I moved to Manhattan yesterday. The move itself went swimmingly, and the movers even took Holly Golightly the kitty in the cab with them so she wouldn't freeze in the back and we wouldn't have to take her on the train with us. I gave her sedatives, which was funny, because she was totally stoned all day and kept tipping over when she tried to walk.
My new couch even fit in the apartment without a problem, which had been a constant source of stress for me this week, and my mom and I decided not to help the movers carry all my stuff up the six flights of stairs (I don't have an elevator) and instead began unpacking immediately, letting them huff and puff and blow the apartment down.
Right now, my apartment is mostly boxes, although it's coming together nicely. Because it's so TINY (less than 300 square feet), I have been focused on using all the space I can in creative ways, so it's already a lot more organized than previous apartments. For example, I used an over-the-door shoe rack in my bathroom to hold toiletries, lotion, etc. It looks pretty cool, and it's very handy.
My mom and I walked around the neighborhood a lot already, and the more I see of it, the more I love it. It's really pretty, bustling and diverse. I was a bit worried about the last part -- since it's a relatively rich area, I was afraid there would be nothing but white old people, but so far I've seen a huge range of people. The rich old ladies with big sunglasses and furs are here, but there also are families, lots of racial diversity and plenty of people who don't look like millionaires.
My new grocery store is fantastic; it's tiny, but it has everything I need and really nice employees. This was a surprise to me. I always assumed NYC service workers would be brash, rude and hurried, but I've encountered the most friendly, helpful people everywhere I go. Even at the drugstore, an employee approached me to see if I needed help and spent 10 minutes advising me on face wash.
Right now, I'm sitting in a Starbucks across the street, where I had to pay $10 to use the Internet. Apparently, nothing is free in NYC -- not even WiFi. Sigh.
The only
thing I've gotten for free here so far is windburn. It's really, really
cold, rainy and windy right now.
Sounds like everything is falling into place nicely. I'l let you know the next time I'm in the city.
Posted by: Kendra | February 02, 2008 at 06:02 PM
Sounds good. Glad you are settling in!
Posted by: cami | February 07, 2008 at 05:29 PM