After 3 sublets, couch surfing in between sublets and 8 roommates in a year I have a beautiful place to call home in Long Island City. The story of how it all happened is crazy (I'm sure that's not news) but I'll get to that later. First, here are some pics of my lovely apartment.
This is how it all came about...I was first on the hunt for a one bedroom/studio in Manhattan. I should have known better but I had lofty ideals and hope in my heart that it would happen. Not only that I would have a one bedroom/studio but it would be somewhere in The Village or close to NYU. I got laughed at by several people but I just knew it would happen. Well, my dreams were completely shot when I started actually looking in the Village and calling a bunch of random telephone numbers that I saw on the street or on apartments. That's the only way I knew how to go about finding a place. I would call and tell them what I was looking for and they laughed at me too!!! They said "Oh you're not going to find anything like that here with your budget." So, then I decided anywhere in Manhattan would be just fine with me and I called a broker my friend gave me. I was addamant about living by myself so I was only looking at studios at this point. I was not getting a roommate because I had been burned so many times and I only had about a week and a half to find a place so I really didn't have time to deal with that mess. You see, since I had to fight tooth and nail to get my loans for school they didn't come in until the middle of August when I should have had them in June. The guy I was subletting from told me the date he needed his room back, August 24th, but I couldn't do anything until I had money so when I finally had it I hit the ground running. That's why I was in such a hurry to find a place and was not looking for a roomie...I had a week and a half or less before I was homeless! Anyway, I called the broker and set up an appointment to look at a studio on the Upper East Side. I was hopeful but when I walked in I was utterly shocked with what I saw. I walked into a cracker box the size of a tiny bedroom yet it included a bathroom, a closet, a kitchen and a floor! WHAT? How do people live in that?! When the broker told me the price was 1600 a month I did everything I could to hold in the tears. He also said flat out, "you're not going to find anything in your price range unless you get a roommate." Luckily, I was meeting up with a potential roommate at noon that day for brunch.
I was talking to my mom earlier in the week and I told her "Mom, if I'm supposed to have a roommate she is going to have to fall from the sky because I don't have time to find one!" Well, she fell from the sky that day because I got an email from a friend of a friend who I had met up with earlier in the summer to see about being roommates. I felt like she was a good candidate so I asked her if she wanted to look for rooms together. Her response was, "Unfortunately my life is a little complicated right now and I wouldn't be able to commit on getting a place together." Basically, when we first met up she told me she was trying to break it off with her boyfriend that she ws living with and wanted a way out. So her first response told me that she decided to stay with him. No big deal, I don't judge, but that's why I was on my own. The same girl that told me no initially, somehow changed her mind and sent me an email that said "I need to get out of my current situation, are you still looking for a roommate." I responded with, "We need to talk about this in person" So we got together that day after I looked at the cracker box for 1600 and had a nice, very honest and to the point conversation. I made it very clear that I needed a roommate and if she wanted to be roommates I needed her to be 100 percent in and not leave me high and dry. I also made it clear that if her boyfriend was going to put her in danger or me because we lived together that I would continue to look on my own. She assured me all would be well, and that she was in it 100%. We immediately started the search, ran into dead ends and tiny places and then I convinced her to look in Astoria where we could potentially get a three bedroom for the price of a two bedroom with a lot more space than we would in Manhattan. Finally, the last night of searching we found a broker to show us a place in Astoria right by the train. It was being renovated and sounded very promising. When we walked into the place we were dissapointed because one room was double in size of the other room and that just wasnt going to work for us. Even though we had little time, we had certain things that were a necessity. Such as, rooms across the apartment from each other so we had our "own space," and the rooms needed to be comparable in size so neither of us had to pay more than the other, and a living room and that was about it. We were not being too picky at all. But this place wasn't the winner. The broker told us he had a place in Long Island City that we would absolutely love and I looked at my future roommate and said "I am not living in Long Island City, no way!" Well, much to my surprise we walked into the apartment and gasped with delight! It was serioulsy perfect! We gave each other a look and then said "yes we will take it" We filled out paper work that night, put down a deposit and then Olivia left the city for a little R&R since everything with her life seemed to be falling apart. There is a catch to the story though. I was supposed to be out of my place by the 24th and this place would not be ready until the 1st. That meant another week of couch surfing for me. Thankfully, my friends Megan and Kendall housed me one more time. Another catch is that my name is not on the lease because my credit is awful! (I somehow need to take care of that....anyone looking to buy a Jeep?) So, that means if Olivia ever decides she wants out, I could potentially be homeless. .. again. But, she gave me her word that she would not leave me high and dry so I trusted her.
Well, in the meantime, while I was sleeping on the couch, my friend Jamie Lough came to visit! We had a blast and I got to show her my new place and then the day she left, Labor Day, I got to move in to my home sweet home! I was so excited. I looked all weekend for a uhaul because I had way too much stuff and didn't have a car. Thankfully, one of my really good friends with a car was available and helped me move. I was so, so, so thankful because that meant less money.
Then began the process of making my place a home and the anxious arrival of my roommate. To make this long story short it ends the way most of my roommate stories have ended....I don't have one! I basically decorated the entire place to my liking with some input from others and lived by myself for a good three months. Then Olivia decided she's not going to move in and wanted to sublease her room. I WAS PISSED!!!!! Thank goodness she kept her word and didn't kick me out. There was a huge debate over a subletter but again that turned out to be a good thing. The subletter is now my new roommate and a gift from God. So it all worked out in the end but gees it was stressful in the meantime and not without a lot of drama! Oh well "There's no place like home" and I'm just glad I have one.
Love,
Miss Gulley in Manhattan
PS I have made some additions to the apartment so I will probably post more pics eventually.
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