Sparkly apartment update!

My computer wouldn’t connect to the wifi at a local café, but I found a great signal on the steps outside a veteran’s memorial. It’s gorgeous outside, so yay! My Internet and cable/DVR is being hooked up on Wednesday and I. Cannot. Wait.

The apartment (!) update:

On Thursday night, Roy and Kassie (the awesome friends) met me at my sublet and helped me move a bunch of stuff over to my new apartment. Roy lugged my insanely heavy suitcase down three flights of stairs after just moving it in the Friday before. Super sweet, huh? So, we got to my apt and while I unboxed/hooked up the TV/DVD player, Roy and Kassie started hanging curtains.

When Roy brought out his drill, there was most def a little-boy like gleam in his eye. Boys and power tools, you know? It even has a name. Mmm hmm. I was like, “OMG. Must not touch or will surely end up in ER.”

There was drilling.

No one was harmed.

And Kassie put up the curtains.

They warmed the apartment instantly and it went from a space to starting to feel like mine. We toasted with champagne and I went back to my sublet for the last night. When I went to sleep, I was thinking about how it was the final night I was going to sleep in someone else’s space without having my own. I was nervous and excited all at the same time.

On Friday morning, my bed arrived from Macy’s. Major excitement—I could finally sleep over in my apt! I ran around all day Friday and moved over the last bit of my stuff, got a few groceries and unpacked. By 10, I was passed out. Best. Night’s. Sleep. Ever.

I think it’s because I finally knew I was in the right neighborhood. I’d been in this general area for a month before moving over to a new side of town for a week during the sublet. I could have stayed there through mid-June, but I got super motivated to get my own place early. I’d missed the neighborhood and wanted to find a place. NYC is huge, yeah, but having friends just streets away and having a great neighborhood makes it feel so much smaller.

I got soo lucky to find this place. (Warning: About to go off track and launch into the “how I found my apt story”) Last Sunday, I was having brunch at a fun café with Kassie and Roy. For about a week before, I’d been using Craigslist to search for an apt and had found another sublet that started in June and would last for a year, but I wasn’t sure if it would definitely work out or not. Roy mentioned that realtors were open even though it was Sunday and because it was a gross, rainy day there might be fewer people walking around to see the realtors.

After brunch, I walked down one of the main avenues that had at least 15 realty places. I went into the first place I saw—a local owned realty company. I told the realtor what I was looking for and what my price range was. He almost started to laugh when I told him what I could afford in the neighborhood I wanted. Then, a look crossed his face and he started shuffling through papers on his desk.

He said someone had just brought him a listing in the neighborhood that I wanted that was JUST over my price range, but he could still show it to me. Maybe the price could be negotiated. I texted Kassie and told her I was going to see a place and told her the address. By chance, she and Roy were minutes away getting coffee and they said they’d stop by for backup.

On the way over, the realtor told me about the place and said it was probably already gone because of the price and location. I crossed my fingers and hoped that it would be nice and available.

The realtor showed me around and told me the details. When Roy and Kassie got there, I was trying to be cool, but I was totally freaking out. I looooved the place and had to get it! I kept making the, “OMG, this place is awesome eyes!” at them every time the realtor looked away. I was such a dork.

At the end of the meeting, I told the realtor I wanted the place and he had to call the landlord to make sure it was still available, try to get the price down, do the official paperwork, etc, etc. I went back to his office and filled out an application.

But it wasn’t mine yet. I decided to keep walking down the main avenue to keep visiting realtors and telling them what I wanted.

I was laughed out of at least five places after that, which Kassie had warned me would happen. I heard:

You want to pay that for this neighborhood?

You have to pay Manhattan prices here.

You’re totally wasting your time.

Hahahaha.

I visited eight or nine more realtors before going back to my sublet. No luck anywhere else. I couldn’t sleep that night because I wanted the apt so much.

I got the call on late Monday morning that everything had been approved and I could get the keys and sign the lease.

In. Freaking. Sane.

If Roy hadn’t said that realtors were open on a Sunday, I would have missed the place. For sure.

(End of the “how I found my apt story”). :)

Last night, Roy and Kassie came over for a housewarming party. They brought a gorgeous plant that I will try super hard not to kill. We ordered out, had drinks and Kassie revealed the night’s movie choices. ‘Cause she knows me *so* well, she picked scary movies. Um, yeah. I have a thing about scary movies—they freak me out! And she knows it. Love her. But she gave me an out—we could also start season one of Buffy, which I’d never seen but had been wanting to.

But nope, I decided to be brave. We started the movie, The Uninvited, which turned out to be more hilarious (in a bad acting/awful dialogue) sort of way. The “scary” movie turned into a mock-fest and we gave up on it after half an hour. Buffy is waaaay better.

The night was a total blast and it felt amazing! The first weekend in my apt is pretty fab and very, very sparkly.