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After months of stress, hours of hashing out agreements via attorneys, and days of packing, I still can’t quite believe it but…

I moved.

Finally.

Into my new house, this week.

The day of the actual move went great, thanks very much to Chase, Brian, Caspar, and Ish (yeah, that’s what he told me to call him!) from Strongmile Movers. These guys have my heart forever.

And big thanks to my catsitter Kitty (her real name) who took the cats the night before and brought them and alllllllll their stuff back to the new house the first night.

Major thanks to my parents for being here just about every day this week, for spending hours here on Thursday helping unpack the kitchen, and most importantly packing the wine last weekend. And not just packing the wine, but helping me reconcile my badly-out-of-date-as-it-turns-out CellarTracker listings while they packed. Also listening to my dad try to pronounce French and Italian names brought unexpected and needed hilarity to the day. (Dad was busy taking accounting courses in high school, unlike liberal arts geeks like Mom and me.)

One of the unexpected bonuses of my new home is the partially finished basement. Half is unfinished, with one section for the boiler and another for an actual by-god laundry room. (A whole room! For the laundry! Not shoved in a teeny hall between the garage and the kitchen!) The other half is finished, with one side done with carpet and the other with vinyl flooring. Right now the carpeted side is just a catch-all for all the stuff that won’t fit upstairs. The movers put my artwork and an easy chair there, with an effect that made me think of Ted Kaczynski’s art gallery.

The other side? Easy. Hellooooo, wine room.

Those attractive pine racks? Yeah, they’ve been stuck in a closet for the past couple years! Now they get a chance to breathe!

And the temperature in the basement is 10 or 12 degrees cooler at least than upstairs. Super promising. It might be good enough for serving everyday wine, and maybe I get a smaller fridge for maturing wines. (That means put them in there and see them again in 5 or 10 years.)

After all the emotional turmoil of the past five months (five), I deserved something nice. I went for this Patriarche Père et Fils Crémant de Bourgogne Brut. It’s non-vintage but I bought this in December 2018.

I’ve talked about crémants before. They’re made the exact same way as expensive champagnes, but they’re from regions other than Champagne. This one is from Burgundy, just south of Champagne. With this pretty light straw gold color and tight bubbles, I find it tough to tell it from “actual” Champagne. The flavor is slightly toasty, with a bit of apple and meringue. It’s super clean and still bright. For a fraction of the price of Champagne, this will be great with your Mother’s Day (in the US) brunch this Sunday, or pretty much any celebration.

Cheers to all of you for your support, and cheers to the new house!