YIKES. I wrote this two and a half weeks ago, and here I am, just about to post it. I had a whole intro written about how shockingly easy it is to write one post a week when I have nothing to do after 5 p.m. every day, and I've already proven myself wrong. I'm so sorry to all two of you who were surely eagerly anticipating my newest post. I've failed my fans.
Aaaaanyway, today I decided to talk about my apartment, as that has been the #2 most popular topic of questions (#1 is still my job, which I still have no answers about). Most people are surprised I willingly signed a lease for a fifth, technically sixth, floor apartment in a building with no elevator. But other than the stairs, the long commute, the building's constant smell of Subway bread, and the lack of dishwasher, laundry and central AC, the apartment is perfect. By that I mean it's in a nice neighborhood by Central Park, my closet fits most of my clothes and I can (kind of) afford rent. Plus the exposed brick walls are pretty cool.
I found my two roommates, as mentioned previously, through my sorority's NYC alumnae Facebook group. We had some WiFi issues, two of us have accidentally broken something that belongs to someone else and we've somehow accrued an obscene amount of recycling, but other than that, we're getting along very well. We've gotten into a great habit of encouraging each other to eat ice cream, watch Netflix and not leave the apartment unless absolutely necessary (why climb the stairs again if you don't really need to?).
Debbie cleaning my windows after she spent a full morning on my floor, shoving steel wool into every tiny crack to keep the mice out. My hero.
As far as apartment decor/furniture goes, I'd say I did a pretty good job of decorating on a budget... my mom's budget... she did the decorating while I (almost) cried in IKEA. Ask her about it. But other than that public meltdown and the drama I had finding a bed that would arrive in time to keep me from sleeping on an air mattress for a month, everything went smoothly. As of last week, I even paid a stranger to install some shades in my room so my across-the-street neighbors no longer have a full view into my bedroom at all hours. Hope they enjoyed their last performance of me singing and dancing alone at 2 a.m. on Friday!
Other than the time I set the smoke alarm off by turning on the oven -- still very confused about how this happened, as there was no smoke -- and the time the lock fell off of our building's front door, everything is running smoothly. My mom even sealed up the floors and pipes to keep mice out, and even though Cinderella convinced me mice are cute and friendly, I'm glad Debbie's handiwork has kept them away so far.
Almost a month in, and I'm still loving living here. I have my first guest (hi Justin!!!!!) arriving tonight, and I feel like such an adult, even though he'll be sleeping on an air mattress that barely fits into my room and will be wedged directly under the AC. It's fine. Whatever. Goodbye. See below for some artsy pics of my bedroom and our living room. The rest of the apartment was not ready to be photographed when I took these, and now I'm not in the mood.
