JUST GET OFF THIS FREEWAY!

Thursday evening Laura arrived in the evening and with help from Cyndi, Kris and our parents we managed to load almost every little thing into the U-Haul. It was packed tightly with a love seat, a chair and a half, two beds, two mattresses and box springs, my dresser, shelves, lamps, crates boxes and loose clothing in the dresser drawers. It took us probably an hour to load but we were proud of the neat and efficient job we did. Then we met all went to Melting Pot and met Amy and Jason for some goodbye pizza, wings and beer.

Friday morning we all got up as early as we could. We boarded Jake's dog and Laura's friend Katie met us and we hit the road. Laura and Katie took Laura's parents Buick and Jake and I were in the U-Haul. It was a long cloudy drive to NY. Everything went pretty boring at first. Jake and I played 20 questions and Catchphrase and talked. Laura and Katie had gotten a head start on us while we were taking Oren to the kennel so they were about an hour ahead.

We had gotten our directions from Google Maps and Laura and Katie arrived at our new place and called back to us on the NJ Turnpike to clarify some points with us. We pulled into the toll line at the Holland Tunnel and were so close to arriving around 3 at our apartment giving us plenty of daylight to unpack and return the truck. What a good moving day we were going to have. When we got up to the window though the toll taker told us that trucks were not allowed in the Holland Tunnel and we would have to pull forward to the waiting police officers for further instructions. Oh no! We pulled up and the police asked us to open the truck!! Yikes. When opened the only thing visible was mattresses. He asked what else was in the truck and I told him housewares and that we were moving and thankfully he let us go without actually searching it. This is great news and was helped, I think, by my girly behavior when opening the door latch on the back of the truck.

The officer told us we would have to redirect to the Lincoln Tunnel and made it seem to us as though it would be simple and evident when we got there how to get to Brooklyn. He also made it seem like the tunnel was very close by. We followed his directions to get to the tunnel. We trucked along a bit and I got out the handy dandy road atlas mom had stuffed into the truck cab that morning. Of course we missed the tunnel the first time by and ended up way out in NJ, but we got to see the Meadowlands! We stopped at a service station for directions, turned around and finally found the tunnel. We could feel that we were really close to getting there now!

When we finally got through the mayhem at the tunnel we found ourselves in MIDTOWN MANHATTAN. Also there were no signs for the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel or any other thing related to Brooklyn. At all. And we were in a U-Haul! Yikes! I used the map to get us from the tunnel to the other side of Manhattan. The streets were gridded and things were pretty simple so far. Well not simple, we were driving a box truck in midtown Manhattan after all. Now we needed to find a bridge to Brooklyn. I found the Williamsburg bridge on the map and managed to direct Jake there but when we found it we were beneath it. We turned back toward Lower East Side Manhattan and snaked through one ways to get to where the bridge began. We followed signs all the way up to a nice jersey-walled dead end. So we backtracked, backtracked, lefted and righted until we got on the bridge. The bridge led us to the Brooklyn/Queens expressway at rush hour. Awesome. THEN there was a break in the Jersey walls where you had to cut across to go to Brooklyn or stay in the lane we were in to go to Queens. We couldn't possibly make that cut in the U-Haul so I told Jake, its ok, we'll find a way off this freeway and turn back once we were in Queens. That opportunity didn't come to us until we had already hit the Bronx. We got off in the Bronx and then I learned that a general road atlas will not help you find surface streets to get you to your apartment in Brooklyn. I called Laura pretty frantic and she guided me through Queens into Brooklyn.

Now we just had to take one road to a stop light and turn left into our neighborhood. Hallelujah! We could just TELL we were going to be there really soon! We followed the road and just like Laura had told us it led almost right up to our neighborhood but just before we got to where we could turn a car pulled up beside us and shouted that we couldn't go that way. No commercial vehicles and we would definitely get a ticket.

Before I go on I should tell you about the mood inside the cab of the truck. I have a terrific boyfriend and I love him so and he loves me too. However, we came very close to killing each other on Friday. Everything was funny when we couldn't go through the tunnel. It was cool when I accidentally directed us to the Meadowlands. Things were tense through Midtown and nobody was happy around the Williamsburg Bridge but by the time we got on the expressway to the Bronx I was crying and I definitely screamed 'JUST GET OFF THIS FREEWAY' in the kind of tone people usually reserve for phrases like 'SOMEBODY SAVE MY BABY' or 'YOUR HAIR IS ON FIRE!'. So by the time this man shouted up to us that we, once again, would not be able to follow the directions we had to get to the apartment I was just plain desperate. I told him we needed to get to Beverly St and when he told me we'd have to take a service road I shouted down ' Can you LEAD us to Beverly St????'

And he did. He lead us off onto the service road and almost all the way to my street. He got out at every couple lights to come back to the truck and tell us where he was going next and he wouldn't take any cash from us. What an angel.

When we finally got to our building it was dark and Laura and Katie had been there hours, unpacked her whole car and eaten supper. We double parked the U-Haul and unloaded it into the lobby. Laura and I decided to return the U-Haul so that Jake could have a break and so that Laura could use the maps and her superior knowledge of the area to save me from feeling lost anymore that day. So after all that I actually DROVE the U-Haul in New York City myself. Something I never thought I'd do. When we got back to the apartment we were all exhausted. We had some beers and champagne and chatted and played Catchphrase. Then we went to bed for our first night in our new home.

Packing Day Break Time

Oh gosh I have no idea HOW this truck is going to hold our things and Laura isn't here for at least three more hours and all my things are in the yard and Jake's not getting here until tonight and there's so much stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Aaaaaeeeeehhhh!

Time to stop, eat some food for the first time today, and breathe. The power and gas are on for tomorrow and the truck is in the yard. Things are definitely getting taken care of. Oh, looks like its time to take the chair I'm sitting in out to the yard. Yikes.

Ready or not, here we come!

Tomorrow we pack our U-Haul. Friday we drive that U-Haul all the way to Brooklyn. Wowee! I can't believe its time! My mind has been a constant flurry. Do I have this? Does Laura? Do I need that? Can I bring this? Will I have too much stuff for the truck? The kind of worrying where you sit bolt upright in the night and have to hold yourself back from running and finding canned beans or toilet paper or a yoga mat to pack.

Mom and I went to Target tonight and I now have a broom and some curtains and rods and toothpaste and two collared shirts so I can go get a job. I've been temping this week at a Talbots and was able to give a woman there my card (thanks again Amy!!) because her cousin is a recruiter in NYC. Also heard back from a temp agency so I can go in first thing next week and get into the system.

After packing tomorrow we are having a goodbye dinner at Melting Pot and then we're off. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

On your mark, get set, RENT!

We wake up on Friday thinking we have all day to enjoy ourselves now that the apartment hunt is finished. We are wrong. While I am in the shower, Laura hears from Dave the realtor who tells her we can get in to take some measurements and pictures if we can get to the apartment by 11:30. It is already close to 10 so we throw on some clothes and race to the train, no time for breakfast. We get to the building at 11:35 and wait on our stoop. Meanwhile Laura speaks with her dad who is on his way home to fax the necessary documents. While we are still on the stoop, Dave calls back and informs us that since everyone at the management office that rents the apartment is an Orthodox Jew, that office will be closing for all business at 3. Laura calls her dad back and puts a little fire under him.

The Super's wife lets us in to take pictures and measurements of the apartment. We measure, plan and photograph. We still love it just as much the second time. It really is terrific.

As we are coming out Laura gets another call from Dave who gives us an address for the management company, tells us to take a cab so we can get there by 2:30 and to hurry. We walk up to a busier street and try to catch a taxi for quite a while. It is now already after 2. We finally catch a ride and slowly inch our way toward the management office. While we are in the cab Laura realizes she doesn't have any checks to write for our first rent and asks if I can write a check for the whole amount. I certainly don't have that much money in the bank, after writing the deposit check the day before and am depending actually on $300 that Laura owes me to make up what is needed for half. We decide that I will write the check for the full amount and as soon as we leave the management office we will head straight for the nearest Wachovia, where we both bank, take the cash out of Laura's bank account at the window and deposit it into mine. Thankfully, Monday is Yom Kippur so the management company and the realty company won't be posting any checks until Tuesday.

We get to the management office with no time to spare. We rush in, sign the lease, reading bits here and there, and I write the check. I'm pretty sure we finished up there at 3pm. We go out into the neighborhood we just taxied to. Laura starts calling people to find out if someone can tell us where the nearest train is and we begin to walk. Unfortunately there are no Wachovia banks in Brooklyn. There are only maybe 3 in New York City at all and they are in Manhattan. We have 2 hours to get to one. We finally find the train and head in.

We still haven't eaten a thing.

We come out of the subway in lower Manhattan and follow streets to find the address of the first Wachovia but when we get there it is only an ATM. We are very tired and cranky. We go into the nearest business to ask where there is a whole bank and he waves in a general direction to his left and tells us we must take a train. We then circle the block looking for the train and find nothing. We ask some cops where the 2 train is and they give us a look like they've never heard of 2s or trains. We finally find the end of the line down by the Staten Island Ferry wharf and get on. The train sits for at least five minutes before starting because its the end of the line. In the meantime I've been calling mom to ask her to go deposit whatever cash she has just in case but can't reach her anywhere. We are extremely tired, hungry and our feet hurt. Finally we find a Wachovia bank and make the necessary transactions with fifteen minutes to spare. Whew! We hobble over to Papaya King and have hot dogs and fries.

After all that we took the train to Grand Central Station so I could look around. We then walked up Park Ave to Central Park, walked through the lobby at The Plaza and then went back to Drew's. Too much time sensitive drama. I'm glad its all settled now though. Sure hope I can find a job and make my rent by Nov 1!!

Are we in heaven? Oh wait, we're in Brooklyn!

Here I am in the Big Apple. Yesterday was so exciting I hope I can accurately remember all the things that happened.

We got up as early as we could stand, showered and dressed in business wear. Laura had been up a while before me searching apartment listings and had a list of names and numbers for us to call. I texted all my New York contacts to ask which temp agencies were most respected around here. We had hoped to walk in and present our resumes with a smile and a handshake, but unfortunately all the agencies I called wouldn't even speak with us before we submitted our resume online. I'm not real happy about that as without the face-to-face meeting our Virginia addresses will make us seem crazy.

Once we were dressed and ready we walked over to Starbucks to get coffee and start making calls. We set up several meetings with realtors there and decided to head over to Brooklyn before making too many more.

After an uneventful train ride to Brooklyn we were in the neighborhood of our first apartment viewing. The apartment was on Empire Blvd . It was an ugly commercial street but it was very close to Prospect Park. It was next to some businesses like Western Beef and The Gaseteria. It was ugly. The building was non-descript at best, the apartment itself hot and tiny and the views were of a warehouse rooftop and a BP station. Yuck. We looked for less than ten minutes, thanked the guy for showing us and got going.

Laura called Dave, our realtor for the next apartment who told us he was busy at that moment but to hang around the neighborhood until he was finished with his appointment. We took a train over to Beverley Road and got out. The difference between this neighborhood and the last were like night and day. It was around 2:30 so there were tons of moms waiting on corners for different schools to let out. There were churches, houses, apartment buildings and lots and lots of trees! We felt right at home and marvelled at how nice it seemed, especially compared to dumpy Empire. We found the address easily. The building is a yellow 1920s looking apartment building on a wide street of other apartment houses, included one across the street with fairytale towers on its corners. Lots of charm and character already. Since Dave hadn't gotten back to us yet we began to walk around the neighborhood, looking for the closest market etc. We walked several blocks until we came into a vibrant West Indies neighborhood. Jamaican restaurants and food stands, a Caribbean fruit market, tons of Caribbean vendors and music that Laura knew from St Vincent for blocks. Clearly we were really excited. We stopped at a Caribbean indoor flea market and Laura bought a St Vincent bandanna and then we headed back to the building to meet with Dave. We were already in love though.

When we arrived back at the building there was a lost and sloppy looking girl milling about outside. Dave saw us and let us in the front door and she followed. She told him she thought she had an appointment to look at apartment 1G with someone and he directed her to the superintendent's apartment. We followed Dave to the elevator. The lobby of the building was huge, all marble, and had a fireplace. The apartment was on the fourth floor and it was beautiful. High ceilings, hard wood floors and easily twice the size of the first. It had two bedrooms, one of which was significantly smaller than the other but opposite the large bedroom was the 'living room' which was identical in size. The kitchen had more counters and plenty cabinets in it, the closets were big and there were four of them. The bathroom was a vision in peach and black tile. The windows faced the back of the building looking out over trees. We loved it. We wanted it. And just when we were getting really excited the lost looking girl wandered in. Suddenly I got very competitive because I didn't want anyone else looking at our perfect apartment so we went with Dave right away to sign the papers. We had to have it. Sloppy girl didn't deserve it.

So that, dear friends, is why we don't have ANY pictures of our new apartment on East 17th St Brooklyn.

We plan to use the living room as one of our bedrooms and the small bedroom as our living room. We loved our neighborhood, we loved our realtor, we loved life. We didn't love that girl. We followed Dave to his office where we paid a deposit, and had our credit run. We applied and paid and pending Laura's parents credit check we have it. We were on the edge of the seats in the office. It was so exciting and we were nervous. After that we walked around Brooklyn and saw the park and the library and got ice cream cones from the Mr Softee truck. Then we met our friend India for hamburgers and happy hour.

After all that we finally took the trains back to Manhattan and back to Drew's apartment. We were absolutely exausted.

Today we are off to take measurements and pictures and then have a little fun.

Q and A

I am starting this blog so that friends and loved ones can read about my big adventure. So here I go.

I am moving to New York City! That's the basic fact and I get a lot of questions about it that I will try and answer as best I can. Just so you know, I'm not a particularly gifted writer, and I don't have a lot of answers. But I will try.

Why are you moving now?

I have been living at home, in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia since I graduated from college in 2005. After graduation my mother became very ill and needed help around the house and since I didn't yet have a job I was happy to help. Mom and I are great roommates and I love living with her. I love my home, I love Virginia. In 2006 I found an amazing job as a teacher at an early learning center and excelled at that. I learned so much! Around Christmastime 2007 my mom became ill again and needed me even more than she had before. She lost the use of her legs and from then until April of 2009 she needed almost constant care. I was again very happy to help and be here for her. My wonderful and fulfilling job, unfortunately, didn't pay enough for me to live elsewhere so I stayed. It wasn't an easy time and during the winter of 2009 I made a decision that once mom was better I was going to try and do something else.

Are you moving alone??

No. My best friend and partner in crime Laura has just finished her two year service in the Peace Corps and that is another part of why now. She and I are embarking on this adventure together.

Where are you going?

We are moving to New York City.

WHY NEW YORK??

Why not? We are looking for adventure and want to live where the life is. Its very expensive and moderately far from Virginia but we are young, adventurous, curious about the world and its people, single and we don't have any children.

NEW YORK CITY??

Yes.

Are you crazy?

That's debatable.

Where will you live?

I don't know. We are looking for places in the Brooklyn area. We haven't found a place to live yet.

Where will you work?

I don't know. I have a fantastic resume and some great references though. Do you have any leads?

Do you want another job in the childcare field?

Maybe but probably not. I loved my job. I was good at it and it made me happy. Sadly that kind of work is really low paid and there's not a lot of room for advancement. I wouldn't mind a job that deals with kids on an administrative level, like working for a non-profit for literacy or advocacy. I also might work in a portrait studio. I also might mop floors. It all depends on what jobs are available.

Will you miss me?

Very very much. Please come and visit us!

I hope that helps everyone. Any other questions feel free to ask.