The new place

As I said in my last post, Matt and I moved in together a little over a year ago. Living with Matt is no problem, he is kind and clean. It was our first place that was a bit of a downer.

We found a little place in the Graham Avenue section of Williamsburg, neighborhood I am in love with. It makes me so happy to step out of the L on to Graham Ave, and wave hello to the ladies in the nail salon, the dry cleaner, even the guy who hangs out on the corner named Paul with his cute dog, Charlie. People are friendly and keep you safe, the avenue has everything you need and only one chain shop (dunkin Donuts), and it is 15 minutes from Union Square and a 10 minute drive to work in Ft. Greene. Williamsburg itself should pay me for how much I talk it up...I have found my home here and I feel so lucky to be surrounded by some of the best places to eat, drink and play in the whole city. My best friend from college lives down the street. Sounds, great, right?

Well, we were very rushed to find a place and I wouldn't budge from the neighborhood, where I have been since I graduated form NYU. So, we settled with the first place we could find: an apartment on a great street, steps from my old place, on the third level of a single family home. Again, sound great, right? Well, it also featured:

-renovations from 1992.

-carpeting in the hallway.

-living above our landlord's elderly mother.

Our landlord fancied himself a macho, old-school BK,"connected" type, not uncommon in the neighborhood. Usually, I don't mind this...these guys generally just sit on their stoops for hours, laughing at you while they watch you try to parallel park. But for this guy, it meant something just short of spying. We should have known something was wrong when he threatened at the lease signing, "you wouldn't want to meet my friend Red" if we failed to pay our rent on time. Long story short, this turned in to a year of tiptoeing around our own apartment, never having a party, and breaking down our own boxes and salting our own stoop when it snowed. Not to mention the somewhat exotic varieties of mold that came with the bathroom and the oven you had to risk gas poisoning to use. Matt and I are nice people, and we don't want to upset anyone, so we stuck it out, happy to be with each other and trying to make a first home the best we could (also, the landlord threatened to sue us if we broke our lease). But after almost a year, we couldn't take it!

So, last week we moved in to a place, still in the neighborhood, that to us is nothing short of perfect. This one features:

-Brand new appliances, including our own washer and dryer and central heat and air

-bamboo floors

-a dual flush toilet!! What!!?

While our first apartment was just a starter and worked for what it was (I guess it wasn't that bad...), I feel so lucky to finally have a home with Matt and Violet that matches us: happy, functional, perfect.