Movin' On Up and Out

As I was so lovingly made aware, I am talking about television too much. Normally I'd have nothing else to talk about but thankfully I have news...I will not in fact be homeless when our lease is up in July, because we FOUND A PLACE! And a townhouse, at that.

Yes, for those of you who didn't hear Joe and I have been rushing to find a place since we informed out apartment complex our plans to vacate about a month ago. Now, normally you'd wait to do this until you knew where you were going, but we (apparently) like to live on the wild-side. Go for the gamble, put it all on red, etc. And, unlike most of my bets, we came back on top.

The problem with our search criteria was how specific it was: Joe's in the city, I'm in Hunt Valley. We wanted someplace with a bigger kitchen, a second full bedroom, and nice bathroom. And ideally we wanted enough room to bring home a snugly bundle of joy...NO not that, a dog.

In any event, we seemed to agree on a townhouse, figuring it was a nice step between apartments and an actual house. So that made our hunt even more difficult. As it turned out, there aren't alot of townhouses that are a.) available or b.) affordable. Not even including the difficulty in finding a place that would be a reasonable commute for both of us. It seemed as if we would be doomed. And then, one day Joe was scrolling through craigslist and out popped in his eyes a listing for a townhouse in Towson.

I became excited as he read off the description of the place. But then just as my heart leaped, and my hands went for moving boxes, he informed me of the price. My heart and hands dropped. It wasn't out of our price range, but let's just say it was the peak. We figured it wouldn't hurt to take a look, which we did this past Saturday.

As we were driving there, Joe kept going back and forth debating on whether he thought it was located in a safe spot, while I just sat there quietly calculating the money aspect. I figured, there's probably no way we will even like this place. I was right, we'd didn't like it at first sight, we LOVED it.

It's an end unit with a backyard that wraps around the front all the way to the back, complete with shady trees, and even a big picnic table that was staying. We saw all these things in the picture on the post, but seeing it in person was different. A small fence ran all the way around, enclosing it safely should we get our puppy. The entrance was covered in a charming V-shingled...thing. Joe was giddy and I was fairly impressed. I figured that these details alone would make it worth the money...so long as the other requirements were met...

The landlords took us in for a tour and we walked in to find hardwood floors throughout the living room and upstairs bedrooms. Awesome. Plus, since it was an end unit there were windows EVERYWHERE. Double Awesome. I really started to think it couldn't get any better, until we stepped into the kitchen. My smile quickly faded as I noticed the sparseness of the tiny kitchen. It had a fridge, oven and sink (plus some overheard storage) and that was about it. And none, zero, no counter space (one of the things I used to lament and scream to the heavens about was how little our current kitchen had in counter space). But for the Pros list, there was a door that lead from the kitchen down to the yard (complete with a doggy door!)

"Oh yeah, and there's no dishwasher either," the guy said. What? I've had a dishwasher my whole life, and I don't care if that makes me sound spoiled. It was something we had even in my girlfriends' and my first apartment. I tried to hide my disappointment.

However, I was back on happy street when they took us down to a good sized/semi finished basement with washer and dryer. Next we went up stairs and saw the one (grr...wanted at least another powder room so I could get ready while Joe was in the shower) bathroom. BUT it did have a window and allowed natural light in (def another point for the PRO list). BUT it also lacked counter space (point for the CONs).

Then we saw the second bedroom which was small but def big enough for guests (i didn't realize we'd have the basement so Joe could put all his recording crap down there and we could actually use this room for guests or even as an office for me). Then we saw the master, which was a good size with plenty of windows.

Joe was sold immediately, but I still reserved some doubts. We made up the list of pros and cons for real, and we quickly realized the pros outweighed the cons. It was a beautiful neighborhood, well kept and near bars, restaurants, the mall, etc.

Still I was hesitant, but when Joe asked me for real, if we didn't get it would I be disappointed, I thought of the yard, the windows, the hardwood, the doggy door, and realized I would be. It felt like home. It felt like our home.

So we filled out the applications and dropped them off, and bing bam boom, yesterday Joe got the call that we got it. I was thrilled.

But as for the other issues: kitchen, bathroom, counters, etc. That remains to be seen. At least, until we move in. But thats for another entry.