My first day of voluntary unemployment...

Yesterday was my last day at the clinic where I've worked for the last five and a half years. The girls at the clinic sent me off right by buying my lunch and surprising me with not one, but two HUGE balloon bouquets, lots of sweet cards, and a sparkly tiara. The balloons said "best wishes" , the cards were heartfelt, and I'm not sure what the hell the tiara was all about, but hey, it was pretty.

While I was getting spoiled by my now ex-coworkers, Will had another meeting with his med school advisers and his start date in Chicago will be April 2, 2012. We have appointments set up for this Saturday to see at least four more apartments in Hyde Park. We will get the application process started early next week after we make our final decision.

Ideally, we'd like to be all moved in by the second weekend in March, but there is some paperwork that needs to get finalized between Will and the school so we don't have a precise move in date yet. We were thinking it would be next weekend, but now that may not be the case. This no date nonsense, of course, is driving me crrrrrrazy because I am a planner. I want to get in there and get settled soon so that I can begin pounding the pavement to find myself a new j-o-b.

So now you know the scoop on the move, and now you know that I am officially unemployed. It hasn't sunk in yet, but instead feels like the start of a wonderful vacation of sorts. I woke up this morning shortly after eight o'clock rather than seven which was GLORIOUS. That extra hour makes a huge difference to me. I ate an unhurried breakfast, spent an hour with Will at the gym, and spent a couple of hours working on homework. I am still very much a full-time college student, despite the fact that I don't have a "real job" anymore.

Here's my plan for the remainder of the day:

-Go with Will to pick up some medical records that the school needs.
-Accompany Will to get his picture taken for an ID that he needs. (Also, I will be printing out a wedding photo for a newspaper announcement that I have been neglecting to do for almost six months. It's so crazy to think that Will and I have been married for nearly half a year already, and that next month we'll celebrate nine years of together-dom.)
-Go with Will to the police station to get a background check.
-Outline a list of all of the projects I want to finish in the next week. (i.e. sort through our stuff and get rid of what we don't use/don't want to move, print and organize the recipes I've been wanting to organize for the last year or so, outline our dinner menu for the next week, plan out midterm projects for school, etc)

Sounds good, ey?

My plan for the next month:
-Being very productive at home and in class.
-Spend at least an hour, 5 times a week at the gym. Since I'm not working, this should be a cinch.
-Next week I think we're going to head down to Ellie's house for a few days. I miss my little sister, and always look forward to spending time with her and her fiance.
-Choose a place, sign a lease, and MOVE IN! Get settled and learn more about our new neighborhood.
-Enjoy the last few weeks I have with Will before his schedule gets crazy again.

That's it folks! Stay tuned. Hopefully I'll keep this positive outlook throughout my "sabbatical". That is my goal! ;)

Hunting Apartments in Hyde Park!

Oh interwebz, how I have missed you! School is sort of kicking my ass this semester, but it is Saturday! And I am up before noon! So I shall delight you with this post about apartment hunting in Hyde Park!

Will and I, along with my awesome note-takin' momma, went apartment hunting in Chicago last weekend. We left the house at 7:45am to make it into the city in time for our first appointment at 10:00am, where we met with Dennis from TLC apartments. We arrived a little bit early, so we found some street parking, and proceeded to enter the Madison Park Apartment building. Dennis wasn't in his office yet, so we wandered around the awesome lobby checking things out. The building was built around 1930, and the architecture was awesome, if you're like me and you geek out on that sort of thing.

We checked out their brand new fitness center; a gym on site is a MAJOR plus in our book. We also checked out the laundry facilities. Very clean. Ample washers and dryers. 1.65 per wash, 1.65 per dry. Around that time, Dennis found us, and we filled out some paperwork to let him know what we were interested in.

Basically, we *need* something that rents for around 1000 per month that is cat friendly. We *want* something with a gym, on site laundry, relatively easy street parking, some legit closet space, very easy access to public transit, 600 or more square feet, a dishwasher, and a view. (Yeah, we'
re not picky at all, eh?!)

Dennis was really friendly and knowledgeable. He was supposed to show us two units in the Madison Park building, but one had been rented out the night before, so he showed us the one that was left. It was a small, 500 square foot box. The teeeeeeeny bedroom was directly off of the small living room. It was updated with a brand new, teeeeny galley kitchen. The kitchen had a brand new dishwasher! OMG! YES! Holy hell, I HATE hand washing dishes! I am too lazy for that shit, y'all!

The building was located on a nice, quiet, tree lined street. The unit had brand new carpet, and a huge window with a view of the street below. Dennis said that it rents for $975.00 per month, including the cat rent, and that it's so close to UC that we get the added benefit of the UC police force patrolling our street. He also said that street parking is relatively easy on Dorchester, but if we wanted a guaranteed spot, they have one space in the lot across the street that rents for 125.00 per month.

We thanked Dennis for his time, and we had about two and a half hours to kill before our appointment with MAC apartments, so we strolled the neighborhood. We saw some funky little shops, several ethnic restaurants, a dunkin donuts, a starbucks, and several adorable cafes. We ate breakfast at a great little spot called Mellow Yellow that has been around since the 70s. I took a mental note that the food here was relatively inexpensive, and pretty tasty. It could definitely be our breakfast spot in the area.

We also decided to go inside Hyde Park Produce, a grocery store that I had previously researched online, and I was very excited to check out their goodies. True to their name, they had a HUGE selection of tasty looking, fresh produce. I purchased 3 avacados for $1.10. SCORE!

Then we strolled past the produce section and began checking out other foodstuffs, and I almost shit my pants. I knew grocery prices were going to be high in Chicago, but it was still sort of shocking to see a pint of Breyer's going for over $8.00. I can buy one here for $3.60. Ah well. It won't kill me to give up a little icecream. Plus, when my parents and sisters come in to visit, I can tell them to bring cheap groceries and write em a check when they arrive. ;) Muahahhaa!

Our next appointment was at 1:00pm with Seth at MAC apartments. Again, we explained our likes and dislikes, and off we were to check out some apartments. Seth told us that pretty much all of the units we would be seeing were within a mile of the Obama home. So natch, I asked to drive past it. We did. And the Obama home is MASSIVE, old, and gorgeous, and there were secret service dudes all over the place. The street is blocked off at all times. I made my momma take some pictures. I am nerdy like that.

But I digress.

The first place Seth showed us was on Drexel Ave. As we began walking up to the building, Seth told us that the unit we were seeing rents for $850.00 a month. I was psyched! If we could find something we really enjoyed for less than $900.00 a month I would be beyond THRILLED.

Buuuut then we walked into the building and down the hall. And it stunk. And it was dark. And it was dirty. It had a palpable, creepy vibe. Gross.

Will shot me a look that said, "OH HELLLLL NO, WOMAN. We are NOT living here." We walked into the unit and it was actually pretty decent. Fresh paint. Hardwood. Big closet. But we didn't feel comfortable in that building. The hall was smelly. And it was creepy. And it kind of made me want to go home and take a hot shower. So we told Seth thanks, but no thanks, and off we went.

Apartment number 3 was a vintage walk up on Woodlawn. Seth told us it rents for $962.00 a month, plus $25.00 each month for our darling little feline. We hoofed it up the 4 flights of stairs, and through the door. Annnnnd....



......it was glorious! Angels were singing and beating their wings! I think I heard Jesus himself say, "you're welcome, my child." I. freaking. loved. this. place. It was HUGE!

It was also really messy, and I think that really turned Will off. Apparently the previous tenants had literally just moved out the night before, and the place was pretty messy. But of course they have a team that comes in and cleans everything up, paints, etc. I tried to reassure Will (who admittedly hasn't done a whole lot of apartment hunting in the past) that we wouldn't be moving in until everything was painted, and all cleaned up. I think he was still slightly put off.

But omg. The place was MASSIVE at 800 something square feet. Hardwood floors. Vintage character that I looooooove. And oh the windows! Windows everywhere. Every room had a nice, big ceiling fan. The closets were plentiful and so spacious. I loved the layout because the bedroom is way off in back, and it's large. Then there were two other spacious rooms which we could make into the living room and office/dining area. One of my most favorite features: there was a butler pantry. So cool! The place had so much character.

The cons?  Laundry would have to be taken outside. No gym. No dishwasher.

After I marveled for a while, we moved on to the next space. It was on E 47th Street. One thing I noticed is that 47th is a super busy road; noise and parking could become an issue. The apartment itself was another vintage walk up. Smaller, at right around 600 square feet, it rents for $901.00 a month. It had one really large closet, small ceiling fans in each room, hardwood floors, and a small balcony.

As we were moving on I made a mental note of how I'd love to have a balcony! It would be so nice to be able to sit there and have a drink, or grill out when the weather is nice.

The last places we saw were 2 different units on S. Blackstone. The building was a hotel in the 1920s but they've made the inside modern. The building is a high rise,  and it has a nice gym, and laundry on site. The building also felt really secure, and it had a concierge. The first unit we saw was on the 6th floor. It was clean, fresh paint, the carpet was brand new. It had central air. The kitchen was brand new, it had granite counter tops, maple cabinets, and a dishwasher.  The bathroom had ample sink space, and the tub and shower were sparkling clean. The closet space left much to be desired. The bedroom was teeeeeeeeny. We'd only be able to fit our bed and one night table. It had a nice view of a park, and some of downtown Chicago. All in all, it was pretty nice, and it rented for 970.00 per month with a "one free month credit."

Then we went up to the 12th floor. And oh. my. gooooooooooodness. The view of the lake was AHMAAAAAZING. I seriously walked immediately across the apartment to the windows and my jaw dropped. I never dreamed we'd be able to afford something with a view like that! The unit was much the same as the one before, only reversed since we were looking in a different direction. And of course, the higher you go, the better the view, and the rent bumps up to $1025.00 per month with a one month free credit. The impractical part of me wanted to sign a lease immediately. "Yes Sir! We'll take it!" The view was just breathtaking. But instead of getting all crazy and signing a lease on the spot, we stared a bit longer, thanked Seth for his time, and headed back home.

I feel like this blog post was an episode of house hunters on TLC...which one will they pick?! So many great choices. We plan to check out a few more places in the next two weeks, so stay tuned!