My new place!

Mom, Dad, Laura, my friend Ricardo, and I spent the day yesterday packing up boxes, loading them into the truck, navigating the truck through narrow downtown streets, unloading the truck, and then setting things up in my new apartment. It was definitely a team effort, and we couldn't have done it without Ricardo!!

I am so pleased and exciting with how the apartment is shaping up! I made some investments in a few affordable but quality pieces of furniture, and now the apartment looks like a real home! I couldn't wait until everything was finished to post a few photos, so excuse the clutter.

The bright green room is obviously my bedroom, the darker green is our dining room with the bargain table and chairs that Mom found at a garage sale last week. The beige is our living room furnished by my incredibly nice roommate, Colleen, and the yellow is our cozy little kitchen, complete with a breakfast nookish table!

Everybody who saw the apartment yesterday really liked it. There is a playground across the street of which I have a view from both of the ENORMOUS windows in my bedroom. The brown line "El" train is a stone's throw from our courtyard, though it is not elevated at my stop, so it is very quiet. My street is narrow with cars parked on both sides, but it is a dead-end which means it is quiet, lined with tall trees and large homes with front yards.

Between the two of us, Colleen and I have quite an art collection, so next time we're both not working we're going to go through and pick out where to put what. I can't wait to see what the apartment will look like with non-bare walls and the new kitchen cabinet doors that the landlord promised.

I came back to Naperville last night, so tonight will be my first night in the new place. Thank goodness Dad and Ricardo were able to install the AC unit last night to cool the place down before I sleep there tonight. We've had 2 weeks of incredibly hot weather with triple digit heat indexes!! AC is welcome!