ArchivedLogs:A New Place

A New Place
Dramatis Personae Hanna, Melinda, Tola
In Absentia	2014-05-28 New house is almost all done!
Location <NYC> Greenhaus - Harbor Commons - Lower East Side
The late morning may be gray with threatening clouds looming overhead, but the dreary weather can't quite dampen the excitement in the air. Construction and landscaping may still be continuing around at the other houses, but the lodging appropriately nicknamed "Greenhaus" is relatively far along in the development process, close enough to completion for a late-morning visit by some of the future residents. Hanna may have excitedly rushed through her work at the bakery that morning, leaving a rather pouty Jayna in charge of the lunch crowds to come. But the baker had claimed dibs on this visit (and getting to meet with Mel and her adorable baby); so now Hanna bounces out front of the stoop of the soon to be new home, excitedly waiting for her friend. She is dressed cheerily as ever, in a brilliant robin's egg blue day dress with kiwi green lapels and buttons over a bright white peti-coat, cinched about the waist with a white belt that matches her flats. Her long black hair, streaked through in a few places with the first hints of gray, is pulled up and away from her face into a braided updo, finished off with vintage-style victory rolls. Occasionally, she checks her phone before glancing around again to see what is going on. Mel-n-Tola appear after a while, running a little late, but new mothers tend to do so. It's one of Mel's first outings where she is on her own for child care, so it's still a somewhat new experience. She's wearing a brown ankle length, A-line skirt, one that is still stretchy and soft around her not quite 'back to normal' figure. She's wearing a cream colored shirt, button down for easy baby access and short sleeved. Not that the shirt is all that visible, given the blue wrap with fluffy white clouds printed all over it. The wrap dominates her front, the large bulge peeking out from between the two sides of her black rain jacket. There's a small whitish colored head peeking out from between the different layers, the fabric protecting her vulnerable neck. When seeing Hanna, Mel waves a hand, the other occupied by keeping a diaper bag from slipping off her shoulder. The simple braid at the back of her head bounces with each step. She's looking a little tired around the eyes, but her stride is strong and effortless. "I apologize for being late. There's always something and then Tola wanted to eat and she's sleepy right now, but somewhat food coma'd so I guess it's no big deal. How are you? I feel like it's been forever." Hanna's broad smile brightens, and she waves in return to Mel, heading out to meet her halfway. "No worries about a little lateness. And certainly no need to apologize, babies always have their own schedules, after all. Besides, I don't melt in the rain, despite being 'round sugar all day," Hanna chuckles quietly, shaking her head. "Need help with the diaper bag, or you got everything?" Hanna asks, her voice quiet in deference to the sleepy baby. "How have you been doing? Jayna says hi, and is sorry she can't be here to see you and the little one," Hanna says with a grin, "It does feel like a bit of forever, yeh." She glances over her shoulder at the new house, bouncing, "Admittedly, I imagine we'll all see each other a bit more, soon enough. Place is just about done, I think. You ready to go inside?" "You may or may not appreciate that when she starts crying." Melinda replies, a small smile on her lips as she starts shaking her head. When Hanna offers to hold the diaper bag, she sticks her arm out and hands it to her immediately. "Being prepared for an outing is an entirely different beast these days," she sighs and reaches inside one of the pockets of her jacket to pull out her set of keys, plucking at one that is significantly shiner than the others. "Perk of living with the architect." She slides the key into the lock and opens the door into the main entry way, where three doors line the walls, with a mail drop on the wall nearest the door. One of the exits to this room obviously looks like it leads to the basement, while the other two sit side by side, ready to lead to the first floor of the pair of two level apartments. "So, you want to see yours first?" Mel produces another key, not on her keyring, and presents it to Hanna. Shuffling the diaper bag up onto her shoulder, Hanna smiles at Mel, a lightness to her tone as she heads toward the door, "Eh, crying babies don't bother me most times." Grinning when the keys make an appearance, Hanna looks sheepish for a moment, "Glad you have them - I was just about to ask how we were supposed ta get in." Her grin broadens once more, bright amber-green eyes widening as she takes in the entry way once the door is open. "Oh wow," she breathes quietly, accepting the key from Mel with a bemused look on her features, "Is it bad that until now I was almost unsure this was really real? Can't quite believe it's actually here, and built, and..." Her voice trails off as she shakes her head, smiling lopsidedly, "Sure, I guess we can start with mine. Um. D'you know which door goes to which?" Melinda points Hanna in the direction of the left door, scratching with her free hand at the baby's back through the layers of wrap as lightly as possible. "Ha. I don't know if I feel exactly the same, as Hive's been dragging me out here for the last few weeks and I've seen pictures of the work the entire time, but it's still kind of seems all shiny, new, and unusual." Her eyes widen to accentuate the unusualness of their situation, glancing around the entry way. "Exciting, definitely. What do you think about painting this room a nice forest green? I know it's a bit on the nose - but being thematic might help friends find us better." Hanna easily slides the key into the lock of the door on the left, "I saw a few drawings, plans and stuff, but that's about it. It's sort of amazing to see it in person all but done." The color idea gets a grin and a nod as she glances around the entry room appraisingly, "Forest green would work. I'm always a bit partial to bright colors, but I like the idea of a nice soothing forest or emerald green here. Does indeed makes it obvious who all lives in the house, I suppose." There is a sidelong glance at Mel and Tola, along with a small smile. As the key turns, Hanna pushes nervously on the door to open it, hesitating at the threshold to just look inside. "I can't wait to show Jayna this. This is amazing," she muses, her irises brightening to an almost key-lime and gold color with her excitement as she walks in to the apartment. She holds the door open for Melinda, eventually closing it behind them once everyone is inside. Beyond the entryway, the suite of rooms that make up Hanna and Jayna's side of the house open into a rather open space that is up to interpretation as to just what it might be once decorated, presumably the living room and dining room all in one large great room with high cielings. The flooring is made of warm colored wood, whorls and knots in the planks reclaimed from old barns and buildings give it a lively, organic visual texture, though it is perfectly smooth and polished beneath the feet. In the back, a kitchen, with vacant spaces where appliances will go, and polished butcherblock counters that becons to be used. Seperated from the main area by a breakfast bar with similar counter tops, and room for barstools to be put in. Doors off this area suggest storage and a bathroom. Large windows will allow plenty of natural light in to the downstairs. A staircase of the same reclaimed wood climbs to the second floor where a pair of bedrooms are found, one larger than the other with a private bathroom off of it. Unlike the first floor, the second floor is carpeted with a plush brown carpet that squishes nicely beneath the feet. From the second floor landing, a secondary staircase leads to a little loft area with a tiny window, not quite large enough to stand entirely upright, but plenty of room for a futon and some cushions. The walls are all a rather neutral eggshell color for the time being. Mel steps in carefully as if the ground was still unstable and the apartment still at its most basic building blocks. As she grows accustomed to the fact that the apartment is pretty much complete, her feet become less hesitant, taking a moment to look around at everything. She rubs Tola's back as she goes, peeking at the the flooring especially, then turning her attention on the kitchen, her eyes lighting up as she studies the counter tops and cabinetry. "When do the appliances arrive? Are you excited to cook in here yet? Maybe I'll come over and join you in the mornings before going to the cafe." Hanna is walking through the rooms reverently, her mouth agape as she takes it all in. "Oh goodness, this is amazing," she says with a happy sigh, looking down to the flooring, a giddy grin spreading over her lips. The baker woman then makes a bee-line for the kitchen, giggling gleefully, "Hee! This is awesome." She runs her hands over the smooth counter tops, crouching to appraise them closer. "I think the appliances are supposed to come in some time in the next week or so, most likely. Matching set of steel appliances," Hanna answers looking to the spaces for said items to go. "I can't wait. We've been cooking off a tiny little apartment stove in our crash room in the basement, and the only ovens I've had access to are the ones in the bakery, which is overkill when just baking a single loaf of bread." She chuckles and looks excitedly around the apartment, eyes taking on an almost entirely golden color in her excitement. "You, and Tola, of course, are totally welcome over here for breakfast any time you want. Jayna and I are both up with the sun for various reasons, so if you're up that early, by all means, we are likely up and around." "I don't know how Tola is going to be in the mornings, but when I go back to work, I'll be back to opening the cafe at six in the morning. I have no idea if that will be too early for you or not, but we'll play it by ear." Mel follows Hanna around, taking in the decisions the couple made as to flooring, room design... everything, her attention roving quietly. "Have you guys picked a move in date yet?" "Hoping to get moved in before crazy wedding season starts up in earnest in mid-June. The bakery energy gets... off, despite my best efforts to keep it calm. I don't relish the idea of living there with that all over." Hanna explains, smirking slightly, "Thankfully, I suppose, we don't have that much to move from there to here." There's a darkness to her expression, just briefly, at the thought of all that was lost in the apartments. "A few trips to YKEA and several long sessions of trying to figure out just what all the parts are, and we should be set to go," Hanna says with a chuckle and a shrug. "I'm usually headin out a litt before then to get the pastries and such in the ovens early enough for the morning rush. So stop over to get some breakfast some time," she reassures, grinning. Noticing Mel's attention to the flooring, Hanna smiles, "It's all reclaimed wood that's been reworked into flooring. Old buildings, boats, driftwood. Sort of seemed appropriate. And it looks cool, I think." "Good thing I didn't assume there was no rush," Mel smiles a little and leans against one of the counters, staring down at her shoe and the impressive flooring. "Oh, hey. That's neat. It's got a lot of personality." She smiles back up at the new home owner and snorts softly. "I'm probably going to look second hand first. Can't stand the assembly process myself. Then again - I go back and forth on the topic. Part of me is growing insanely germaphobic, which I know isn't good, especially for building a good immune system for an infant. But the rest of me wonders what the hell kind of thing the original owners might have exposed it to. Maybe I'll just go second hand with all new upholstery." She frowns before glancing toward the stairs. "Want to go up?" Melinda has reconnected. "If that's too soon, we can hunker down in the basement for a while longer. The commute is pretty hard to beat, really," Hanna says with a hearty laugh, "We're pretty flexible, just, well, that would be an /ideal/ time to get out of there." Hanna looks wistfully around at the bare space, sighing, "We did all second hand and thrift shop for the apartment when we got to New York. Had this awesome kitchy vibe to it with all that mismatching. Will probably thrift and second hand some things, like a dining room set, and tables and such, some knicknacks we lost in the fire." She crinkles her nose at the germophobe idea, "Eh, some dirt is good, but there's all sorts of who knows what in a second hand sofa. Re-upholstering is good, but can be a pain." She sighs and rubs at the back of her neck, glancing up the stairs, "Could do that, yeh. Bit curious how that turned out. Unless you wanted to go check out your rooms?" "Pfft. No. Well, I mean, yes, I'm excited to see my place, but I have had a bit more interaction with it, to tell the truth. I've seen it with bare walls. Heck, I've seen it in studs with wires running through it. It's not as big of a deal. Let's finish looking over your place first, eh?" She steps out of the kitchen and starts padding her way toward the stairs. "I wasn't trying to say you can't move in early June. I'm fairly sure - but don't quote me on it - that you can move in next week. I will check with Hive, if you don't want to do that yourself." Chuckling, Hanna nods, "Fair enough. I'm curious to see how yours looks, too. But I admit I'm really excited to see how the upstairs looks so far." Hanna grins sheepishly, heading for the stairs to the upper floor, pausing for a moment to admire the wood pieces chosen to make up the stairs themselves. "I'll have to bring Jayna over here after close tonight, she is going to absolutely flip at how this place looks," Hanna says with an excited giggle, starting up the stairs to the upper floor. "I'll send him an e-mail when I get back to the bakery today," Hanna says with a nod, stopping in the hallway of the second floor in order to make sure Melinda doesn't need any additional help up, "Double check when would be a good time for move-in." Mel doesn't need any help up. Both of her arms are free, thanks to the baby wrap. She inhales deeply as she finally gets a good look at the second floor. "Oh my." She continues up the stairs to the little loft, not trying to stand up inside, but lowering herself to slide into a sitting position on the floor. "This is a nice idea." She grins back at Hanna and shrugs. "It's a bit different. I went for less open space and more storage. Have a small washer and dryer, otherwise I'd be across the commons at the laundry all the time with a baby. Anyway, you'll see it. Open the doors, really get a look around." Hanna's breath catches when she sees the second floor, smiling as she takes a few quiet minutes to look around the rooms. "There's storage, just maybe a bit less than you requested. We wanted a big room downstairs to be able to have people over. Though that little cubby," Hanna says with a nod towards the loft as Mel settles in, "Is going to be Jayna's hideaway. She wanted a little place to read and sleep that was her own little space." When Hanna speaks of this, there's a soft smile on her face, her eyes warming to their usual golden brown color at the thought, "Probably going to put a few plants in containers to keep her company and brighten that up." Hanna opens the door to the master bedroom, chuckling as she walks in, "Nice. Exactly like we pictured it. Jayna is going to flip." The room Hanna is standing in has several large windwos that provide plenty of light, and doors that suggest closets and a bathroom. Melinda slips down the stairs to follow Hanna into the master bedroom suite, getting a look around herself. She smiles at the windows and walks over to look out them. The gray day doesn't really do much for the view, but the light pouring in is natural at least. She turns and nods, smiling as well. "Good. Hive has a gift. Kind of manages to capture what the intention is even if we can't quite vocalize it fully." She gnaws on hir lip gently, attention diverting to the youngling when she starts to wake. "This room is just plain awesome. Well, not plain. Still awesome," Hanna muses excitedly, bouncing about to take a look in the large closet - not quite walk in, but good enough for the clothes hound. "I can usually do that with cakes and stuff. Understand just what people want. But no way I could do that with a house," Hanna muses with a pleased smile. "I owe him a huge thank you, and then some," she says in a hushed, reverent voice. As the little one starts to wake, Hanna quiets again, glancing towards Mel. "If you need space, there are plenty of rooms with doors if you need privacy," she offers wit a gesture towards the house at large, "And you're of course right next door to your own place." "Privacy is overrated. Barring awkward gawkers, I figure i'll just do whatever comes natural. However, she's not really hungry at the moment," Mel laughs as she loosens the wrap a little, letting the child hang a little lower so her attention can roam. "Did you want to hold her?" Her brows dart upward in a question. "We only have a short while before she needs to be changed." She is taking in the closet, though, an admiring nod given to the space. "Fair enough. I just figured I'd offer - natural is good. I lived with plenty of naturalness in my home community back on the island," Hanna says with a lopsided grin and a shrug. When Mel loosens the wrap a bit, Hanna is circling closer to get a look at the baby, a bemused smile on her features. The offer to hold her, however, earns a surprised look, and then broad, excited smile. "I would love to hold her, yes," Hanna says with an emphatic nod, eyes flashing a warm, happy gold-brown color, "Been a long while since I got to hold a new little one." Melinda makes a better effort at untying the wrap, the many layers coming loose a little at a time, her arms switching positions a couple times to keep the infant pressed to her torso during the process. Eventually, she pulls the last of it away, leaving it haphazardly looped over one shoulder to reveal the leaf green child with flower petal hair. She's just losing some of the newborn wrinkles and starting to plump out like one of the babies in food advertisements. She's dressed in a colorful blue body suit, with a little GrumpyBear insignia on the left chest, one of the few articles of clothes that they have to protect against the chill of the day. Mel is careful, supporting her head still, as she passes the child over, into Hanna's waiting arms. Hanna moves forward to offer a hand as Mel unwinds the wrap, but lets her friend do her thing. When Tola is entirely unwrapped, Hanna smiles warmly, making a quiet tounge click sound, "Oh, Mel, she's absolutely adorable." Accepting the child, when Melinda passes her over, Hanna gently supports her with a practiced ease, supporting her head carefully. She sways back and forth a little bit, cooing quietly at the baby in her arms. "She's just over a month now, right?" Hanna asks quietly, still looking down at the baby with a warm smile, the close contact likely allowing some sense of the baby's emotional state, if one can be found. Melinda nods, hands moving to start folding up the wrap a little better now that she is free of the precious cargo. "Five weeks. It's very strange - it's all kind of very strange. I feel like she's getting big, but she's still such a fragile little thing. You should see the petals she leaves behind in the co-sleeper. I'm never sure that it's good, but she also doesn't have terrible bald spots, so I guess they're just doing what flowers do - falling off to make room for newer blooms." Tola's still sleep, a little annoyed that the warm cocoon went away, and a little mystified by newperson. This is not a parent. Does not smell like parent. Does not feel like parent. Is... different? "A lot of babies lose their hair in the first month or so, and it grows back in. Though white petals are considerably more easily noticed than super fine baby hair," Hanna says quietly, still swaying gently and keeping the baby cradled carefully in her arms. "Five whole weeks? Goodness," Hanna grins, cooing softly at the baby, a little bit of a smirk at the mystified reaction from Tola. "I imagine it'll get a little less strange, but then she'll just do something else to make everything new and unusual again," Hanna muses, keeping herself swaying gently in a soothing way. She does what she can to keep her happiness from leaking out excessively onto the child, humming quietly. Hanna seems fairly content to hold Tola for a while, until Mel requests her back - or she needs a change.