A Question Swap on our Last Weekend in Kingston

The moving saga continues! We have finally picked an apartment up in Hudson, and I am currently searching through ApartmentTherapy.com for paint color ideas and redesign on a budget inspiration. Oh my, oh my. No more driving back and from Kingston to Hudson as of next weekend!

I’ve been trying to appreciate Ulster County things lately– like the drive west along Route 28 toward Woodstock as I drive to work, the always fun Rosendale Street Festival last weekend, eating at Yum Yum Noodle Bar uptown, and relishing our quiet, nature-filled location before we move to urban Hudson. Enough of that for now, though, are you guys ready for #AskAwayFriday (two days late)?

#AskAwayFriday is a great blog swap and link-up. The concept is simple: you swap ten questions with your buddy for the week and then you answer those questions on your blog. Interviewing and being interviewed is fun, and results in out-of-the-ordinary posts on topics we might not have thought of on our own. Thank you to the lovely ladies listed below for hosting!

Remember that time I double-booked myself for AskAwayFriday and decided to just go with it? Well, welcome to Round 2!  Since I swapped with two lovely ladies this week, I sent them both ten questions to answer but gave myself a break and answered five each from them.

First up, I answered five questions from Rabia of The Liebers– she is on vacation at the beach right now and I am slightly jealous! Rabia is a Virginia-based wife and mom of three who blogs about all sorts of things, from product and book reviews to motherhood to frequent link-ups with other bloggers. I love Rabia’s kids’ names (Frances, Henry, and Benjamin), and she really makes her readers feel like close friends with her posts about everyday life.

What’s your favorite way to relax and recoup your energies?

This one is easy, I just did it this week: going for a long hike in the mountains. I need to do this more often! We  have the Catskills, Adirondacks, and Berkshires nearby so I certainly can’t claim that I don’t have the opportunity! My friend Ellen and I went to the popular North South Lake campground in the Catskills, and while we saw lots of campers, we only passed one other couple on our three hour hike. It was glorious! I relished the smell of pine, taking in the magnificent views, and being completely present in nature.

You eat vegetarian and local. Are there any foods that you miss or cheat with every once in a while?

I don’t cheat or miss much when it comes to being vegetarian. The only thing I miss sometimes is fish, and I used to cheat a lot before I became more strict about vegetarianism a few years ago. If I start to miss seafood, then I remember this ad I saw with a truckload of recently caught panda bears- they’d just replaced the fish with bears to ask the question, what’s the difference? Why is one considered okay to eat and the other despicable? And that has really stayed with me.

As for local foods, in all honesty only a small fraction of what we buy is local just because of the cost. We buy local honey and maple syrup in bulk, and greens when we make it to the farmer’s market (but have been so busy the last few weekends that we haven’t made it). There’s some fantastic local cheese, milk and yogurt, but those always feel like splurges because we’re on a tight budget.

I see that you are moving. I know that can be a very stressful time, so dig deep and tell me three things that you are grateful for in this move and one thing you wish you didn’t have to deal with.

Thank you for this question! I need to focus on the positive right now. Three things that I’m grateful for relating to the move: we will finally be in the same town/county as our close friends (yay!), I always love a change of scenery and a new area to explore, and this sounds silly, but I hate our long, hilly, rut-filled gravel driveway and we are moving into a more urban neighborhood, so no more of that!

One thing I wish I didn’t have to deal with? This drawn-out waiting period. Two years ago, we were lucky because we were allowed to move a bunch of stuff in to our apartment before our move-in date. That helped a lot! This time is the opposite of that.

Our new street in Hudson, NY, from the room we’ll be staying in while our place is being painted!

Definitely a long intriguing mystery! Some of the first mysteries I remember reading growing up were Agatha Christie novels, and I still love her. It’s amazing to me how people can come up with these plots with such amazing details. I enjoy real-life mystery and crime stories, too, like Ann Rule’s books.

I love reading so much I even do it at music festivals while waiting for all the people to arrive!

Oh wow, how exciting would it be to see the future and everything we’ve accomplished in one hundred years? Since I’m prone to anxiety, I’m wondering about more details of this time-traveling trip. Would I be alone? Would I have any specific knowledge about the time and place I’d be heading to? As much as I love surprises, I think going one hundred years into the future would be too much of an unknown- maybe if I visited with someone who was from there, so I’d have a guide? Think how much has changed in the world since 1914, and I’m sure things will be even more different in 2114.

Without a know-it-all guide, I’d go back to 1914. I’d love to visit the West Village in NYC, my hometown on Long Island, and the Hudson Valley to see how they’ve all changed.

How cool would it be to wander around Washington Square Park in the year 1914?

Thanks for the great questions, Rabia! Next up we have questions from Shelly of DIY Mama. Shelly describes herself as a “craft loving, hot dog eating, flower picking, Disney obsessed, new mommy that lives with her handsome/nerdy husband and attention craving puppy” and features tons of great posts on organization, home DIY projects, blogging and photography tips, and first-time motherhood. I love that her motto is ‘Let’s try this again, shall we?’ It speaks to her positive, can-d0 attitude and cheerfulness that comes through in her blog.

Be sure to check out Shelly’s answers to my questions, too!

What is a smell that reminds you of a happy memory?

Ooh, I like this one! A great smell really can change my whole mood. I love the smell of pine, because it reminds me of hiking and Christmas. And I love the scent of the perfume my godmother used to wear- I don’t know what it’s called, but from time to time I’ll get a whiff of it on a random person and it will fill me with feelings of love and warmth.

I’ve seen this around FB lately: ‘Post a picture that makes you feel beautiful.’ Interpret it as you will. Also, you can’t post the hot picture from your About Me because I’ve already seen it. 😀

Oh, fine! Haha. There are more photos from that little-black-dress-abandoned-factory series, maybe I’ll share them another time 😉 After searching for awhile, I realized that apart from modeling photos, the ones where I feel the most beautiful are the ones with genuine smiles, where I am obviously so happy in that moment. And so I decided to share this one from last spring, with my favorite little Bean:

What kind of kid were you growing up?

I am the third of four children- my sisters are four and six years older than me, and my brother is two years younger than me. I suppose I was an imaginative child– I was always reading or writing stories about families I made up. Sometimes I sought attention, and other times I retreated to my own company. Once, when I was sent to my room for acting up, I recorded a little “Cheer Up Christy” pep talk for myself on my little Fisher Price tape recorder, much to my sisters’ amusement. I don’t think I’ll ever live that one down!

If you could have a winter and a summer home besides where you currently live, where would they be?

Ooh, this is a good one. Since I recently read A Year in Provence, I will have to go with the South of France for my summer home.

I see you’re in the middle of a move. How are you doing with the craziness of moving? Any tips for an easier move next time?

I am feeling quite crazy indeed the last few weeks! We have finally decided on a place and still need to pack up a lot of our things before next weekend. I’m sure I could give some tips if the move had already happened, but right now, I just don’t know.

Bonus: Answer one question you asked me!

Okay, I asked Shelly what her favorite breakfast dish to order was (cinnamon almond French toast!). Mine is probably banana chocolate chip pancakes, which I had recently at the Eveready in Hyde Park- amazing! I savored each bite as much as I could 🙂

And that wraps up this edition of #AskAwayFriday! I’m not making any promises in terms of new posts between now and when we move, but I might surprise myself and pop in. This has officially been the longest July & weirdest summer ever.

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Everything in this visible world is a manifestation of the invisible world, of what is going on in our hearts – and getting rid of certain memories also means making some room for other memories to take their place.       –Paulo Coelho