I got an apartment!

Apartment hunting is over! I finally found a place that is me. Today was long and tiring. My feet hurt and I might be regretting those two slices of pizza and beer that I had with my broker after we signed all the paperwork. But beyond that, I'm elated. At least until I start thinking of the logistics of moving the rest of me up here. Furniture, guitars, kitchen stuff, books, cat, etc. Oh, desk and chairs. I could just be content to have no furniture for a while, but if I can bring it up I might as well.

Anyway, today's hunting began in Williamsburg with another share I went and saw out of politeness because I had already set up the appointment with them before going to the broker. They were nice people and it was less of a hovel than most places I'd seen. They had a great dog but they weren't counting on other pets. The place was pretty small for two animals and with a cat you always have to consider where the litter box goes. At any rate, after that I walked around Williamsburg for a bit and found a park while walking toward something that, from far off, looked like the Taj Mahal. From the park, I could see midtown, the Empire State building and the Chrysler building among other giants.
I considered going back to Queens to charge my phone but it was already almost four and I would have to turn right around, defeating the purpose of my going home. So I went back into Manhattan, broke a 20 and got quarters in case I'd need to use a pay phone. Piddled around Union Square and then went to meet my broker at six.

The subway route that we needed to take to get to the first place was convoluted and require walking above ground to connect between stations. I was already exhausted by it all and so was my broker, I could tell. The first place ended up being near, almost in, Bed Stuy and the Long Island Railroad. Both details lost it some points. We never got to the see the inside either because there was no one there to let us in as she had expected. We gave it 30 minutes of calling the landlord and knocking on the windows of the other tenants but then gave up. Shame, I liked the look of the outside, but in all honesty, I probably wouldn't have taken it on account of the train being so close. And it being in Bed Stuy.

Moving on, we were to see two in Sunset Park just off the D train. The first one had a very dingy feel to it, even beyond the fact that they were still in the process of painting it and probably were going to replace the appliances as they were crawling with bugs.

There was one last place to go and I was feeling rather put off by the evening's events so far. The last one, was a block away on the other side of the street. Immediately, I could see that I liked the outside of the building much better than the last one. There was an archway with columns that said, at the top, "Leonard Court" or something to that effect. The front lobby of the building was painted a strange hue of light blue and there was very detailed molidng on the ceilings and walls. The doors were a maroon color. My apartment is on the first floor. When I stepped in, I could see that this one, unlike the others I had seen the past few days, was finished and ready to be lived in. It was small but tolerably so and felt like home. I knew right away but I looked it over for a good ten minutes and went over my questions several times. Heat and hot water included, broker's fee, pet friendly, (technically, I may have to put down a deposit but I don't care. I love my cat), utilities, extermination services, how are the neighbors, landlord, the neighborhood (seeing places at night was a great idea, I got a great feel for the neighborhoods like that). I checked all the cupboards and appliances out. I even made sure the windows open.

Then, I said, "I think this is it." I'm sure she was just as relieved as I was. We headed back to the Park Slope office to fill out the paperwork and then she, her colleague and I went out for pizza and beer down the block at a place called Brothers. It was a great feeling. I grinned more than once on the train ride home. Thankfully, I was able to take the N train all the way back. But it's getting colder again here and the wind bites a little more when you turn those corners. I glimpsed a bank marquis as I crossed the Brooklyn Bridge that stated the temperature as 1 degree Celsius.

I have a lot of work to do this week with securing this apartment still. Mainly credit and background and "can I pay for this apartment" type stuff for the actual landlord's sake. And it looks like, since it's a March 1st move-in date that I'm going to be staying with my cousin just a little bit longer and I'll be launching off for my first week of work from here. I don't even want to think about the coordination of it all until tomorrow morning. Wish me luck! I'm off to bed for now.