apartment hunting

apartment hunting is not fun. apartment hunting in L.A. is really not fun. john and i have looked at some real crap holes. and these were all renting for the bargain price of $1800 or $2000. what a steal. the problem was...we were picky. very picky. well, after living in a virtual palace for 3 1/2 years, john was spoiled. and while my apartment is no great shakes, it's not too bad. so we had some high standards. and we wanted a duplex. and two bedrooms. and a washer/dryer. etc. etc. you get the drill.

as we looked at these apartments, john and i came up with a secret signal. if i really liked the place, i was supposed to take his hand and squeeze it. that way he would know to make an offer after that little house tour. sad to say, we saw many apartments and i never got to use the secret signal.

then i saw this little puppy on craigslist one day. granted, because it was cheaper, i was looking at the same listing for the downstairs unit of this building. the exact same but not upstairs. and no stove and fridge. but still! sounded pretty rad. sounded like the equivalent of duplexes that i was seeing for $1800 and $2000. i was sure it was too good to be true.

when we visited the apartment we first walked thru the upstairs because it was finished (the downstairs is being totally renovated). the minute i walked thru the door, i grabbed john's hand and squeezed it. but he didn't squeeze back. so later on during the tour, i squeezed his hand in the bedroom too. nothing. but he must be liking the apartment because it's so rad! when we finally walk thru the downstairs unit, i think i'm squeezing as hard as i can. probably almost broke john's hand. but i think he was finally getting the point. at the end of the tour when the woman said we could think about it, john said, 'no, we want it.'

and we got it. luckily she liked us best out of the tons of people she met. she just 'had a good feeling about us.' fifty emails later, the landlord is like my new best friend. she just got married so we've been talking florists, photographers, and honeymoons. AND she loves me so much that when i asked her if it'd be possible to put carpet in the bedrooms, she said 'what color?'