Home is Where All Your Stuff Is

Gosh it is difficult trying to catch up on this blog. While today was actually my first day of work, I still haven't written about everything getting moved in. And if you're tired of reading, don't worry: this one is mostly pictures. Here goes...


The movers' timing was perfect. They got here on Friday morning and it was really easy for them to bring everyone over. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking:

My stuff - it arrives.

They even rolled out the blue carpet for me.

My job was to just cross off boxes as they came in to make sure everything was there.

After the first load.

...the 2nd load...

...and the final one.

Overall it really only took about 1.5 hours from start to finish. I really didn't have to lift a finger during all this which was probably the first time that's ever happened when I've been moving. The people from the moving company were really nice. When they were packing stuff up back in NJ, my mom was taking pictures and commiserating with the woman who had also had children move away. The woman ended up taking a picture of me next to the moving truck and said she would sent it to my mom. Not sure if it ever made it...

Now that I had all this stuff, I needed to start doing something with it. The first order of business was constructing my bed so that I had somewhere to sleep that night. Again, pictures will speak louder than words here:

Getting the layout right.

Is this how it goes?

Now for the slats (box-spring replacement)

I've done it!

...with my desk and chair too!

So now I had a basic layout of my room. That meant I could start focussing on filling it in more, as well as just dealing with everything that was in the living room. At some point, the cable guy showed up so I also had TV and internet. While I had access to internet previously at my temporary apartment, the lobby of this one, and the Safeway/Subway/Starbucks downstairs, it was so much better to have entertainment on while unpacking.

My little entertainment center (currently watching Ace Ventura) that closely resembles this xkcd comic.

Room no longer empty.

I spent good portions of the rest of the weekend unpacking boxes, setting up the kitchen, and basic things like that. I was unbelievable exhausted on Friday, so I didn't do much of anything. Saturday was my day to explore so I walked around the area surrounding my apartment. I accidentally stumbled upon probably my greatest find - Cal Anderson park. Named after Seattle's first openly gay state legislator, it received renovations according to my brief research on the internet. It has tennis and basketball courts, a turf field, water fountains, and big open grass areas.

I wish I had my camera with me because it was absurdly picturesque. People were playing all sorts of sports while others just laid on the grass reading. Circles of people who knew each other were scattered around. At one point, 1 of the circles got up and started a coordinated hula-hoop performance to the soundtrack of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. If you've ever wondered what hipsters actually do in their free time, this is a perfect example. I will definitely be back here in the future, and will have plenty of pictures to show then.

Sunday was spent on a few more errands. I got word of a used furniture sale that happens once a year at a big warehouse, so I decided to just check it out. As soon as I got there, I knew I'd be buying stuff. For $35, I got a bedside table, media center stand/shelving unit, circular coffee table, lamp, and 2 pillows. I would have gotten more, but I could barely fit all of that in the tiny sedan I had. I even had to secure the table to the trunk with twine, and worried about it falling out the whole way back. Everything went pretty well, though, so now there's even furniture in the living room too!

That night, I decided to treat myself and see "The Dark Knight Rises" in IMAX. If you have the chance to do this and can spare the money, do it. I had already seen the movie once on a regular screen, and this was still worth it. All the epic scenes are filmed in IMAX and look amazing. The theater was surprisingly packed, but I had a good time. I got home around 10:45pm and got ready to head to work the following day. I'll have plenty to talk about work in the coming days, but figure that deserves a dedicated post.