I like living here!

After spending several days in my apartment with nothing to do but explore, decorate and shop, I have decided I like living here. I am sad that soon I have to enter a world of full-time work which will not be punctuated by any month long breaks like school is. Sigh.


Here are some things I like about my apartment:

• The decor, obviously.


• My neighbors. It's easy (at least for me) to feel isolated somewhere like this when I'm living by myself. Since my apartment overlooks the pool, I often see/hear groups out there having a great time, and since I am not out there with them, I might start to feel like I am the only outsider in this place where everyone else knows one another. Sad! But the other day I decided to knock on some of my neighbors doors. Of the four doors I tried, only two people answered, but those who did were nice. One was a girl a little older than me who is a teacher and has a roommate who is a teacher as well. She said she was glad that I came to introduce myself because she has never gotten to know the people that live around her. The other guy was French and moving pack to France in a month or so, but he also was nice and said he hasn't really gotten to know his neighbors yet. So my neighbor-meeting accomplished two things. One: I am not the sole outsider stuck in one big party of good friends; there are lots of people here who don't know their neighbors. And two: I feel a little bit less alien just having spoken to the people who live near me.


• The area. There is a lot of interesting stuff around here, including a lot more old stuff than you see in Katy. The Kroger I went to yesterday looks like it was built in the 70s or 80s and has a fun retro look. And most of the people I have encountered have been pretty nice. I always like nice people.


• Being able to put my own personal touches on the arrangement of my apartment. In the model apartment, they had a little metal tray with some martini glasses and such sitting on the end of the kitchen counter. I don't drink a lot of martinis, but Mama suggested that I put some tea stuff there. So I made a nice little arrangement involving: the new cream dish and sugar bowl from Bed Bath & Beyond, my butter dish also from BB&B, the kitchen tray Auntie Sonja gave me, a bowl of fruit, and a squiggly mirror that I got to hang on the wall my sophomore year of college that could never stay on the wall so I decided to use as a visual interest piece on horizontal surfaces. You'll also notice a small bowl of skittles, which I put out because I knew a certain little boy who likes skittles was coming over.