Dawn and I leave Chicago in three days, on Monday, the 4th of July. When we get in the truck and start driving East, not only will we be heading back to the state we’ve come to call home, and not only will we be aiming for the town where we’ve had so many salient moments, but we’ll also be driving toward our very first apartment together.

It may not seem like such a big deal, since we’ve been living together for the past three years, but our places have all been in communal housing, whether in dorm rooms or in houses with 4 or 5 other people.

But this place is all ours. Just the two of us.

Cue John & Paul!

Two of us riding nowhere
Spending someone’s
Hard earned pay
Two of us sunday driving
Not arriving
On our way back home
We’re on our way home
We’re on our way home
We’re going home

The place that we’re moving into is the place where we first…I don’t know what you call it. It’s not where we fell in love, since that happened on a windy Vermont road. It’s not where we first kissed, since that happened on a quiet Vermont corner. It’s not where we first met, since that happened on a pretty Vermont hillside.

I don’t know what it was that actually occurred in that apartment one Easter day in 2003. But whatever it was, it was monumental. And now we get to live there for our senior year at Green Mountain College.

Cue Jeff!

You can come by
anytime you want.

Dawn has decided that our decorating motif will be “Cluttered Comfort.” She has had much success with her decorating motifs in the past (”Serene Serenity” anyone? — here’s another view), so I wasn’t about to argue with the woman. Besides, it sounds good to me. Our apartment is really small…er, cozy…so, with all our books and other shit, we really don’t have much of an option than to be cluttered. But instead of trying to fight it, Dawn’s motif embraces it and says, “Yes, it is cluttered. But it’s also comfortable.” And we all know how nice it feels to be comfortable.

With Cluttered Comfort in mind, we hit up Crate & Barrel Outlet yesterday and picked up all sorts of nice goodies (though mostly for the dinner table). We got a dinnerware set (white and square), glasses, a shitload of cloth napkins and dishtowels, pretty placemats (which will give you an idea of the vibe of “Cluttered Comfort”), red little bud vases, and some other stuff. Dawn also grabbed some other individual glasses, napkins, and a wooden cutting board the day before. Oh, and we snagged a cheese grader and plastic cutting board at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

Why the list of stuff? I don’t know. Just in case you’re looking to grab us a housewarming gift, perhaps.

Anyway, I’m very excited about this place. It’ll be the first place since mine and Adam’s apartment in Boston that will actually feel like a home. We won’t have to put a towel under the door to prevent RAs from smelling anything. We won’t have to live among other people’s stuff. And we won’t have to move simply because the seasons changed. Since I’ve been moving (in some way shape or form) every three or four months for the past three years, you can probably imagine how great it will be to unpack a box with the knowledge that it won’t have to be packed up unless I want it to be.

Not to mention the fact that Dawn and I can finally have all of our books in one place! I imagine it will feel similar to seeing your children get off the bus when they come home from summer camp. We might not have any place to put them, and they will tie us down a little bit, but life is just so much better when they’re around.

I guess that’s it for now. I probably won’t be writing much until we get settled again. And for all you folks back in the Boston area, we’ll be in town late next week. I don’t know how long we’re staying, since we have to get back up to Vermont to find ourselves some jobby-jobs, but we’ll be down for a little bit. Hopefully we’ll get to see ya!

Don’t forget, Cluttered Comfort! Cluttered Comfort! And wish us a safe and fun drive across some of the ugliest states north of Mississippi.

Cue John!

Travelin’ Light, is the only way to fly
Travelin’ Light, just you and I
Way on down to ecstasy
Way on down and our own way
Travelin’ Light, is the only way to fly