More Luck

One of the things that makes me a little sentimental about leaving St. Louis, aside from the fact that I will miss the Botanical Gardens, is that I love my apartment. It is in an old building, with a private entrance, hardwood floors, lots of natural light, and a little sunroom in front that our cats have claimed for their own. We are within 10 minutes' walking distance of dozens of restaurants and shops, including Mi Ranchito, my favorite Mexican place. Our laundromat is half a block away, as is the library and post office, and our gym is about a mile away. Top all of that with the fact that it's very affordable and our management company is great (they are right on top of maintenace issues, and they've been very forgiving the one or two times when life got overwhelming and we forgot to pay rent), and you can see why I am hesitant to leave it behind.

Our lovely little building

While Dan was in Philly for his interview, we decided it made sense for him to stay a couple of extra days and check out apartments in the area. There were several places that could have worked, and luckily they all had availability just a few days before Dan hoped he would start his job. After he got the offer yesterday, we contacted the landlord of the place we were most interested in only hours later. In yet another fabulous stroke of luck, the landlord got back to us right away, indicating that the apartment is still available. We've sent a deposit to hold the place via PayPal, and barring any mishaps, we have one job lined up and a place to live, all accomplished within 24 hours. Score!

The apartment is in the city (not far from Center City), in a lovely, leafy area called East Falls. In addition to having hardwood floors (I would find it hard to go back to carpet at this point), it has extra storage space in the basement and a washer and dryer on site (trust me, these are both a very big deal). It is just steps away from streets full of rowhouses, two blocks from a library in an historic building, less than a mile from an affordable gym, and half a block from the train station (this will make for awesome commuting)! And, unless disaster strikes, we are going to live there!

With a job in place and an apartment waiting for us, everything else seems like it will fall into place. Sure, there is more to do than I would like to think about, and no doubt mishaps will occur, but with those two things out of the way (and so quickly!), it is definitely letting both me and Dan breathe a huge sigh of relief. I can hardly believe we'll be on the way in only six weeks!