Moving To New York: As Told By An Overthinking, Type-A Princess: Part 4

Hey Everybody!

Sorry I’ve been silent for the past week and a half-ish. I was doing so well with the consecutive posting, but I had training for work this past week and things got really busy. Never fear, I’ve got a new post for you guys detailing the move-in and the days that followed.

As I said in the last post, if you can remember back that far J, September 8^th finally arrived. Mom and I loaded up the hotel cart with all of our things, laughing the whole time because we knew we looked SO ridiculous. Standing on the curb with our trolley, we waited for our Uber driver to arrive. His eyes literally BUGGED OUT when he saw how much crap we had! And the poor guy wouldn’t let us help him load the stuff up! Once we got it all in, we headed off for my apartment.

After I signed my lease the week before, the real estate office gave me a key to my building, but told me I’d have to get in touch with the building superintendent in order to get the key to my actual apartment. I called him that afternoon, but only reached his voicemail where I left a message. The next day he called me back and we had a brief chat. My apartment had been undergoing renovations and he informed me that installing the kitchen countertop was the only thing left. He followed that up by saying it wouldn’t be finished until September 9th because of the holiday weekend. (If you remember, move-in on September 8^th…hmmm) I said I didn’t care if it wasn’t there when I moved in and he said okay. We decided I would let him know an hour before Mom and I planned to arrive at my building so he could meet us there on move-in day.

Now over the course of that weekend, after our initial conversation, I tried to reach him several times with no luck. When I was ordering my bed at Macy’s, they asked if I knew whether my building allowed weekend deliveries….because apparently that’s a thing…buildings don’t want their tenants being disturbed by furniture being moved on the weekends so they sometimes restrict it. I tried to reach the super to ask about this, but received no response…not even the next day…or the next. Needless to say, I was extremely frustrated.

So, when Tuesday morning rolled around, an hour and a half before we’d decided we would arrive at my building, I gave the super a call. Not surprisingly, I reached his voicemail where I left a message. After an hour went by without hearing a confirmation from him that he would be there to meet us, we called him from my mom’s phone and what do you know, he answered! He said he didn’t get my message and he couldn’t be there to let us in until 1:00 PM…it was currently 10:00 AM. Annoyed.

Now let’s get to the good stuff. Our Uber driver dumped us outside of my building with our wares around 12:45 that afternoon. My building has this small courtyard so we were able to chill in there while we waited for the super, rather than be right out on the sidewalk for all the world to see.

When 1:00 rolled around, there was no sign of the super. We gave him a few more minutes, and he finally showed up. They had to change the lock on my door, but then I’d be good to go. After meeting my super in person, he was very nice and I was a little less annoyed by the fact I couldn’t reach him all weekend. The super had some guys that work for him there that day, and they offered to help us carry my stuff up.

Have I mentioned that I’m on the fourth floor? But really it’s like the 5^th floor because there are no apartments on the ground level, so the second floor is technically considered the 1^st floor. This means, four flights of stairs to get up to my place. Steep stairs, might I add. (I just keep reminding myself that I’ll have a great butt thanks to all these stairs…it’s what gets me through!)

We were thankful for the help but felt SO BAD for the guys. They chose to carry up the two overweight suitcases. And we know it was a struggle for them! Mom and I made about two trips up and down ourselves, carrying up the remainder of my stuff.

Finally, after almost TWO weeks of living in New York, I was in my very own place!!!! The place I would be calling home for the next year, at least. It was so exciting!

Just Moved In!

But Mom was on a mission to get me the rest of the things I needed. Almost immediately after getting all of my stuff up, she was ready to set off! So, to K-Mart we went. We did some shopping there, then grabbed an Uber back to my place because there was no way we were going to be able to maneuver the rush hour subway with all of our stuff.

Once that load was done, and our stair climbing count was up to…ummm 4, Mom looked at me and said, “I think we should just go ahead and go to Bed, Bath, and Beyond and get the last few things…” I sighed heavily, because the day had just been seriously exhausting, but I agreed and off we went to get MORE things!

There is one big window in my apartment and there were no blinds, so it was just wide open. I wasn’t too bothered, but Mom was NOT a fan. She made me buy some paper shades to put up in the window. I was talking to my dad later that night and he laughed, saying my mom was a huge fan of paper shades and it didn’t surprise him at all. Whatever. I had to balance on the window sill to try and tape them up so that we could have the privacy my mom desired. (Sidenote: the paper shades are still up…but you can’t really tell because there are curtains covering them…hahaha)

That night, Mom and I slept on air mattresses. It’s a great memory and I’ll always remember sleeping on a blow-up mattress in my very first apartment with my mom!

The next morning, I got a call from IKEA notifying me that my furniture delivery window was set between 5:00 and 9:00 PM. Of course. I had requested some time before noon, if possible. Something I learned on this move was NEVER to expect things to go the way I wanted them to. Because they just wouldn’t!

So, we kind of took our time that morning getting ready and we ran a few more errands, like going to Pier One and getting my new dishes and some fabulous curtains! Everything was on-sale, which was a real treat. We followed that up with ANOTHER trip to Bed, Bath, and Beyond…like, seriously, I am so over this place. As I write this, I’m already thinking about the fact I need to go tomorrow to get a couple more things…ugh!!!!!

Once we got back to the apartment, we settled in to wait for the IKEA delivery. In order to make sure we were ready for a night spent assembling furniture, Mom and I ordered Patsy’s for dinner, having them deliver a pizza, some pasta, and a salad. We sat on the floor, with our dinner spread out in front of us, and ate it on paper plates. Another great memory.

Yummmm!!

While waiting on the delivery, I washed all of my new dishes and everything…in the bathtub. My kitchen countertop didn’t end up getting installed on the 9^th like I’d originally thought. Instead, it was the next day. I wanted to get all of my dishes put away…so I settled for the bathtub. You just have to make do sometimes!

I don’t think I mentioned the laundry. So, my apartment doesn’t have a washer and dryer in the unit, nor does it have a washer and dryer in the entire building. So, I’m going to have to drop my laundry off at places to have it washed, or go to a laundromat, whatever is most convenient. The day before I dropped off all of my new towels, sheets and two weeks worth of dirty clothes to have them washed at a little place down the street. Mom went and picked those up for me before the IKEA delivery. I will say, the whole drop your laundry off and have someone else wash and fold it for you is kind of nice. I picked up a load yesterday and it was just so easy!

So FINALLY at about 8:00 PM, the IKEA delivery showed up! There was only one guy delivering several HEAVY boxes. Mom and I couldn’t believe it. He also couldn’t get the whole box with the couch pieces in it up the stairs, and we had to convince him to take them out of the box in order to get it up the stairs.

Once everything was inside, we got started. First, came the loveseat, because it was the easiest thing to put together (it had the fewest pieces). While Mom ironed the loveseat cover, I began work on the 8-drawer dresser I’d purchased. I don’t even know how many pieces there were but just know that there were a LOT of parts. Slowly but surely, we built that dresser and by the next morning, it was complete!

Not too shabby!

The next day, sadly, it was time for Mom to go home. I’m so SO grateful for the time we spent getting things for my apartment and getting it all put together. My mom and dad have been so supportive through this entire process, even though I know it was hard for them to watch their little girl move across the country. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without their help. Love you, both!!

Mom and I managed to say goodbye with no tears this time! As she was leaving, the workers came to install my new kitchen countertop and sink. They also hooked up my stove, which I hadn’t even realized wasn’t hooked up.

My Kitchen

My Bathroom (It's bigger than it looks in the picture, I promise!)

That Saturday my bed was delivered. Of course, that didn’t go as planned either. The delivery guys couldn’t get the box spring up because the ceiling on the first floor is too low. So, I was left with a bed frame in a box and a mattress resting on the floor. The next day, I went to Macy’s to order a split box spring and of course, that delivery wasn’t going to be able to happen for almost two weeks!

On Monday, September 14^th, I started my first day at work. The first day of my career, as my dad put it. I spent the first week going through orientation and then a few days of training. The next week, I went back to Texas for more training. That’s where my firm’s training facility is located. It was like being on vacation, except I was working every day.

Of course, my room had an amazing view of the countryside and it made me miss Texas even more than I already did. Overall, the transition has been going well. If I’m being honest, I’ve definitely been more homesick than I thought I would be. I think that’s only natural though, as I continue settling in.

I’ve already made some great friends at work and I can’t wait to see what’s to come!

I’m hoping to try and post as much as I can, especially when something exciting happens.

Please keep me in your prayers as I continue getting used to life in New York City!!

XOXO,

Alex

P.S. This past Saturday my split box spring was delivered and I finally have a whole bed to sleep on! And oh, is it heavenly!!!

Moving To New York: As Told By An Overthinking, Type-A Princess: Part 3

Hello, hello, hello!

So glad you came back!

After signing my lease and finding out I couldn’t move in until the 8^th, my mom and I got a game plan together. We moved to a hotel on Friday evening and stayed there until my move-in day. She also decided to extend her trip a couple of days so she could be here to help once I ACTUALLY got moved in. Mommy, thank you SO SO MUCH!!!!

We decided it’d be best to start ordering furniture and scheduling delivery for the day of or day after my move-in date. Our hotel was in close proximity to a really good TJ Maxx, Century 21 (an incredible discount store), and a Bed, Bath & Beyond. Speaking of which, if I don’t see the inside of a Bed, Bath & Beyond for a month…it will be too soon. Anyways, we utilized those places to accumulate housewares like towels, sheets, a duvet cover, blankets, etc. Our tiny little hotel room was practically bursting with all of our stuff!!! It was ridiculous!

Another wonderful place we utilized was IKEA. Oh yes, you all know about the wonder of IKEA….or at least, I’m sure you all know. If not, you should go to your nearest IKEA and find out! I think I’ve been to the Houston IKEA maybe twice in my life and neither of those times was I searching for myself. Now it was my turn to make decisions about what kind of furniture was going to adorn my studio apartment and IT WAS SOOOOO OVERWHELMING. But I think maybe that’s just what happens when you go to IKEA….you get ridiculously overwhelmed.

It is an absolute fantasyland! A one stop shop for any and everything you could POSSIBLY need to furnish a place at extremely reasonable prices. After doing some research, we figured out that you could get to the IKEA in Brooklyn by taking the IKEA Express water taxi, which is free on the weekends. So, after stopping and getting some Broadway show tickets at the TKTS Booth at South Street Seaport, we headed to Pier 11 and got in the long line for our boat.

Once we boarded, it took maybe 15 minutes to get there and off we went! I felt like a very anxiety ridden kid in a candy store, feeling drawn to one candy thinking it was perfect but then questioning myself as to whether or not that candy was REALLY what I wanted or if I wanted the other candy that I really really love too…this was a theme that emerged throughout the course of the weekend. You’ll see what I mean.

Surprisingly, I decided on a loveseat and coffee table almost straight out of the gate! As we walked further and further through the showrooms, I got more and more overwhelmed. (I think I’ve used that word too much…but oh well! It’s the truth!) Then I picked out an 8-drawer dresser that can also double as an entertainment center if I decide to get a TV. It’s all about saving space in these New York apartments, you see.

Once we were done there, we arrived at the marketplace. Which is literally just chock full of home furnishings!!!! AND I JUST HAD ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHAT TO DO WITH MYSELF! I mean there was just so much to choose from! If I’d had unlimited funds, I would have gone hog wild!!! That is what dreams are made of, people! Alas, I settled for some glasses, silverware, and knives. Just to have a little something to start with.

Then came the picking room. For those who haven’t been to IKEA, this is basically a giant warehouse where you locate the heavy boxes that the furniture comes in, load them up on a trolley, and proceed to the check-out line. Did I mention these boxes are heavy…and they are sometimes several shelves up off the ground?! Given that it was just Mom and I, we opted to have the picking done for us. It was a small fee and VERY worth it. We talked to an employee who told us we would have to check-out with the items from the marketplace and then get in the HELLA LONG home delivery line in order to schedule the pick and delivery. Did I also mention the check-out lines were HELLA LONG?! It’s back to school and moving season, so whatever.

After checking out, our cashier told us that we actually didn’t have to get in the home delivery line, but instead go back to the showrooms where we would find a pick and delivery kiosk. We made our way there, scheduled the delivery, paid, and prepared for our exit. But wait, there is only one way out of the showrooms…and that’s to go BACK THROUGH THE ENTIRE STORE!

At this point, Mom and I could not WAIT to get the HELL out of there!!! I think it had been about 3 or 4 hours…WHICH IS ENTIRELY TOO LONG!! We were cutting and weaving our way through that store like we were being pursued by the police or something! But don’t worry, we made it out alive and back to the boat that brought us home! Or at least to our hotel.

The next few days were spent collecting other various items from the stores I mentioned earlier. Mom had to get real with me and tell me it was time to bite the bullet and start making some purchases.

I have this thing about visions. In my head, I can picture exactly how I want something to look. After I saw my apartment, and did some serious Pinterest browsing, I had a very clear vision of what I wanted my color scheme to be, how I wanted my furniture arranged, and what I wanted the general feel of the place to be. I’d been holding off pulling the trigger on purchases because I was worried it didn’t quite fit my “vision.” I’m weird that way. And I get extremely picky when it comes to bringing my visions to life.

Finally deciding Mom was right and I needed to start committing, as she put it, we racked up on things like towels, dishes, bedding, and other various household goods. We stockpiled everything in our hotel room like little chipmunks storing nuts for the winter.

Oh, I also ordered a bed from Macy’s during the Labor Day weekend sale. It’s perhaps the nicest mattress I have ever had and I am so so happy with it! It wouldn’t be delivered until a week after I ordered it, which meant about 4 nights in my new place with no bed, but the sale was just too good to pass up!

Before we knew it, it was Tuesday morning and we were cramming all of our belongings onto a hotel cart and making our way out of the hotel to the waiting Uber car. It was moving day, and we had quite an interesting few days ahead of us!

To hear about move-in day and the days that followed, tune in tomorrow for Part 4!

Obviously I have to talk about the two Broadway shows Mom and I attended while she was here. The first was Finding Neverland, based on the film of the same name about author J.M. Barrie and what led to him writing one of the greatest stories of all time, Peter Pan. The show stars Matthew Morrison, aka Mr. Scheuster from Glee, as Barrie and Laura Michelle Kelly as Sylvia, the single mother of four boys who inspires Barrie to write his masterpiece. It’s a story about growing up, but not growing up too soon. It’s a story about imagination and inspiration. A story about family and love.

I figured I would like the show, given that I’d heard so many good things about it, but I was not prepared to love it as much as I did. The last 15 minutes of the show I was basically sobbing and I have NEVER done that in a show before! Well…I cried quite a bit at the end of Once…but not this much! The story gets a bit sad at the end, but it was also because I witnessed some of the most beautiful scenes I’d ever seen on stage! One in particular was just so stunning, you’d have to see it to understand! The music was beautiful and the performances by the whole cast were incredible, including the kids.

I think it also got to me because there I was embarking on a great change in my life…growing up if you will…and I was watching a story about how the boy who never grew up was created. I strongly encourage seeing the show if you’re going to be in New York anytime soon! Bring some tissues!

Completely changing gears, the next evening we saw Something Rotten! A comedy musical about down on their luck playwrights, the Bottom brothers, who are struggling to write a play better than the Bard himself, William Shakespeare. Nigel Bottom, absolutely fed up with Shakespeare and all of his fame and glory, decides to consult a soothsayer, Nostradamus, to find out what the next big thing in theatre is. His answer: musicals. Cue an absolutely FANTASTIC musical number called ‘A Musical’ and you’ve got the whole audience giving one of the longest rounds of applause I have ever heard!

William D’Arcy James plays Nigel and Christian Borle plays the rockstar, Shakespeare. This was the third time Mom and I have seen Christian Borle onstage (we kind of love him) and he was just so fantastic, as was James. If you enjoy laughing out loud, having a fantastic time, and funny Shakespeare quips, this show is for you!

Have a great Friday night!

Moving To New York: As Told By An Overthinking, Type-A Princess: Part 2

Hello everyone, welcome back!

Where did I leave off…oh yes! The apartment search! Right! Okay, so I arrived in New York City and went straight to my friend’s place where I would be staying while I hunted the concrete jungle for a place to live.

Earlier in the summer, a friend of mine from grad school helped me get in touch with an Aggie who’s a real estate broker in NYC. During the months leading up to my move, I coordinated with her about various things like what my budget was, what kind of place I was looking for, what neighborhood I wanted to be in, etc. Thank goodness I had her! If I hadn’t, the whole thing would have been WAY MORE stressful.

When you apply for an apartment in New York, the process is very similar to applying for a mortgage. You must be approved, based on your credit, income, bank accounts, and such. In order to qualify for a place without having a guarantor, you must make about 40 times the monthly rent in annual salary. Due to the fact I wanted to live in neighborhoods closer to my job in midtown, and the fact I chose not to have a roommate, I wasn’t going to be able to swing it without a guarantor. Luckily, my grandfather agreed to help me out.

Before I arrived, my broker had me collect the documents that leasing agents would most likely require once I found a place I liked. The real estate market in New York is ridiculously fast-paced. You have to be ready to move quickly once you find something you like or else, it’ll be gone. I learned that the hard way!

Feeling quite optimistic and ready to find my new home, I looked at two places the afternoon of my arrival in the city. The first place was WAY bigger than I had imagined a NY apartment being. It was a one bedroom and had quite a large kitchen area and living room. As I was looking around I started thinking that it was pretty spacious and I liked it. Then came its quirky charm…the shower…was in…the kitchen. What looked like a very unassuming pantry door, turned out to be the door to an upright shower…right there…in the kitchen. Like a dum-dum, I did not get a photo of this kitchen shower…but oh my! I had never seen anything like it in my entire life!

Once we wrapped up there, we went and looked at another smaller studio apartment. And boy was it smaller than that first one. There was a decent-sized kitchen, a quite nice bathroom, and then the actual studio part. I honestly think I would have had to get a twin-size bed…and maybe just a little loveseat…and that would be all the furniture I could fit. TINY.

My broker and I ended the day talking about what I liked and didn’t like about those two places and where we were going to be looking the following day. The next morning, I went and walked around the neighborhood where the first two places were located and I realized I really liked the area the first place was in. Kitchen shower and all, I was ready to commit to that one. I figured it would make a good story one day. When I met up with my broker to see another place that afternoon, I told her about how I thought I might want to apply for the first place. We took a look at place number three, which was a really nice one bedroom, and then we parted ways so she could figure out how I could apply for apartment number 1 and number 3…in case one was a no go. You following?

Unfortunately, when we reconvened to look at the next two places that afternoon, Apartments 1 and 3 were gone. Applications were filed by strong candidates and there was very minimal chance I would be able to beat out those applicants. See what I mean about that fast-paced real estate market? So…onto numbers 4 and 5.

The second of these two places ended up being a really nice alcove studio. We decided, since I was in a bit of a time crunch and since it was the favorite of all the available ones I’d seen, I’d go ahead and put in an application.

Without going into too much detail, the alcove studio didn’t pan out. The leasing agent and management company kept requesting more and more personal documents regarding myself and my grandpa, mostly my grandpa, in order to approve me. They weren’t satisfied with bank statements and tax returns. They kept wanting more. It became pretty apparent that they really didn’t want to give me the apartment. Every time we sent them a new document, they asked for more. This lasted about four days before my grandpa pulled the plug and said no more. It was frustrating, but also a relief to just say okay we’re out.

While all this was happening, I looked at two more places and found another I really liked. But alas, it already had an application and security deposit. Another one bites the dust. Total apartment count as of now: 7

Finally on Tuesday afternoon, my broker and I looked at 5 more apartments and guess what….apartment number 12 ended up being THE ONE! (For all you Aggies, pretty cool it ended up being the 12^th apartment I looked at, am I right?) Finally after nearly a week of searching, trying to stay positive, and a tearful phone call with my dad, I found an apartment! And it’s pretty adorable, even if I have to climb up four flights of stairs to get there. We moved quickly and two days later, on September 3^rd, I was signing a lease.

The only problem was, I couldn’t move in until September 8^th….My mom had come in to town to help me get settled and had a flight home on the 7th…and we were going to be homeless when our friend left to visit Texas the next day…

As you can see….I may have found an apartment, but there was still much more adventure to be had….

Tune in for Part 3 tomorrow!

Moving To New York: As Told By An Overthinking, Type-A Princess: Part 1

Well everybody, I’ve done it. I’ve officially moved to New York. It took blood, sweat, and some tears…okay, a lot of tears…to do it, but it happened. I’m here and I’m eager to begin this new chapter in one of my favorite cities. I know many of you, mostly my lovely family, are eager to hear about what’s been going on for the past three weeks since I left Texas. Well, here goes nothing! For the next few days, I will be uploading blog posts about my big move and my thoughts on New York life thus far. So ready your popcorn, pop some bubbly, or whatever, and get ready for Moving To New York: As Told By An Overthinking, Type-A Princess.

All those years spent dreaming about moving to New York, living the city life and having so much culture and art at my fingertips, I never once thought about the logistics. What exactly does a cross-country move to New York look like? How do I get all of my stuff there? How does one get furniture up to their apartment if they live in a walk-up and don’t have any friends yet? Will I be able to get things delivered? What if I don’t have laundry in my apartment building?

Did I mention I flew to New York not even having a place to live?! Crazy, right. Especially for someone like me.

So here’s my version of what it was like to move to New York City. It may not be this way for everyone, and perhaps I could have done things differently, but this is the saga of a type-A, anxiety-ridden, overreacting, overemotional Princess…named Alex J

The night before my one-way trip to NYC, I was frantically packing. Definitely not my best move. Instead of relaxing and enjoying one final night with my family, I was cramming way too much stuff into two suitcases and a duffle, while lamenting about how I just didn’t understand why my personal belongings seemed to keep growing, rather than shrinking, in size. I managed to get all of my clothing (except the winter essentials), shoes, undergarments, accessories, toiletries, and other various must-haves into the bags that would be flying with me the next day.

That same night, as I was cleaning out some purses, the fact that I was moving states away and that my life was changing hit me like a brick wall and, while I’m not proud to say it, I spent most of that evening crying. Because once I manage to let one teardrop escape, the floodgates opened for business.

In my defense, I hadn’t had a proper cry since I graduated college back in May. And for a person who emotes as much as me, that’s a really long time to keep those feelings bottled up! I’ve never been a nostalgic person and I’ve never been sad about one chapter of my life closing and another one beginning. To me, these are exciting life events. The difference in graduating college and graduating high school is that, after high school, you know college is the likely next step. However, after college…the possibilities are endless. The world is at your fingertips and you get to make your life whatever you want it to be. And if I sit and think about that too hard…I get really freaked out!

I’m a planner, I like to have a rough agenda. I like to foresee where my life could potentially be. Of course I have goals and aspirations, but I can’t picture another upcoming milestone the way you can picture walking across a stage holding a diploma. The secretary of my life called and said she shredded all of my agendas and my schedule for the next who knows how many years is WIDE OPEN. Scary stuff. But also ridiculously exciting. Because now I get to make it whatever I want it to be.

So back to packing and crying. And when I say crying, I mean the ugly, heavy kind. I was crying about the fact that I was done with college, done attending the greatest university in the whole world, Texas A&M, done living in College Station, and done living in Texas. Tears were falling because I would no longer be seeing my best friends every single day and wouldn’t be able to just hop in the car and drive to see my family when I wanted. I was also crying out of fear…fear of the unknown and the enormous life-change that was heading my way. Fear I’d made the wrong choice.

But I don’t really believe in wrong choices. I’ve always wanted to live in New York and I had the perfect opportunity to make that happen. If it doesn’t end up being everything I thought it’d be or if I just don’t see myself being here anymore, then that’s okay. At least I tried. I would never regret taking the chance to live in New York City, but I would definitely regret NOT taking it. When you’ve wanted to do something your whole life, you owe it to yourself to give it a shot.

Once I finished packing and calmed down, I was able to sleep, somewhat soundly, before waking up and preparing for the long journey ahead. With two overweight suitcases, a large Vera Bradley duffle, and a tote bag, we headed to the airport with my parents driving as I sat quietly in the backseat of the car. Just like I was a little kid again. All of the “See You Soon’s” had been said, and one final goodbye to my trusty first car, Ella the Elantra. (At the time this post was written, Ella had found a new home. I don’t want to talk about it L)

Once arriving at the airport, I checked in for my Southwest flight and made my way to the security lines, where I had a tearful goodbye with my parents. I do NOT like crying in front of people. I put on my sunglasses as fast as I could but the tears were streaming down. I was quite angry with myself for being so emotional, but oh well. It happened. I’m sure people in the airport were thinking, this girl clearly has some issues because she’s sobbing all over the place. Thankfully, I was at Hobby, not IAH…less people, you know.

Once I was through security, I sat down at the gate, pulled myself together, and bought the Texas Monthly with JJ Watt on the cover. Because it made me happy to have a “Texas” magazine with me…not because JJ was on the cover…obviously. We boarded the plane and three and a half hours later I landed in my new home.

Getting two large suitcases, a duffle, and a tote out of an airport, all by yourself, while also trying to locate your Uber car as taxis and other vehicles are zooming by…is ridiculously difficult. Remember that anxiety I mentioned earlier, this is one of the things I was stressing over. My parents suggested getting one of those luggage carts, which ended up being the best $6 I’ve ever spent. Some nice people at baggage claim helped me get the trolley all situated before I headed out. Thank you, nice people! Once I made it to the car, I headed to my very generous family friend’s home, where I would be staying while I searched for an apartment.

The apartment search, which I naively and optimistically, thought would only last a couple of days, ended up being a weeklong extravaganza I had NO IDEA I was in for…

Tune in for Part 2 of Moving to New York: As Told By An Overthinking, Type-A Princess tomorrow!