I wanted to share a few photos of our new place! It’s not quite done yet—although come to think of it, I don’t expect it ever will be done. I quite like the idea of it being sort of an ongoing art project. I wish I’d taken a few photos of when we moved in, with boxes everywhere and paint cans littering the floor (from me, not from the previous owners. We painted the entire place when we moved in, with fabulous help from my parents and our friends Michael and Phil.). It was so much fun to choose colors for the whole apartment. It’s the first time either of us has ever bought a home and had complete freedom to do whatever we like with it. Mike bowed out, giving me free reign, and I’ve been having a blast. Here are the first few shots, with more to come as things shape up. Enjoy!

The living room, complete with obviously fake fruit and even more obviously comfortable cats. I went with a color called Soothing Green Tea. What do you think? I’m not normally one for a lot of green, but I wanted something different.

Slightly wobbly shot of the back of the living room included solely because I love my black wingback chairs with their shiny white legs.

What could possibly be playing on the (extremely dusty) television whilst I take these pictures for the blog? My daily dose of Mr. Rochester, of course!

Kitchen, with its paint color a custom mix blended by me in the kitchen after the original blue I bought turned out to look very…circus-y. And not in that good, happiest-place-on-earth kind of way.

The cutest dishtowel every created, screenprinted with Mr. Darcy’s proposal to Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice. I adore this. It’s from an Etsy shop called Brookish, which has all manner of lovely  items. And I am fairly certain her P&P Christmas ornament will have to hang on my tree as the official commemorative ornament of 2009.

…if given half a chance. Sorry, I have always wanted to use that line from Jane Eyre. Oh, I love that book! And for some reason, I’ve been obsessed with it this year. Since the beginning of 2009, I’ve been reading one book per week as a way of relaxing—and so as not to forget all the skills I earned while getting my English degrees. It’s been very nice to make reading a priority again, and it has reconnected me with all my old favorite books. Do you know how in the movie You’ve Got Mail, Meg Ryan’s character says something like, ‘When you read a book as a child it becomes a part of you in a way that no other book in your life can’? I completely agree. This year I’ve revisited all my very favorites from growing up: L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables series, books by Janette Oke that I practically learned to read by, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and—the one I can’t seem to move beyond this year—Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I keep going back to it for my book of the week. I’ve read it six or seven times this year alone!

My mom gave me Jane Eyre for Christmas when I was 11, and I’ve always  loved it. Even more, I’ve always loved the romance between Jane and Mr. Rochester. I get swept away in the passion and devotion he has for her, and in the complexities of his character. Generally the hero in Gothic novels are characterized as stern and melancholy. Brooding. And obviously Mr. Rochester is all of those things, but my favorite thing about him is his sarcastic humor. The interplay between he and Jane is really very funny at times. And I love the way he loves her. Despite the criticisms, I think theirs is the most romantic story ever written. I guess I’m not alone, as I recently read he was voted the #1 romantic character in literature in a survey conducted by British publisher Mills & Boon.

This week I discovered the 2006 BBC film adaptation, and I have to confess it has not helped me get over my addiction. No, it has had quite the opposite effect, in that now I am addicted to the movie as well as the book! I rented it from Blockbuster and immediately ordered it for keeps from Amazon the next day–even upgrading the shipping so I could get it the next day. And I cannot stop watching it. I have it on all the time—while I’m designing, while I’m unpacking, while I’m cleaning. Literally, it’s on right now as I write this. Obsessed!

While it’s not absolutely true to the book, it’s quite close, and there’s something about the acting that makes the characters seem even more real than they always have—and that doesn’t usually happen for me. Ruth Wilson, who plays Jane, does an excellent job of making her seem both vulnerable and strong, and her performance reminded me that Jane is not just a sensible young woman; she’s actually a girl falling in love for the first time. And Toby Stephens’ Rochester! Oh, forget about it. I was in love the minute he rose up after falling off his horse. While he doesn’t look like my imagined Mr. Rochester, he really captures his personality. He has the humor, the sarcasm, the desperation, the deep love for Jane… It’s such a good movie.

Anyway, I’ve been trying to convince Mike to get one of those period riding outfits that Mr. R. storms around in throughout the film. I’d very much enjoy seeing him striding around the condo in the vest, breeches, and tall boots, exclaiming, “What the deuce is to do now?”

(I should confess that I went through a similar stage of obsession when I first saw the surprisingly lovely Pride & Prejudice film with Keira Knightley. I thought it would be too commercial but it was beautifully filmed. Maybe I am a sucker for what I recently heard termed “cravat porn.” Clearly.)

A few months ago my husband Mike’s company approached him about a different position that would have meant a move from Chicago to Montana. It was an interesting thought—leaving behind the fun but frantic pace of the city for open skies and fresh air. Although I love this city and love so many things about living here, I started getting into the idea of a slower lifestyle where we’d have more time and space to try new things. I imagined planting my own garden (despite killing every plant I’ve ever owned, including this summer’s tiny windowsill herbs), learning to make strawberry-rhubarb jam, and setting up an art studio in the back of the cottage I’d already mentally purchased for us (it was dark grey with a bright yellow door and a view of the mountains, of course). Mike humors my grandiose ideas quite well and didn’t even balk when I started mentioning how cool it would be to raise alpacas, seeing myself spinning my own hand-dyed yarn and raising little baby alpacas with names like Bertram and Eudora and Buttercup.

Then we found out that the move wasn’t going to take place and we would be staying in Chicago. And that was great, too, because I do really love it here. I would still have access to the Harold Washington Library on State Street, which never fails to have even the most obscure book I’m searching for. We could still go ice skating in Millennium Park, a perfect and practically free date for the price of the skate rental and the mandatory hot chocolate. I could continue my quest to find the best cupcake in the city. Things were good.

But…I still sort of longed for the whole “Sarah Lives the Simple Life” thing I’d been envisioning. I still wanted the strawberry-rhubarb jam, the yellow front door, the flourishing heirloom tomatoes I’d planted in my very own yard. I’ve been thinking a lot about all these things as we’ve been moving into our new condo this past month. I had been thinking of it as an all-or-nothing situation: either we go to Montana and I take up with domesticity, or we stay in Chicago and I continue eating take-out three times a week. It finally occurred to me that I can have both. It’s strange that it took so long for that to click, as I’m such a “have your cake and eat it, then follow it up with a big piece of pie, too” kind of person.

Anyway, long story short (actually, short story drawn to painful lengths), I’m going to try to incorporate some of the projects I’d been planning for Montana into my new life on Chicago’s north side. The alpacas will probably have to wait, but everything else is fair game. Starting with me realizing one of the true joys of home-ownership—complete control over the decor! Please allow me to introduce my very own yellow front door: