… they tend not to view that as a compliment. Go figure.
That was a little later on Wednesday, after I’d looked at a few places, including one I went back to Thursday to leave a deposit check and fill out an application form (which was incomplete, which led to phone calls and fun on Friday, but everything was in on time). I expect to know Monday whether it’s mine or not, but I think it’s more a formality now more than anything else.
It’s a nice place, just past a block north of the Woodley Park Metro stop, but equally convenient to the Cleveland Park Metro. Judging from Wikipedia’s pages on those neighborhoods, I will be a resident of Cleveland Park. The building itself has a vague “wedge of cheese with a notch” shape, with this apartment forming a rough “L” at the western cut. DC doesn’t have quite as nice of a neighborhood information page as Live Baltimore (which is to say “nowhere near”), but here’s some info on Woodley Park, and Cleveland Park.
It’s a studio apartment: the living room windows face roughly north and overlook the National Zoo. There’s a fairly decent sized walk-in closet, and the main living space — which, in a studio, is living room + dining room + bedroom — is decently sized. I saw the apartment last week, and it’s still occupied: they fit a queen sized bed, two 4×4 Ikea Expedit units, an entertainment center, and a table into the space: my futon, couch, 2×4 and 4×4 Expedit, and two other Ikea shelving units (the names for which escape me) should fit quite nicely. Also accessible from this space is a walk-in closet: it looks decently sized, although it was packed full of clothes (one of the current occupants is a huge Boston Red Sox fan: stacks of shirts, and hats).
Here’s the really cool thing about this apartment — I mean … besides the view, and besides the location — it has a foyer. A studio with a foyer? Awesome! I mean, it isn’t a huge space, but it’s enough for a small bookshelf or two, and space to hang a poster, and maybe a coat rack … or a sword rack. From this space is accessible a full bathroom and a full kitchen.
The kitchen is actually smaller than the one I have now, and it has the narrowest oven I’ve ever seen: it looks like an easy bake! The apartment also has a dishwasher (yay!) and room for a kitchen cart: someplace to store to the toaster, the microwave, and the George with a butcher-board top for preparing grilled cheese sandwhiches. There’s space past all the appliances — with an east facing window — for a small table (I actually hope I can fit the dining room table I have now: it’s an old and much loved family heirloom).
(Did I mention the apartment building has a roof deck?)
Yes, the apartment is expensive. I had sticker shock: quite a bit of it, actually. But, when you take into account that I’m spending at least $800 a month on my car* — payment, insurance, gas — and plan on selling my car once I’m completely out of my Timonium apartment, I’ll actually be saving money: and enjoying a healthier lifestyle, both for myself and for the environment: Hoorah, walking! Hoorah, mass transit!
Now, here’s what sucks: I’m stuck in my Timonium lease until Monday, June 30th. The latest that my hopefully-new landlords can keep this apartment for me is Sunday, June 15th: not only Father’s Day, but also the day a friend of mine from waaaay back is tying the knot in Annapolis. What this means is not only that I’ll be paying two rents for two weeks, but that I’m also going to have a quick move-in on the 14th: just enough stuff to make the place liveable for that first week (I’ll be alternating between apartments, staying in DC on the nights I work at the p/t job and driving back to Baltimore the nights I don’t), then trying to get all of my moving done the following weekend. I’m really really really not looking forward to bringing the cats down: they hate the cages and will meow constantly for the whole trip. And not just “meow, meow”, but these really long, drawn out “Why are you torturing us?” meows. Hey: it’ll be worth it.
I have a pretty good idea of what I’m going to be taking with me, what’ll be going with my sister to Colorado, what’ll be stored in the basement of my parents’ house, and what I’m going to need to sell … or give away. If you’re looking for bookcases, wall shelves, folding tables, computer monitors, televisions, handguns**, kitchenware, or fans and lamps, keep your eyes on this blog: first chance for all of my “need to be rid of” stuff will be here.
*And I noticed that gas yesterday was about .05 cents higher than it was Thursday.
**Done legally through a licensed gun shop.