When I first found my apartment, I was dating my now-husband. At the time, I was twenty-two and simultaneously excited and nervous to move halfway across the country to be closer to my boyfriend. Southern Virginia seemed completely foreign from Kansas. I knew very little about Norfolk and was taking neighborhood recommendations from my father's intern, who had gone to school in Norfolk. The weekend I took a Friday off from my classes at KU and flew in for the weekend to look at apartments.
Really, what made my decision about which apartment to choose was that is was by an indie theater and it had a breakfast nook, which totally eliminated my need to buy a table, chairs, or storage for dishes. That's it. It was my first place that I was renting just for myself and that was what mattered at the time.
Now that I've lived here for two years and my husband has fully moved in, there are so many other things about my home that are important to me. The indie theater? As cool s I do try to be, I have not seen a film there. The breakfast nook? It is awesome.
One of the things I love most, I have realized, is that in addition to being close to the indie theater, I am close to nearly everything I need. Today, while cleaning up from dinner, we ran out of dish detergent. I hopped on my bike (a fabulous 1960s mint green rusty Huffy ladies cruiser, to be exact) and headed over to the market, about a mile or so away, to pick up some more. On the ride there, in the constantly warm southeastern weather, I passed by old Victorians, synagogues, churches, coffee shops, and cafes. I love having all these things within a few minutes reach. I love that I can ask John to walk to the convenience store when we realize, halfway through making a batch of pancakes, that we have no milk or that if I am really feeling too lazy to make some coffee, I can walk a block down the street to get a mocha from Fairgrounds Coffee. Being in the middle of a bustling neighborhood in a small city is truly the perfect spot for us.
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