Summer Time and the Living is Brooklyn

 I will be moving to Brooklyn soon.  I will be living very near Prospect Park and the Park Slope area.  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_Slope%2C_Brooklyn).  The pictures here are Grand Army Plaza and the actual street in front of my apartment.  So how did I get here?

I have been casually looking at apartments in Brooklyn for a while now.  Most of the ads I responded to were not of the highest quality.  For example, I showed up to an ad that said "railroad style- looking for fun roommate."  When I got there, the place was a sty, and these two 30-something hippies told me they played in a band but didn't usually play past 4 am.  Also being a railroad room, they would need to go through my room to get to the kitchen and bathroom.  I said I would get back to them.  Another option included sharing a bunk-bed with a 20 year old.  I think I may be too old for that.  

So I found an ad in a great area asking for a quiet, considerate student.  I first came and looked at the apartment 2 weekends ago.  When I got outside the apartment, the lister's phone wasn't working and I sighed another, here we go again Craigslist.... While I was waiting, a woman who was running stopped and asked me if I would help her bring up a night stand from the street.  It turned out that she would be one of my new roommates.  This was Marnie.  She is a 29 year old film student at NYU, originally from the D.C. area.  She is in her last year of the M.A. graduate program.  The other roomie is Yael.  She is 29 as well and is originally from France.  She moved to California and went to Berkley and then moved to New York.  That day, we talked for about 2 hours and I also met the woman moving out who asked if I would help bring down a couch.  I could see I was being used...but I needed to make a good impression.  Yael called the next day and offered the room.  Then she wanted to meet one more time to be sure.  

So we met at a little bar about 200 feet from the apartment.  The bar is fantastic and I met the owner who is steadily making improvements here and there.  It is a jazz/latin style place and has music from time to time and a back porch.  Great place to meet.  So after a little while talking, it became clear that was going to be a good fit.  Yael is going into her 2nd year of law school, I am going into my 3rd so I understand the stress and time she will need to study. Which is great for me.  I have a lot of little projects I want to get done and I think this is the perfect neighborhood to get the inspiration I need.   

So, the apartment is an old brownstone, on the 4th floor, and I'll try and get pics up after I move in.  I have a very small room but it's got a bed, bookcase, air conditioner, and closet so I am set.  It feels good to find a place in Brooklyn.  I really love it there.  Manhattan is so surreal, Brooklyn is just real, manageable.  So the adventure continues...moving to a new location.