My new 'Hood

Our building

the lobby area

Squeakers, our cat

the living room

living room, view 2

Last night Joel and I decided to forgo Friday's Date Night Out in favor of staying home and tackling the job of reorganizing the living room. This involved moving the computer to the second bedroom, along with a bunch of other stuff. We moved the couches around and the table that was behind the couch (that had turned into the temporary computer table) was moved to a spot in front of the windows.

We got a lot accomplished. The new arrangement makes the space feel much more open. It also plays up better the incredible features of this apartment, including the high ceilings, exposed timbers and ceilings, large windows... It really is an amazing space. I fell in love with it long before I moved in this spring.

This past fall, before Joel and I had decided where we would be living, we had one of those sideways conversations about the matter--you know, one of those conversations where without directly saying so, you're trying to sort out how the other feels. Finally, I just asked Joel--if you had to decide where we would be living right now, where would you choose, Mpls or St. Paul? Surprisingly, Joel answered, "Mpls". That was pretty funny, because I, the Mpls dweller, was leaning towards St. Paul.

Joel grew up in Mpls (not far from where I was living when we were dating...his parents still live there) and I had lived most of my adult life in south Mpls. Don't get me wrong, I still love south Mpls. It will always be home to some of my favorite places--the Institute of Arts, Lake Harriet, including the bandshell and rose garden, the river (yes, I know St. Paul shares the river), the Sculpture garden, Uptown, Downtown, Minnehaha Falls and on and on. Both my kids seem pretty set on staying in Mpls. I think my daughter thought me moving to St. Paul bordered on an act of treason.

But moving to St. Paul seemed to make sense. First off, an important factor in our decision making was the need to be in a place that was handicapped accessible (for Joel's daughter, Bree). Joel's place obviously offered that. My place in Mpls did not. The idea of both of us moving our stuff to a new place seemed overwhelming. Besides, I loved this apartment and the Lowertown area. I love living in the heart of an urban area, surrounded by tall, historic buildings (including the one we're living in). And there is still enough of nature around us, including Mears and Rice park with plenty of flowers, the riverfront just a few blocks away, and every weekend the Farmer's Market right outside our door.

I'm enjoying taking pics of my "new hood" with the new camera. I'll be posting some of those pics soon.