Back to Reality

Okay, so yesterday I was looking at the gorgeous mansions with expansive city views and today... I came back to the cold, hard reality of apartment shopping.  Since I've never lived in an apartment before this was a whole new world for me.  I looked at five different places all in Belltown.  That area has lots of high rise apartment buildings, restaurants, and shops but it still feels a little bit more neighborhood-y than actually 'Downtown Seattle'.

Yikes!  I knew that the places would be small, but I guess after living in my big house for the past few years my sense of space has just gotten warped because these places seemed minuscule!  I swear one lady flat out lied to me about the square footage.  She claimed the apartment was 820 sq ft, but my first house was only 800 and this was way smaller.  Grrrrrr!  To be fair, all the places actually had decent decent closet space (no closet rooms though, like the old house) and they had reasonable sized living rooms; enough for a couch, tv, and coffee table.  What else do you need?  But the kitchens and bedrooms?!?  You've got to be kidding me!

I kept the king-sized bed from the old house and I'm starting to regret that decision a little.  It was a nice, expensive bed and I already had king sized sheets, blankets, comforters, etc. so it seemed silly to get rid of it.  There was only one apartment I saw that would have enough room to fit my bed + my dresser.  Hmmmm...

The kitchens were just laughable!  Just because you have a stove, a sink, and a refrigerator in a corner of the apartment that does not equal a kitchen in my book.  I realize that there are plenty of restaurants nearby, but I LOVE to cook and I need some serious space to do it.  I guess that puts me in the minority of urbanites.  Obviously these apartments are just set up for making coffee and ordering pizza.

Even though I didn't find anything amazing today, it was still great to see what is out there.  I figure, the more places I see, the easier it will be for me to spot a good deal and feel confident about signing a lease.

I think my aunt and uncle will come home from their vacation tomorrow.  It's been nice to have some quiet time alone in the house to get settled, but I will be very glad to see them again and catch up!