movin' on up

rogray and i have been living in a state of perpetual motion for about 14 months now: august 2005 we moved to l.a., moved from sublet 1 into sublet 2 after 6 weeks, moved from sublet 2 to a house-sit after 7 months (not too shabby) and then moved from house-sit to sublet 3* after another 6 weeks only to leave sublet 3 and head back to nyc after another almost 2 months. after our 10 day road trip we crashed at mo & tweak's place for a week and have since moved into our apartment with the help of these guys:



the lumberjack is on the right and c-squared is on the left. c-squared has helped rogray with every one of his moves since college and his generosity extended to me when he came and helped me move my crap into storage with my parents for the big l.a. move -- he's like mother theresa.

we've spent the last 2 weeks turning this:



into this:



unlike noah who reveals pictures of his place when it's all done and looking gorgeous (and clearly his wife is crafty (and i mean that in a making pillows kind of way not a "she's conniving" kind of way even though i've never met her so maybe she is conniving but i doubt it) which i admire because I can't even safety pin my jeans to be even) i like to reveal pictures of my place in a state of not done-ness.

so, as you can see, we need more shelving and we desperately need art on the walls and for my books to get here but the art and the books are in atl with my parents so thatÂ’s going to have to wait. but now it's a livable space and we can have people over for meals and things. and the sparseness doesn't change the love we feel for our cheap, big 1 bedroom in an elevator building with laundry on the 1st floor with heat, water and gas included -- and i'm not going to tell you where we live because i don't want the secret getting out.

now, you may be thinking "how did shaygo and rogray survive all that moving as individuals much less as a couple?" and that is a very good question. and i am not sure i know the answer but i do know there were some breakdowns along the way. let me just say that the fact that rogray can stand to look at me much less claim to still love me proves that I am very lucky and that he is a glutton for punishment.

pretty much the breakdowns in l.a. are a distant memory but for the last: a full-on meltdown while packing the car in broad daylight -- and i mean crying. audibly. while rearranging the trunk. because that's how i roll.

we were doing quite well until we were in the unpacking phase and i freaked out because it "seemed" like there had been no progress made despite the multiple trips to ikea, target and bed, bath, & beyond and the kitchen looking like this:



but now all i feel is relief to be living in our own place with our own stuff and the knowledge that we don't have to move unless we want to -- which we never will because the whole process is exhausting.

*speaking of sublet 3 -- this is the one we are waiting on the deposit from and we decided last night were taking the ho to small claims court because rogray did some creative googling and discovered that she's a scam artist. She posted her place for sublet on craigslist a few days before we were leaving and 4 hours after her post someone posted a beware saying that she's nice in the beginning to gain your trust and then disappears on you and doesn't return your deposit. all i'm saying is: it's fucking on...to be continued.