Exploring the Neighborhood

Today marks the 16th day of life at my new apartment. But with all the traveling I do, you can essentially cut that number in half. In the last two weeks I've flown off to Charlotte, North Carolina, to take a look at an art school, and sashayed my way through West Virginia, where I had to evaluate some new medical programs. When I haven't been touring the not-so-deep South, I've been accompanying my new roommate Jen to Target, IKEA and whatever other big box store can fill our needs. We've bought coffee tables, dishes, a blender, a mixer, speakers, an entertainment center, beer, etc. and we think we have now covered all the essentials. But surely at some point--whether 5 weeks or 5 months from now--we will realize, "Oh, crap, we need a turkey baster" and plan a trip via FlexCar to the nearest Target, where a team of red is waiting to deepen our credit card debt.

The place is starting to become somewhat livable. I attribute some of this to our decision early on to host a housewarming party yesterday afternoon. At the time we had no couch (we're now making do with a loveseat, but seating is still an issue), no food and had not even constructed our beds. Having people over speeds up things. We got our acts together, started up the barbeque out back (we have a patio) and bought Safeway out of burger patties. The place looks pretty good, but we're still adding things. There's no artwork yet, but decorations will come. This is a pretty big thing for me, as I've been living without photographs and paintings on the wall for two years, knowing that I'm in a temporary state but not acknowledging that even waiting areas should have a little bit of charm. If this apartment becomes home it will be because I treat it as such. A little decoration will go a long way.