Home SWEETER Home

I like my current apartment. I do. I like that I have a spare bedroom for wandering friends. I like all the natural light from the big windows. I like my curving 1920's art-deco walls, my hardwood floors, and most of all, my beautiful flora-filled corner of the Belhaven neighborhood. I feel very lucky to have the home that I do; I like it.

However. I do not love my current apartment. I have been feeling this lack of love quite acutely this weekend. Thus, as a wish list I'm putting out there into the universe for consideration, here is a list of things that I would love to have in my next living space - things that are wanting in my current one:

1. A backyard for Sofia. This is the biggie. I hate that my poor dog has no backyard. And currently, when my little husky is shedding her undercoat, I hate that instead of putting her outside in a nice shady yard to shed to her heart's content, I am vacuuming three times a day to keep up with the fluff. (This week's post was thiiiiiis close to being called "I Caved And Shaved the Husky Again." Depending on how much the shedding abates this week, that may well be next week's post.)

2. Windows that open. Particularly in the summer, it gets quite stuffy. And I know it lets AC escape, and blah blah blah, but call me crazy, I LIKE breathing real air. (NONE of the windows in my current apartment open. Not even a little bit. They are all painted/sealed shut.)

3. A kitchen big enough that more than one person can be in there at a time. Enough said.

4. Cell phone signal. I get NONE in my bedrooms or kitchen, and very little anywhere else in the apartment. I even switched from the cellular provider that rhymes with Hint to the one that rhymes with Hey Bee and Bee, since I was told service would be better. It's a lie. Service is still nil. I am cut off from the rest of the world when I plug my phone into the charger. "Emergency calls only" can be made from my room. Yet I need the phone in my room for said emergencies, and for its alarm clock feature. I am often unreachable when at home. It's almost enough to make me want to get a landline. Except that seems so... committed. And clearly, I remain uncommitted to this apartment. Though officially I've now lived in this apartment for over a year (and have been paying rent in this building for a year and a half).

I'm not asking for fireplaces, a Viking-stocked kitchen, stone or brick exterior, walk-in closets, spa-bathtubs, a pool, a built-in bar and vaulted ceilings. (Though universe, if you're listening and any/all of these are available, I wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.) I just want a little outdoor access, a little air, options for cooking-with-a-buddy, and some good conversation. I think I am being very reasonable. Thanks for your consideration.