.. and this new town. Lots to still do, register the car, new drivers license, get my UNC id card so I can get into the gym and such, painting the livingroom (I painted the dining room and parts of the kitchen today! Go me!), fixing up the table and chairs, buying a dresser, finishing lining the shelves, and a bizillion other things. Luckily I have nothing really until the 17th, except for a meeting on Monday with a prospective lab to work with. Hopefully I will coordinate something with my other newbie Grad students who I am sure are in the same boat as I am. It feels unreal that this is actually happening, but so far I really like Chapel Hill, I love the warm weather (even the humidity, crazily enough), the people are all super friendly, I love our little house and getting it all fixed up, and I am getting to be a pro at Target. I just need my Bubs out here!!