so ladies and gentlemen, it's a new chapter in my life. i have finally seized the opportunity to move out of my parents' house and get my very own apartment in nyc. it was a long, depressing struggle to search for a place, much less to convince my parents. finding an apartment in manhattan is a rat race. it's searching obsessively, all day long, on craigslist; calling owners, brokers, whoever and leaving messages; going to talk to brokers about the listing for apartment x you saw, and end up being shown apartment y, because x was never available in the first place (bastards); and it's an exercise of patience, which i have none of. i had originally started with a low budget of $1300/mo to see what was available. nothing. but in all fairness, i am extremely picky about where i'd live and what the apt looks like. so then i upped it to $1500. do you know what i saw for $1550 in the east village? i saw a 1BR- i walked in saw a tiny stove and a tiny fridge, turned around to see the tiny sink, and then, oh, what else? a BATHTUB, in the KITCHEN! i looked at the guy showing the apartment and the first thing that came to my mind was, "where do ppl shit?" lo and behold, in a communal toilet. i think i spent 45 seconds max in that place. broker after broker, i was told to raise my rent to at least $1800 to find anything decent- totally crushing my original budget. long story short, i began shopping with an open mind and looked at the not-much-more-glamorous apartments, until i finally found my apartment. and it's so true, you know right away that it's yours when you see it-- just like when you first meet a love: your heart skips, and you feel comfortable enough to claim it as yours. and that was how i found my killer 1BR for a reasonable rent!
being the diva i am, i had a vision about where i'd take this place, and since i moved in on friday, i've been bringing that vision to fruition. i gave myself a budget of $3000 to furnish an entire apartment (remember, ive never had my own furniture before, so i literally have to buy EVERYTHING (with the exception of art, photos, candle-things, etc)! ikea has yet again, been my loyal source of vision fruition-ing. i've said it before and i'll say it again. on a budget, and for the quality of the products, compared to other stores, it is hard to beat ikea's prices.
ok, enough talking, here are the pics!
