Say Hello to my New Address

Welcome back, everyone!  I've been on hiatus for a pretty good reason, but I'm back now, with pictures galore.  Last weekend I moved out of my parents house and into a perfect-for-me-sized one bedroom apartment!!

Here's my front door.  I was delighted to find out that my apartment is on the second floor near the front of the complex.

This is the view from my balcony door.  The church next door has a pumpkin patch!

I spent most of Friday taking a few loads of boxes and smaller furniture over in my car.  Mom met up with me for the last load, and it went much quicker!  After organizing and planning where some of the big furniture was going to go, we had beers on the veranda.

I'm so glad to be on the backside of the building, facing the church instead of another apartment building.  It's so peaceful and relaxing, and I get morning light instead of squinty sunset light.  After that I locked the door for the night and we went home to get dinner and wait for Andrew to get home from Nashville.  He decided moving weekend would be a good one to come home, and I sure was appreciative.  I'll also take this time to give a shout-out to my Starbucks co-workers who helped me cover my Saturday and Sunday shifts!

Andrew got home around nine or ten and we stayed up late talking about movies and stuff.  The next morning we all went to Kaldi's for much-needed coffees before loading up the cars.  Dad was able to get a bigger van since ours was laid to rest a few months ago (remember the crazy hit-and-run?!), so he and Mom left to go pick up the couch I had bought a few days earlier at a thrift store.  Andrew, Taylor, and I loaded up three cars-worth of stuff and caravanned down Lindbergh to meet them there.

Dad left shortly after to go get the bed while we unloaded the three auxiliary cars.  When he got back we set up the bed and decided to go to Amigo's for a late lunch and margaritas!  We got a spot on the back porch because the weather was so lovely.

After that we split ways for the afternoon.  I stopped at Target for those last minute move-in necessities like trashcans, a shower curtain rod, silverware, a starter set of dishes, and other such items.  I also found a throw blanket on sale to cover the couch!  By the time I got everything taken in and unpacked, it was time to go home and get ready for dinner.  

Dad was playing music so we ended up just going down to PJ's, our standby bar-food place.  We went home and hung out for a bit before going to bed.  We all slept in until about ten the next morning and hung out for a couple hours before Andrew got on the road.  It was really fun having him home, and I'm glad he got to see my new space.  He and Juliana will be back for the holidays so they'll get to see it all set up too!

Taylor came over on Sunday to help hang the curtains in my bedroom.  It was difficult because the plastic shade apparatus above the glass door was so big, and the studs weren't so easy to find, but we figured it out. That was my first night staying over, and I slept really well!  And over the last week I've slowly been getting things more organized and unpacked.  Between work and trying to keep up with homework I can only do a little here and a little there, but it's starting to come together.

I have really great closet space, which I am taking full advantage of.  This one is in the hall and is a walk-in with hanging bars on both sides!  And I have another double-sliding-door closet in the bedroom.  So far I have most of my clothes in this closet but kept my work clothes separate in the other one.

Here is my make-up area in the bedroom.  I decided not to bring a dresser and try this square shelf thing I got for my downstairs summer room at home.  So far it's working pretty well.

This bookshelf and stool were thrifted.  Don't they look great next to the Middle Earth map?

And it wouldn't really be my apartment without lots and lots of little Christmas lights hanging from the ceiling.  

I found this really awesome table at a thrift store but the top looked like it belonged to an artistic fairy because it was covered with little stains and splotches of glitter.  Andrew sanded down the top so Dad could stain it a nice new color.  I can't wait until it's ready!

The other day I went to an antique mall and found two french-looking velvet chairs: this dusty pink one and the blue-green one in the bottom picture.  And of course I hung lights in the living room too!

So far I am absolutely loving the apartment life.  I can't wait until everything is unpacked and set up so then I can start having people come visit.  I'm planning a holiday party or two.  Ooh!  That's another thing that will be fun; Christmas decorating!  I hope you all had a nice last few weeks, and that the shifting weather isn't making you sick.  The guy from Charter is supposed to be out on Wednesday to set up my internet, so hopefully there won't be such a long delay before the next post!

(photos by e.hunt, r.hunt, and g.hunt)