The First Night.

June was historic: it marked our first overnight stay at our amazing, beautiful house. Which meant, I could finally enjoy a relaxing alcoholic beverage at home.*

With the toilet flushable, we said goodbye to hotels an hour away and hello to the unfortunate wood paneling in the one room with solid walls and complete windows. It was amazing.

Well stocked with bottled water (still haven’t tested the well – that’s next, I swear), chips & Utz dip, and of course whiskey & Mexican coke,** we settled in after a long day of errands and prep.

Our oldest (9) was pretty nervous about sleeping there. He loves the house, but new things are hard — and let’s face it, the house is kind of terrifying (in an awesome way). But, he fell asleep and slept like a rock (I think the Taun-Taun protected him).

Meanwhile, his rotten brother kept me awake. … … … All night.

(I didn’t sleep at all, but I don’t blame the house).

The house was surprisingly cool at night – a window and ceiling fan*** were all that was needed (thank you super old plaster-style).

The next day I needed coffee. So badly. All I had was stale (bad) grounds, an induction burner, pot, and a french press. The result was less than stellar, but it was caffeinated (and I made it in my new house!) so I’m calling it a win.****

The coffee was terrible, but the adventure was awesome. We survived, and are anxious for a repeat (and then thousands of repeats!)

We continued to prepare the attic subfloor for its new underlayment and flooring…. (coming soon), we put groceries in our awesome new red retro refrigerator (it fit up the attic stairs, which was the crucial design aspect of this adorable fridge), and we survived a night in a room covered in unfortunate wood paneling.

We finished the trip by cleaning up a bit, bid a reluctant a bientot to the house, and headed back to Brooklyn… but the days of saying goodbye to the grand old lady are growing more and more limited! 🙂

*All previous trips involved me driving an hour to a hotel -so no alcohol for me 😦 Our favorite of the many was the Fairfield Inn & Suites in Great Barrington MA – great staff, clean rooms, and yummy breakfast.
**Real sugar.
***By a weird coincidence, the exact same ceiling fan I had growing up! Like, exactly the same!
****The Barn’s coffee shop cannot open soon enough.