Popcorn and champagne.

Our last night in our home in MA. We are sitting in our basement on Second Street on camping chairs drinking champagne out of red solo cups, eating Boom Chicka Pop popcorn and watching Netflix.

So, since my last post this has happened:

I tied up seemingly all loose ends at my job. I passed along relevant projects, files, and somehow didn't have any additional mental breakdowns and got out the door. This is literally a miracle. We both had our last days at work on Friday. Dan's last day entailed working late, mowing the lawn afterward and packing and eating a roast beef sandwich alone. Mine entailed drinking from 5:30pm to 1:30am with my boss and other co-workers, inevitably getting talked into taking a celebratory tequila shot, and sobbing hysterically once I got home. Good tears, I think. A really good close to a stressful/challenging/rewarding chapter. Also, Dan rules.

We had an open house party the following day from noon until midnight. We knew we wouldn't be able to see everybody before we left on our own and this seemed like a good resolution. Dan was reluctant, because I always have crazy ideas that involve us hosting a bunch of people and it usually just means multiple hours of cleaning and being anxious hosts. As always, he was a champ and went along with my grandiose plans of hosting 50-100 people at our home, mid-packing, 5 days before we move 3,000 miles across the country. We catered it from a local Italian bakery so we didn't have to stress too much beyond picking it up and heating it up. This ended up being a great call. A fun detail - I was severely hungover from my last day celebration. During the 12+ hours of that party, I consumed (and kept down) two bread rolls, Pedialyte on ice, and eventually, a bowl of soup. This was not exactly the glamorous sendoff I was envisioning (and definitely not what Dan was hoping for considering he had to do all of the prep work while I attempted to.. ahem, expel the bad decisions from the night before), but it ended up being an incredible day. I think we saw at least 70 people - friends, parents of friends, kids of friends, etc. Dan had a blast with his friends. A lot of their time was spent smoking cigars and drinking beers hiding from the rain in our shed. I got to see so many of my friends' babies and small children, and it forced me to sit and really talk with people instead of running around being a host. That said, it was oddly a blessing to be hungover. Many of our closest friends closed out the night for us with a dance/singalong party in our kitchen. My friends started it - obviously. The whole day was messy, weird, disorganized, and boozy. That's kind of all we could ask for.

The last few days have been a flurry of brunches, dinners, goodbyes, packing up and cleaning our house. Tonight we went to Woodman's of Essex for incredible lobster rolls and steamers with Dan's sister and her boyfriend Dave. Woodman's is such a treat for us and we definitely felt strongly about going there before we left. 

We are now drinking the champagne that was left in our fridge and we're trying to make fun beds for our cats on our air mattresses and in windows. They aren't enthused. Tomorrow is the closing, and Thursday we hit the road.

I don't even know, guys.

-A