Monday, August 10, 2009

All Moved In

... well, sort of. I still have plenty of unpacking to do, but we're in our new place and absolutely loving it so far.

I woke up yesterday to sunlight filtering through tree leaves, dancing between my blinds, and I realized that this new apartment already feels like home - even though it hasn't even been a week yet! Not to mention that I'm loving the neighborhood. There's at least three Mexican restaurants (my fav!) within blocks. There's tons of other restaurants that I'm dying to try. The famous Dinkel's bakery is just around the corner (cheese bear claw = awesome). I'm closer to my youngest sister's apartment - well, at least I will be when she comes back from Paris. There's parking spots every hour of every day, meaning I have my car back from my parent's house. Food is less expensive, both in restaurants and at the local grocery store. I'm blocks from Trader Joe's. And I'm blocks from the YMCA, which is not only affordable but has tons of equipment, a pool that won't give me an eye infection (like my last building's did), and free - yes FREE - classes. Want me to keep going? I can.

Even the apartment is amazing. For one, there's the spacious rooms and closet space. I'm soon going to own my first ever dining room table (I'm clearly starting to feel more grown up). The entire apartment is wood floors. The walls are so well insulated, I don't hear my neighbors.

But, there are quirks to the apartment, too. After all, it's old. For one, the bedroom door sticks, and I almost locked myself in there yesterday. The water takes forever to heat up, and there isn't central air. But, you know what? I don't care! The neighborhood and the new place (even the kitchen cabinets, which are being replaced by the end of the month) are absolutely wonderful.

While I've been getting settled in, I've taken what I feel is a long break from writing my novel, even as I've been doing research/reading. Now, I'm starting to feel like I have more time to get back to the actual writing! Progress!