A Habitat for a Felish

It has been a whirlwind week and weekend! In the space of 7 days I have literally gone from the depths of despair, a 2 hour crying jag, and multiple panic attacks to complete and utter relaxation, quality time spent with friends, and happiness. I do tend to have roller coaster emotional changes (runs in the family), but this has been a tad extreme, even for me!

Last Tuesday I stumbled across the description of an apartment downtown. It sounded intriguing but there were no pictures– usually not a good sign. I called anyway. Wednesday I went to go see the place during lunchtime. I liked it, and by 1 pm Wed I was the new lessee of my very own apartment in the heart of Back Bay!

This is big, folks. Not only is this a neighborhood that I have always dreamed about living in, but everything is working out– rare for me. I’ll be living on my own for the first time in my life– I. Can’t. Wait! The studio is very large, and has enormous windows which mean lots of light– very important for yours truly. There is a separate kitchen and bathroom, a foyer, two closets (one of them is a walk-in!). Laundry in the building. Heat and hot water included. A 13 minute walk from school. Less by train. August 1st move in date, which means I get to avoid the madness that is Boston on September 1st. I can’t be happier about how everything has worked out.

Pause

Somebody please find me a 1-bed or studio apartment near Kenmore Square under $1300 a month for August 1st…. pretty please? I would be ever so grateful.

Back

It was a great weekend. Bright, sunny– albeit a tad cool. Definitely sweatshirt weather! I spent three days doing nothing but reading (I managed to race through two and a half books), sleeping, and walking to and from the beach. Oh, the walking! I may not have officially started my Couch to 5K yet (due to extreme laziness), but I did get in more than my fair share of walking. I didn’t bring my car across the ferry, so I spent the entire time on my poor two feet. I also made the brilliant decision one day to walk to South Beach, which is a good 4 miles away. By the time I realized what I’d gotten myself into, it was too late and I had committed to the trip! I was lucky enough to hitch a ride back for part of the walk with the owner of Smoke ‘N Bones in Oak Bluffs. Thank goodness! I was definitely hobbling around the next morning.

Now it’s back to reality, and I have a busy week coming up. I saw an apartment tonight, and assuming everything goes well I should sign the lease by the end of this week. I wasn’t able to see the actual apartment itself, but I saw one that is the ‘mirror image’ (supposedly). It was cute! The kitchen was small but serviceable, and it even included a dishwasher. (I have gotten spoiled by my dishwasher, so that was nice to see.) The apartment I would move into just had the kitchen and bathroom updated, so they are both modern and new. The room itself was of good size, and had a huge mirrored wall-length closet that would be more than sufficient for all my junk. I have high hopes. Once I see the actual apartment on Friday, I’ll make the deposit and submit my application. YAY!!!!!!!!!

Thursday I have another BU Admitted Students Reception, and Sunday I’m participating in a Public/Non-Profit Management study. I’m looking forward to meeting more of my future classmates and hanging out in my future neighborhood! In a little less than four months I will be starting school all over again. I always thought that I would be one of those perpetual graduate students in school until my hair turned gray. However now that I’ve been on my own and making a living for the past five years, the thought of going back to school is scary. Exciting, but scary. The next few months should be a real roller coaster ride.

Money Money

I am getting a little freaked about becoming a student again. Just a few short months, and I’ll have no source of steady income, and $100K worth of loans in my lap. Yikes!

This past Friday I took off some time from work in the afternoon and got on the phone to negotiate a good price for a studio I’d looked at last week. I managed to get the broker down to $1175 per month, H/HW included– not bad for a studio right around the corner from Fenway Park! I was really excited, the weather was gorgeous, I couldn’t wait to start measuring the space and downsizing my junk…

Then I decided to start nosing around online. I tell you, the internet is really really great (Avenue Q shout out!). But sometimes it really throw a wrench in your plans. I started off by looking for public parking near my future studio, and ended up reading horror stories about muggings and rapes and unsafe neighborhood alerts and undergrad parties and noise and OH MY GOD I CAN’T LIVE HERE!!!!! 2 AM and I was thisclose to a nervous breakdown. I am not one for having breakdowns and panic attacks, but I think I was in the grips of a full blown panic attack. I nearly called A. up to tell him I was going out in the cold and rain and dark to drive over to his place so I wouldn’t be having a breakdown by myself. I didn’t though, I felt too bad about waking him up. I couldn’t get to sleep, so I finally had a sip of Nyquil and the last dregs of the red wine, and slipped into a fitful sleep sometime around 3. Not. A. Good. Night.

The next morning I made A. go out with me in the miserable weather (rain rain go away!) to check out the apartment. We first stopped by this gorgeous place, and I had Ashley show me and A. the apartment again. I so want to live in this building! It is so beautiful. With marble. And glass. And clean carpets. And hardwood floors. And it is a 7 minute walk away from my future school. But it is $100 more than the apartment I’d been negotiating for. Plus there isn’t any open unit in this building yet. But I have hope that something will open up later this summer.

Then we drove behind Fenway to the second apartment. We couldn’t get inside, but I stopped a guy walking by on the sidewalk, and asked him if he’d mind answering a few questions. He was SO NICE and took the time to answer ALL my questions! (There were a whole bunch). Anyway, at the end of the conversation I was certain that there was no way I was going to live there. Reasons being: mostly undergrads, lots of noise, mice, heat, thin walls, crappy building, not the safest to walk around at night, lots of gay sex going on in the park across the street, etc. etc. EEK!!!

I felt a lot better after deciding not to go any further with the apartment. It was disappointing though, since I’d thought I might be done with the whole apartment search. Sigh.

After getting thoroughly soaked in the rain, A. and I decided to venture out again to Zaftig’s in Brookline. This place has the best comfort food ever! My favorite is the grilled cheese on challah bread, it is truly decadent. I can’t eat the whole thing because it is too rich, so I let A. order it instead and I just stole a few bites.

In an attempt to detox from the culinary excesses of the weekend, I decided to pack my breakfast and lunch last night, so I wouldn’t be tempted to run around and spend my money buying out today. I had Cream of Wheat with brown sugar for breakfast (this is my new favorite breakfast food, thanks to the surgery). I took a small plastic baggie filled with some sliced almonds and a few flakes of unsweetened coconut with me to work, and stirred them into the farina before I microwaved everything. It was DELICIOUS! For lunch I had some rice with mashed Indian eggplant, which was super yum and a really large portion– I saved half for lunch tomorrow. Dinner was just a sandwich, but I am on a mission to eat food that I have in my fridge and pantry before I buy new groceries, so that was fine. Now I’m watching some Wire episodes, and doing laundry. Off to bed in a bit!

Quote of the day: “It’s Baltimore, gentlemen. The gods will not save you.” -The Wire Season 3

Home Sweet Home

So I’m looking for apartments, hoping to move closer to BU sometime later this summer. Yesterday was a pretty nice day here in Beantown so I took advantage of the clear weather to check out some apartments. First I met up with a nice broker from Mission Hill who took me around to some places in Fenway. The buildings had a nice location, but the apartments themselves were just ok. Dingy, tiny, cramped… cracked and peeling walls, patched-up sections in the tiled bathroom walls… they were just eh.

So after Chris dropped me back, I hopped on the Orange line and headed downtown to stroll around my new neighborhood. I brought my camera and took some pictures of the Charles river near the BU Bridge, and the SOM building. Also took a few snaps of some random places like the Post Office and some statues. As I was walking down Comm Ave, I passed by a stately old building with a hunter-green awning out front. I walked by, then stopped. Why does that building look so familiar? I wondered. Then I noticed a rental agency sign over to the left. Hmmm…. I pulled out a pad and pencil and started to write down the phone number. Then I hit myself in the head (figuratively). I’m here! Let’s just do this!

I cautiously opened the door and was cheered to see a friendly young woman sitting at a computer at the bottom of the stairs. “Come on in!” she gestured. We started talking about the different units that were available, and the price ranges. “Do you want to see one of the available studios right now?” she asked.
“Sure, why not!”

We headed over to the lobby to take the elevator up to the second floor. I looked around me at the brass, mirrored walls, and marble floors, then turned to Ashley.
“This is really embarrassing, but I think I used to date someone who lived in this building. I feel like I’m retroactively stalking him.”
“Does he still live here?!”
“No, thank god!” Haha.

Small world, huh?

P.S. the apartment was gorgeous, with an amazing location that literally can’t be beat. I could see the Citgo sign from the window, and right behind that lies BU SOM! Not even a five minute walk. Let’s see what happens.

Thanks, I Think

While walking to the CVS tonight to grab a snack before my apartment viewing, I was hit on by a homeless man who told me I had nice eyebrows. That’s a new one.

PS the apartment was HORRENDOUS. Still looking.

Huh?

Seriously people, who are all of you who keep finding my blog through your “mojito” searches??? And why only that particular drink? Why not vodka tonics, or wine, or whiskey, or any of the other lovely concoctions I like to imbibe from time to time? Yeesh.

In other news, the roommate dilemma has been resolved by yours truly. A friend of a friend came to see the place last night, liked it, and wants to move in. I will never get a thank you from my ex-roomie, but at least I know I basically saved her butt and kept her from having to pay March rent (and possibly going to small claims court). What can I say, I’m just a mover and a shaker.

In other other news, I’m seeing a studio tomorrow– super cute, in the area I want. But it won’t be available until September. I’m still looking forward to seeing it, and hoping I can find something I like that will work out, and NOT break my bank budget.

Finally, can’t wait until this weekend! I’ll be heading down to Queens to see H and possibly R too. Yay!!!

Moving on

I finally finished uploading most of my old Xanga posts into my WordPress archives. I hadn’t realized how long I’ve been writing a blog for! Pretty impressive. I still keep my regular pen and paper journal for the most intimate and secret things I need to write down, but I am glad I can keep reconnecting with people through this online medium.

I am so happy that I now have my lovely 2 bedroom apartment to myself. My roommate finally moved the last of her things out yesterday, and I was never so happy to see anyone leave. I didn’t feel like even looking at her, I had been so angry by the way she tried to screw me over. So I stayed in my room and took my time getting ready. Akshay was with me and took it upon himself to give her and her boyfriend very dirty and intimidating looks as he went to and from the bathroom. He can be pretty scary if he wants to be, so I was glad to have him around for some emotional and moral support!

We took off to get some breakfast, and didn’t make it back until late last night, by which time she was long gone. Thank goodness!!!!!!!!! I threw the last of her old food out of the fridge this morning, and am luxuriating in the feeling of having my entire apartment to myself– I’ve never lived alone before, and I LOVE IT!!! One less stress in my life.