There's No Place Like Home

Happy Labor Day weekend everyone. I hope you are all celebrating the arrival of fall in a laid-back, indulgent style. As much as I love summer, I do like the crisp fall weather, the smell of the air, the arrival of Halloween and my birthday, and best of all, the fall FOOD. I think fall seasonal flavors are my favorite of the year. Delicious apple ciders and pies, warm hearty soups, rich delicious squashes. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. But I digress.

I write this to you from my home. And when I say "my home," I mean the place where I live. But in the near future, when I say "my home," I will be sitting in the same place and mean something entirely different.

Kris and I are planning to buy the house we live in.

A short while ago our landlady approached us and informed us that she was planning to move out of state and sell the house. And asked if we would like to buy the house. Since we were blindsided, we said we'd think about it. Immediately my reaction was terror and I rejected the idea outright. "Own a home? Become a landlord? I'm still young! I'm not married! I'm not ready for any of this!" which most of you will recognize as the patented Karen Reaction To Anything That Might Be Good For Her (i.e. It Will Be Hard And I Might Fail, Run Away!). Kris's reasons for rejecting the proposal began and ended with the idea that the house does not have central AC, but once I pointed out that as homeowners, we could install central AC, he quickly changed his mind. And after getting over my initial shock, I did too.

A little while later, we met with our landlady again, got a full tour of her part of the property and an idea of her plans. She plans to move in mid-March. This kicked us into high gear. I finagled a raise at work and went back to Barnes & Noble to get my old cafe job back. Kris will be funneling the money he had been saving for recording into the Down Payment Fund.  Pretty much everything we do will be house-related for the next six months.

We have no idea what we're doing. We're excited and scared and anxious and everything. We will accept help in any form it comes. We need advice and guidance from those of you out there who've gone before. We need understanding that we won't be able to do much if it costs money and we won't be available because we'll be busy working. We need hands to help us improve this half of the house so we can rent it, to help move our stuff to the downstairs, and to help improve the downstairs apartment to make it somewhere we will like living (if you've seen the decor of our foyer, you have an idea of what we're working with). When it's all over, we'll throw a big party at the house to celebrate our achievement and thank you all for all your help and good friendship.

So there you have it. Kris and I are becoming homeowners. I am freaking out. And I am freaking excited.

Doin' It By Myself

(Not that, you pervs!)

I feel *meepy*. This isn't a real word of course and no one but Kris understands what it means, but the closest approximation is "I need a hug." Kris is in Las Vegas until Thursday morning, so I'll have to do my best to take care of myself until he gets back. Some happy thoughts to help.

• I scored a ton of workout gear for only $50 at Target this weekend. The gym is closed for a week for "annual maintenance" but when it reopens, I will be the best looking chica in the Zumba class. 
  
• I got to hang out with my sis and her man and their adorable puppy, Mazzy Star, this weekend. This dog is freaking adorable. It is going to be HUGE but it is adorable.
• We've been getting a ton of response from one audition notice in particular that we posted for the play I'm producing. Granted a lot of it is NY actors who don't read the post they're applying to closely enough, but we are still going to get a bump in attendance from it. It's really rather exciting.
• Tonight is a night to indulge in Things I Don't Do When Kris Is Home: steam clams for dinner, make 88 calorie brownies, take a hot bath and eat brownies with wine while reading my trashy Posh & Becks book.

Have you voted for the hottest blogger in the universe yet? Vote now!

Weeks And Weeks Of Happiness

My but I've been busy. A summary of the Happy Thoughts of the last two weeks.

• My wonderful niece Ashley was born. I got to meet her when she was 4 days old and still in the NICU. She is wonderful and precious. I'm betting most of you have seen the pics by now :) I got to hold her and I just fell in love. She stayed in the NICU for a week and came out like a champ. She's now home with Mommy and Grandma and her big brother Buster (a Boston Terrier :) and I can't wait to go see her and love her and hug her and squeeze her again.
• At long last my quest for a form of exercise has finally ended successfully with the discovery of Zumba. It's a mix of cardio and Latin dance and it's super fun and a great workout. I worked so hard in Monday's class, today is the first day I've been able to walk properly again. I joined the Y and I'll be going 3 times a week. I can bring a guest for $8 if you ever want to try it :)
• I got my iPhone. I love it. I don't know how I lived with out it. I love Peter for handing his down to me. He's a saint. 'Nuff said
• The band has been working feverishly recording a new EP and it is fantastico, at least all the early tracks I've heard, and guaranteed to only get better. I even got to go to the studio last night and sing backup on a few tracks. I can't wait for it to come out!
• Kris and I had a really nice weekend together. Probably the last we'll have for a LONG time, but we made the most of it. We went to our last game at Yankee Stadium (thanks to my sister's bf for the tix!) and got to see a pretty great game against the Royals. It went 5 hours, 13 innings, but we finally won it 3-2. We ate junk and yelled cheers and hand a great time. The following day was our anniversary - 4 years. Wow. Feels like forever and like only a minute at the same time. We spent the day lazy, hanging out outside and cooking really nice food and just enjoying each other's company. It was near perfect.
• Good things are in the works for us. I'm not talking about it publicly just yet, but something totally awesome is about to happen. Promise I'll tell you guys as soon as I can. In the meantime, just be excited for us.

The Universe Is Being Nice To Me

Not only did I find out today that the check I sent my dentist is being returned because I don't owe him money (score! I thought I owed him $300!) but also,

I GOT MY IPHONE TODAY!!!! YAY!!! I AM OFFICIALLY COOL!

Now, go check out Sarah's super cool pet project, the Hot Blogger Calendar. 

Oh, that's sweet of you to say, but you don't have to nominate me.  :)

Happy Birthday Ashley

Today, at 11:34 am, a miracle happened. 

Kris's sister Jessica gave birth to a beautiful 6 lb. 11 oz. baby girl named Ashley Sue.

Everybody's doing well and happy. Everybody's brimming over with love. Kris is ecstatic to be an uncle. I am thrilled to be an aunt. I actually cried when Jess called me Aunt Karen today. We cannot wait to meet our little niece and we are so proud of her mom.

I will update later as soon as I get a pic so you can all see how wonderful she is.

This is definitely the Happiest Thought of the Day.

Once in a Lifetime

One more for the road, because sometimes I look at my life, about to become an aunt, in love with a rock star on the brink of superstardom, happy, successful and super cool, and I ask myself "How did I get here?"

We Want More We Want More We Want

Summary of band stuff:

• Amazon.com
• Woozyfly.com
• last.fm
• Tomato Nation

Last invite: EP Release Party TONIGHT Trash Bar 9 pm, $7 cover, open bar 8-9

And here's a funny video because it's Friday and it's time to have some fun.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Come the the Trash Bar tonight and have a good time. If not for the band, do it for me and my crazy outfit which you will have to see to believe.