I still have to post vacation pix.
and I accomplished nothing I meant to this weekend.
And I am getting killed at work tonight.

wah, wah, wah.

BUT- this is awesome and I had to share:



ah and PS, my apartment has been rented.

(Ok, so today I want to be googly)

So... my apartment is going to be available probably the last week of June.

For those of you who haven't seen it, it really is a great place.

Info-

-Upper apartment in a 2 apt house.
(landlords (who are great) live downstairs)

-Three bedrooms/1 bath
-great big kitchen with new stainless appliances (incl gas stove)
-huge living room with tons of windows and great light
-it's seriously huge- (previous owner told me 2000 sq ft!)
-small back balcony
-GARAGE PARKING
-*FREE* washer/dryer in the basement
-huge attic/basement with tons of storage
-lots of built-in storage
-laundry chute!
-carpet in living/dining room and hall, wood floors in bedrooms
-lots of neat woodwork, etc
-great landlords (worth mentioning again)
-great location- just off the elmwood strip, and within walking distance (2 blocks) of thai/indian/chinese/pizza/subway/convenience store. Neighborhood is convenient and safe, mostly college students/families
-small front and bigger back yards

The landlords want to rent to 1 or 2 people, but not 3
Rent will be 750, plus utilities

I really can't say enough about this place- my only complaint would be no dishwasher- but the landlords may even put one in.

For more info/pix/etc- comment here or email me using the email link to the right!


living room windows


looking into dining room


one bedroom


living room


back porch


living room


(the apt is upstairs)


first bedroom


second bedroom


dining room into living room


kitchen (appliaces have since been updated)

Wow... so while out last night, someone suggested sunday brunch. I'm always up for that... one friend is an awesome cook, and wanted to cook. Another guy has this freaking AMAZING house with a huge gourmet kitchen... So awesome cook + gourmet kitchen = unbelievable brunch. Stuffed french toast- made with good french bread, stuffed with cream cheese and raspberry jam. OMG so good.
Now I think I need to go work out!

Thanks (e:hodown)- I found a decent calculator. I had looked before, but the one I found said "you shouldn't spend more than 1/3 of your income on rent" and the calculator had a box for 'monthly pay check' and then you click 'calculate' and it puts a number in the box. Gee thanks, I can divide by 3.

So the expensive place has 1 month free rent, and if I divide that by 12, it reduces the rent enough that it's about $100 over my recommended budget. If I have to, I could cover $1200 out of savings.

But you're all right... it would suck to live house-poor.

But I think location (both safety-wise, and 'fun'-wise) is important. Both places are equally close to work, so that's not a big issue.

And as far as keep looking... well that's tough since i'm going back to buffalo tomorrow. But I looked at 6 buildings- and then spoke to a realtor friend who said there's nothing else he would recommend (just some dumps).

And I didn't take pix, but here are the websites-

This is the $$$ one (floorplan M)


And this is the more practical one, with the penthouse-

(the middle floorplan in the 2BR section.)

And FWIW, the 1BR in the first place and 2BR penthouse in the second place are about the same size- 1050 sq ft more or less.
The cost difference is $300/mo.