Channeling Julia.

So, yeah, long time no write. Life has a way of taking hold, and twisting you in ways you didn't know you could bend. And I do yoga, so I'm pretty flexible. But, still.

If you've been reading, you know I've been watching the rehab of an old building across the street for months. It's finally all finished, and I was excited at the timing, since I need to move. Upon checking out these fabulous new units—I found out that they are just that—fabulous, which in my world translates as expensive. Actually they are condos for sale, with a studio starting at $350,000. And when you buy an apartment in New York, there are monthly fees plus real estate tax. So you'd better have some serious bucks when you are ready to purchase. I think that will be never in my case.

At least two couples have wanted to buy my house in the past month or so. Unfortunately neither has worked out. Unfortunate for them, unfortunate for me, as it is a lovely house. The setting in the woods is one that you cannot find in suburban living. Yet there it is, with a beautiful pool to boot. It's highly possible that I will find myself living there again in March.
http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/132-Barrett-Drive_Swansea_IL_62226_1113242513

Let me get back to my title: Channeling Julia. I am often a fan of lite, feel-good movies. There was a point in my life where I shunned such frivolity in favor of more esoteric, thought-provoking viewing. Until my adored college literature teacher told me her favorite TV show was Dukes of Hazard. I was shocked! She explained that it was a great way experience joy by watching no-brainer television. I'm sure she didn't use the term no-brainer in the early 80s, but at that moment, I felt like I'd been given the freedom to enjoy easy-reading and comedy TV and film. Not that I actually needed permission, but it felt good.

Back to Julia. I digress. The movie is lite, but thoroughly enjoyable. The actual character of Julie is a bit underdeveloped, but Meryl Streep as Julia Child is incredible to watch. And her love story of a marriage was fascinating. Okay, it's not a deep movie, but I had a few tears. The beautiful thing about watching was that I felt inspired to write in this blog again. In case you don't know, the story is about a wanna-be writer, Julie, living in sub-par apartment conditions in NYC, who takes on the challenge of cooking her way through every recipe in Julia Child's cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, all the while blogging about the experience. Interwoven are flashbacks of Julia Child's life attending Le Cordon Bleu and writing her book.

I thought, "hey, I like to cook, and I'm pretty good at it. I write, and I have a blog." I'm not sure exactly where this leads, but I want to start writing about my inspired recipes, sharing photos, having dinners. There could be a future in this somehow. I read about a new trend of yoga class with dinner afterwards... I don't know. I'm open to what the future holds.

What my future holds right now is moving. It's been an angst-filled couple of weeks looking for an apartment—scams, brokers, deposits, apartments that are the size of my walk-in closet back home. Last night we finally settled on a cute little apartment on the Upper West Side. We are thrilled with the location, and the place feels a bit bohemian, artsy and very cozy. Not too small. And guess what?! It has a microwave! You would be surprised at what small pleasures can bring you happiness when you have been without them for extended periods of time. Hmmm, a boyfriend? We'll see about that.

For now, here's the dinner Olivia and I cooked last night. Spanikopita from scratch. Amazing.

Next up, adventures of moving across town in NYC.