Fights

Drew and I fight. Little known fact that I was a little worried at first because we never fought. Not even a little. Obviously after a few months of living together that changed. That is not to say that cohabitation has become a nightmare, but when two people go from single living to sharing a small one bedroom apartment, things that you may have been able to tolerate before now causes an eye twitching vein popping rage you can't seem to explain. (re: stop playing that goddamn electropop shit or I will cram that receiver DOWN YOUR THROAT!! or Stop leaving wet towels all over the house or I will set them on fire and STRANGLE YOU WITH IT!!) I'll let you decide who said what.

Okay so it's not that extreme, but point being sometimes we test each others limits and sometimes on bad days we crack. But here's the really awesome part:

We say we're sorry.

Yes, we both say we're sorry. Sorry for being crabby, sorry for yelling, sorry my lady hormones want to punch you in the testes for no apparent reason. Whatever it is, we act like grown ups admit our mistakes, and apologize and move on. This is huge for me guys. I'm not stubborn and I don't like talking about feelings, but I'll be damned if I haven't matured and learned how to admit when I've acted a fool and apologize. Telling your partner you love them is important, but I'm pretty sure saying you're sorry is like .01cm behind it in importance. 

So there you go. Couples therapy advice right there. No charge. Just keep reading. And maybe tell your friends. Or send me a new Kate Spade bag for fall.

Cheers,

Marisa

The New Place

We've been in our new place about a week and a half now. So far so good. It is most definitely a huge step up from where we were living. 

View from our bedroom deck

View from the living room deck

Our new closet <3 <3

Master Bathroom

New Kitchen

Having a real closet is sooooooo amazing. We can actually access all of our clothes!! And I actually have room to buy more! So many glorious new things. Also the his and hers sinks are great. Even if Drew still stands behind me and my sink in the morning. Old habits are hard to break I guess. As far as our location goes it isn't terrible. We are now officially St.Paul residents, but we're not as close to grocery stores or Target like we used to be. But I think it's a fair trade :) 

Coming up Drew and I are taking a trip.....To VEGAS!!!!! I'm so excited! I haven't been to Vegas since 2006 and it was a grand old time. Next Thursday cannot get here soon enough. We both definitely need a vacation. 

Cheers!

Marisa

Um....Hello?

Oh hey there. It's been a while. A really looooonnngg while. I kept trying to come back to blogging and every time it ended in an epic fail. I'm not really sure why. I have my speculations. Mostly being that I didn't have my own "space". Which perhaps is a lame excuse, but I just couldn't get into it without having my own room, or area or what have you. Now though, and those of you who follow me on twitter and instagram already know,we've moved! No we didn't buy a house. While we were still looking and living in our old apartment, the landlord sold the duplex and we were served 60 days notice to move out. Kind of killed the house buying plan. We did however, find a sweet condo to rent that is 1 bedroom + den which means that Drew has is own office area and I have the bedroom. While not my own office, it works just fine for me. So, now that I have my own place where I can write comfortably and in solitude I will be back! For good! I've missed blogging so much and I've had so much I've wanted to write about. This has been such a long hiatus, and I for one am glad it's over. Looking forward to catching up with all of you!!!

Cheers,

Marisa

Apartment Search: Day 1

So today I went and looked at my very first apartment. It was in my price range, had all utilities paid for except electric and internet. It also met my criteria for being close to downtown and in a historical neighborhood of Des Moines. It also is family run, which is really great as I've had much better experiences renting from families or individuals than with big property managers. I was also told that there are some "lifers" in the building. By that the property manager meant little old ladies on fixed incomes. Which translated to me as cool grandma's living down the hall. It's within walking distance to the library, Gateway Market, and some cool parks. The building was finished in 1922 and has a cool old style elevator which is still used and a antique intercom system ( not in use) that looks something like this

(I think it adds character)

Those are the pros. Here are the cons:

It's not super big but I knew that going into it, after all it is a studio. However it has a Murphy Bed. For those who may be to young to know what that is I shall illustrate.

(Does not add character)

Now while that one doesn't appear so bad, rest assured that is because it is new. This bed is not new. The bathroom is teeny tiny like so tiny I don't think I could put my tower that holds my make up and hair bins in it. That would be the biggest tragedy of all. It's a little run down looking, not at all what I'm used too. Did I mention the bathroom was teeny tiny?

Perhaps I'm being to picky, and I literally cannot afford to be picky. After writing all this down I can now see that the pros are greater than the cons. I haven't had to apartment hunt since spring 2006, so I'm a little rusty. Now that I know what I'm in for, I just need to come up with a game plan and be better at really really looking at the space. I'm seeing another one in the same building Friday afternoon, so I'm going to come up with a list of questions and do my best at looking at every inch. Wish me luck!