In Vino Veritas

I'm back from my whirlwind trip West to meet my new nephew, spend time with my dear friend and, oh yeah, see my new house for the first time!

Though the flights were long, and the drive to Walla Walla was another 4 hours, it was kid-free, so it was blissful. I read The Lost Code on the plane, because I'm a sucker for Dan Brown, and did about five minutes of work before I realized I'd get carpal tunnel typing on a laptop during a full flight-being that I'm just a little slip of a girl, my shoulders were not touching my neighbors' at all.

The baby? Gorgeous.

The house? Fantastic.

A weekend with my best friend, drinking wine and walking around my new home-town? More than much-needed.

We spent the first afternoon in Walla Walla registering H for Kindergarten (Welcome, Class of 2023!) and getting my initial tour of the house. Walking in for the first time, it still took awhile to have it sink in that the house was truly mine. High ceilings and an open floorplan with lots of windows left me imagining sun-soaked mornings sitting in the living room with a cup of coffee, listening to the kids play in the back-yard. Ah, the back-yard. Bigger than I'd imagined, with side-yards double that of most of our neighbors; raised bed gardens await me.

The next morning, we spent what was supposed to be several hours at the Flooring store, but ended up little more than two. Apparently my years of obsessively deciding what my 'style' would be certainly paid off in the decisive department. First things first, I found a beautiful hand-scraped bamboo with great variation in color that looked great with the trim sample from my cabinets. Then on to carpet for the bedrooms, vinyl for the bathrooms, tub surround tile, back-splashes and counters, oh my!

After a quick flip through the Parker paints color chart, I had my Knott interior paint selected, and we were off to lunch. But not before the sales-woman picked up on my longing glances at the planks of 'my' floor, wherein she offered to have her guy hack off a piece so I could take it with me in my suitcase...which I promise I don't tuck under my pillow at night.

Sample in hand, we arrived at my house once again to match exterior colors to the brick accents that are already in place. Bittersweet with Equator Trim and a Lava Cake door, and I'd say you can put a fork in this baby; it's done!

We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering downtown and ended up in the tasting room for a local winery. I couldn't tell if the proprietor was just a little green or if he really loves hearing himself talk, either way we left with three bottles of Gewurztraminer (to our shock, we found it was not a sweet wine after he twisted our arms to try it amidst our protests of not liking to drink wine that tastes like corn syrup) signed by said proprietor in bronzey sparkle sharpie.

We watched most of the Boost Surf Sho on-line, then walked to Sweet Basil Pizzeria for dinner and then onto Colville St. Patisserie for coffee and dessert before heading home, pushing the clocks forward an hour and falling into sugar and wine-induced slumber.

The next morning, I turned back into a pumpkin and back to the airport we went. Friend farewelled and coffee purchased, I boarded the Southwest Airlines flight to Midway, opened my book and embraced the knowledge that I'll soon be calling Walla Walla home.