...But this is where we'll ACTUALLY be living!

Scott and I have to keep reminding ourselves that we've only been here two weeks. Two weeks! Crazy! It feels like it's been much much longer, mostly because we've been packing in lots of activities and cramming our noggins full of new sights and sounds.

And also apartment hunting. Oh, apartment hunting.

It's been exhausting. It's been several years since Scott and I had to look for an apartment, and I don't think either of us were prepared for how mentally and physcially exhausting it was going to be. I think we kinda figured we'd scope out a few places and PRESTO! The most perfect apartment would magically fall into our lap.

Instead, we spent the last two weeks (which felt like two months, as we've established) combing Craig's List every half hour, narrowing down which neighborhoods we liked, and looking at far too many bad apartments. There were some good ones ones thrown in there, but honestly, most of the time we would walk in the door and know within thirty seconds whether it would work or not. Usually not.

But at last, finally, and even somewhat magically, we found it:

Oh, um, we're not actually renting the whole place. Just one of the units inside. And our unit is on the other side of the building, facing south. Check it out:

P.S. All the pictures I took on my camera came out really crappy, so these come to you courtesy of Dooley & Company Realtors. Our realtor was a dapper fellow named Bradley, who we adored. 

We had a few key criteria for an apartment. Foremost and utmost, we wanted a place that felt like us and that fits this new stage of our lives together. This is how the Bynner Street apartment felt to us when we first walked into it five years ago, so we were looking for that same, "Ah, this is home" feeling.

We also really wanted our apartment to be within walking distance of a good number of things, like a grocery store, parks, a coffee shop, and a few restaurants. We wanted it to be within biking or bus distance of other cool parts of town and friends. In a nutshell, we wanted to be able to get around without having to drive everywhere.

This apartment is an old brewery that has been converted into condos. The building is in a part of town called, appropriately enough, the Brewery District. It's just south of downtown and adjacent to German Village. (Note to Jana and Troy: Even if we weren't already planning on doing it, I think living in a place like this would require getting into homebrewing, right?!)

Some more material requirements were a good kitchen (for me), including a gas stove. I would have made do with an electric or a glass top if everything else about the apartment was perfect, but...luckily I don't have to!

We also wanted a washer and dryer in the unit (or at least in the building) because Bynner Street spoiled us and we just can't do laundromats anymore. We wanted enough room to be able to entertain and have overnight guests (that's YOU! Come visit!). We wanted good natural light. Scott also asked that the apartment NOT have a clawfoot tub. The man's particular about his showering environs, nuff said.

Oh, and we wanted stripper poles:

Just kidding, mom! Tee hee hee! 

But really, we got to this room, which is the master bedroom, and Bradley the Awesome Realtor says, "Lots of storage space over there. A walk-in closet over here. Oh, and of course, built-in stripper poles." There was a slight pause, and then Scott and I busted out laughing. We want Bradley to be our bff.

So anyways, that's it! That's our new digs! Or what will be our new digs in a few weeks. We move in July the First, providing the moving company can deliver our stuff then.

A few other questions that might come up:

1. That random window in the side of the wall in the pictures of the living room/dining room area actually goes into the second bedroom. The master bedroom is above the living/room dining room area. It's hard to describe, really. You'll just have to come visit.

2. Yes, we can have a cat! The place was originally advertised as "no pets," but we begged and wheedled and pleaded, and the owner was like, "Oh, a cat? Sure, that's cool." So, yay!

3. One of the only downsides of this place is that there's no private outdoor space. I was really hoping to have a little garden, but alas, this will have to wait. Honestly, there were so many other great things that we loved about this apartment, I was ok with making this one compromise. I might see if there are any nearby community gardens. Or I'll just sneak into Faith's backyard and pull weeds by moonlight (Faith, you've been warned). But all in all, I'm not too upset about this.

4. Scott's commute will probably be a little under an hour, which seems shocking but isn't so terrible since it will be all highway and no crazy Boston neighborhood traffic. This was also a compromise we decided to make so that we could live in the city. Not knocking Marysville or any of the smaller towns closer to the Honda facility, but they're just not for us.

Um, that's it, really. We can't wait to move in! Eep!