The blank, unholy surprise of it

We have found our groove in Casa del Lobos.

In our experience, when you move into a new place, there’s always some period of adjustment–whether that home is a historic apartment in Frankfurt or a Spanish Revival/Arts & Crafts home in Chicago. You need to figure out where to put your stuff, how your routine changes, what your favorite corners will be. It’s like learning to dance with a new partner or trying to cook in an unfamiliar kitchen, it takes time to find a rhythm that works.

So much of our time these past few weeks has been spent in a flurry of activity: unpacking, painting, cleaning, hanging, rearranging, and so on. The last few days we’ve slowed down enough to really enjoy this lovely new home. Today we had fun with the kids, and after a nice dinner, we burned our first fire in the beautiful fireplace that is the center of our living room.

It was a perfect moment, the five of us sitting on the couch in the dark, watching the flames, talking about what we see. Liam and I dozed on and off, while Mark and the girls chatted.

Tomorrow I will have breakfast with a few of my favorite Chicago girlfriends; then next week I meet some dear mom-friends for drinks, followed by the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame fundraiser on Thursday (more to come on that in the next post).

What a marvelous balance of quiet family time and engaging time spend with friends and colleagues–a grand way to start a new year and a new decade.