The Next Chapter

Did you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving? I hope so! This year I found myself feeling very thankful for my friends, health and family, which sounds so cliché, but after seeing firsthand how suddenly you can lose each of those things over the course of this year, I'm grateful for the good I do have.

So remember the happy news I wanted to share with you before? Well a couple weeks ago A. and I signed the lease for our first apartment together! After the stress that was our first go at it earlier this year, it's crazy how easily things fell into place this time around. Back in April I checked out more than 20 apartments and we couldn't agree on a single one to live in and when we started arguing on what borough to move to, we decided that we should just scrap the idea for the time being. Well this time, we only suffered through a couple crappy apartment showings (I mean really, how on earth do people live in these holes?!) before finding The One. We spotted our apartment on PadMapper.com and immediately made an appointment to see it the following day. When we walked into the apartment, I just fell in love. "I want to live here!" I mouthed at A. while peeking into the bedroom. The space was big and bright, the finishes in the bathroom and kitchen were beautiful, and A., picky as he is, will get the dishwasher he'd been requesting.

Unfortunately, another applicant was also vying for the same apartment so for three days we were anxiously waiting to hear if we won out or not - and we did!

The nice part is that I'll be living near my family in Washington Heights again - and just a couple blocks from where I grew up. Granted, what I've always wanted was to leave the country altogether (I'll get you someday, Paris), but this will totally do. Especially since I'll get an office out of the situation! Squeee! As a freelancer who works from home I honestly think I'm most excited by that than anything else. Well, I guess moving in with my boyfriend of four years will be an awesome bonus, too. The end to these exhausting Bronx-Upper East Side commutes is near! No more picking out an outfit in one apartment only to realize the coordinating shoes are in the other borough. No more schlepping my laptop and supplies to get work done from his tiny studio. Now I'll have my entire life and the person I love under one roof.

While the things I will no longer be doing are extra nice, I'm also thrilled for the new routines we have to look forward to: greeting A. home from work each evening, having the space to make dinner together, going to sleep and waking up together each morning, kissing him off to work for the day, and getting the apartment all to myself for 10 glorious hours. Because now that I'll be living with someone who's yet to develop a taste for holiday music, you'd better believe I'll be taking full advantage of every moment alone.

Aside from being excited over this next big step, we're also having fun going to furniture stores, testing out couches, and envisioning what our rooms will look like once we're settled in. Not going to lie, it'd be way easier if A. just said, "You know what Dorkys? I completely trust your judgement and will let you choose whatever you'd like." But noooo, the man needs to have an opinion on things like dark shower curtains that trigger his never-mentioned-before-now claustrophobia and whether a couch "looks too much like a couch." (WTF?) Still, it's cute to see him get so into chaise lounges and dinner tables because it's never something I thought he cared much about and I want him to feel comfortable in our new space, too. So much that I'm willing to overlook the fact that he wants to install a bench press workout contraption in our supposed-to-be-serene bedroom and a big ass subwoofer for our living room's sound system. Maybe I can throw a blanket over that thing, top it with a vase and call it a side table.

We get our keys this week and start moving in next weekend, but in the meantime I've been bookmarking ideas online because I can't wait to start seeing our new home start to come together. What are some of your favorite places to shop for housewares?

1. Chalkboard Spice Jars | 2. Farmers Market Baskets | 3. Textured Dip Bowls | 4. Two Person Desk | 5. Loveseat and Chaise Sectional Sofa | 6. Aqua and Green Shower Curtain | 7. Entryway Bench | 8. Wood Dining Table | 9. Overarching Floor Lamp | 10. Workstation with Shelves