Wait, it's 9 Days Til Halloween?

[unforth]

Somehow, I've turned around and realized I haven't done any real updating on my life in almost a month, since the day after I got back from the trip. Time to rectify that.

The first and biggest issue that's been going on is the soon-to-be-ended (hopefully) housing drama. In late August, by case file with Chase was assigned to a guy named Tim. I spoke to Tim twice on the phone, both while I was in Europe, and exchanged a few e-mails, but over all I heard almost nothing from him the entire time. I started agitating for information and updates big time in the week after I got back from Europe, there was some drama, and the fall out was that my case file was reassigned to Bill. Bill is new, and not in a different time zone, two very good starting points, in that I didn't have to worry about the time and he had few enough cases on his plate that he has been able to devote a fair amount of time to mine, with positive results - Chase told me yesterday that I had received final approval.

My attorney and I had already tentatively agreed and started to schedule a closing for next Tuesday at 2 PM, and now we know that we can go forward with it. I still somehow can't escape the feeling that it's going to fall apart, but I've started to schedule the other surrounding events anyway. Apparently I'll have to do a walk through on Monday night, which'll suck since I'll be driving back from Columbus and then will have to go directly up to Riverdale to take care of things. I also scheduled for a bed bug sniffing dog to come to my current apartment and confirm if I have any of the little fricken bastards in my home right now. If I do, I'll have to get treatment before I can move even the small number of things that I intend to take with me. If I don't, then I don't have to worry about it. That'll be Wednesday morning.

The current plan is to move the moment they hand me the keys. As such, I've been thinking about what items I'll need to acquire in order to stay at the new apartment.

1. I'll have to register the dog with the Management Office.

2. I'll have to get on the wait list for a parking spot.

3. In terms of furniture and acquisitions, the question has been whether I should just spring for the furniture - I have more than enough credit to cover everything I intend to buy, but of course that would drive me in to debt - or if I should wait until my fiscal situation has evened out a little bit and then get furniture. I'm currently strongly leaning towards the second option, on the assumption that I know most of what I want, but waiting for the Thanksgiving and early winter sales will presumably save me a bunch of money anyway, and post Christmas too. This decision has been strongly influenced by the discovery of a very comfortable air mattress. So far I've decided that there are a few things I can't possibly live with out are:
a. A new desk and chair. My old desk is gross, and my old chair falls in to the "not risking it" category (along with my bed and couches) - these items will be thrown away. I basically know what desk I want, having seen a few I liked at Staples, and I can find a chair at Staples too. Perk: I don't have to pay for either of these items, I can put them on the business credit card, as they are business expenses most definitely.
b. Air mattress. The one I want is from BB&B and apparently costs about $200. That seems like a lot, but once I have it, I can sleep on it for a long time cause it's super comfy, doesn't feel like an air mattress at all, and then once I have a bed I'll have something nice for guests to sleep on - and I hope to have many guests now that I'll be bed bug free.
c. Bean bag chair or cushions or something. I'll need something to sit on. Call this $100, which is probably slightly excessive.
d. Some kitchen type stuff. Some of my pots and pans and dish type stuff has gotten pretty worn out, so I'm going to replace it. Especially my George Forman Grill, which I use almost every day. This is probably another $100.

Other than that, I think I can manage pretty minimally, and I can get things one at a time. Depending on what the bed bug dog finds, I may also have an entertainment stand; that's the only piece of furniture in my current apartment that I intend to keep and am not planning to put into storage. My storage unit will contain a whole bunch of book cases, my papasan chair, two end tables, a kitchen counter bar, and probably my current dining table in chairs - though I may yet decide not to keep those.

The plan in terms of furnishings has been coming together in my head. I looked at a lot of stuff over the summer, and at this point I basically know what I want. I'm going to paint the walls a very light shade of gray (that I haven't picked out yet) and I'm going to decorate in light colors (grays and whites) with accents in jewel tones, and maybe a little black. Increasingly, I've felt that color really spruces up a room, so even though I tend to naturally gravitate towards softer tones, I'm going to really fight it in favor of some emeralds, rubies, and sapphires. Also, I'm aiming for a lot of glass - the desk I want is sort of industrial looking with gray frame and frosted glass-type surfaces; I want a glass coffee table and end tables, etc.

It's nice to be finally able to think about this stuff.

Anyway, here's how I expect things to go.

Floor Plan


My new address will be
5700 Arlington Avenue, Apt. 3N
Bronx, NY 10471

Google and other sources will tell you that it's Riverdale, NY, not Bronx, NY, but that's absurd. There's no such place as Riverdale, NY - anymore than you would write Greenwich Village, NY as an addy - it's just a pretension, god forbid the Riverdale snobs have to admit to living in the Bronx...anyway, I've vowed to disown the friendship of anyone who writes Riverdale on my envelop, and I like you all a lot, so be careful. ;)

Anyway, though some of the floorplans have been heavily modified, mine still looks almost exactly the same as the image above. Though I'd ultimately like to change that (I want to make the kitchen open instead of all shut away) at the moment that's very far down the list. As such, the only area to really worry about decorating is the Living Room area.

What I have in mind is pretty simple. I'm going to divide the space into roughly two areas, one equal to about a third of the room over by the windows, using Expedit bookcases from Ikea. Haven't decided on which finish I want.

Expedit Bookcases:


I'm going to completely fill the bottom half of these bookcases with books (there will be two of them) and the top half will have chachkes in it, letting the light through.

The side closer to the windows will be my bed room space. I'm not putting much there. I hope to get some kind of open frame book case type thing to put my plants on, and I'm going to get a captains bed from Gothic Cabinet Craft - either this one with three drawers or this one with six. I'm not planning on a headboard, though it looks kind of nice. I had planned to get a full, but mom convinced me that I'd regret that, and she's probably right; I've gotten pretty damn used to sleeping on a Queen. Anyway, I'm leaning towards the three drawers because it has a lower profile and costs a couple hundred dollars less. I'm doing this instead of getting a chest of drawers, and the apartment has very little closet space...but I have very little clothing since most of it is in storage.

Current Bed Choice:


I'll get mine with a different finish; I'm leaning towards the more red/golden rich toned finishes.

And at the moment, that's all that I'm planning to put in the bed room.

I haven't yet figured out where my desk is going to go; I think I'm going to have to put it somewhere near the TV. I avoided this when I moved to Washington Heights, because I found it distracting when I had to work, but now that I use Hulu, it's distracting anyway, and it would be nice if I could put Hulu and other computer type stuff on to the TV. Anyway, this or something similar to is is the desk I want - there are several that are peas in a pod.

Desk:


It also has a matching filing cabinet which I'm definitely going to get, which also has an office supply drawer. Very necessary.

One wall of the living room is going to house the TV and entertainment unit. For now, assuming I'm bug free, I'll be moving my current entertainment unit. This unit from Ikea is what I currently have, and my TV is a big flat screen Sony thing.

The opposite wall will house a sofa. I'm currently planning to get a full-size couch and a matching chair, though I'm still debating - I might get a love seat and a chair instead, but I'm not getting a couch and a love seat, it's too much furniture for a small apartment. Of the couches I've looked at, I liked the Carron couch from Raymour and Flanigan best. It comes in either a blue gray shade or a cream - though I'd actually prefer the cream, I think that with the dog that'd be a disaster. Black dog + light furniture = crying owner with dirty couch cushions.

Carron Couch


Carron Loveseat


Carron Chair


The day I went to Raymour and Flanigan these were actually the very last pieces I found. They're comfy to sit on, nice and firm like I like, and even though they're not that small, the narrow shape of the pillows makes them look smaller than they are, which is perfect for a small space. All in all, I really liked them. They're a little expensive, though, which is why I want to wait. Also, I need to do some measuring to figure out which two of the three make the most sense. I'll also get an ottoman to go with the chair, if I end up getting the chair - the one that's made to go with them is rather hideous, so I'll have to do something creative.

I want to get a small colorful rug for the middle of the floor (my floors are wood), and a coffee table and two end tables. Gothic Cabinet Craft has some neat "three packs" that include all of these things. I particularly like the LaSour and the Emil.

One End Table/Coffee Table Choice (LaSour):


The Other End Table/Coffee Table Choice (Emil):


And...that's kind of it. I don't currently plan to get a dining table or chairs, since I haven't eaten at the table that I currently own in 10 months. I'd rather save the space and eat on the couch like always. I'm going to get some colorful pillows and window treatment. I'm going to get a few mirrors - a large one for the bedroom, I think, and at least one for the living room - and will of course be hanging as much of the art I currently own as possible, unless I have to quarantine it - which I really hope I don't have to, that would really depress me, since all of the art I own has been in my apartment, and if there's a problem I'd have to store pretty much all of it.

I feel like I'm forgetting something, but oh well - all the lists are at home, and I'm still in Indiana.

For most of the time since my last update, I haven't done much except get back into the groove of working, screwing around, etc. I've spent some time working on my Halloween costume - I've just about finished the shirt, and I'm a good chunk of the way through the mock up of the pants, which seem to be working out great except for being a bit too big, I'll have to bring the waist in. Of course, the coat was always the hard part, but I don't have much work for next week so it should be okay. I'd meant to work on it while I was on my current trip, but I'm also not hugely surprised to find that that hasn't happened at all. There's just too much going on.

I headed out on the mid-October roadtrip last Friday. Ostensibly, the reason for this trip was to go to see David Sedaris with my sister in law in Columbus, Ohio. I started out early on Friday and went to my dads. It was cold the whole way, and I started to pass snow once I got off 80 and headed north in to Jersey on route 15. I spent the day with dad and Paula, and it was almost entirely spent talking. I had been shamefully negligent about contacting them all summer, so even though they are on Facebook there was a lot of catching up to do. It was nice to get to see them, and I spent the night. Oh, and I got a speeding ticket. Ah well. I was speeding...

Early the next morning it was back on the road and heading towards Columbus. I wanted to arrive relatively early in the day because Kirstin had told me about a cool craft fair thing that we wanted to go to, and I thought it was roughly a 7 hour drive. The weather started clear, but it started to rain as I approached the Delaware Water Gap, and about 15 miles into PA - or about 10 minutes before the 80/380 split - it started to snow. For the next 2+ hours I passed through intermitten snow, rain, and slush. The snow was particularly nice in the PA Wilds area, which is high up and had about an inch sticking - though none on the roads.

It turns out that the drive is more like 8+ hours, and Ben and Kirstin seemed surprised that I'd done it in almost exactly 8. Of course, I didn't really stop, and I didn't eat anything, and the result was a pounding headache and a lot of tiredness. Still, we got to go the fair, which was full of neat alternative crafts, and then the David Sedaris thing was that night, and was pretty awesome. He does readings, some from published books, some from manuscripts, and some more private type stuff. The funniest were definitely his diary entries. And the copy of his book in Dutch was pretty humorous too. He also was pimping the Onion's new atlas, which sounded hilarious.

Sunday was spent doing fun stuff with family, including some shopping I had to do and a trip to ZenCha for a sort of afternoon tea thing. This was an interesting experience, given that I have trouble finding Onigiri even in NYC, so it was really something to find decent onigiri in Columbus. We also had this indescribable dessert. It claimed to be a trifle, but it was more like a matcha parfait, in similar proportions to a strawberry shortcake parfait - whip cream on top, layers of matcha-flavored pudding-type stuff, and cake with red bean in it. It was odd, but yummy. That night we added to the tasty by getting Jeni's pumpkin sundae, which including a "witches finger" made of shortbread, complete with a food-coloring-dyed nut "nail." It was awesome - and of course delicious, but it was Jeni's, so how could it not be delicious?

Monday morning we went to breakfast, and the topic of the rest of my trip came up, and when B and K found out that I was going to have to stay in a hotel in Chicago because of the dog, they offered to watch her for me, which was awesome, and after a little consideration I took them up on that offer. It's always a load off not to have to think about her schedule and her needs.

I arrived in Bloomington just about 1 PM, having made close to record time from Columbus - door to door in about 3 hours 45 minutes; if I was going to Jackson Heights on 17th like I was when I set my old record, I'd have beaten it, but going all the way across town to Knightridge removed that particular achievement.

Bloomington has been nice. There's a lot going on, juggling time to see folks and such, but it's still felt pretty laid back, which is nice. I actually don't have loads to say about the trip, in large part because we haven't really been doing much. My check engine light had gone on in the first two minutes of my trip, and so I took the car in once I got here, and got my 60,000 mile check up, an alignment, an oil change, and they did find some parts that needed replacing related to the check engine light, so it's a pretty damn pricey maintenance - but then, I'm not responsible for paying for it, so it's all good, and it's nice to be able to get it looked at with so little inconvenience to me.

On Tuesday night, schenker28 invited me to his Moroccan dinner, which was delicious. I got to meet some friends of his who I hadn't known, catch up with saracariad, and reunite with three people who I had previously known - the most amusing was Jillian, who I recognized immediately as a coworker of mine from the Conservation Lab, though I couldn't recall her name. Bloomington can be such a small place, it's really funny sometimes. The food was delicious - especially, to my shock given my normal predilictions, the coconut almond truffle things. I thought I hated coconut! Further proof that as I get older and try more things, it's always worth revisiting and re-trying things I thought I knew. Anyway, it was very impressive, and definitely put me in the mood to get back in the habit of doing my own cooking, and it was great to see and meet people.

Yesterday night had it's own adventures, as ozziel's parents insisted on meeting me. I was a bit freaked about this, in that I haven't actually been in this relationship all that long, but I also figured it was only fair - plans already made strongly indicate that he'll be coming with me to Thanksgiving at my dad's, and as turn about is only fair, I'd actually been guessing before I ever arrived in B-ton that this particular meeting was likely. It went very nicely. They were pretty laid back people - dad, mom, and grandfather - and very welcoming - and his mom was an amazing cook. I feel like I've spent a lot of this post talking about the food...but there's been so much good food! She made these wonderful apple cider pork chops, and great mashed potatoes, and carrots yummy enough that I almost took seconds, and then there was cherry pie. I don't even like cherries much, but this pie was unbelievably yummy. And they had three adorable little welsh corgies - a type of dog that generally bugs me - but Rose, Hyacinth and Harry were very sweet, though they did get hair all over me.

Aside from that, time has been mostly spent with ozziel and moonartemis76. I feel like I've been negligent at trying to see other people, but I'm trying to be very laid back about this trip, and I can catch up with everyone else when I'm back in December, since it looks like I'll be here for at least four or five days around finals week. The main goal for this trip was to watch all of Supernatural season 4 plus the first four episodes of season 5, and so far we've not done a very good job of this, having only gotten through 8 episodes. However, today is the day we all have the least obligations, and the marathon is fully planned, and I think we'll be able to get through at least S. 4, though maybe not in to s. 5 - I feel like if we start S. 5, we have to get through the first four episodes before we can stop.

It's been a long time since I've been the person who knows what's going to happen while watching a show in this sort of situation, and I'm finding it hard to keep my mouth shut. Thus, for the most part, I've decided that my best bet is just not to speak up. There are things I'd really like to say, and at least one thing I'd really like to be squeeing about whenever it comes up, but instead I've decided to just keep mum (though I've owned that there are several topics on which I am in fact keeping mum, and have even said what a couple of those topics are). This is my incentive for making sure we get to the S. 5 ep 5 point - so that I can squee about the thing I want to squee about. :)

Anyway, I'm leaving here tomorrow and heading up to Chicago to spend the weekend with buzzermccain and John, which will be very nice. I haven't spent time with her since the wedding in May, and I haven't seen John since last summer, and all in all there's so much catching up to do, I'm really looking forward to it.

It's worth noting that I'll be back in Chicago in December, because I've bought tickets to this really awesome "three concerts, three nights, three albums" show that Motion City Soundtrack are doing - they'll be playing one of their albums each night of the 18th, 19th and 20th of December.
Anyway, that's basically what's been going on, and I'm finishing right on time, since I expect folks to be getting back in the next few minutes. I'd love some feedback on furniture housing type stuff, cause I'm finally allowed to get excited about this. :)

Comments

[milbrcrsan.livejournal.com]

Wishing you luck with the move! I'm so jealous! :p

[sapphohestia.livejournal.com]

Evidently it's not too hard to come by BB&B coupons for 20% off. My aunt is offering to send me several. That might save you a fair amount of cash on the new mattress.

Of the two coffee tables, I think I like the Emil more, mainly because you have a shelf for extra storage should the bookshelves fill up faster than you intend. :)

Please say hello to folks for me! Hugs to Kendra, John, Oz, Jen, Sara, et al. :)

[batgirl-raff.livejournal.com]

that's so exciting! Say hi to Kendra for me!

I miss Bloomington so much

[bakanekotoo.livejournal.com]

Congrats on things finally moving along with the apartment! I'm sure things will go smoothly from now on :-) Hopefully I'll see you at my Halloween party :-)

[schenker28.livejournal.com]

Glad you liked the coconut truffles! :)

And glad you made it -- it was tons of fun having you there.

Excited about your apartment! I'm glad all that is coming together.