New digs

Hola (We've been watching a lot of Dora)! What else have we been doing? You're probably asking yourselves that because we fell of the face of the earth. We don't write, we don't call. We've been having ourselves a bit of a staycation. A list has been drafted of all the things we've been up to, but I'll save you the novel blog post and dole it out in bits and pieces.

For our first installment,  I would like to introduce you to our new place:

Not sure what we're going to call it yet. First there was the Spring House, that cute little ranch rental out in the country when we were newlyweds. Then there was the Winter House, our adorable 1930s cottage that had gorgeous flowering trees in the backyard that bloomed in the wintertime. Then there was the Launching Pad, our little 900 sq ft apartment in Deerfield. Three weeks ago we moved for the fourth time in our four year marriage.

We are renting the first floor and half of the basement of this neat little house. It's nestled in the middle of an old Italian neighborhood in the North Shore suburb of Highwood, IL.

For maximum wow factor (or because I don't want to clean right now to take more pics), I'm going to post pics of the house empty first.

Living Room:

Living Room looking into the Dining Room and out the front Window:

Dining Room looking down the Hallway and into Eden's Room:

Standing outside of Eden's Room looking back to Dining Room:

(door on the left goes into the living Room)

Kitchen:

Bathroom:

Eden's Room:

Master Bedroom:

(Not Pictured: Thomas' Dungeon)

We LOVE the fact that we're in a house, not an apartment. We love the hardwood floors, the big windows, and all the natural light. We love that there is a park across the street. Every week I meet a new family that lives in the neighborhood. It's so pleasant to walk 30 seconds and have acquaintances to chat with while the kids play. IDEAL.

View from Park to our House:

(our house is in the upper right corner of the photo)

Park:

The neighborhood couldn't be more adorable. The streets are tiny, the houses are cutesy with lots of gardening, the people are delightful, and it's quiet even though we are .3 miles to downtown. Downtown includes the Metra Station, Walgreens, a few small local groceries, a million restaurants (which deserve a post all their own), cute bakeries, and a gourmet farmer's market. We are also 1.5 miles from downtown Highland Park which has a lot more shopping and fun amenities (theaters, parks, art galleries, kids boutiques, art supply store, A GOOD COFFEE SHOP, etc). Oh and there's this:

Daily Ice Cream Truck:

Our neighbors rock. They blew the Northern stereotype out of the water and spoiled us the day we moved in (and pretty much continue to do so). On either side of us are families, one a bit younger than our parents, the other a bit older, that have lived in the neighborhood their whole lives. In fact, they live in the houses the grew up in. They have dogs for Eden to play with, share their sprinklers and their herbs, and are generally about for conversation and local advice all the time. Our upstairs neighbor is closer in age to us and works quite a bit so she is not around as much, but she is super sweet!

One brought us this delicious cake, complete with a doily!:

Our landlord GREW UP IN ITALY. I think he rented the place to us solely based on the fact that we had been to Cinque Terre. He's a retired roofer and has a few rental properties now. He planted a garden for us and our upstairs neighbor in our backyard.

Here's Eden with our first zucchini:

In great Thomas and Katie fashion we were unpacked in three days. We have a few lagging books to shelve and pictures to hang, but for the most part it feels like home.

Anyone want to come visit??!!