I am happy to be writing to you from the comfort of my own home this week, snuggled next to Marcus with Brandy at my feet. It's surprising I survived the past 3 weeks, and I know a lot of you are seriously questioning where I am right now in my life.
To start, I'll bring you back to 3 weeks ago, when I found out my roommate was breaking her lease and I would have to find a new place. I knew I'd have to move out soon, but 3 weeks ago I found out I had to be out by the end of the month...only the funny thing is I was coming home for a week and a half, so I really had 16 days. 16 days seems like nothing, but as I soon found out, 16 days is a great amount of time to find a new home.
I immediately started contacting everyone I knew--friends, family, friends of friends, acquaintances of friends--literally everyone I knew or knew of that lived or had connections in New York. If you received one of those messages and I haven't talked to you in half a decade, sorry, I'm sure you could taste the desperation in my message. Nevertheless, I did meet a lot of new people that my friends connected me with, and although I didn't end up living with any of them, it's so nice seeing and meeting with people that are in similar situations. Finally, I bit my tongue and tried out craigslist, which everyone in NYC claimed was normal and wouldn't lead me to a serial killer's house.
I ended up seeing 6 or 7 apartments within a week, mostly from craigslist. I saw everything from a 6 person, run down UES apartment to a huge, fully furnished apartment in Brooklyn. But as I soon found out, finding a good apartment (or sublease as I was doing) was like Sorority Recruitment--you might pick them, but they have to pick you too. The first few places I saw were open houses, and since I wasn't gung-ho about them having not had much to compare them to, the owners went with much more enthusiastic people than me. I almost locked down an apartment in Queens, but then found out it wasn't going to be long term, and I didn't want to have to go through this again in a couple months.
I was at my breaking point when I lost that apartment, having only a week left before I came to STL. I wasn't eating, sleeping, or doing anything normal, and I finally had a full-blown panic attack at work. But the one thing I've learned about NYC is that everything moves fast--it might get really, really bad really fast, but it will get better again really fast too. The next day I had set up an appointment to see another apartment in Astoria, Queens from a Facebook group (Note: If you're looking for an apt in NYC, I highly suggest joining the group Gypsy Housing). I also saw another apartment in Brooklyn that day, but the one in Queens was perfect. 2 girl roommates, my own bedroom, large apartment right in the heart of Astoria, and it was $300 cheaper than my other option. I was sold. I met with the girl who had the lease in her name, and it became official--I finally had a place to live, and with 5 days to spare!
My next challenge would be to figure out how I was going to move across the water by myself...but that story is for another day. Right now, I'm just happy to be home, cuddling with my dogs and visiting with my friends & family. I just had a blast at my Greek mom's wedding this past weekend, and I'm looking forward to a fun, relaxing weekend at home. Stay tuned for my next installment, and if you're in the STL I hope to see you soon...
xoxo,
Ms. Manhattan
To start, I'll bring you back to 3 weeks ago, when I found out my roommate was breaking her lease and I would have to find a new place. I knew I'd have to move out soon, but 3 weeks ago I found out I had to be out by the end of the month...only the funny thing is I was coming home for a week and a half, so I really had 16 days. 16 days seems like nothing, but as I soon found out, 16 days is a great amount of time to find a new home.
I immediately started contacting everyone I knew--friends, family, friends of friends, acquaintances of friends--literally everyone I knew or knew of that lived or had connections in New York. If you received one of those messages and I haven't talked to you in half a decade, sorry, I'm sure you could taste the desperation in my message. Nevertheless, I did meet a lot of new people that my friends connected me with, and although I didn't end up living with any of them, it's so nice seeing and meeting with people that are in similar situations. Finally, I bit my tongue and tried out craigslist, which everyone in NYC claimed was normal and wouldn't lead me to a serial killer's house.
I ended up seeing 6 or 7 apartments within a week, mostly from craigslist. I saw everything from a 6 person, run down UES apartment to a huge, fully furnished apartment in Brooklyn. But as I soon found out, finding a good apartment (or sublease as I was doing) was like Sorority Recruitment--you might pick them, but they have to pick you too. The first few places I saw were open houses, and since I wasn't gung-ho about them having not had much to compare them to, the owners went with much more enthusiastic people than me. I almost locked down an apartment in Queens, but then found out it wasn't going to be long term, and I didn't want to have to go through this again in a couple months.
I was at my breaking point when I lost that apartment, having only a week left before I came to STL. I wasn't eating, sleeping, or doing anything normal, and I finally had a full-blown panic attack at work. But the one thing I've learned about NYC is that everything moves fast--it might get really, really bad really fast, but it will get better again really fast too. The next day I had set up an appointment to see another apartment in Astoria, Queens from a Facebook group (Note: If you're looking for an apt in NYC, I highly suggest joining the group Gypsy Housing). I also saw another apartment in Brooklyn that day, but the one in Queens was perfect. 2 girl roommates, my own bedroom, large apartment right in the heart of Astoria, and it was $300 cheaper than my other option. I was sold. I met with the girl who had the lease in her name, and it became official--I finally had a place to live, and with 5 days to spare!
My next challenge would be to figure out how I was going to move across the water by myself...but that story is for another day. Right now, I'm just happy to be home, cuddling with my dogs and visiting with my friends & family. I just had a blast at my Greek mom's wedding this past weekend, and I'm looking forward to a fun, relaxing weekend at home. Stay tuned for my next installment, and if you're in the STL I hope to see you soon...
xoxo,
Ms. Manhattan