Hoo boy, have I been busy.
Let's see, since we last talked, there have really been two big events in my life.
-My mom's surprise birthday party! My mother turned sixty on October 10, and to surprise her, my father took her down to Chicago for the weekend. Upon checking into the hotel, he called down for room service. When the knock came at the door, mom opened it... to find Hanna and I! We all screamed, mom almost fainted, and then Jim handed dad the champagne. :-) My dad throws great surprises. He bought flights for Hanna and I back in June, and had Jim reserve the hotel in advance so Mom wouldn't see it on the credit card bill. Hanna and I stayed at Jim's apartment, and we spent all weekend hanging out as a family. We did a bit of shopping and a lot of eating at delicious restaurants. I have some great new ideas for food that I want to try out, including basil pesto hollandaise (over salmon, perhaps) and sweet rosemary cream reduction (over french toast or waffles.) It was wonderful to see the family, to spend time with my parents and sister and Jim. ♥
-I moved! (In which our heroine Gets Her Own Place.) This past weekend, I moved into my new apartment. I've only lived there two days, but I love it. I love the cute cozy space, I love the location, and I love love love living alone. I feel so much happier, freer, and generally more comfortable than I have since... well, since moving out of my old single dorm room. The apartment is small-ish, but not claustrophobic (like some places I looked at), which is fine-- there is enough room for all my things, including a place for my books, and a smaller space means less heating costs. It's one floor up, so there is less noise from the street and hopefully less bugs. Inasmuch as a city as small as Galway can have "districts," it's in the more artsy bohemian district. The only downside is that it doesn't have internet yet-- I'm currently writing this from my cubicle at the college-- but I'm looking into that and should have the router ordered by next week. In the meantime, I can check my email and whatnot here at school.
Upcoming events in ayla's life: this weekend, my cousin Alex is arriving in Dublin! He is running in the Dublin Marathon on Monday 27 October, because he's crazy, and then will be spending a few days in Galway, crashing on the futon at my new apartment! (Yes, I have a futon in the living room!) I will be heading to Dublin on Sunday, likely with a friend or two, and staying over to watch Alex run in the marathon. How exciting!
Showing posts with label moving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label moving. Show all posts
Monday, October 20, 2008
Monday, May 5, 2008
New apartment!
... aaaaaand I'm moved in!
My new housemate, Julia, is awesome. She is 33 and has done a bit of everything-- lived in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and New York City. Now she's a sales executive for a major cleaning company (she said she doesn't deal with contracts less than €2.5 million), as well as being a part-time publicist. She's very laid-back and friendly, outgoing but not a partier (though she does enjoy a drink down at the pub.) She even says she's going to help me find a job; while we were drinking a cup of tea together, she was throwing out ideas of where I could work.
Already I like living with her much more than with Virginie. Virginie was nice, but also kind of weird and annoying, and we never talked-- I think I can count the number of actual conversations we had on one hand. Also, this apartment is just goddamn beautiful. The living/dining/kitchen room is huge-- it's on the ground floor, and right next to the canal-- if I throw a stone out of my window it will land in the water. There's a large (fenced-in) garden outside, and we have a door to it from the living room. Oh, and it's across the street from the cathedral. Lovely.
The only problem I can see so far is that I haven't been able to figure out how to get the wireless internet to work. Julia isn't sure of the password, but she'll ring the internet guy tomorrow if we can't figure it out. Right now, I have my my lappy in the living room with a cat-5 cable plugged into the router-- if all else fails, I have a 50-foot cat-5 cable that we can run to my room. But that would be a little annoying. Anyway, the internet is also fast! What a luxury.
My new housemate, Julia, is awesome. She is 33 and has done a bit of everything-- lived in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and New York City. Now she's a sales executive for a major cleaning company (she said she doesn't deal with contracts less than €2.5 million), as well as being a part-time publicist. She's very laid-back and friendly, outgoing but not a partier (though she does enjoy a drink down at the pub.) She even says she's going to help me find a job; while we were drinking a cup of tea together, she was throwing out ideas of where I could work.
Already I like living with her much more than with Virginie. Virginie was nice, but also kind of weird and annoying, and we never talked-- I think I can count the number of actual conversations we had on one hand. Also, this apartment is just goddamn beautiful. The living/dining/kitchen room is huge-- it's on the ground floor, and right next to the canal-- if I throw a stone out of my window it will land in the water. There's a large (fenced-in) garden outside, and we have a door to it from the living room. Oh, and it's across the street from the cathedral. Lovely.
The only problem I can see so far is that I haven't been able to figure out how to get the wireless internet to work. Julia isn't sure of the password, but she'll ring the internet guy tomorrow if we can't figure it out. Right now, I have my my lappy in the living room with a cat-5 cable plugged into the router-- if all else fails, I have a 50-foot cat-5 cable that we can run to my room. But that would be a little annoying. Anyway, the internet is also fast! What a luxury.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
here and gone
Just a quick note-- I'm moving tomorrow!
It came up quite suddenly. On Tuesday, my friend Seanna called me to tell me that she'd moved out of the apartment that I'm moving into. On Thursday, I got the move-out paperwork in the mail from my current building manager. On Friday, I talked to my new housemate Julia, and we decided on Monday at noon. She has a car, so she's going to come pick me up and help me move! That's particularly excellent, because otherwise I'd be paying for a couple cab rides across town.
I packed most of my things today, just leaving the things I'm going to need tomorrow morning. I'm very excited to be away from the outskirts of town and closer to the city centre. The apartment is gorgeous, the rent is reasonable, and the location is ideal-- equidistant between the College and the city centre, and less than a ten-minute walk to either.
It's rather odd, though. I've lived in this apartment for almost nine months, and I can be packed and gone, leaving no sign I was ever here, in a couple hours. I've never quite gotten used to the temporary, semi-nomadic lifestyle that tends to be common to college students. Well, I have four years ahead of me in Galway, and I'm pretty sure I can stay in this new place as long as I want.
It came up quite suddenly. On Tuesday, my friend Seanna called me to tell me that she'd moved out of the apartment that I'm moving into. On Thursday, I got the move-out paperwork in the mail from my current building manager. On Friday, I talked to my new housemate Julia, and we decided on Monday at noon. She has a car, so she's going to come pick me up and help me move! That's particularly excellent, because otherwise I'd be paying for a couple cab rides across town.
I packed most of my things today, just leaving the things I'm going to need tomorrow morning. I'm very excited to be away from the outskirts of town and closer to the city centre. The apartment is gorgeous, the rent is reasonable, and the location is ideal-- equidistant between the College and the city centre, and less than a ten-minute walk to either.
It's rather odd, though. I've lived in this apartment for almost nine months, and I can be packed and gone, leaving no sign I was ever here, in a couple hours. I've never quite gotten used to the temporary, semi-nomadic lifestyle that tends to be common to college students. Well, I have four years ahead of me in Galway, and I'm pretty sure I can stay in this new place as long as I want.
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