Yet Another Move

Oh wow, I had scheduled this post for August and kept putting it off until I could take good before and after photos of our new house. Still not to that point, but I will catch up before the end of this year! My sublet on Vanderbilt's campus with my roommate ended in August, and for the first time, I had the task of trying to find somewhere to sign my first lease. Looking back, it was the best decision to take my mother's advice not to sign a lease anywhere right when I moved here in May because it gave me time to find new roommates, decide where I want to live and make a more educated selection. I guess mothers know best! 

In college, I only lived in dorms and the sorority house, so I had never been through this process. Emma and I were open to a lot of options, and our search was all over the place because we couldn't narrow it down. We both were open to Hillsboro Village, West End, The Gulch or 12 South areas, then Emma leaned a bit towards East Nashville (edgy part of town where many musicians are moving to), and I leaned a bit towards Green Hills (wealthy, preppy area). We weren't sure if we wanted a house or an apartment, and no one wanted to pay more than about $600/a month. During the late summer, with all the students moving back into town, there were extremely limited options which didn't help. At the time, Emma didn't have a job lined up, so she could potentially be moving elsewhere, leaving me with no roommate which is when I found Annie, our third roommate, a friend of a friend moving here for Vandy grad school.

After weeks of Emma and I looking when we could (Annie was long distance in Boston), setting up appointments and even talking to a realtor, Emma finally spotted a listing on Craig's list. She checked it out, I later checked it out, and Annie was down with whatever we picked. The realtor said there were other people looking at it and willing to put down a payment that same day, so you bet I went straight to the bank and slammed on the gas to get there first! The process of reviewing our application took more than a week, so I was getting quite nervous (none of us really have credit), but we finally got the call that we had secured the spot, just two weeks from when we had to move out of our apartment in Hillsboro Village!

Our new get-up is a 3-story townhouse with 3 bedrooms (although one isn't technically a bedroom, doesn't have closets) and 3 bathrooms. It was so clean, well-kept and had been freshly painted (although in my opinion, the walls are too dark tan, and there is too much carpet). It is the first time I've had my own room since high school in my parent's house, and living here, I laugh at the thought that we even considered sharing a tiny one bedroom just to live somewhere more expensive like an apartment in the Gulch. Sidenote: Wasn't it sweet of Annie to send us flowers? Made a good first impression! 

As for moving our stuff, luckily I had recently done a friend here a favor (the favor was acting in a video for the upcoming Chi Psi National Convention, ha), so he owed me one and rounded up a couple guy friends to help us move. They weren't available until later in the day, so Emma and I moved essentially everything we could by ourselves which was straight up exhausting (our last apartment was down a long hallway and on the third floor). After many trips between the two of us, the boys arrived and used their truck to make two trips with our furniture (although we really didn't have that much). Moving definitely had its mishaps (see photo above right). The photo below was an attempt to assemble my bed (yes, it's fixed now)! We ended the day with a celebratory meal at Logan's Roadhouse! Two moves in about three months is enough for me... 

For months after the move, we spent quite the time and resources decorating this big place! I went from living in a sorority house (where all you need is ribbon) to subletting a single room with Emma 500 miles away to securing a large master bedroom with my own bathroom, not to mention our townhouse has a whole floor of common area to fill. It was a collaborative effort (the three of us are all from out of state), but it's looking great, and we love it! This place could not have worked out any better! I am SO thankful!