blame it on the view . . .
so right, so our lease is up. we're in a failing school zone, we don't love our neighborhood, we got the renewal letter in the mail, we had about a week to decide before signatures are due, and brandon and i were like, this is it. we should move downtown! crazy bug eyes, slow nods, the whole thing.
i started nonchalantly browsing the listings. anyway, our apartment now is enormous, it'd have to be the dream location to make us leave, but also we're struggling to get pregnant, our toddler isn't going to be this chill for the rest of his life, and since it's just the three of us for a little while longer, why not have an adventure for a year? save the two bedroom for the next lease cycle when we (hopefully, by then) actually need it. thus it was decided: adventure time.
so right, so, that's how it happened. the downtown lofty studio apartment of our dreeaaaaaams. it was enormous! so sunny! views to make a person cry! in our price range! your basic unicorn.
but someone beat us to it and that was that.
obviously now that the itch had been noticed it was becoming excruciating. and, you know me. so, the west village happened.
oh, the west village! this apartment i found was the dream. small, but big enough we could make it work. it was an upgrade all around, except where it was also a downgrade, but henry would be getting a (real) bedroom, i'd be getting walking distance to where i spend the bulk of my time, and brandon would be getting a better commute and more apt surroundings for his inner hemingway. it was a win-win-win. there was a private backyard, you get the picture. i applied immediately even before i was sure it was a smart decision, based on past experience you know, fool me once and all of that. we were thrilled.
anyway, the short version goes: the apartment fell through. someone beat us to it, again, because the new york city rental market is run by satan. other rude things.
but remind me to tell you the story of how i rode a citibike for the very first time through crowded union square traffic while following my broker on his scooter . . . cause that's a great story.
Ugh.
ReplyDeleteGirl. It's the worst here. And the West Village? I did it for eight years. Which as you know means many, many ulcers and tears and frantic phone calls to my mom. But if you can do it, you absolutely should!
ReplyDeleteEither that or move to BK. After all those West Village years (and one on the UWS) I relocated to Prospect Heights this year and haven't looked back. Not even once.
Ha, see my comment below. I know you and I were such staunch WV lovers... But, as you know, we moved east and I just can't even describe how much more space, light, amenities, etc., we have for the same amount of money.
DeleteApartment hunting is cut throat! One time my husband and I actually poached an apt out from under someone who already had a lease signing appointment. We felt bad about it, but finding a place that big in town was just too good. *evil person*
ReplyDeleteOooh every time I visit New York I just have to go to West Village to sit and admire it. I'm mildly obsessed with it now that I met Amy Poehler there this summer. It's basically my Disneyland. Good luck!!
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh you met Amy there?! Next time i'm over, i'm going to hang out in the West Village. All the time! xx
DeleteCome back to Brooklyn... it's a party out here! Haha, just kidding... but really. How about we just trade apartments? We've got a big backyard out here! :P
ReplyDeleteApartment hunting in New York City makes my already overactive anxiety turn into shakes and shivers and sobs while I am on the subway. It aint pretty! Good good luck in your search!! ♥
Melanie♥
www.athistage.blogspot.com
DAMNIT, new york. something better or just as good will come along. it's just the damn wait that makes it so hard. but it'll happen. i know it!
ReplyDeleteIt's like that in Toronto, too. My boyfriend and I were looking a few months ago and we would get some listings from our realtor in the morning, we would choose the ones we wanted to see, and by the time we met up with him the next day for viewings, half were gone. It was ridiculously frustrating. But, in the end, we ended up at the very top of a condo, right below the penthouse, with fantastic views of the lake and the city. It will come.
ReplyDeleteugh so sorry it fell through. Stories like this are making me want to never put our apartment on the market and just stay where we are forever (cept it can't work - 2 kids +1 dog in a barely 2 bedroom is causing serious stress)
ReplyDeleteSO frustrating! Keep your chin up and your juju-producing mind-powers a flowing! A very relatable and almost agonizing time of life, but new and fresh things are coming to you!!
ReplyDeletethe new york city apartment hunt was a bonafide, absolute nightmare. it's been three years since i did it and i am still not over it.
ReplyDeletebut you know what? i don't know a single new yorker for whom it did not eventually work out. so keep the faith, lady. yours will come.
LOL!! sometimes I feel that everything is run by Satan by things get bad. Haha. Anw cheer up babe, hopefully things will turn around for the better soon. ;)
ReplyDeleteSometimes what you get is better than what you wanted in the first place. Hugs.
ReplyDeleteI guess I'm kind of shocked to hear you hate your neighborhood? I somehow got the impression you really enjoyed the UWS...could you elaborate a bit (besides the school district)? Just so very curious! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAnd also, so sorry to hear about this luck you're having. It'll happen eventually!
DeleteI love the uws but I'm not really in the good part of the uws! I'm in that no man's land they call "Columbus circle/Lincoln center." it's not really a neighborhood so much as a collection of a million schools and a dozen car dealerships and a thousand hills. the longer I'm here and the more fashion weeks that I have to push through with my stroller the more I'm ready to split. ;)
DeleteI do not envy you--this process is so stressful and anxiety/anger-inducing!
ReplyDeleteWe just spent 8 months (EIGHT!!!) looking for a house full-time.
And we lost unicorns ourselves too. It's rough.
But all that "everything happens for a reason" nonsense that makes you want to punch the person patronizingly telling you that is true.
So we trucked on and in the end we found our home, the true unicorn.
And realized the other "unicorns" had just been lousy sheep with fake horns strung on.
Can you please tell the bike story? haha!!! With my husband in the military I feel like we spend months before the move trying to find the "perfect house" so live in for a short period of time. But then when we actually see it, there are zero unicorns, not even a zebra with a cone on its head. Nothing ever seems to work out, and we settle. Now being in the boondocks of Alaska it makes it that much harder to find a happy home...
ReplyDeletehttp://pardonmf.blogspot.com
we live in the bay area and seriously everything is so freaking cute throat here. like no joke.
ReplyDeletejust the other day we were calling to view an apartment not even 5 minutes after it was listed and the persons voicemail was already full...dang it.
K
Just a friendly word of advice from a couple who just LEFT the West Village... If I had kids, you couldn't pay me to move back there (unless, of course, someone was buying me an $8 million brownstone). We just left after three and a half years there and while it's beautifully and lovely and all of that, there are a) almost no good grocery stores, b) the sidewalks are crowded with tourists ALL THE TIME, and c) a glut of great small businesses closing and re-opening as chain yogurt stores, macaron shops, etc. It's not all it's cracked up to be. I'd encourage you to look at the LES or East Village, where you can get a lot more for your money and have a TRUE neighborhood feel. (Also, be prepared for your rent to increase A LOT every year.)
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness that is terrible! Sorry you couldn't get the dream, well at least yet. Crossing my fingers for you to find the perfect place to call home sweet home!
ReplyDeleteAlso, good luck on getting pregnant I'll keep my fingers crossed extra tight on that one!
xoxo
Ohhh, girl. NYC Apartment Hunting Hell is totally where I was last month, before we settled on a great apartment in our, um, fifth-choice neighborhood. Apartment hunting here is the *living* *worst*, I 100% agree with you. Keep the faith- you'll nab your dream home!
ReplyDeleteAnd, fingers crossed extra tight on the ole pregnancy issue- we're rooting for you!
Ugh, looking for apartments is the worst! It's bad in LA so I can only imagine how bad it is in New York! I wish you the best and I'm sure something amazing will come your way!
ReplyDeletexo
Rachel
It's not just NYC. I've been looking for a place for Sept 1 for the past MONTH and everything keeps getting snatched up *just* before me. :(
ReplyDeletehousing is SO bad right now all over the US. it's crazy... there is something better out there for you guys! I know it :) don't give up mama!
ReplyDeletexo
jenna
mama daze blog
I always try to console myself with "It happened for a reason." But screw that. Because sometimes you just need the perfect place and your luck just doesn't seem to be working and I can't even IMAGINE trying to find a place in NYC. So you're basically Superwoman. Remember that.
ReplyDeleteI'm so, so sorry. Apartment hunting is the worst no matter where you are, but in NYC? It's got to be at least 1000000000000000000x worse. :(
ReplyDeleteSo is Pennsylvania. I'm moving from Utah to PA in 11 days and I'm still trying to figure out my housing situation. Moving across the country all by yourself...it's a little bit intimidating.
ReplyDeletekelsboo.blogspot.com
Good luck with the hunting! It can be so stressful but sooo exciting at the same time. I hope you find a hidden gem soon!
ReplyDeletehahaha i loooove your writing
ReplyDeleteValentina
Valentina Duracinsky Blog
-- Facebook Page
Too bad it didn't work out. Something better will come! Don't worry. -Hanna Lei
ReplyDeleteI'm so sad that apartment didn't work out for you!!! What a bummer. Hopefully another will come along!
ReplyDeleteYour new apartment is out there waiting for you- these two just weren't meant to be the Holbrook home! London is becoming a nightmare property wise-where's a unicorn when you need one?
ReplyDeleteSounds like house-hunting in Hawaii!! With four kids and two dogs. Yep, that was two months of living in a hotel room no fun. The good news is we are in a house that definitely works, even if it isn't perfect (hello, Formica counters and kitchen cabinets that are falling apart!). We have a giant pool, four (teeny) bedrooms, and we can walk to the beach. Hopefully your tenacity pays off soon!
ReplyDeleteI'm really sorry to hear about your apartment hunting. I wish you the best in that and your journey to another little baby.
ReplyDeleteI really wish it was a little bit easier for everyone in the whole world to get what they want and I'm kind of disappointed in how hard it is to just live now-a-days.
To live in NYC is a dream of mine and it kind of scares me to even think about the cost of living.
Bahumbug.
That VIEW ! I am so sorry someone snatched that baby from you, if not for your sake, for my sake (I live through you Nat!). I'm sure something great is on its way to push you on your way to your new adventure ! Keep lookin girl !
ReplyDeleteMadeline | Its a Mads Mads World
Shoot! House-hunting can be so so difficult! Especially in a place like New York! Maybe that place with the gorgeous view just wasn't good enough for you guys. :) You'll find a place that will fit all of your personalities perfectly! :) Don't give up!
ReplyDeletehttp://sometimesgracefully.com
It's impossible to know how bad New York apartment hunting is unless you've done it. But you've captured it really well. Seven years after moving here, my husband and I still talk about the ones that got away the first time (and the second and the third).
ReplyDeleteHave you considered Carroll Gardens?
Carroll Gardens is wonderful!! :)
Deletein my experience, something twice as awesome will cross your path.i hope that phenomena happens soon. :-)
ReplyDeleteI love the title. Apartment hunting is always awful.
ReplyDeleteMeh :(
ReplyDeleteIt must be such a tough, frustrating endeavour...but you're going to find something lovely and no-one else will pip you to the post. Keeping everything crossed for you guys!
Lou xx
Oh GAH. This just gave me hives. We're caught in the desperate funk of "we need to get out of this place" and "how can we ever leave?" This morning I walked the neighborhood dreaming up the letter I plan to write and slip under our neighbors' doors: "Wanted: Perfect 2-bedroom, priced at least $1000/month below market for charming couple who has hacked it in 240 square feet for more than two years." Should work no?
ReplyDeleteWe moved around SO much after leaving NY to come back to Boston, and I feel your pain! It's the pits. But having just recently found our 'forever home' I feel compelled to offer this advice- hand it over to the universe, say a prayer, make a list of all of your must haves in a dream home. (If you haven't already done this, that is! You may have.) It worked for me in the most crazy, magical way. (I also hung an affirmation on the wall that said "Miracle home, find us now!") I'm a bit of a spaz. But I have to say my hubby doesn't roll his eyes at my affirmations anymore. ;p Best of luck!!! xo
ReplyDeleteThis is how it goes.... Im a great believer in tempting fate...you will nail the tiny dream apartment in the West Village , then find you are pregnant!... struggle on for the year living your dream with expanding family, then move on to the practical option? All is good! xxx
ReplyDeleteI'm laughing so much at the image of you following the agent (in a scooter) using one of those Citibikes. I'm still to give them a try. Are they comfortable enough?
ReplyDeleteAnd best of luck with the apartment search!
Hope you find a great place. And on a totally random thought, do you know that your famous twin is Kelly Monaco from General Hosptal? Tis true.
ReplyDeleteOhhhhh man. So, my husband is a real estate agent in Williamsburg and even he wasn't able to get us a great apartment for a great price. You'd think all those connections would come in handy but NOPE! Our current place (huge! amazeballs location! cheap as all get out!) was a friend of a friend's place that we were invited to take over when they moved to the west coast. I had anxiety attacks every day for a year that they might decide to move back and we'd have to try to find something else and frankly I'd rather move away from NYC than do that. Hope you guys get the place of your dreams!!
ReplyDeleteI can empathise with you - not in the way that I have a toddler and more babies planning kind of way but my boyfriend and I have been apartment hunting in a brand new city, and after loads of research and numerous phone calls and driving miles to meet agents, things just KEPT slipping through our fingers. The real kind of unicorn, this is our dream property and we didn't think we could afford it for YEARS yet but here it is kind. It was the most frustrating thing in the whole bloody world and actually made us feel really fed up, as though the rental market God had it in for us. Then we got on with it and signed a lease for a fairly uninspiring but very practical and suits-us-for-now apartment. Sigh. It's ok though - a roof over our heads and a warm house to come home to is the most important thing and I don't want to lose site of that kind of perspective!
ReplyDeleteI wish you better luck on the next property hunting cycle, I really do!
Flora
www.twowithseven.blogspot.co.uk
real estate in nyc is beyond the worst. and we tell others about it but you really don't get it until you've lived here. when i moved i lucked out with a dreamy gramercry park apartment - don't give up. i hope it happens for you next year!
ReplyDelete