charming will only get you so far

picking out and renting your first apartment for you, yourself and no one but yourself is very exciting.

it's like driving away from your parents' house for the first time just after they decide to trust you enough as a new driver.

you feel free. you feel invincible. you feel on top of the world. like the NIN song "nothing can stop me now... i don't care anymore."

so you go check out the apartments in town, the ones you have always had your eye on and thought, "wow, look at those historic, classy apartments. look at all of those windows! i'll bet they are cute with original hardwood floors and bathroom tile!"


when my lease with the roommate was up, i said goodbye and signed up for the first apartment i looked at out of greed for a classier, more modern lifestyle at the historic, classy apartments.

i got what i wanted: hardwood floors, tons of windows and original bathroom tile and fixtures from the 1920s.

the older women in my family call it charming. my friends call it adorable. visitors call it cute and are impressed by the bay window in the bedroom.

i've been biting my tongue on this one for a while... but after a year and half i can be frank.
what i also got with my charming apartment: drafty windows (i really think they are the original), slow drains (also the original), old fuses (you guessed it), hallow walls (yes, i can hear my neighbors doing it sometimes) and the latest... pipes that are apt to freeze.

i just keep reminding myself that spring and summer are somewhere around the corner and that when it is warm out, it is beautiful. great breezes, lots of windows to open, evening sunlight... everything i could have hoped for.

have i learned my lesson. yes, i think so. but who wants to live in a white-wall carpeted square if you can help it?

but for right now, the charm isn't cutting it. we'll see how i feel when the lease is up.