still awful at posting!

Here's Pete's second day of the time lapse video getting his entire right arm outlined.

I'm so sorry!

I know that I've been the worst at updating this blog. I went to Puerto Rico, worked the next day for a few days straight, then had to move. We've been settling in the new apartment, slowly but surely. I've also been working 6 days a week, now that the high season in Gloucester is on the verge of starting. I'm sure I'll be back to posting more when I have a little more time for myself.

But! Here's a link to a quick video of Peter getting tattooed this past weekend. He flew out to San Jose, CA for 2 days so that Adrian Lee from Analog Tattoo could outline and shade his entire right sleeve. He's got some really beautiful work and Peter was so excited Adrian could fit him into his schedule. Peter has wanted to get tattooed by him for years! And it is the perfect design for Peter... Exactly what he wanted without having to ask for it specifically.

It's a time lapse video too. Pretty rad! Just day 1 though. I hope to see a day 2 at some point... I didn't get to go so I like to watch the video. It almost feels like I was there. I am glad to have my man home now though. I missed him terribly. Also, I am damn jealous he got to get tattooed AND go to California!

More soon... Love.

My hair is getting long again!

And I love it!

feng shui

I've been dreaming about the new apartment at night and for some reason it is all about the feng shui of it. When I wake up to look up what I said we should do with placing furniture and painting the walls in accordance to feng shui, it's largely wrong. My color choices aren't too off (green and yellow match our elements, wood and earth, for myself and Peter respectively), but everything else is completely incorrect. So, I've been doing some research on feng shui and we have decided that we are going to arrange things according to feng shui "rules" to maximize our love, health and wealth!

We got the apartment!

We are so happy! It's an adorable 2 bedroom apartment in a house built in the 1920's in Gloucester, MA. It's in the Rocky Neck neighborhood, which is my favorite neighborhood in Gloucester, hands down. I was pushing so hard to live around here and we got it! Since the building is almost 100 years old, it's an older apartment. But it has all hardwood floors, decks, and the location is unbeatable! And the spare bedroom will be perfect for couchsurfers, friends and family.

Sorry for the awful pictures. They're from the realtor.

Oh my gosh! Puerto Rico!

In less than two weeks, my friend Kendra and I depart for San Juan, Puerto Rico! We are staying at The Beach House Hotel and I am DYING at how gorgeous it is. From the hotel rooms, to the lounge, cabanas and restaurant... I am speechless. But I can definitely tell why it is considered Puerto Rico's chic-est boutique hotel. Also, it is reasonably priced because we are going during the off season! Kudos to Kenda's mom on finding this place for us..

We are staying here for 3 nights, out of the 4 we are in PR. Our last night we are renting a tent and sleeping on the beach. How awesome does that sound?!

Also planned: exploring the caves in Camuy, ziplining through the El Yunque rainforest and being babes. Duh.

I can't express enough how excited I am to go. I could REALLY use a vacation. I think the last one I took was to Spain back in September! I wish Peter could come, but I think it will be nice to just get away with Kendra. Plus we're headed to Ecuador for a few weeks in August and September.

I love Peter, but I also love that we are both really independent people and have our own lives outside of each other. I would hate being one of those couples that don't have any friends and just hang out with each other and no one else all the time. I think it's healthy for us to maintain everything we have going on in our lives, even if we don't both enjoy them. For example, Peter will never crochet with me, but I probably will never go hiking for 3 days straight in the middle of the winter either. Summer? Sure, but not in January!

Also, we put in an application for an apartment, so progress is being made with finding us a new home! We won't have as nice of views as we do in Dogtown Commons, but Rocky Neck is the cutest little arts section. It's America's first art colony, and we will be right there. Plus it's about half a mile from a yarn shop that also stocks the cutest buttons as well. I hope we get the apartment! We should be finding out any day now. I can't wait to get in there and paint!

bushnell park, hartford

Last week I surprised Pete with a quick getaway in Connecticut. For over a week beforehand, I was giving him tiny clues about what we were doing and where it would be. He had no idea! But this past Friday, I finally revealed that he would be meeting me in Bushnell Park, which is in Hartford. We drank tea, blew bubbles, and watched the fish in the pond.

I was so bummed the carousel was not open yet! If it was warmer, I'd have made us a picnic and ride those old horses over and over.

After the park, I found out about Evan's passing. We went back to the hotel and I cried. He cuddled me and we drank champagne. I needed to relax.

We had dinner at an Ethiopian/Eritrean restaurant called Abyssinian that he didn't like so much, but I thought was alright. I was looking forward to it because of the wonderful reviews on Yelp, but it didn't live up to my expectations. I maintain that West Philadelphia's Ethiopian food places are way better. Dahlak, please!

I'm still a bit of a mess, but I am trying my best to keep on. Pete has been intrinsic with this process. I love him dearly for it, and many other things too.