And There's Air-conditioning!

It is unnerving to sign a nine-month lease to a tiny apartment you’ve never seen. All the age old city-dwelling horror stories begin rattling through your head--massive cockroaches, bed bugs, mold, terrible linoleum, rusty water, no natural light, alligators in the toilet.

And then there’s our apartment. We have round-the-clock security guards. Elevators. Each floor even has its own laundry room. The hardwood floors glisten, the big windows are north-facing, there’s more closet space than we know what to do with, and even the bed is comfortable. The stove heats things up and the freezer cools them down. The entire place feels fresh and light and clean. We’re still waiting on a few boxes of things, but it’s starting to feel a lot like a home. And—even on the 8th floor—it’s always cool. In this post, I'm going to attempt to take you on a 360 degree tour of our studio.

Our security system.

View number 1 of our narrow-but-utilitarian kitchen.

The other side.

The (almost) whole shebang!

"Breakfast Nook" or "Food Corner"

Travelling left towards the window. A bit of desk.

Close-up of our California pictures.

Shoe corner.

Our pet cat, and Sunnyvale backyard ivy that survived the cross-country flight! Plus, introducing our most beloved new friend, a radiator! Right now it's working as AC.

Devin getting some writing done.

Over to the other wall/entrance to the bath and closet.

Family photos.

The alligator-less loo.

The end of our miniature home tour. Y'all will be invited back when we've filled it with a few more things!

Through Glass

The view from somewhere over Pennsylvania.


Out our hotel room window.


We are officially in the Empire State! In body, at least. Our brains are still very much in vacation mode, and it's difficult to process that this is a permanent--or at the very least two-year-long--situation. Today we ate at Tom's Restaurant of Seinfeld fame (underwhelming), signed our lease, had a New York Slice (whelming), walked two miles through Harlem to get to Target, which was soothingly similar to all other targets ever constructed, and began sorting all of our belongings out of small containers and into big ones. The apartment isn't ready for its big reveal yet as the walls are still naked, so I'll leave you with a brief video Devin shot of the view from our apartment window. Stay tuned to see was has been ominously dubbed by University Housing the "Efficiency Unit!"