Floor Pizza

So, I mentioned that I had signed a lease on an amazing apartment a few weeks ago, and last night I picked up the keys! I was a little nervous that it had somehow all been a scam (hey thanks for the thousands of dollars, you naive midwesterner) or that the apartment would be different than I remembered it. Luckily, neither of those nightmares came true, and I'm happy to report that it is just as I remember, if not better.

First, I took a minute to check all of the fixtures, drawers and appliances to make sure nothing major was broken (it wasn't). I flushed the toilet, opened the windows, looked in crevices, turned on the burners — everything checked out, thankfully. I was terrified that I would find thousands of cockroaches or a rat in the toilet, but aside from some dust it was surprisingly clean. Then, I spent a few minutes just walking around, picturing where all the stuff is going to go and imagining living there for the next year.

I decided that the occasion called for a bit of a celebration, so I headed across the street to Mama's Pizzeria and ordered an individual pizza to go. I had Mama's a few time when I was here in the winter, and I had been pleasantly surprised to find out that it was literally across the street from the apartment. While I was waiting for my pizza, I actually heard the employees talking about how Johnny Depp had just eaten there LAST Sunday. Like, the Johnny Depp. Right across the street from my apartment. There are no more words.

I took my pizza and my Snapple back to my new Johnny-Depp-adjacent apartment, and sat on the floor watching Gilmore Girls on my laptop. I won't have furniture until after Labor Day (and I'll be staying in my sublet until then), but it's already starting to feel like home. It's incredible to finally have a place to call my own, especially since I've spent the first half of this year bouncing from place to place. I've moved five times to four different places since January. I can't tell you what a relief it is to finally start to feel settled again after a rough few months.

I decided to walk back to my sublet, because it was a beautiful night and also because there is no great way to get from one to the other. I walked around the neighborhood for a bit, familiarizing myself and making a mental note of restaurants to try and happy hour times.

I couldn't resist stopping at Pinkberry on Broadway and 112th  — finding an apartment was stressful, hard, and confusing — I wasn't ready to stop celebrating. Once I get settled (and actually have some furniture), I plan on throwing a more proper house-warming, which I'm looking forward to immensely. I love putting together parties and cooking for friends. I'm so happy to have a space for that once again, even if it's a tiny one.

But there was also something wonderful about being there alone, just me, my pizza and my new keys — I think we're all going to be very happy together.