5 posts tagged “apartments”

Being an adult is hard.  I think I learned that this weekend more than anything.

Friday:

Nick and I went to DC to look for apartments.  The first one we visited we fell in love with right away.  It was a long but not too long walk from the Dupont Circle metro area.  It was a huge one-bedroom with a view like nothing else: a giant fountain.  It was like stepping back in time.  Plus it had laundry and trash disposal on ever floor and you could see various landmarks and monuments from the rooftop deck.  We wanted it!  The only problem was it wouldn't be available for a month after we needed to move in.  So we didn't apply for it then and kept thinking how we could make it work.  I was silently hoping that my friend Betty (who also happened to just move from Michigan to the District) would offer to let me stay at her place, or even better, that we could find a sublet for September.

The next place we saw was horrible, which shocked me because when looking online this one had been my favorite.  The person we were supposed to meet wasn't even there, so the receptionist gave us keys.  We saw two tiny studios that were dirty--one had packing peanuts and other sorts of things on the floor.  I gave the receptionist back the keys and said "we're not interested."

Our third visit was to an apartment I'd just spotted on Cragislist the day before we left.  It was a studio and it was even tinier than the ones at the dirty place.  The manager, although late, was very nice and helpful.  We thought we could live there if we had to.

We spent the evening with a friend of Nick's from Baltimore and some of their mutual acquaintances from the area.  It was at the cheesecake factory, where I devoured my appetizer, ate about two bites of my sandwich, and then polished off a piece of cheesecake.

Saturday:

Nick and I had two appointments but upon calling the first one they told us that all their apartments had been rented out.  So we just went to the last one, which was in Foggy Bottom.  The building had the nicest entrance area and was a block away from my department office and the clinic.  It was a studio which was larger than the other two studios but of course not as big as the one bedroom.  It was more expensive, too, but it was very clean and there were actually two studios available around our move-in date.

Nick and I realized that the last one we saw was the most practical, and nicknamed it "close."  We nicknamed the first one we saw "pretty."  We finally decided that it would be worth it to get pretty and wait the month for something that we would like much more, even if it was further from school and therefore less practical.  That decided, I posted a craigslist ad for a sublet. 

With our appointments for Saturday finished, we met Betty for lunch.  Nick departed after eating and Betty and I walked around and she did agree to let us stay in her apartment.  But I knew I would really hate living in someone else's living room.  Later we all met up with my cousin (who had also coincidently moved to the area much to the delight of our parents) for supper at an interesting little cafe.

Back at the hotel I received a call from a woman looking for a house sitter and someone to take care of her cat.  This was so much better than subletting or being a burden to Betty that it seemed like fate or providence was on our side.

Sunday:

We flew home with plans for renting pretty.

Monday:

It was impossible to finish the application for pretty without my driver's license number, which had gotten lost in DC.  Also, they refused to hold the apartment for us until our application and checks arrived in the mail.  Tuesday I would be getting a new license, so we planned on mailing it in then.

Tuesday:

I had my new license and the application was ready accept for the apartment number.  I called up the apartment, and was informed that the one we wanted (the only one left) was already taken!  I was heartbroken.  After everything was going so well, now this!  My belief in the non-existence of fate or providence was reaffirmed.  I had to tell Nick the bad news.

We had to go for close.  I reminded myself that it was more practical, and I would like having my classes closer than they were as an undergrad in the dorms.  I drove to Nick's that night and we began filling out the online application for close.  The apartment we'd seen was gone, but another similar studio on the first floor with a patio was available. We finished most of the application when the computer crashed!  I couldn't get back to our application and it was late in the evening, so I couldn't find anyone on the phone to help us out.  We had to wait until morning, and the apartment we wanted was no longer showing up as available.

Today:

I called the place right away at nine.  The person seemed to only want me to speak with the person who gave us the tour, so I had to wait for her to call back.  Finally she called back, and explained that the apartment wasn't showing up as available because, since we'd started applying for it, it was being held for us!  I was so happy, but still I was worried that we wouldn't have enough credit.  I finished the application and at the "congratulations" screen, called her back.  She said that the credit and criminal background checks had gone through right away and came back fine!  (Of course, I wasn't worried about criminal background.)  The apartment is ours!

(Finally.)

Nick and I are flying to DC tomorrow morning and we are spending Friday and Saturday looking for apartments.  We need many positive thoughts, because trying to find something decent under $1400 a month for two people in Foggy Bottom for the end of August is right there between "needle in a haystack" and "impossible."

Just because I'm growing up doesn't mean I'm too old for Harry Potter.  I am irked because the final book is coming out Saturday, when I'll be in DC seeing the city and looking at apartments.  Of the last three books, all three of them will have come out wile I'm on vacation.  The fifth one came out when I was in the Upper Penninsula.  The sixth one came out when I was in Washington state.  And now the sixth one when I'm in DC.  I have it reserved in town, but I'm hoping to pick it up at the airport Sunday when I fly out.

Last night Tyler and I saw Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix, while even though I love  Alfonso Cuarón as a director and what he did with The Prisoner of Azkaban.  I was weary about it, because I'd been dissapointed with the Goblet of Fire firm and I really hadn't liked The Order of the Pheonix book that much.  But I loved the movie!  I found myself smiling through the whole thing.  This is why:

Umbridge

The way Imelda Staunton portrayed Dolores Umbridge was beyond incredible.  She was so much more fantastic in her pink outfits and her office with the little kittens in the plates than I ever imagined her!  It makes me want to wear perfect pink outfits after I retire.

I have to say that I haven't been this exciting about blogging/journaling since diary-x.  I even have my own domain and I hardly ever post there.  (I'm not sure what to do with the space.  I can't get rid of it because I have so much stuff stored there.)  The people here are friendly non-idiots, the QotDs are lame, what's not to love?  I started making my own design, even.

Probably the only thing not to love is that I'm posting even though I have nothing substatial to write about.  Nothing has happened as far as moving or finding an apartment other than various building managers saying that their studios are one person only, even though Nick and I lived in a smaller apartment for about five months, with two cats!  Something that would never go down in DC.  Maybe this "one person only" nonsense is what keeps the prices so high.

It's 11:30.  I should really stop browsing vox and get some sleep.

Hello. That sounds like a good as any way to start.  Hello, I'm Alli.

I'm currently living at my parents' house near Grand Rapids, MI. At the end of August, we will be moving to Washington, DC. I'm going to be studying speech pathology (speech therapy) for my master's degree at George Washington University. That's sort of the "theme" of this blog, and of my life right now. I spend a large chunck of my day refreshing Craigslist looking for apartments near the school.

Let me tell you, rent in Grand Rapids is cheep compared to DC. I lived in this place in GR for a little over a year: an old brownstone apartment with two bedrooms, hardwood floors, over 1000 square feet, sun/winter porch, up-and-coming neighborhood, hardwood floors, on-site laundry: $600 a month. I had a roommate, so I payed $300 a month to live in that place.  My fiance and I lived in a less than 400 square foot 1-bedroom for $375 a month. First floor, private entry, free parking. You know what goes for $375 a month in DC? Parking spaces. I'm serious. You can't even get a box in an alley for that much.

On a positive note, it's Nick's birthday tonight. He's my fiance. He likes sushi, so we're going to a sushi place with his parents and my mum. We went there once, and I like California rolls okay, but he made me try this thing filled with raw eggs. They were orange and rubbery and looked like jell-o.
"How do you eat it?" I asked.
"Just put the whole thing in your mouth!"
Holy cow, gag reflex!  I don't know how I swallowed that thing. Speaking of gaging, I think my cat, Sophie, is puking. I'd better go.