New Designs

How to make a new place a home

 1. Decorate.
Create as many spaces for comfort in your house as you can, as soon as possible. For example, I call this The Insomniac's Dream Bar. It's perfect for waking you up in the morning with coffee or putting you to sleep in the evening with a drink.

I'm still debating if I want to keep the old timey coffee grinder or replace it with a coffee mug rack or a blender but such complicated decisions don't have to be made all at once. But now that I've mulled it over maybe I can do both. I can hang some hooks underneath the cabinet for the mugs which will then free up space for the blender! Genius.

 My extensive cup, tea and coffee collection along with all my margarita glasses fit perfectly in the cabinet above too. I could even put my protein powder there as well if I should want to add in a health component. It's like no other home has this kind of design.  Almost as if it was made for a station just like this. You're welcome Pinterest.

 2. Get familiar with your new surroundings.
 Why stay at home and cook dinner when there are sure to be restaurants at every corner with chefs who will do that for you and probably do it better? True, you probably can't afford to do this every day but it's a great way to assess what's happening your new town and to see what type of people you'll be working with when you're the new kid on the block. It also gives you an opportunity to step out of your comfort zone and try something new which only serves to make cool and exciting connections to your new place.

 See exhibit A...

This is me expertly dropping my sushi with the help of some useful chopsticks at a contemporary Japanese sushi place called Sushi Pop. The lighting is romantic, the atmosphere is hipster, and the food is mostly raw but surprisingly delicious. I don't recommend any drinks with Saki (no matter how much fruit juice is mixed with it) or dipping your meal into wasabi but the Sugi Sugi roll was tasty.  I don't know exactly what I ate but I gracefully finished every bite including all of  the white rice that was wrapped around it. ( I haven't had white rice in years which is probably why I'm so ecstatic in the picture.  The Saki might have contributed too.)  Where else can you watch Anime cartoons on large screen TVs and actually look forward to getting PMS, (a peanut butter, molten chocolate cake with salted caramel ice cream). This city is getting better by the day.

3.  Reinvent yourself.

Don't be fooled by the print on my dress, I'm still, I'm still, a mom from the burbs. I used to be a little dorky, now I'm a lot.  No matter where go, I know where I came from (C-bus)!

I wasn't looking for this statement piece when I stepped into Kohl's with my birthday Kohl's cash, (my birthday is still two months away) in hand, but I should have known to "Expect great things".  I was all set to try on a ocean colored ombre sundress by Daisy Fuentes when I spotted this number from her Latin rival still crammed on the hook in the dressing room.  There were about two dozen other items some others were thoughtful enough to leave behind scattered on the chair inside as well but for some unexplainable reason, my nonexistent Puerto Rican roots drew me to this one in particular.

I'm not sure if it was a leopard or cheetah that clawed it's way onto the polyester blend, however I do know that it's part of the J. Lo collection. No doubt Jenny designed it all herself, so much props to her for finding the time to try to stamp her brand onto every known product in the universe.

 I may not be in an exclusive club in the middle of a jungle with laser lights pulsating to the bass or wind fans blowing my honey blond extensions but if I were, it might just fit.  Still, I'm just not feeling the animal print and neither is my hair.  I would need the entire village there to help me pull off that look and it still wouldn't be quite right. Edgy to me is a Zeppelin t-shirt and faded jeans with the tears already cut into them via the manufacturer that I contemplate buying from a far on a mannequin.  I'm too Midwest and it's too Bronx. I think I  need to redirect my baby steps into the Rock and Republic accessory department  instead.

But for now, I'm comfortable with Daisy. How can I go wrong with anything that reminds me of the ocean?  It's just the right combination of teal and aqua marine, and style meets causal for dropping my kids off at the bus stop, taking them to the library or attending a beginner band meeting.  It may not scream cool but hopefully my neighbors and new acquaintances will still sense my understated hipness.