On the Hunt Again

 I'm on the apartment hunt again! This time, I'm finally moving out of the neighborhood where I've lived for almost 7 years (!!!) I love my neighborhood but I'm ready to go. I've been looking at places on the FAR FAR other side of the city, which is a huge pain, but it's a great neighborhood and I think it's time for a change. Unfortunately, as always, apartment hunts are a huge pain, especially with roommates with differing schedules and preferences. Tension always ensues. As I remember from Egypt, it's pretty all-consuming when you're doing it by yourself, too. But on the bright side, you get a glimpse at the kinds of places that people live in all around a vast city.

 Notice how this toilet is at an angle to the wall? THIS MADE NO SENSE. Also, talk about all-white.

 World's tiniest kitchen. I LOVE IT but don't think I could find a roommate who would. But it was a great location. I'd live there, but I have low standards, apparently.

 Oh god, this place was beautiful. Old building, vintage features, lots of sun... but it's also practically in the suburbs it's so far from the center of the city. I am not a New Yorker, therefore, I do not have to live in the Arctic Circle to get reasonable rent. But oh, how I long for this apartment.

 LOOK AT IT'S CUTE SUNROOM! (look at my faithful apartment search - helping friend! the best kind of friend!)

 The kitchen is half-janky, half adorable vintage. It's got no cabinets, but a huge pantry with a window, random shelving, an ancient metal sink, a new stove (actually not yet installed...?), old linoleum but adorable back porch. I don't quite know what to make of it.

It's in a really cute building! In a really random far-away neighborhood! I don't know what to do!!!

Ok, here's another place. It's so hard to tell if a place is nice when random people's stuff is all over the place. Is this a reasonable kitchen? I do not know. BUT the doorway to the outside was taped across the bottom and super old-looking, making me think: drafty, icky, bad. I have a high tolerance for old and crappy apartments, but... life is short.

What's hilarious to me is that this was obviously a Muslim family, but what tipped me off wasn't the Arabic wall-hangings but the sectional sofas. What is it about putting seating all around every wall? The one time I went to an actual Egyptian's apartment, they had this going on too, and it worked because they had like 20 relatives over chilling out in the room. Behind the somewhat excessive seating, you may be able to see from my crappy pictures that there is a lot of windows going on here-- on THREE sides of the room. Awesome. I would lose the curtains.

Again, cute building. Also, it was on like the only hill in the city, which was kinda cool.

Happiness

I'm not sure if this video upload will work. I like the flash of green light, though. I took this on a loooong bike ride back from work one windy day, earlier this spring. It was just so beautiful out, and one of those days you feel so full of life you can barely contain it.

Finals

I love finals week because it is a time to be totally self-absorbed and coked-out on caffeine, a sensation I always strangely enjoy. Today I felt entitled to ignore people I recognized but didn't feel like talking to, because I was too busy muttering to myself about WHERE DID THAT REFERENCE GO. I should do that more often (the ignoring, not the muttering).

I hate finals because I get no sleep and still have to go to work and care about people and not sleep on the floor or otherwise embarrass myself.

But mostly, I like the single-minded focus about it. Obviously I'm procrastinating, but spending days obsessing over one paper or major idea has such an appeal. I've written before about how great it is to really focus and relish in an activity, even if it's kind of unpleasant. I think that this kind of concentration and mindfulness leads to creativity, the state of "flow" that you always hear about. Sometimes paper-writing is like pulling teeth, but its ok to let that happen too.

Scope out my 1 am lifestyle!

 

Pretty awesome, huh? Bet you wish you were here too! 

Flea Market

I went to some insane flea market out in the suburbs with my roommate on Sunday morning. I got some random stuff- yarn, an alligator pin (now all my clothes are Lacoste!), some "Maine Woods" brand lace-up hipster/Laura Ingalls Wilder boots, an ice cream cone.

But MOST IMPORTANTLY I got this dress!

OH MY GOD!!

It's Diane Von Furstenberg, which I know enough about fashion to know "designer" if not the trendiest thing in the world or like Chanel, this baby retails for $325. And it's sold out on Bluefly (picture source) so ha! I got it for $15. I got it because it screams MIAMI BEACH!!!! And it's the skankiest thing I own. Especially because it's like stretch silk, and size 0 and I am skinny but no size 0. Who is anyway? So it doesn't really look like it does on this mannequin. I don't know if I should keep it (roommate says "wear it to graduation") or sell it on ebay. Cash rules.

Oh my god, I love this dress. This is the first designer thing I've owned. I guess I have a Guess coat but that doesn't count. DVF has been a judge on Project Runway, so you know she's legit!

Man Repelling, Losing Stuff

I went on two trips out of town in two weekends and now I have more work than I can handle and a court date on Friday! Caffeinate!

In other news, I'm into The Man Repeller. I thought I wouldn't like it because it's about a hip(ster?) New Yorker who has expensive clothes but WHO AM I KIDDING I LOVE THAT SHIT. If you see someone giggling uncontrollably in the oh-so-quiet library, that's me. Hiiiiii.

Anyway, the girl behind the man repeller is oh-so-funny and into clothes that men hate, like mismatched loud prints and culottes and rompers and harem pants and nary a defined waistline in sight. I have more traditional taste but I like the attitude.

A classic man-repelling outfit by me, earlier this spring. Shapeless tunic, check; baggy cardigan, check; topknot, check; excessive scarf, check. Sexyness? Nope.

On one of my weekend trips I lost my black cardigan. I used to wear it like 3 times a week and took it on every trip I went on during its life in my wardrobe, but now it's gonnnnne and I'm sad. The rental car company can't find it and my friends deny having it and it isn't in my room anywhere and I'm going crazy. I know it's "just stuff" but ugh, it was so perfect and did I mention it goes with everything? I think I'll go home and tear my room apart again. Maybe it's under my bed or something. Maybe it went to join my other fuzzy sock (RIP, snowflake socks) or that awesome plaid fedora I got at a thrift store in Wisconsin and used to have as a rain hat (umbrellas are just too much work) and now I have to use the hat that looks like "some dorky Annie Hall shit" (thanks, T, you're the sweetest) except my Bosnian coworkers think its adorrrrrable! This hat is a brown brimmed kinda floppy hat I got from grandma and I made a pink felt rose and safety pinned it on during a weird Anthropologie-feuled craze for embellishment I was having. I still leave it on because it gets comments like "spring-like" and "so feminine!" and (this is gonna sound bad) foreigners love that kind of thing. I think I mentioned before how Egyptians just went nuts for my brightest, patterny-est, crazy-pants-est skirts. So, to tie this all together (see how I did that?) man-repelling clothes are Bosnian or Egyptian- attracting clothes, and that's how I like it.

Here's a picture of the cardigan, the weekend just before it disappeared. Also note my awesome man-repelling face, hah.

I HATE LOSING THINGS.

I left ANOTHER thing on my last trip, a kinda silly but weather-appropriate short khaki trench-like weird-nylony jacket that is from Limited or something but I got at a yard sale. It was all professional and spring-like so I'm sad I left it but in return I got a sweet way-too-big San Diego lifeguard sweatshirt so I can repel the men some more. Nothing like swapping your girly narrow-waisted light coat for a giant hoodie.

The source of the hoodie, pictured above through New Orleans twilight and headlight glare.

Domestic Concerns

Today was pretty horrible and depressing, despite a middling to good day at work, I was ridiculously tired and irritable and impatient coming home. So I cured it the best I know how: a long bath (with school reading to feel virtuous), laundry (new Unique purchases! finally got the plain white button-down every style person seems to think should be a staple of every woman's closet), some cleaning and straightening up, cooked up some healthy food (chickpeas and chard, with onion, garlic, and garam masala) for dinner and for two small lunches in the future, mended a couple things, made some dye from the red chard stems (don't quite know what to do with it, since I added vinegar it might not really work as a food coloring), and orange juice.

I sound so boring! But really, puttering around the house is a great way to cheer myself up on a dreary day. And tomorrow is supposed to be much warmer so I'm taking hope.


 Took the picture a couple weeks ago on a pretty sunny evening.

Sick Cure

I got sick a little while ago. I'm better now, and I submit that this is why: I stopped drinking coffee, drank like a gallon of orange juice, and forced myself to chew a garlic clove before bed. I also drank a special drink made of hot water, lemon juice, jaggery, garlic, and cayenne. Lots of cayenne. If that can't cure your cold, there is really no hope for you.