Honeymoon Houses...

Do you remember where you and your new spouse began your marital journey? Where you unpacked your sandy suitcases and unloaded all of your wedding gifts, ready to begin playing house? Perhaps you were/are one of the lucky ones, who received a generous down-payment on a house of your own from your parents. Like me, you probably weren't, yet likely look back with fondness and perhaps even humour at your first humble abode.

I remember when I was filling out my firstborn's baby book. I got to the part about his grand-parent's history and one of the questions was, What was their first home like? Well, because this question never escaped my lips during my childhood years, I did what every other newly mature woman does - I picked up the phone to get the details directly from the source. As my mother rolled the question around in her mind for a mere second or so, she replied with a snort, "It was a renovated cowshed!" Taken aback by her humble beginning, I scoffed at her reply. "Yes," she insisted, "It really was. And even worse, I always had the sinking feeling that the old man living nearby spied on me while I was in the outhouse!"

(not my parents...they're a little younger!)

Oy...how do you compete with that??

Our first "love nest" was also a renovated building with a less than top drawer pedigree. It, in fact, was housed in a renovated bowling alley, likely only a few lanes wide. Although it was newly outfitted, we also had peeping neighbours. Except these neighbours weren't sneaky about it. As I passed by their apartment each day on my way to get the mail, they'd ask nosy question after question, well tinged with the scent of before lunch-time "cocktails". Luckily for us, our little outdoor deck was angled out of their view, so we could fire up the Hibachi without meeting their constant gaze...

I think of how that little place was decorated: very early nineties country- cast-offs aplenty- and my husband's weight bench took up prime real-estate in our living-room...which I concealed carefully with a pretty screen I bought with much pride at a flea market. Still, I considered myself very fortunate. We secured the apartment before the paint colours and carpets were chosen, so I was able to get a healthy dose of country blue in my living room...

Yes, we were happy there, as all newlyweds are when they first set up shop on their own. It was ours; and we were at least proud of the inside. Many an evening was spent watching Jeopardy and Saturday Night Live, seated on our ancient/ hand-me down/ rigid, orange-flowered sofa (covered in a pretty quilt, of course).

(not my sofa, either...mine was uglier!)

It wasn't until I realized you can't make a nursery out of a dresser, despite hanging a mobile over it, that we needed to move on. I wanted a real nursery for our impending addition. Little did I know he would sleep with us for the first three months of his life...

So, this leads me to you. What was your honeymoon house like? Was it stylish and sleek, or was it dressed in hand-me-downs and furniture left over from your college years? Did you jump in feet first and load yourself down with the buy now/pay later option for acquiring furniture? Or did you make do and scout the flea markets, coffee in hand - happy to just be together - and not see the scrubby forest for all of the fireworks.

After all, anything is better than a renovated cowshed, right?

(all vintage photos: Square America.com)