Big news!!!

by Brittany Geragotelis

So, since I don't have any good and exciting news on the book front (haven't heard back from any more agents and haven't gotten an answer from any of the others who requested my full manuscript), I figured I should give you SOME kind of news to tide you over until I can get on this blog and say, "I DID IT! I DID IT! I FINALLY GOT ANOTHER AGENT!!!!! HOLY MOTHER OF ALL THINGS GOOD IN THIS WORLD SOMEONE'S FINALLY TAKEN A CHANCE ON ME!"

Then again, the news I've got for you instead could be described in a similar way:

"I DID IT! I DID IT! I FINALLY GOT A BOYFRIEND WHO LOVES ME ENOUGH TO SHACK UP WITH ME!!!! HOLY MOTHER OF ALL THINGS GOOD IN THIS WORLD, SOMEONE'S FINALLY TAKING A CHANCE ON ME!"

Hahahaha. Okay, so a bit dramatic, I know. And not exactly how I'd describe the situation (I mean, I'm a pretty good catch, after all). But the bottom line is this: Matt and I are moving in together! Let's say it together now. Yay!

After nearly three (blissful and dorky) years of dating, we've finally deemed each other worthy living companions and are planning to combine our forces and find a place we can call our own. So, where will we live you ask? Well, we're not sure yet, but we're looking into a few places. And even though we're not planning to make the big merger until January, we're planning to look at a bunch of places this weekend.

Hey, we figure, we don't want to wait til the last minute to search for our little love nest.

So, what are we looking for then? Well, here are just a few of the things that made our apartment wish list:

—Fitness room/gym in building (Both Matt and I work out regularly and it would be nice if we didn't have to leave our apartment to do it. Plus, it would save us gym memberships!)

—A dishwasher (Yes, to those of you out there who live somewhere OTHER than NYC, most apartments here don't have dishwashers. You have to do this horrible thing called, "washing your dishes by hand." I hate doing dishes so much that there was a 6-month time period where I bought plastic silverware and paper dishes, so that I could throw them out after I used them. So, yeah, a dishwasher is a must.)

—Rooftop patio/Rooftop garden (Again, not a necessity, but it would be nice to have a place to relax and/or sunbathe that didn't involve a ton of strangers leering at you while you do it.)

—24/hour Doorman (My last apartment was broken into and both of us want the added security that a round-the-clock watchman provides. Feeling safe in your home is super important to us!)

—A large kitchen with more than one counter (Matt and I cook a lot and right now, my kitchen isn't even big enough for the two of us to stand in, let alone cook in. And there's about half a counter in there. I think it's time for a big girl kitchen.)

—Laundry on premises, preferably in unit (Again, not every apartment building has a laundry room. And very few actually have a washer and dryer in the individual apartments. Not only would having one in our apartment save us time and money, but we're going to have twice as many clothes to clean between the two of us now!)

—Balcony (Not a must, but think of how nice it would be to wake up in the morning on a nice weekend day and be able to sit outside and drink your coffee while looking out at the NYC skyline. A-MAZING!)

—A swimming pool (Okay, I never would have put this on the list before, but Matt and I have already sort of started looking and I'm amazed at how many places actually have pools in the buildings around here! So, now that I know they're available, I kind of want one, too. Can you blame a girl?)

So, I think that's about it for now. I'll keep you guys up to date on the apartment hunt and if you can think up any other cool things we should be looking for in a place to live, leave them in the comments above.

Happy (apartment) Hunting!

5x5,
B.