Tale of Two Homes

Once I've been to someone's home enough times to know the drive by heart, I wonder where along the drive they feel that sensation of safety, where they feel like they have made it home. Because for some people it's a couple streets before they pull into their driveway. For others, it's not until they park their car.

For me, that sensation has started in two places. Since graduating college, I've been living at home with my parents, working and saving money. When driving home from work, I'd feel "home" as soon as I turned into the circle near my parents' house. At the same time, I started to feel it more and more on the drive to my boyfriend's home, when I turned into his neighborhood. And with that knowledge, we took the next step.

If you've wondered where I've been, the last couple months have been a series of moving clothes and buying necessary furniture and sorting through my possessions in prep for moving to the Boyfriend's.

I typed that as "Boyfriends'" the first time. That would've been awkward to explain. Sorry, honey. I promise, you're the only boyfriend whose home I am invading at this time. :D

The first step, to bring music to the home. My philosophy is that every room should have the capacity to be filled with music - the same way that some families have a TV in every room. So, I brought in one of my record players, the newest one which is portable, connects to Bluetooth, and also can play CDs also. Perfect for the living room and kitchen

Then, I wanted to build a collection of records that felt like they were "ours." I had a ton of records at my parents' house, so I knew we'd have a solid collection eventually, but I wanted Boyfriend to feel like the record player wasn't just my space. It was all of ours. So, we ventured to good ol' Barnes and Noble to check out their remastered vinyl collection.

I had a couple ideas - Metallica, Linkin Park. But nothing I found seemed to make him feel the way I did. We perused, I noted a few albums for my Amazon wishlist, and then, finally, I came across a record that I knew could light him up.

Queen.

The greatest hits collection includes Bohemian Rhapsody as well as the Flash Gordon theme song, so it was perfect for us. He likes narratives; I like saviors of the Universe and tight pants. I showed him the record I picked, and sure enough his eyes told me he wanted it. Badly. Like a kid in a candy store.

It was cute.

Since then, our collection has grown, more things from home have made it, well, home, and we're now talking about getting a dog when we get back from vacation.

It's all very domestic.

I'm now just working through getting up earlier to drive the commute time I suddenly acquired. And when I get home now, I can grab a beer, kick off my shoes, and listen to our music.

#moving #personal