New Digs

Hello! Thank you so much for all for the birthday and housewarming greetings! Simon loved all of the birthday cards, and we both appreciated the well wishes.

I hope you all are doing well, especially after the snowfall we read about online. Glad we are not around for that. Our weather is actually chilly for the rest of week with bits of rain here and there, but it gets beautiful starting on Sunday, so we are looking forward to spending some time in the sunlight.

Since Monday, we have slowed our pace a bit to recover from the weekend, so I thought I would spare you the boring details of packed lunches, running errands, and take-out salads. But last night, we picked up the final two pieces of furniture for the apartment, so I can now give you the grand apartment tour.

We are living at 5600 Wilshire Boulevard, a four year-old building with 284 apartments and a row of retail shops underneath, right across the street from a grocery store. It isn't the prettiest or most charming building on the planet, but it suits our needs for a short term lease very nicely.

Our apartment is a 670 square foot unit in the interior of the building, so we have encountered zero problems with street noise, only occasional neighbor noise and smoke blowing through our open windows.

As soon as you enter the apartment, you are in the kitchen.

It is a full kitchen, with granite counters and lots of cabinet space, two big pluses for an apartment.

The apartment is too small for a dining room, so our "dining room" is a couple of stools pulled up to the island.

I know the stools look a little short, but for the price, it was either those or ones that were two inches from the counter, so we opted not to hover over our food.

Just beyond the kitchen is the living room, which has come together pretty nicely.

We bought the couch & TV stand at IKEA, and Craiglisted the end tables and the huge ottoman, which will double as extra seating when we have guests.

The TV was a good deal from Target. We intend to resell all of this furniture when we leave, same as last time, so we try not to pay too much for anything in case we have to sell at a big loss.

We have a small balcony that overlooks the pool.

We are still hoping to find a bistro set for the balcony, so that we have a place to sit and eat other than the kitchen. But it is not a necessity, so it might be a little while before we find the right set for the right price.

To the left of the living room is the hallway.

Our small hall has our washer and dryer tucked away in a closet, and not much else.

The door on the left is the bathroom. It is spacious. though the floors are hideous and show cat litter too easily.

 One small drawback to an otherwise adequate bathroom. Bonus sink cat!

The bedroom is small, but works well for our purposes.

It wasn't originally supposed to be so colorful, however. We bought the end tables for the living room, but found better end tables on Craigslist, so these were relegated to the bedroom as nightstands. The lamps and bedcoverings are from Target, and the bed frame and mattress are both from IKEA.

Our walk-in closet is not nearly as spacious as the one at our last apartment - in fact, overall the storage space here is much less - but the bed is high enough to store things underneath, which was not the case last time.

And there you have it - our itty-bitty apartment.

Some of you will get an even better look when you come to visit!

As for our schedule - Simon started work yesterday, and is back in the office today, so for now, I am in charge of event-planning, ticket-fetching, Craigslisting, apartment-cleaning and dinner-making. Tonight, Simon needs to finish catching up on his homework, and tomorrow afternoon he has class.

On Friday, we are going to see The Mindy Project at Paleyfest, and then afterward we are meeting up with our friend Dale for a drink. Saturday, we are going to a farmer's market and then for a walk before a show at UCB in the evening. And Sunday brings another UCB show, with no definitive daytime plans other than to get out and enjoy the city.

Stay safe, and enjoy the snow if that's your thing. If not, my sympathies and deepest wishes it will melt immediately. Talk to you soon!