Welcome to the Nuthouse

I am about to spend my first night in my new apartment. It is awesome, which is all that's kept me all day from killing something. I am a total pig and I do not know how to organize or maintain order. When my mom saw just how bad my old apartment had gotten, she decided that there is no way a person could live how I was living without it being a sign of a deeper problem and that I need to go into therapy about my messiness as a sign of self-hate or something. But my cousin was there helping and was wonderful, both in getting shit from point A to point B and in maintaining a basic level of sanity. NBF came later to help get things from the U-Haul into the new place, and he was one part brawn, three parts security blanket. Once the U-Haul was empty, we all (two parents, NBF, cousin, Me) went out for Thai, and as NBF poked me repeatedly with a satay stick, my parents quietly freaked out and threatened his life if he physically abused me. WHAT? Yes, my parents are crazy. Either that or all of my more playful friendships are abusive and I should have been locked up in a padded cell years ago for my piggy disorganization.

movin' on up

I'm moving! They were going to raise my rent by $45 a month so that I'd be paying $840 (including my $25 monthly pet rent and heat, but not gas or electric, which run me an average of $45/month). My apartment is tiny, an ok size for a studio in this area, but not a lot of room to breathe, and my neighborhood has become significantly more yuppie/frat boy in the two years I've lived here. I started apartment looking on craigslist and I also used Chicago Apartment Finders (it's a free service and I used them to find my current place), and then my landlord agreed to raise my rent to only* $815 and moving is a pain in the ass, but today I saw this place that is triple the size of my current apartment and completely beautiful and charming and half a block from the beach. It's way the hell north, up by the Jarvis stop in Rogers Park, but I like the feel of Rogers Park a lot and the immediate neighborhood is super-cute and the specific apartment has a living room and dining room in addition to a bedroom probably the size of my one room now. Oh, and the whole thing is like $800-$820 a month with all utilities and dog rent included and the building is wired for cable that most apartments can tap for free. And we met a number of other residents and they were all extremely nice and around my age (give or take) and I want it. I couldn't sign anything today, but theoretically when they open on Monday I'll get to stake my claim. Fingers crossed.

For those of you who have previously been afraid to visit me thanks to my current mess and dog, this apartment would allow me to keep my mess and dog in a separate room from company. I could have company! I could be social! Amazing!