Arrival of 93 Boxes

On January 26, 2015, (click on the date for that blogpost), our house was painstakingly dismantled and put into boxes, loaded on a truck, and driven away. After spending some weeks on a ship, it arrived in the port of LA and finally arrived at our new house on April 13, 2015. I must admit, yesterday was a fun, overwhelming and surreal day. 
When the movers arrived and opened up the truck, it was a serious déjà vu moment. The alfa moving boxes were neatly stacked, looking just like they had when the truck drove away with them 10 weeks ago. As the guys started bringing it all, we were a bit taken aback by how much stuff we had! We have been living in a minimalist fashion since we arrived and in some ways have gotten quite used to that. Even so, as we unpacked and we found the stuff that makes our house a home, it definitely created that sense that now we really have moved here. 

It was pretty fun figuring out where to put things in the kitchen and seeing our lovely china and glassware was a real treat. Filling the hutch was a favorite part of my day. There's a store in Chicago called the Sweden Shop and I had to laugh because our house looks like a bit like that! I guess after 17 years of living in Stockholm, it's no big surprise that our house has some Scandinavian flair!
Tanner was super excited when the rest of his toys appeared! He was especially delighted to find the pig that I won at my book club white elephant party last year. It brought tremendous joy to my heart to hear that oinking again!

The crew was great! They were a wonderful bunch of guys who worked quickly and efficiently. The container, now filled with trash, and our great crew, as they prepared to leave.  They arrived at 9.30 and left us surrounded by stuff and boxes at 12.00 noon! They helped us unpack a ton of stuff, but the books and the clothes and the decorative items...they just seem to go on and on. Our house is quite a bit smaller than the one in Stockholm and we don't have nearly the spaces for odds and ends so we're going to have to figure out how to best display the things we love. 

The rug that we had in our dining room looks different than we remembered!  But it still looks nice in our great room. It's bigger than we recalled and has more red it in that we both remembered!

I'm not complaining that the boots, heavy coats, and sweaters can be safely stored away now. And I will do more thinning of my wardrobe. I need to do some thinning of myself too so some of that wardrobe will fit better! It was funny for me to find dress shoes. I have not had to dress up since we arrived. Doug was laughing because he never wears long pants anymore. I suppose there might come a day when these things will be necessary again but for now, our shorts and t-shirts are working quite well. I am pretty happy to have a few more things to choose from in my closet! But I have experienced a pared back lifestyle and I do like it.

Admittedly, candle holders and candlelight are not nearly as important as they were in Sweden. The mercury hit 95°F yesterday so cozying up to some warm candlelight wasn't exactly what we were thinking! Plus, there's the threat that the candles might actually melt in the dead heat of summer.

We were totally exhausted at the end of the day yesterday. We treated our sore muscles to an evening dip in the pool and a soak in the jacuzzi. Coming home to our big, queen size bed was a real treat. Who knew that a 21-year-old bed would be seen as such a luxury?

Even Tanner was exhausted by the process!

A new day has dawned and we are ready to keep tackling the boxes that are strewn about the house.
Nothing broke in the move but we had one casualty during the unpacking process. This lovely little porcelain basket bowl from Hungary was tucked inside something else and flew out and broke. Sniff. It was a gift and a valuable little piece. But the truth of the matter is at least now I don't have to find a place for it.