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say hello to home!

the finished room

finished my room!

bed, old map of paris, & friends!

i think it's my favorite room yet, though the view of place du marché is 

hard to beat...

desk, two windows, old map of europe, & kkg paddle

the windows look out onto the corner of two streets & a few trees so

 i'll be seeing the changing fall colors up close!

end of bed & dresser & door to the rest of apartment is on the right

after finishing up odds & ends this morning, the four of us (JATT)

went over to the towns Saturday farmers market a short walk from our apartment.

discovered an abundance of fresh vegetables & it'll be fun to watch the change

in produce.

then i went into stamford for the afternoon for a CPR training thing & to check

out the city a bit more 

made a huge batch of a pasta salad for some dinners this week when i don't want 

to cook, and thats it for today!

bises

long island sound

extraordinary evening out on long island sound, thanks to a denison friend!

a few hours on the water, some funky waves, small islands, endless mansions...

here are some of my favorite shots

Arrival

I've arrived! I'm currently in the midst of unpacking in my fantastic new apartment. I am already in love with this town and state and coast. The drive east went so smoothly, I hit traffic once and made good time on each of the drive segments. The best, and longest, was yesterday: Pittsburgh to New Canaan. Just driving through Appalacia was stunning, and then I decide to take the scenic northern route instead of doing jersey and then up. Scenic, small roads through national parks are much more attractive than traffic-jammed highways.

Short but sweet visits with friends in cleveland and Pittsburgh, and then a fun tour of New Canaan and an introduction to restaurants and bars with a friend here in NC last night!

Must get back to unpacking, but I'm looking forward to a fun evening out on the water with another Denison friend!

green to red

925 miles, I-80 E, nearly 17 hours, 6 friends, 4 cities & me

packed

Mostly packed up, with room to spare!

ellis island

Ellis Island, NY

I'm in touch with my teacher in CT, and got a bit of information about what the social studies subjects are for the year. I honestly couldn't be more pleased about this 3rd grade focus - Western European immigration to the States & geography/map-reading!

My family came to America from Ireland, England, France & Hungary. I'm a regular European mutt planted in America, and several of these ancestors arrived through Ellis Island! On my first trip to New York my sophomore year of college, Ellis Island was one of the great stops. A gateway to a new life & country & future. Isn't it funny how decades later I work & save to get back to the countries they left? Even though we ended up in Chicago, the East Coast was home for my family for a while. Not only do I get to live in two of my ancestors' countries, but the first part of America they got to know.

ma voiture

step by step i get closer to the big day, but this was one of the biggest:

i bought a car!! welcome to my world, 2010 jetta se. now that i have a means of transportation to get to connecticut, things are starting to feel real. only two main things to get done now: work wardrobe & bed linens...

oh & the big day...august 20th!