Feels Like Home

So…It’s been awhile since I’ve written. So sorry to keep my swarms of readers on the edge of their seats, waiting for the newest edition of “what Katie thinks.” Where the hell have I been? Well, I moved. And I got busy…and distracted…but I’m back.

So, on my new place…

It’s a studio, in an old Victorian house, in downtown Napa. It’s small and cozy and oozing with character. It’s very New York City meets San Francisco, or at least that is how I’m choosing to describe it. The ceilings are high, the space is limited, there is crown molding and a claw-footed bathtub, and the kitchen is green, per my request. I love it. The best part about it, is that it’s mine. If there are dishes in the sink, they are mine. If the bed isn’t made, it’s mine, if there is laundry to be done, it is mine. And when it’s quiet and I’ve just gotten home from a busy night at work and all I want to do is curl up in front of On Demand, then I can…because nobody else is there and I have sole possession of the remote control.

If you can’t tell, I’ve just left a roommate situation.

Don’t get me wrong, living with my roommates was a blast. It was like three’s company…or at least an alternative version of it. It was great. There was always somebody to talk to, and eat dinner with. We had a whole “scare the shit out of each other” campaign, which was hilarious. Think gigantic inflatable rabbits, rubber scorpions and wrapping on the window at night. But there is just something exciting and empowering when you make that leap to live on your own, and depend on only yourself. It also is very appealing when your best friend and roommate moves to Arizona and the other roommate falls in love with a nut job and begins to exhibit psychotic behavior.

So, back to the studio…it is fabulous, but not without its quirks. The refrigerator is vintage…a.k.a. “old,” and it keeps food cold, which is what it is supposed to do, however, the freezer takes about 4 days to make ice. And Healthy Choice Premium Fudge Bars don’t stand a chance, The bathtub is giant and high-sided and perfect with the appropriate number of candles lit and the right selection of music playing, but the hot water faucet handle is stripped, so it just spins on the fixture. But, determined bath-taker that I am, figured out that if you turn the inside of the handle with a screwdriver, the hot water will turn on, so a hot bath requires tools. And until just today, through some of the coldest nights the Napa Valley has seen this year, I was without heat. It was like the tundra in here. I had a whole “get warm before bed” system though…I took the screwdriver and cranked up the hot bath and soaked…then slipped into cozy pajamas and socks, and piled the blankets high in the Japanese tradition. It was teeth chatteringly cozy. I have already fought (and won) a battle with an army of ants in my kitchen. And no matter how many storage boxes I organize and fill, I can’t seem to find a place for all of my stuff (shocking, I’m sure, to those of you who know me and know how much stuff I have). But it’s mine.

The first meal I cooked in my new place was Thanksgiving dinner. A successful little soiree which included the fabulous company of one iclandic-austrian-american daughter of a spy, a charming german girl with a digital camera and the option to record video, and a clever and creative gay man whom I once had the pleasure of calling roommate. The four of us enjoyed turkey with all the “fixins” and laughed most of the evening. Highlights include a very embarrassing video of Inga and I playing “fluffy bunny.”

Since that beginning of the single life in my new abode, I’ve settled. I’m used to the commute and I carpool with a coworker who also lives in Napa to save on gas. I have visited the Laundromat (Launderworld) and think that if I purchase one more set of work clothes, I will be able to go a whole month before doing laundry. Yes, I have that many clothes. No, I do not have that much closet space.

Christmas was nice…Fajitas and margaritas with fellow friends not near their families for the holidays…however, nothing is quite like Christmas at home. And it’s always when we get close to the January break, and I know I’ll be going home for a visit soon, that I start to miss them the most. So that’s what I’m up to now…getting ready for the trip home and crossing my fingers that my January connection through Denver is not a complete disaster. Keep your fingers crossed, too.