Moving to NOLA

Well this past week has been a really busy one.  I've moved into my new apartment in NOLA and I'm absolutely in love with my neighborhood, and the city.  I've still got lots to do before I officially start school.. but here's how it's all coming together so far!

Living room!

Study (work in progress)

Bathroom (still lots to do!)

My new cruiser bike!

And look at this amazing meal.  It was grilled on the sidewalk 2 blocks from my apartment outside the local bodega.  BBQ chicken and ribs..?  Yes please.  Every Saturday, and for cheap.  This city is after my own heart.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week!  Once I have time to settle in, I can't wait to read what all of y'all have been up to!

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Goodbye Durham!

So these last few days (and weeks) I've been so busy with my move -- and it's official!  I'm out of Durham (and the Triangle) and off onto the next chapter -- medical school!  So for the next few weeks, I'm a free bird, wandering NC and GA with my handsome dog and visiting family and friends until I move into my apartment in New Orleans.  

One of these days I just want to sit on a porch, with a glass of sangria, and catch up on my google reader.  I hope everyone's enjoying their official first day of summer!

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

I'm in LOVE!

..with New Orleans!  Absolutely adore it.  I could not ask for more from a city.. and I very well may never leave.  It's been a while since I've been back on the blog, and obv I have lots to update on.. but the biggest news is:

I found an apartment, and move down there in just about 1.5 months.. and it's in the Lower Garden District.  For those of you who aren't familiar, NOLA has a ton of great neighborhoods, all with very distinct feels.  The LGD is full of homes at every turn like this (below) -- a Southern girl's dream.. and everything is so walkable.

For those of you planning on visiting (and please, please DO!), I have a gorgeous 2BR with ample space for my study/guest bedroom (ahem), and all the amenities I need (laundry, dishwasher).  Superb neighbors, cute backyard.. and enough room for me to hone some gardening skills beyond succulents and herbs.  I cannot be more excited for this move.. although it's a little bittersweet moving away from the Carolinas where I have so many of the people I love.

Pictures are coming of the place -- the landlord still had a few things to install and fix before I move in (like central air -- thank God!), and then I'll have about a month until it's officially time to start medical school.  I met a handful of classmates, and they're all normal (!!) and really fun.  I can just tell we'll get into some shenanigans down there.. and of course, study our asses off.

Roomates?

So after I graduated from college, I decided that I'd be a big girl and live on my own.  I absolutely love it.  Love the freedom, love that I can walk around in my underwear all day if I want to, love that I can watch what I want to watch when I want to watch, and love that I don't have to compromise my own decor for someone else.

But.  Living with a roommate was a lot of fun.  S$ and I lived together for a year senior year, and even though the room was about half the size of my current bedroom, it was the best time I've had with roommates.  It just worked.  

However.  I've also heard horror stories about roommates as well.  They range from those that eat pizza every hour of the day and never clean the kitchen to having sex above you in the bunk bed while you're trying to sleep.  Granted, I will never bunk again (ever), the former example could happen to me.. or rather, could be me.  I keep a fairly clean house when I want to, but sometimes the dishes pile up in the sink.  I'll get to them when I'll get to them.  Chill.  Living solo means I don't have to worry about that shit.

Today I was going through old pictures of college when everyone had roommates and we were having the time of our life (surely a post of back in the day posts are in the works, but today I'm focused on the question at hand).

So to have a roommate or not?  Besides the benefit of paying less for an apt (which doesn't matter that much in New Orleans.. because the difference is minimal unless you want to live in a downtown loft.. which I don't), is there a significant benefit of it?  

I'm really freakin picky, so if I decide to have a roommate, I have a few questions for her.

1.  Do you like dogs?  (Yes.) Also, you can't have a dog (or a cat, unless you want it to be eaten) b/c Cooper won't get along with them. 

2.  Are you a clean freak?  (Being clean is one thing, but having a roommate for 3 years who always complained to me about not having everything just right is exhausting).

3.  Do you like to watch MTV and Bravo reruns on the weekends when you're hungover?  (yes.)
 
4.  Do you drink?  (Not that it matters, but it's kind of a buzz kill if you're always the sober sally and got those judge-y eyes about it.)

5.  Speaking of judging.. are you a conservative that loves to talk about politics..?  Now I have a handful of conservative friends, and one of my bests is.. however, we don't talk politics.

6.  Do you own a smart phone, and pref a blackberry?  Let's be real here.

7.  Do you like your own furniture?  The answer is no, b/c I'm attached to all my shit and it stays.

8.  Are you lazy, slutty, or sloppy?  I mean roommates don't have to be best friends, but we prob will be some kind of friends, and those kind of girls are not anyone I want to associate with.

9.  Do you cook smelly foods?  Not a fan.

10.  Are you super attached to your boyfriend if you have one?  Awesome.  Pay rent here and live at his place.  Not the other way around.


..well this list was a little therapeutic.  I think it boils down that I'm kinda stuck in my ways when it comes my living space because I've been doing it for 2 years.  I mean, unless you're S$ or RSJ, I'll probs just be just as well living on my own.  I'll be damned if I get a shithead roommate who I have to kick out (once I move in, I'm staying hopefully for 4 years) after the first year.  

and I'm sure all my classmates are wonderful people.. but just not compatible with living with me.  and that's ok.

Let the farewell tour begin!

The months are starting to wind down.. and now it's getting closer to when I'm actually moving (it's looking like end of May/early Juneish), and I'm getting increasingly nervous and antsy.  This is the most major move of my whole life.. and I'm really excited to do it.. but also know it will also be one of the hardest things I've done so far in my life.  gahhh.. this feel way too much like adulthood. and I don't like it.

But with moving comes travel! I have lots of fam/friends I need to see in and around NC (and head up to NYC to see S$), as well as go to ATL.  It'll be sad, but I want to spend as much time with my favorite people before I dive head first into my books and medicine.

image via [Mate Ugrin]