The Move In

For those of you who don't know: WE HAVE MOVED IN!! :)

Last Thursday, Em and I met with Our Landlord in the morning to give him drop off our completed lease. (This, of course, is after we had sent it across the country for my parents to sign, and they had sent it back again, in a four day roundtrip...the little lease made it back safely and into the hands of Our Landlord).

He gave us our keys, with a warning that The Super was still in our apartment fixing a couple "last minute things." This made us a little worried, but the idea of living in our own space and not someone else's was all but overshadowing any other thoughts at that time.

After breakfast at Our Cafe, Vinegar Hill (or V-Hill as Em as since dubbed it) we went into the apartment to check things out. Everything seemed to be in order, for the most part. The new stove had not had its burners placed on it, the new fridge still had its shelves all tapped together, and the new cabinets (along with EVERYTHING else in the living room and kitchen) were covered with a layer of saw dust. (Apparently workmanship in NY does not include clean-up... yay.)

I had to go to training that day aaaalllll the way in Long Island (I hope you all used your BEST LI accent for that one)... which is a whole other story in itself, to be shared at another time. (The short version is that I have been doing some temp work, and Em has gotten in on it too... with many of the jobs taking place in Long Island...)

So, we trucked back up to Our New York Friend's house and packed up all our stuff. (It is amazing how even things that have remained packed for three weeks still need so much attention and repacking.)

With a vow to my dear roommate that I would return safely from my first (or, rather, first of many as it would turn out) adventure on the LIRR (Long Island Rail Road) I finished getting myself ready and headed out to find my way to training.

While I was out, Em, being the super-awesome roomie she is, went all the way up to the Bronx to fetch the much needed cleaning supplies for us from Target. She had to HAUL everything up the stairs to the subway, because it is above-ground at that station. THEN, she proceeded to scrub the heck out of the apartment and rid it of the layer of funk. (It looked SO great when I got back to it, like a whole new place!)

When I finally arrived back at the apartment that night we had to wrestle with our massive amounts of luggage and find a way to get them 16 blocks south to our new home.

Now, finding a cab company to call in NY should be a simple task, right?

Right.

It isn't.

Google taxi or cab or car sevice with our zip code and you will find things in New Jersey, Long Island, Queens or Lower Manhattan. Call the 800 numbers and they will give you lists of companies, however, you will have no idea as to their location.

With our lack of online success, we had to resort to standing on the corner.

Attempting to avoid the pricier town cars that offer transport in the heights (and honk at you incessantly any time you are standing on a corner) we strained our eyes to find a yellow cab. Two drove by without paying any mind to Em's stratigically outstretched hand.

About to give up, she gave it one more shot, and with the both of us wiggling and flailing our limbs, the cabbie seemed to understand that we were in need of a ride. (Seriously, it looks SO much easier on TV. LOL)

We hopped in and took the quick 16 blocks ride to Our Street and struggled to yank, pull and haul our things from the cab's cramped trunk and back seat over to the curb and up Our Stoop.

At last, we reached the front door, made our way inside, up the elevator and into La Casa.

Phase one. Completed.

Sadly, we still had a large portion of our things waiting back at the other apartment.

Luckily, one of Our New York Friend's AMAZING roommates (they all were so VERY very kind and hospitable to us during our stay, and I just realized how much I am missing their company and fun stories) offered to use her work car to take us on another trip.

We met her back at their place and made the final trek to our new home.

HOOOOORRRAAAAAYY!!!! We had arrived!!!!

After exactly 20 days in NYC, we had moved into OUR OWN PLACE!!!

It was an amazing feeling. (Although, some what hampered by the fact that we had NO place to sit and were still SHARING a REALLY crappy air mattress for the next couple weeks...booo...)

So, for about a week now, we have been enjoying getting to know our little home. The kitchen was bigger than we remembered, and the bathroom perhaps smaller, but the rooms were as big and wonderful as we found them the first time.

We are currently sharing our awful bed in the sunnier, smaller front bedroom and through the week have acquired some nice little additions to make the interim more comfortable: two camping chairs serve as our "couch" and a rolling suitcase as our "coffee table," we also purchased a (very cheaply made) $10 standing lamp that is delightfully bright for its price, and a full-length mirror to make it easier to get ready for our upcoming interviews.

Our "pod" left SD on the 2nd and is set to arrive in NYC on the 12th, at which time we will make our final payment and set a date for the MOVERS (YAY!!) to bring our things to us. Trucks can not park for long periods on the streets in NY, therefore, it is mandatory that movers bring everything from the truck into the apartment for you. (We are planning on sitting in our camping chairs and pointing where everything should be placed, while drinking cool beverages and fanning ourselves, of course... hehehe)

Things are going smoothly en la casa, for the most part, but next time I will share with you the pitfalls and mishaps we have encountered.

Now, I must go to sleep, for it is back to Long Island EARLY tomorrow!