Our Hoboken Home-To-Be

At last, the moment you have all been waiting for - a look at our next apartment!

First, I must give credit where credit is due. Eric has been an apartment-hunting all-star through this whole thing. He has spent the last month or so constantly monitoring apartment prices, researching options, calling and emailing leasing agents, searching Craigslist, and even made a trip out to Hoboken on his own while I was in Florida to check out a few places. It was while he was on his solo mission that he found the place we're going with. He really took care of business here, and I'm so grateful. He also was the one who found our current apartment, so I'm pretty thankful to him for all his diligent apartment researching.

We had an appointment for us both to look at the apartment on Saturday, but I woke up feeling like death warmed over, so we didn't actually get out there until Sunday afternoon. And, I was very happy with what I saw!

The unit itself is very nice. It is considerably bigger than what we have now (819 square feet, as compared to our current 659 square feet), with a pass-thru kitchen like we like. The view faces west over Hoboken, and although about a bajillion times less stunning as our current view, it is at least unobstructed (so we're not staring into another apartment across the street) and hopefully we can see some nice sunsets over New Jersey. There are parquet floors in the living and dining rooms (like we have now), tile in the kitchen and bathroom and carpet in the bedroom.

Apartment floor plan

The living room (it's a corporate apartment right now, which is why it's furnished. Don't worry, that furniture will go away!)

The dining room and kitchen (and Eric and the leasing agent)

The bedroom

 I didn't take a picture of the bathroom myself, but this is from the apartment website. It's...blue. Pretty bright and won't match our decor, but it works!

And wait, I haven't even told you the best part! Guess what else this place has? An IN-UNIT WASHER AND DRYER. That means no more dragging my laundry basket down to the community laundry room, paying $1.75 per load per washer/dryer, dealing with broken W/Ds (with no signage so you don't realize they're broken until it's too late), a crowded room, etc. I can do laundry AT MY LEISURE. I could just wash one shirt if I wanted! No more hassle! No more laundry cards! No more crowds! I'm so freaking excited to do laundry, as sick as that sounds. This all makes me feel very old. When did I become a person who gets excited about a washer/dryer? Am I really a grown-up? Am I going to start asking for things like vacuum cleaners for Christmas? I fear this is a slippery slope.

Oh hello there, you beautiful appliances. Where have you been all my life?

The only downside about the actual unit is the closet space. We have really incredible closet space in our current apartment, so we knew we were likely facing a letdown in our next place, but this new apartment's closet space is seriously scary. We're already talking about ways we can make that work, so I think we'll be okay, but I will majorly miss our two long walls of closets that we have now.

As for the rest of the building, it is also very nice. The lobby is large and welcoming, there are LOTS of elevators (our apartment in DC only had two elevators for about 16 floors, and one or both were CONSTANTLY breaking down, which was awful, so this is important to us!), and of course, it's dog-friendly. There is also a very nice gym that looks out over the river, and an aerobics studio that offers aerobics classes for an extra cost. There is also a very nice game room, a putting green (Eric is pumped), and nice "rooftop" parks (actually on a lower floor) looking out over the water.

 The front of the building

Website picture of the lobby

Website picture of the putting green

Website picture of the building, showing the two "rooftop parks"

The location, however, is really the best part. The building is right on the river (obviously), which means it's right along that beautiful tree-lined riverside path that was the first thing I loved about Hoboken when we visited this summer. It's just blocks from the PATH train (easiest/cheapest way into Manhattan), and just a couple blocks west of Washington Street, which is that charming main street. That glorious Grimaldi's/Crumbs combo is just a couple blocks away, as is the Gator alumni bar. There is also a park across the street (including a dog run), and a grocery store on the ground floor of the building. All wonderful things, but my favorite is really just the proximity to the river. When you exit through a side door of the building, you can immediately see the NYC skyline. Just a half block walk to the river, and the views are breathtaking. We won't have the view from our actual apartment, but we can take it in every time we step outside. I can make do with that.

This is actually a view from our new living room window, looking Northwest at a little park. The dog run is down there under the snow somewhere.

The view when you exit the side door of the building - I see the Empire State Building!

What you see when you walk a half block over to the river. Hello, midtown skyline.

This is a photo we actually took during our first Hoboken visit this summer, and this is actually right by our new apartment! What are the odds?

Another summer picture - this mural is also right across the street from our apartment

And clearly, another summer picture - walking along that tree-lined riverside path that is right in front of our new building!

So that's where we'll be living by the end of next month! I think our actual moving day will be February 22, but then once all our stuff is moved over to Hoboken we'll spend the rest of that night finishing up the cleaning/painting of our old apartment and actually hand in our keys on February 23rd. And then we will be Hoboken residents!

I'm feeling so conflicted about this move. On the one hand, I am very excited. It's always exciting to get settled in a new place, and I think we'll like Hoboken (except for the fact that they DO NOT HAVE A CHIPOTLE). The apartment is great, and you all know how I feel about the washer/dryer! It will be a huge cost savings for us each month, and we can really build our savings for the future. It will be great.

But now that it's really happening, I am so sad to leave this apartment. I know I touched on that in my last Hoboken post, but it's really hitting me. Our unit is already listed for lease as of March 1 on the company website, and I'm already jealous of whoever gets to live here next. What a fabulous apartment! It is going to be so difficult to take one last look at that view and leave this place for good. I love it here so much. I'm trying to soak up every last second of it now, but it's going to be tough.

I'm also a little bummed that my search for stability continues. I had hoped this would be our last apartment in the New York City area, that we would stay here until we were ready to move on altogether. We painted the walls and really tried to make this a home, but we were only here two years. Since moving out of my dad's house for college, the longest I have ever lived in any apartment is two years. I first moved into Murphree Hall at UF (in my day, still unairconditioned) and lived there for two years, although in two different rooms. Then my roommate and I moved into an apartment for the last two years of college. After college, it was a new Gainesville apartment for one year. Then we moved to DC and lived with another roommate for two years before moving into our own place for one year. Then we moved here, lived in our first unit for 6 months, then in this apartment for two years. I know being in transition is kind of part of the territory in your 20s, but I see my friends starting to buy houses and really settle in and sometimes I want that so badly. I want to live in a place that is ours, where we can really put down roots and set up shop. I want to break that two-year mark and really stay in one place and make it home. I know we'll get there, but we still have a while to wait.

So for now, it's off to Hoboken! I know it will be a good move and I'm sure we'll love it. Now it's time to get packing!