A Fantasy Life

I love New York, but there’s a part of me right now that’s fantasizing about a (slightly unrealistic) life a couple of hours outside the city. This may just be the winter doldrums speaking, but I’m currently entertaining the following: Todd and I move to a small town about two hours from the city. This being a fantasy, of course, it’s not that far from a train station so all our friends can and do come visit on the weekends. This also being a fantasy, I look fabulous despite the fact that I’m baking all the time. In fact, every weekend when we have visitors, I bake fresh bread before everyone gets up; you’d all wake up to the scent of warm bread coming out of the oven! We’d have home made honey butter to spread on it, along with preserves that our awesome new neighbors jar themselves. We’d shop at the farmer’s market, which we’d bike to, of course. We’d have a barn or something that could be turned into an art studio where Todd paints and I make pottery (apparently fantasy barns come complete with kilns these days). We’d also have a chocolate lab, possibly named Otis, to keep Camilla company.

I am fully aware of how many elements of this fantasy are loony, but at the same time, there are parts that are still compelling. Todd and I could conceivably buy a house upstate someday, whereas saving for a Manhattan home is daunting as hell. Even with the real estate crash, they are still wildly expensive. Then again, I have at least two years of grad school ahead of me before leaving the city is an option, and who knows what ideas will spring up in my mind between now and then.