How can scissors never be where you need them? How do they always move from where you are sure you left them?
Once we made the decision to move we knew two things - this would consumer our summer and the hottest day of the year would be the day we moved. And yes, this did take over the summer and yes the hottest and most humid days of the year happened during our move. (Amazingly enough, for the last week the weather has been nothing less than perfect, and now that we are moved and reasonably unpacked we can get out and enjoy it!)
It all started with Michael reading about good deals on rental units - with so many people losing their jobs, the real estate market has been at a low that he hadn't seen before in NYC. We started looking and found it was relatively easy to find a nice place without using a broker and many places were offering one month free rent, previously unheard of in NYC.
I was really looking to move neighborhoods, stay on the east side of NYC but somewhere more 'trendy'. But we could get a so much more value for our dollar by staying in the Upper East - so we're just a few blocks away from our first apartment. The amenities of a 'full service' building totally swayed my opinion, between the elevators, 24 hour doorman, on-site gym, and roof deck I knew I was done with a charming (yet crappy) walk-up.
We found the perfect apartment on a Sunday afternoon. Sunday night we decided it was the right place for us and Michael called to commit first thing Monday morning, unfortunately it was already gone! We tried our second choice apartment - wuh wuhhh, it was gone too. We then moved to our third choice apartment...it was nice, but under full renovation. It was a mess but all of the appliances and fixtures in the bathroom and kitchen would be brand new. The good apartments were moving fast, we decided to take it and signed the lease hoping it would be ready by move-in mid-August.
The new place is on the 11th floor and has big windows in the bedroom, living room, and even the kitchen. I can see the RFK bridge (formerly Tri-borough bridge) and the East River from the kitchen! The natural light is amazing and KO and cat approved.
View from the living room:
View from the bedroom:
View from the kitchen (you can just make out the bridge in the background):
Now is when it gets fun....time for the actual move.
Step 1:
Enlist cats to help with packing.
Step 2: Remind cats boxes are for packing and stacking, not napping! (And wonder again why you have so much stuff?)
Step 3: Hire movers to take all of those boxes of stuff from old apartment to new apartment.
Step 4: Wonder where are we going to put all of this stuff?
Step 5: Say goodbye to old couch, tv, and desk in style:
Step 6: Say goodbye to old apartment and remember how much you liked it until the door buzzer quit working:
Step 7: Fly in help!
As her birthday present, Michael flew his mom in to NYC to help us unpack. She stayed about 5 days and set up the entire kitchen (contact paper and all)! We went out to dinner every night, saw a show and had a great time while she was here even though she left with sore feet. She unpacked at least 1/3 of the boxes and left us with a functional kitchen and organized linen closet.
One night during her visit we went to High Line Park in the Meat Packing District and had dinner at halfsteak (in the bar area of crafsteak). This was the start of the really bad blisters for Mom Waldron, but that didn't slow her down.
We also spent lots of time enjoying the view from the roof deck.
Even caught a few sunsets on the roof (we can't actually see the sun go down, due to that big building in the background - but maybe as the seasons change the position of the sun shifts we'll get better views).
Step 8: Kristin and Michael get separate closets! Yay! For nice big closets. We're both still working on the best way to organize, but look at the built in shelves (there are shelves in the middle, but you can't see them in this picture) and double bar. I'm in heaven. Michael has a walk-in closet all to himself, he isn't complaining about that turn of events.
Step 9: Have Jason visit to give a second opinion on the comfort level of the new sofa bed. We played and played while he was here, Mets game, new Yankee Stadium tour, adventures pocketbook shopping on Canal St., pub crawl, visit to High Line Park (our new tourist destination du jour), and of course dinner at Brother Jimmy's.
We also hit some balls at Chelsea Piers. It is so much fun, but a pain to get too - just like seeing a Broadway show. Of course any time I go to Chelsea Piers or see a show I always think, 'why don't I do this more often'.....
Step 10: Keep unpacking , keep unpacking, keep unpacking....here is the living room one week after move in. It's still a work in process but the stacks of boxes are getting smaller and smaller.
Step 10: Keep unpacking , keep unpacking, keep unpacking....here is the living room one week after move in. It's still a work in process but the stacks of boxes are getting smaller and smaller.
Our next round of guests are scheduled to arrive in October - and we'll be unpacked, pictures on the wall and ready for hosting.
