It's official. After five years, I think we've finally outgrown apartment living. I know, I know. Shocker, huh? Who doesn't love, love, love living in an apartment? Well, the answer is me.
Don't get me wrong, I'm really grateful for apartment living. It's such a great and affordable option for many people and it has been a great option for Jason and me. We loved our little apartment in the heart of Northwest Washington, DC. The Envoy's apartment #702 came with an entire wall of windows (loved those), views of California Street (as well as our crazy neighbors), and was only a short walk to the metro and delicious and quaint restaurants. It also came with tons of quirks like a non-working disposal that often smelled like smoke, an archaic gas stove and oven, a refrigerator with a broken door, tile wood floors and lest I forget, awesome stainless steel butcher counters! And we loved it. How could we not? It was our first home as a married couple and we made lots of wonderful memories there.
Jason and I saying "goodbye" to our apartment. Such a sad day, as displayed by our awesome sad expressions.
The view from the top of The Envoy
The second we moved in, I painted the kitchen red, the bathroom pepto bismol pink and the bedroom apple green. It made me love that kitchen and apartment a lot more. I love color, okay? The pepto bismol bathroom got a facelift six months later to a pale yellow.
Did you get a glance at the butcher counters? They're so chic. :-)
The view from our wall of windows
Ahh, the memories!
Which brings us to the present. Nearly three years ago, we hauled our belongings to Tucson, moved into our current apartment and felt like we had hit the jackpot! Two whole bedrooms to our name, vaulted ceilings, three pools and a parking spot! And for $300 less! It was like the Taj Mahal. Then we had Lois and it instantly felt too small.
Then there is the fact that we live amongst a whole assortment of people. And in the past six months, I've started to notice things about these people that I'd just rather not know. For example:
1. The neighbor we share our bathroom wall with snores so loudly that we can hear him when we're in our bathroom. He also has a really yippy wiener dog that barks all. day. long. This guy also blasts random music at 2am.
2. The neighbors we share bedroom walls with like to argue with and scream at each other - usually very late in the evening. They often find a way to "make up." Lovely.
3. The neighbors we share living room wall with, our gay Latin friends, blast techno and other random music at all hours of the day. They also slam their doors a lot, which shakes our walls.
4. The neighbors below and to the left, I've already written about. Remember the poo bandits? Well, they are also chain smokers with a pile of cigarettes on their patio. I nearly pass out every time I walk by their apartment - especially if their sliding door is open! How do they live in there? And the girl is always talking about a friend's tumultuous relationship or watching the show, Friends.
5. And our late-night, door-banging, cologne-ridden college boys to our bottom right are currently being evicted for not paying rent. I'm really glad they'll be gone soon.
So, pretty please, can I get an upgrade? I've been a good girl this year! I'd like to be able to invite more than 10 people over to my place without it feeling as if we're going to bust at the seams. I'd love to be able to offer visitors a bedroom to sleep in and not just a floor and an aerobed. And I'd really love more privacy - and not a random knowledge of my next-wall neighbors' affairs.
Anyone else out there gotten to this point? Or am I the only one?
8 comments:
Your list of reasons is why we went with a townhouse when we left DC and moved to Mississippi. We weren't ready financially to make the leap to a house (even renting one), so this was a good middle ground.
We have the perks of 2 pools and a parking space, and even a back patio! And still none of the maintenance hassles - I like that I can just call the office and someone is here before the end of the day to take care of x-problem, and I don't have to pay for it!
Most important to me: we have NO ONE above or below. If I hear someone stomping around on my head, it's my own kid. No pacing stilletos on a hardwood floor at 2 am. We have neighbors on both sides, and don't hear a thing. HOORAY!
Seriously, Lili, every time I read your blog I want to comment with a big, "Amen, sista!"
The only perk about apartment living, or renting in general, is that you are not responsible for the maintenance. Though it may be a small price to pay for people who take your parking spot, rude apartment managers, or neighbors that leave their trash on your doorstep...(yes, that really happenend...though I'm not sure what we did to deserve it!)
I'm not sure if we're ready to take the plunge into homeownership yet, just ready to get our buns out of apartment living. I do agree, it's nice to not have to deal with maintenance issues - a definite perk of renting! So we'll see!
Treen, totally agree! Town home is a great middle ground. Hopefully we can find something like that!
Aaaaahhhhh, the memories. We have similar stories. Provo however, was a delight - besides the apartment being boiling hot all the time - which was nice in the winter (we often kept our windows open!) but ridiculous in the summer. In San Jose, we lived in such a scary place. The apartment unit we had was actually very nice as they had used it for storage previously and painted and carpeted when we moved in - but other wise - it was scary. We joked with many people that the police should just set up an office next to the apartment office because they were there all the time anyway. So - yes - nice to have more walls to yourself. But neighborhoods still can be *very* interesting. But it is "nice" to have such interesting neighbors at more of a distance.
I am right there with you Lil. I am so ready for non-apartment living. It's true, it has played a wonderful and endearing part in our college and early marriage years...but, I'm ready to take the plung and search for a single family dwelling....and more bedrooms! And a bigger kitchen! And....oh, I could go on and on.
I feel your pain! But am also greatful for a place to live!
I hear ya loud and clear!
Be glad Lois has her own room.
The times I start feeling down and frustrated about our situation I think about our neighbors who have 3 teenagers in one room. We don't have it that bad.
Hi Lili - just stalking your blog.
You could totally find a house to rent in Tucson for a great price. We rented a house in the Sam Hughes neighborhood for 5 years - it was $600 a month for the entire 5 years! We loved it and it was across the street from the hospital (bonus!). Anyway, there are tons of rentals over there and its a nice neighborhood. I'm sure you know lots of places by now to check out. Anyway, just thought I'd throw it out there for you! (Oh the drawback was that it was a swamp cooler and it was like 900 square feet...but seriously so cute and we put a window A/C unit in and made it work. It was an old house but it was so charming and convenient and in a great ward that we stayed and loved it). But, I bet you could find something great...apartment living with kids is hard.
Ok, that's all. Sorry about the long comment!
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