Packing and Prepping for the Road

It was pretty cool to watch how they moved this thing.

I am unbelievably exhausted, and I'm pretty sure my Dad, who reminded me today that his next major birthday milestone is 60, is even more pooped. Today (with beautiful weather - a real rarity in these parts), we loaded about half of a 8'x16' PODS container.

Dad also reminded me that this is the first time since high school that everything I own is in one place, which is crazy. Not only is everything going to be in one home since they are - shall we say "encouraging" - me to take anything of mine I don't want thrown away, I'm also taking quite a few things that they're simply trying to get out of the house in preparation for their next move.

But beggars can't be choosers, and a beggar I am because moving is expensive! My company will be reimbursing me for some of the costs, but it's killing me now since it's all upfront. The PODS container alone is $2,200, not to mention the gas to get out there, food, places to sleep since it's a 24+ hour trip, etc.

But John and I have decided to make the best of the trip out. We're leaving Monday for Memphis, Tenn. and staying an extra day for site-seeing, staying with my Grandpa one night, and spending a few nights in Shenandoah National Park. While I hate long-distance driving, I'm looking forward to the fun we'll have :-) We haven't decided what all we want to do in Memphis, but the Memphis Zoo, the Rock 'n' Soul Museum, Sun Studio, Stax Museum of American Soul Music, and Beale Street are all on the list of potential places to visit. Tell me what you think we should do by voting (sidebar to the right on the blog's homepage).

Dad is the master of Tetris. That's why
he broke out the sweatband.

So besides packing constantly and making phone calls for arrangements (from hotel reservations to switching over my utilities), I'm also trying to see friends before I take off. Last night, Laura (my college roommate and hair cutter extraordinaire) introduced me to the very awesome Anvil Bar in the Montrose area of Houston for finely crafted drinks. I also got to meet her sweet, 70-pound Labrador retriever Brujo, which of course made me miss Paparazzi (he's staying with John while I wrap things up in Houston). I'm hoping to see a few more people this weekend yet!

In the mean time, real-life Tetris will continue, but since the storage unit is all but empty (only my unneeded washer and dryer remain), I'm hoping it will move swiftly.

I finished up today with an Elk burger from Fuddruckers (oh yes, I said ELK!) and a little more repacking magic, and now my brain is shutting down. I'm going to get some shut eye so I can get up early tomorrow to finish up and get back to my boys!

P.S.
Did I mention that moving is hard and expensive? Just wanted to make sure that got in there.

Found a Place to Live!

To make a long day of events short, Tuesday was basically just a repeat of Monday – about two-dozen calls and several mediocre viewings. One property stood out – it was a complete remodel that nobody had been in since. It was gorgeous, but about $100 over what I was hoping to spend and about a mile further out than I wanted.

My new place in midtown Harrisburg.

I did, however, find the right place in the end. There’s a group called WCI Partners that’s bought lots of buildings in the neighborhood where three other andCulture employees live. They remodel and sell or lease the rowhouses out, and they do great work. Fortunately for me, they actually have their work done by the woman-owned construction company that remodeled the other house I liked so much! They really have their act together – wrote up all the remodeling changes they committed to for me – and are super nice – she let me borrow her umbrella all day to look at other places. So I feel at peace about it.

The house’s current seafoam green carpet (when was that popular?) will be replaced with new flooring and the whole place will be painted in some nice neutral tones (the kitchen is currently pumpkin orange with a plum ceiling – what were they thinking?). They’re adding a washer and dryer to my private basement plus a security system. There’s even central air, which is definitely nice, though I’ll be making the switch to life without a dishwasher.

There’s one bathroom and 2.5 bedrooms upstairs. The “third bedroom” really is tiny so I’m going to geek out and turn it into a library! My room has doors out to a second floor balcony. Hopefully once I get settled I can rent out the other bedroom to interns at the capitol or maybe exchange students. I don’t need that to make the rent, but it would help me save some money and give me some company besides Paparazzi, who’s welcome there. They even waived the pet deposit and pet rent to meet my budget.

I’m in the same neighborhood as Liz Rose, who recommended me for this new job because she’s awesome, and she raves about the neighborhood – block parties, really friendly, strong neighborhood watch. I’m hoping to buy my way into her car pool party too to save money on gas when I don’t want to walk, though I hope to do that a lot for the exercise – it’s about 2.5 miles round trip - while it's nice.

The Church of Poetry at Midtown Scholar
Bookstore down the street.

I’m also just a few blocks from the Susquehanna River, where there’s a great walking trail people take their dogs on all the time, and I’m about half a mile from a giant bookstore/café and farmers’ market. It’s just what I wanted. :-)

So, despite the initial nerves and probably 10 miles of walking over three days, I ended up with a great deal in the end. And I’m not worried that I’m missing out because I think I’ve seen every freaking available place in the area!

My projected move-in date is May 15, depending on how fast they can do the work they need to. If you need my new address, just send me an email since I don’t want to post it online. If you're in the area, I plan to have a moving party: Beer, Brisket, and Boxes. Apparently Shiner and decent barbecue are scare in Central Pennsylvania so I aim to remedy that for any who will help.

I’m not sure yet what will be my last day in Texas, though I’ll probably be around through the end of April. My official start date at andCulture is May 9, but they’re flexible on that. John and I will likely be road tripping out to PA, so I’ll keep y’all posted on when I’m leaving the great state of Texas.

Apartment Hunting Opening Day

The capitol building is beautiful (and lime green on top).
I saw it several times during my nearly 4 miles of walking.

I've come to the conclusion that apartment hunting really brings out both the best and the worst in me since, as often seems the case, both labels can be applied to one trait depending on the context. Allow me to elaborate (you have to, it's my blog).

Despite my rampant cynicism, cultivated as a whiskey-drinkin' journalist of course, I'm an optimist at heart. For me, optimism means looking at a challenging situation with an eye for how to solve it while pessimism means looking at that situation and only seeing what can stop you.

Here's what happens when this is applied to apartments: the optimist in me looks past what's there towards what could be. Which is healthy and probably not bad given that I can't expect perfection. However, it also allows me to talk myself into things I shouldn't. The first time I went apartment shopping, in Taylor, Vivian was my voice of reason - the person who said, no this bathroom is ridiculous, we're leaving. I tried to keep her voice in my head today, especially when I walked into the first of seven apartments I viewed.

Upon walking into a building that looked like it was straight out of Beetlejuice, I smelled the smoke and asked if smoking was allowed inside. My extremely indifferent, and tardy, leasing agent said that there wasn't anything in the contract preventing it but she'd never seen anyone smoking in the hallways. But, um, can't you smell that? I've been around smokers my whole life and as such have an olfactory immunity to the smell much of the time. I decided to give the units a shot since maybe people only smoked in the hallways because it snows here?

Well, I walked into the first one and immediately lost my balance. I looked down. I looked at the leasing agent (an Asian girl named "Fir," I shit you not). "Are these floors uneven?" I asked. She looked up from her PDA long enough to give me a blank stare like, "Oh, you noticed that?" She assured me they were safe, which I think is bullshit. She pretty much looked at her phone for the rest of the tours.

Needless to say, the other three units in that building were also lacking (mostly for kitchen space). The final one had fire escape stairs as the only way to get inside, which terrified me. How would someone get their dog to go up or down the unstable, narrow steps, let alone ever move furniture? I was not to be lured in by the bay windows and view of the river, no sir. So I walked on (clocking nearly 4 miles over the day).

I just can't say no to that face.

According to my phone, I made about two dozen calls today on properties I passed by, probably about half of which said no to Paparazzi. That dog is complicating this process like no other, but I'm not even considering giving him up - I need someone to come with me! I'm going to be so homesick, not to mention that it would just be selfish of me to give him up because it's inconvenient. So he's coming, but he'd better appreciate how tough he's making this by being a canine. Fortunately, his almost complete lack of barking and tiny stature makes him negotiable in some places.

Two other places I saw were huge - really too much space for me - but again, the kitchen had no counter space and no room for a table. So disappointing! I can live without a dishwasher, but I need a place to prepare food. It's becoming clear to me that the kitchen is the most important room for me since cooking is not only a daily task for survival but also a means of relaxation and entertainment in my life. And while I don't need granite counter tops to be happy, but I do need counter tops.

The seventh place was tiny, though I was a big fan of the fact that the landlady used to run an extermination business. Definitely big points in my book, for obvious reasons given my recent rental history. But the place is basically just a wide hallway with a kitchen at the end, and I just don't want to hang out in my bedroom all the time.

So the hunt will continue tomorrow, which is a real bummer because I was hoping to meet some andCulture clients tomorrow. But alas, there are rental calls pending and new contacts to check in with, so wish me luck in finding a decent place!

First Impressions of Harrisburg

I've been in Harrisburg for about 48 hours now and it's been interesting. I thought about writing last night, but my 102.3 fever seemed to indicate that I might regret whatever I wrote. My fever broke during the night and I woke up feeling much less achey and miserable, though I'm still fighting a sore throat. But I'm jumping ahead.

The flight from Houston to Philadelphia was rough because I tend to get sick after something stressful is removed from my life - in this case, working at the Press. So Friday felt a little bit like going to the first day of school sick: Will they like me? Will it be too hard? Will I stay standing the whole time?

I did get through the day with coffee, ibuprofen and an exciting work environment. I know that andCulture isn't easy to understand based on their website, and that's because they're a company with a lot of different working parts. The simplest explanation is that it's a design firm. They specialize in websites, which I write for (my official title is junior content strategist). They also work with mobile apps and experience design, but I'm not sure if/when I'll be involved in those kinds of projects.

Bottom line: they're a forward thinking company in both product and company culture, which is incredibly refreshing. It's intense and serious when it comes to creating a great product, but really friendly and fun in the process. Of course, that is judging it from one day and current employees' opinions, but major upsides I've seen so far include: company weight loss competition, ping pong table, kitchen for monthly group meals, shower at work so I can walk there without fear of being gross all day... good stuff.

Anyway, there's not much more to report work-wise since it was mostly a day of meeting people interspersed with working on a project I've started on with a hospital system's website rebuild. But it's wonderfully located downtown and while I was worried that Harrisburg would feel too small for me, it seems like a great balance.

Let's put this into perspective: not including the multitude of surrounding towns around Harrisburg, about 16 Harrisburgs could fit into Austin (population wise). Houston has 80 times as many people as Harrisburg! On the other hand, Harrisburg is about four times the size of Taylor, the city I formerly reported on. One thing I liked about Taylor was that I could go places, like the post office, and run into people I knew. It was a town I could fit my head around socially.

Harrisburg seems similar in that way - we ran into some friends of Liz's when we went out for a drink after work, for instance. And what I really loved? All the people walking around downtown during the day! I don't know why, but I just love that about cities and I've really missed it.

Had some nice, hot Italian wedding soup at Alvaro's

I was looking forward to doing some of that city walking myself today, but alas the beautiful weather quit and it rained all day, leaving me indoors since Liz had to judge a design competition. I made a quick run to a cute Italian bakery a couple blocks away when it let up, but otherwise just rested, which is probably for the best. The weather looks like it should be clear tomorrow so I can get to walking and find myself a place to live already! I've seen lots of places in areas I'm interested in with "for rent" signs up, so I'm optimistic I'll be able to find the right one (without bedbugs - priority number one, followed closely by allowing dogs).

Welcome to the Adventure

Hanging out with Suzy's cows in Brenham, summer 2008.

That's right, dear family and friends, much as I did with my blog about living in Spain, which I can no longer access because my college email address is dead, I'm going to use this blog to keep you up to speed on my adventures in a foreign land.

This time it's Pennsylvania. Where they have snow and no respectable Tex Mex.

After six months and three interviews, I was offered a job with andCulture and put in my two weeks with the Taylor Daily Press. I'm on my way to getting the hell out of bedbug-infested dodge. While I'm thrilled to be leaving my over-stressful job as a journalist, I'm not as excited to be leaving Austin. There are things here in ATX (and just in TX) that I truly love. I'm not eager to get out of this city, but it was the one catch for the sweet gig I landed.

Let's be real: I'm scared shitless. 

For one, the temperature difference alone is a solid 30 degrees and I don't have the wardrobe for that. But really, while I'm psyched that my good friend Liz (they call her Liz Rose up there - the effect of her superb branding skills), I'm already missing Texas.

Twelve years ago, I got out of the car in our Houston driveway after a three day journey from Colorado and said, "How do people breathe here?" I eventually adjusted to the humidity and two-season world of Gulf Coast living, but once I left H-town, I had no desire to go back.

I was a little more country in high school,
but I still have the hat and the boots.

Still, I love Central Texas. Sure, I may not love barbecue and football as much as a native Texan should, but you can't help but associate this state with your personality when you've been here this long. I met my boyfriend on his first day here after an epic road trip for California, and ever since I've found myself saying pretty often "at least that's how it is in Texas." I'm realizing that Texas is what I know. All I know about Pennsylvania is that it's a less cool shape with cheesesteaks.

And so, with the help of my "I'll-never-move-you-again" father, Mom's expert and far more organized packing skills and John's ability to move anything in flip-flops, we loaded up the apartment I've been in for about a month. In a few days, I'll be skipping away from the Press and on my way to visit PA - and hopefully find a place to live.

"I have said that Texas is a state of mind, but I think it is more than that. It is a mystique closely approximating a religion. And this is true to the extent that people either passionately love Texas or passionately hate it and, as in other religions, few people dare to inspect it for fear of losing their bearings in mystery or paradox. But I think there will be little quarrel with my feeling that Texas is one thing. For all its enormous range of space, climate, and physical appearance, and for all the internal squabbles, contentions, and strivings, Texas has a tight cohesiveness perhaps stronger than any other section of America. Rich, poor, Panhandle, Gulf, city, country, Texas is the obsession, the proper study and the passionate possession of all Texans."

John Steinbeck