Vaguely Southeastward, ho!

[slipjig3]

So it's official: this April, we will be moving to Providence, Rhode Island. We've been talking about escaping our Worcester apartment for some time now; the apartment itself is fine, but the surrounding building and rental management company have each been doing their own special version of slow-motion implosion, marked by decrepit everything and surcharged everything else. Last straw came a week and a half ago, when the city cheerfully slapped "WARNING! DANGER!" signs on the doors of two of the quaint [read: old] elevators to our 10th floor abode, leaving one poor asthmatic elevator to do the work of three, which it does with the sort of sound effects you usually hear when trying to winch a stump out of the ground with a chain and an '89 Ford.

Meanwhile, in the midst of our discussions, rain_herself got offered a sweet two-year consortium internship in Providence, which took away our sole reason for staying in Worcester, so away we go. I still work in Lexington, and it might have been nice to get something in that area, but there's no way on any coil mortal or otherwise that we'd be able to afford it without resorting to a dice-roll roommate situation, so we started looking in and around Providence, a town we fell for last autumn during a restaurant crawl. Luckily, Andrea's Google-fu hit the jackpot: first floor of a house, three bedrooms, gas stove, clawfoot tub, on-site laundry, all for less than we're paying for the powder room-size alleged one-bedroom we're in now. There's gonna be a guest room. There's gonna be a library. If it sounds like I'm panting as I type this, it's because I am. Even better, even with its status as an ex-crack house from 20 years ago, it's only questionable-neighborhood-adjacent now, as opposed to our current actual questionable-neighborhood-entrenched situation in MA. (There was a stabbing in our lobby last autumn. Police tape and a cleaning crew. We're leaving now.)

Moving is not among my 98,000 favorite pastimes, but this time out I'm more than willing. Our landlord is an easy-rollin' kinda guy, the sort of private landlord trait that can go either way in the long haul, but at the moment is spectacular in that he's willing to buy the paint if we're willing to provide the labor. This has sent us into full-bore Decorator Mode, going all Christmas-catalog on the Sherwin Williams website picking colors. Andrea has more stamina for abstract design pondering than I do, but I must admit it's been fun playing the "Which do you like better for the bedroom, Jackfruit Sorbet or Bonobo Splendor?" game, at least until she hit the dreaded "Nothing looks good, I think we need to pick a different sofa" juncture, at which point I threw the couch cushions at her. We have pretty similar design tastes, though, and in the end I think we made some good choices. At least until tomorrow, when OMIGOD EVERYTHING IS HIDEOUS WE HAVE TO START OVER. Not sure which of us that'll be.

Anyway, yes, it's yet another State of the Union on our return labels, but it's not really any further from Boston than Worcester is, and they have more restaurants per capita than any other U.S. city. Plus we'll have actual, y'know, space. Anyone wanna come to a housewarming party in a few months?

Comments

[nevacaruso.livejournal.com]

I used to commute from Providence to Boston regularly for social events, so I know that it's very doable. Good luck with the move!

[sariel-t.livejournal.com]

*pebble* Congrats!

[intuition-ist.livejournal.com]

yay! would love to come to a housewarming party. sounds like a 100% upgrade.

[dandelion-diva.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on finding not just a place, but a really good place. :)

Bonobo Splendor for the win.

[daev.livejournal.com]

You know, although I was happy to go to the U of I, my dream school was Brown -- because I wanted to live in Providence. Have a great time! But watch out for all those foetid loathsome ghoul-haunted spawn of unspeakable paleogaean Cthulhu.

[rubian77.livejournal.com]

WOOHOO!! Less for the moving process, but definitely for the product. :)

[felisdemens.livejournal.com]

Too cool!

[mendoza.livejournal.com]

I lived in Providence for about 15 years including college. I love that quirky little town, particularly the gorgeous houses on the east side and all the amazing restaurants.

Where will you be living?

[oneagain.livejournal.com]

And because I'm almost hopelessly behind on lj...

Congrats! Best of luck to you both in your new digs :)