Well, my move to Colorado finally feels permanent -- I have an apartment! After a few frightening days, I have moved into a lovely studio in the Uptown neighborhood. Of course, I was imagining Uptown NYC, but it is nothing like that -- in fact, it looks a lot like our old neighborhood in Brooklyn (before Trader Joe's took over).
I was somewhat overconfident about finding a place -- it turns out that a LOT of people move to Colorado during the summer. Last weekend, Mom and I looked at a few places and walked away in panic. The "studios" were no bigger than my DC bedroom and one even had a lovely bird's nest on the its deck. My one totally embarrassing, irrational fear is of birds, so that place was a definite no. With the help of a local family friend, we found much better places (albeit a bit pricier) and I submitted an application for a beautiful 1 bedroom in Capitol Hill. Somehow, in the hour between when I saw the apartment and sent in my app, it was leased! I was left terrifyingly homeless and majorly stressed. Fortunately, my best friend Kendall welcomed me into her home with open arms and I was able to apply for another place and get it the very next day.
Being an only child of busy parents, I've spent my fair share of time alone in an apartment. But I have never lived entirely by myself. The weirdest thing so far is how much space I have! My shipped furniture has not yet arrived and the only thing in my apartment is a big pile of clothes and posters in the center of the living room. I have no idea how to decorate the space -- for the past six years, I have set up my space simply for efficiency and accessibility, not for aesthetics!
Sleeping in my empty apartment last night for the first time was also somewhat unsettling. I have to get used to a whole new set of noises -- the creaks in the floor, the cycle of the A/C, the street outside. I'm sure in no time I will feel right at home, but for now it definitely feels odd.
I am now preparing to head out on my first ever solo venture to Ikea. On the one hand, it will be nice not to get into a huge, stressed out fight with anyone else during this trip (Ikea always seems to cause big blowouts -- Liz Lemon was right). On the other, I have no idea how I'm going to pick out stuff and get it into my car by myself. Yet another adventure in a month full of them!
I'll post some pictures as soon as I get my place set up!
