In an earlier post (the last one? it's been too long!) I mentioned that I met my roommate, Neline, at St. Francis Xavier while we were volunteering. We hit it off pretty well and, what do you know, a few weeks after that she was asking around if anyone was interested in moving--and I was! We hung out a bit to make sure that we were a good fit and then we hit the streets.
Finding an apartment was a long, stressful process. There weren't many choices in our price range. Most people didn't return our calls or emails. Two of the ones who returned my calls told me they no longer had the two-room available but had one-rooms. Dude, if we ask for two rooms, we need two rooms!
Finally I hit gold: a two-room apartment with small rooms but with a living room for $200 less than our hoped-for maximum. I took that one seriously and emailed the broker three times...and got a response! Neline and I saw it and liked it and the rest is history. The broker was great to work with, giving me a blank lease to read in advance so I could ask questions.
The last week in my old apartment was really weird. Since move in/move out was on November 1st, a Friday, I'd have to move my things out on Sunday in order to fit with Mom and Dad's schedule. While I was packing Saturday, Max called the landlord to look into fixing our horrific shower (so glad to be away from that!) and then promptly left for the day. So later that afternoon, when the landlord came, Mara knocked on my door to tell me we had to hide the washing machine in my room. In the middle of this farce, she saw the boxes and said, "Are you moving?" Apparently Max hadn't even told her!
I slept on a camp mattress in a sleeping bag for the week and lived out of a suitcase. I might not have bothered if I hadn't had the first of two showings of Danny Boyle's Frankenstein to attend on Wednesday. (Massive post next--I won't announce it on Facebook, because it's full of spoilers.)
On Thursday morning, Halloween, I packed up the last few things in my room, left the keys on my desk, and said good bye to the Lower East Side/East Village. I commuted from New Jersey for the next two evenings and, come Sunday morning, set off with a van load of furniture for Astoria.
Where is Astoria?
That's Manhattan on the left. Astoria is in Queens.
Once again I'm in a neighborhood with questionable boundaries. Historically, Astoria is more in the area in the circle, and the bit that Google Maps calls Astoria is Long Island City...but, of course, all the landlords in LIC and Upper Ditmars (above Astoria) want to call their area "Astoria" to attract tenants. Neline's lived in Long Island City for a few years, so she was in the know.
My Dad and I met Neline on the doorstep with her moving crew of three guy friends. We unloaded her first car, switched out that one for our van, and then unloaded the furniture. I'd brought most of the big pieces, like our kitchen table and bookshelf, and I wanted her to be able to start settling in. It was great that we got the extra help. Dad and I took a lunch break at a local bakery, ordering two of only three non-dessert items on the menu, and Dad pointed out that none of the first-floor windows had bars on them as they did in Manhattan--a good sign of a good neighborhood.
Back home for another load! We squeezed in with most of my actual living supplies (clothes, mugs, bedding), barely made room for Mom, and took the rest into the city. Mom and Dad helped unload everything and set up the futon, and afterwards the three of us went out to dinner at a local Greek restaurant. Astoria has a very strong Greek influence, especially the part we live in.
Anyway, enough with the words... time for pictures!
.JPG)
View from our front door. Bathroom is to the right and Neline's room is about a 120 degree angle to the right. That's the fridge on the right of the picture, and those two doors go to my room (left) and the living room (right).
View of the entry/eating area from the kitchen. There's a closet with overhead storage space on the left wall. That's a Maron kitchen table with old Lawrence chairs from all the way back when a table for four was big enough for us.
The kitchen! Pretty nice setup, I must say. We've got a very nice stove and enough space to turn around even after we put in some shelves against the wall. There's a brick wall out the window, so we get natural light without giving up privacy.
Here's the living room! We've got a futon couch (good for visitors *hint hint*) and a really comfortable papasan--that round cushioned chair on the right. Edna's in the window. I will notice in two minutes that it's snowing outside.
Audrey's new home! She's glad to be out of the basement. Shout out to Sam for bringing some sophistication and class to my first apartment! As you can see, that one bookshelf just isn't going to cut it for two bibliophiles. We're working on it. Oh, and you can't see her in the picture, but Lucy is on the shelf over the door.
And, finally, my room! I got to bring my captain's bed from home, so there's storage underneath, and Neline gave me the closet-substitute she was using at her last apartment, which is the perfect size for all my things.
View from my room into the kitchen. I leave my door open most of the time to make everything feel bigger. In theory, if I closed my door that mirror would shine some light from the living room into the kitchen. It does work...but I only close my door at night!
It's been a crazy week of settling in, setting up internet, getting used to my commute--which is, funnily enough, almost exactly the same length as my commute from the Lower East Side. Subways, unlike buses, don't have to stop every single block!
We have a few things left to get. Neline needs an elevated bed to give herself more storage space. We both need another bookshelf in our living room--two book lovers quickly overwhelmed the one bookcase we brought. Because our prewar building has high ceilings, we'll need a stepladder. And we haven't put much of anything on the walls yet, though I may raid the guest room in New Jersey, which (unfortunately for its decor) has many of my favorite pictures on the wall.
I think that's enough for now. I do have a monster "zoom-in" post coming up, after all...
