Snels and the City: The Prequel Ends and the Real Story Begins

I know its been a while since my last post where the promised updates on my apartment search, but I promise the delay has been for a good reason - I am currently sitting on my patio on the upper east side of Manhattan, enjoying some fruit and wine while writing this post to you. I guess you could say that my apartment hunt went successfully! I am IN LOVE with my adorable studio apartment - workable kitchen, exposed brick, wood floors, 1st floor, great neighborhood, 5 minute walk from my longest friend in the city (of anywhere actually), quiet streets at night and BONUS a huge private fenced patio with foliage growing up the adjacent wall. Not to mention the rent is very reasonable and I avoided a broker fee. Now, I do not recommend you follow my approach for apartment hunting, I am very fortunate that serendipity was smiling upon me.

Work in progress but Patio Garden!

Here's what happened. In the hours and hours I spent distracting myself from studying for the bar exam with online apartment hunting, I came across some listings by a management company, Eberhart Brothers, in the upper east side and saw a listing with a private garden. Obviously I clicked that right away. I looked at it probably a hundred times and wept internally because the apartment was available "immediately," had been listed for two days and would be gone by the time I got to New York and could move in August. It kept nagging at me though, because from everything I could tell, this was the apartment I was looking for. After talking to my family about how I had found "the one" and sleeping on it for a night, I decided to call the management company and talk about my options. I ended up putting an application in on the apartment and trusting my friend to view the apartment for me, placing my future living fate in her hands. She face-timed me from the apartment and we both loved everything we saw - especially the patio. So, considering the patio, my friends approval, the characteristics of the apartment, the price, the availability and ease of working with the management company, the location and my insatiable need to get on up to the city I decided to take the apartment without ever seeing it. I found out on June 27th that I would be taking the apartment with a lease starting July 1, packed my boxes over the weekend and flew to New York with my cat Milo to start this new chapter in my life.

Good news - I was happy with my apartment when I saw it. I won't lie, I took a rather sharp inhale when I first saw the size, but it quickly passed and I have been so excited to make it everything I have envisioned for so many months. Luckily, everything has gone smoothly, almost too smooth. From my flight arriving early and having the third bag off the plane to walking up to my apartment from getting coffee as a "signature-required" set of boxes was being unloaded, I could not have asked for better circumstances. Yes, keeping up with my studying for the bar exam has been hard, but enjoying a cup of coffee and breakfast in my patio garden really makes reviewing crim pro a whole lot better.

Lessons I've learned from living in the city thus far:

The 6 train at 6 pm is my worst nightmare and manners will get you nowhere. If time permits, walk in the opposite direction to catch the 4, 5 or 6 or push, shove and hold on for dear life.
Don't buy more than you can carry - still working on this one. I failed at anthropologie, groceries and walked 24 blocks with a printer in the rain because I ran out of time to go back to my apartment before yoga.
Smoke alarms are a nice idea, but not necessary,

My smoke alarm is inconveniently about 3 feet from my gas oven. Its a really nice smoke alarm that not only sounds an alarm, but shouts "fire, fire, fire" every time I turn my oven on.... that sucker is coming down asap.

Make friends with delivery people. Claudio, my UPS guy is amazing. Only send me things via UPS. He brought all my boxes I had shipped from Florida into my apartment for me and explained to me what to do if I wasn't going to be around for a package and how to get in touch with him. The next day, I was enjoying my patio and didn't hear the intercom for the Fedex guy - never fear Claudio helped him out and took care of the package for me.
Never go anywhere without headphones.
Amazon prime is my best friend. Sure I pay $x a year for free two day shipping - but that 2 day shipping is sometimes one-day shipping in New York including Saturday and Sunday delivery. It has provided all of my necessities and "i'm too lazies."

Turkey, mixed greens, persimmons
bell peppers, red onion w/ orange vinaigrette

A quick note on food, because that's all you care about. First of all, shout out to The Little Beet - a delicious quick stop for healthy and paleo friendly meals where I scarfed down grilled chicken, roasted broccoli and roasted sweet potatoes, which they made without cheese for me upon request. Second, shout out to Tacombi cafe El Presidente for 1) being delicious - I had the chorizo, beef and cactus tacos and 2) allowing me to justify my first deviation from Paleo (albeit still gluten-free) by trying cactus for the first time. As to my own food, I have been crushing the salad game lately. Having my fridge stocked with only fresh vegetables and fruits makes putting salads together really fun and colorful. Plus I've gotten in a groove with dressings - current favorite is an orange vinaigrette with olive oil, orange juice, dijon mustard, ground fennel, salt and pepper. My general dressing formula is: