New Digs

We have officially lived in our new apartment for one month, and we are finally settled in.  Everything is in its proper place and it feels like we're at home.  I tried to document the move-in process as much as possible.

Before - The few days before our belongings arrived felt more like urban camping.  We slept on an air mattress in the living room and ate take-out on paper plates.

Kitchen

Living Room

Office

Bedroom

Middle - Once the movers had come and gone, we were left with the chaos of simultaneously unpacking, organizing, and living.

Kitchen

Living Room

After - Now that everything is organized and put away, I feel like I can breathe again!

Kitchen

Living Room

Office

Bedroom

16 Hours

For the last week and a half before we moved, Vincent had been living in New Jersey while Colbert and I manned the fort in St. Louis.  Since our new apartment wasn’t available until November 1^st, Vincent stayed at my aunt’s house about 40 minutes from Seton Hall.  He flew back to St. Louis on Tuesday of last week so that he could drive with me and Colbert back to New Jersey.  Tuesday night, after the movers had removed all of our belongings and sent them on their way to New Jersey, Vincent arrived to a completely barren apartment.  We picked up Chinese food, ate standing up at the counter, and talked quietly so our voices wouldn't echo too much with all of our furniture gone.

At 5am on Wednesday morning, we got up, packed the few remaining items, loaded the car, and shut the door for the last time.  As we began our adventure, Vincent and I were talking so much that, as we realized much later in the drive, neither of us paid attention as we passed by the St. Louis Arch.  I wish I had thought about it and made a point to look at it as we left.  One of my best memories of St. Louis was the day we arrived over 5 years ago, approaching the Arch and marveling at its size and grandeur.  I’m glad that we had the chance last month to act like a tourist in our own city when my college roommate and her husband came to visit.  We went to the Arch, saw a Cardinals game against the Cubs (one of the games the Cards won to give them the wildcard!), and ate at some of our favorite St. Louis restaurants.  It was the perfect culmination of 5+ years of St. Louis, especially since Vincent and I didn’t have time to do any of those things once we started the relocation process.

The 16 hour journey eastward was pretty uneventful aside from some major cuteness on Colbert’s part.  I had stuffed our down comforter in between the backs of the front seats and the foot of the back seat of my car, which Colbert quickly discovered was quite the comfortable head rest.   

Our time in the car was divided almost equally between staring at Colbert snuggling up in the comforter and speculating about our lives in New Jersey.  Usually these conversations resulted in the conclusion that we can’t plan anything until we have all the facts, something that’s very difficult for two planners to accept.  Hopefully I’ll find a job in architecture soon, but in the meantime, I am getting to know our new area, and Vincent continues to enjoy his new job at Seton Hall.

Swimming in Boxes

I have been without internet since Monday, so I have a lot to fill you in on regarding The Great Move of 2011.  Currently I’m camped out at Panera, taking full advantage of their free wifi.  We hired movers to both pack our belongings and move them to New Jersey.  Best money ever spent.  The packers came on Monday, and they finished packing all of our stuff in 4 hours.  A year and a half ago, when we packed for our move to the new apartment in St. Louis, it took me and Vincent over a week!  After the packers left, I felt like I was drowning in boxes.  We don't even have all that much stuff!  Needless to say, Colbert was not happy with the situation.

Tuesday, the guys came to load all of the packed boxes and the remaining bulky items into the truck.  This process should have only taken a little over 3 hours, but getting the fridge out of the apartment took an extra 2 hours!  Now we just have to wait to receive it all on the New Jersey end.

Goobye Table, Hello Chair

Craigslist is such a wonderful creation.  I posted a description and photos of our dining table at 9pm on Tuesday, I received 7 or 8 responses about it within the following 12 hours, and it was sold and out of my possession by 8pm on Wednesday.  All that remains is the carpet we bought specifically to go under the table in our current apartment, on which Colbert now enjoys lying.  Our new apartment in New Jersey has a large eat-in kitchen and no dining room, so we decided that we’d rather take up more space with storage than table.  Fortunately (or unfortunately for Colbert), our new apartment also has hardwood floors, so the carpet will get put to good use either in the living room, office, or bedroom.

 

 

Encroaching on Colbert’s carpet-lying space is a new-to-me Eames Aluminum Group Chair, which had resided in the architecture office that I worked at for almost 2 years up until yesterday.  When I came in to work for my last day on Friday, my boss, Brian, generously gave me the chair that I have been in love with since I first saw it and sat in it.  When I started at the office, I instantly recognized the iconic lounge chair, and was pleasantly surprised by its comfort.  This particular chair had been given to Brian’s business partner, Gregory, by a friend who had decided to rid himself of all of his possessions (except for a single plate, knife, fork, lawn chair, cot, and clothes).  Gregory gave the chair to Brian in 1987, and now Brian has given it to me.  I will give it a wonderful home, and perhaps one day in the distant future, I can pass it on to someone else who can appreciate this beautifully designed piece.

New Adventures...

We recently found out that Vincent got a job at Seton Hall University, which is in South Orange, NJ and only about a 30 minute train ride into NYC!  So after 5 years in St. Louis, we're heading back to the East Coast.  We're both really excited about the move, which will happen very soon!  Vincent's looking at apartments on Monday, and we will quickly begin the arduous process of preparing to move halfway across the country.  Fortunately, Vincent is pretty familiar with the area, having gone to undergrad at Seton Hall and spent the year after college interning in the very office that he will soon be working.  

I'm very excited to know where we will be living, particularly so I can starting planning blog topics!  We have been spoiled by St. Louis and its cheap cost of living, and we will not be living in such a beautiful, modern apartment anymore.  It will take some getting used to, but I'm looking forward to the experiences of a new place.  Colbert, on the other hand, would prefer that we did not move.  He's in for a rude awakening in a couple weeks!