Big changes happening, guys. It’s been a busy couple of weeks. As you may have read earlier, we moved! We’re adjusting to our new home in Columbia Pike. We love it so far – great neighborhood! – and we’re saving lots of money. Our 40-minute walking commute seems like nothing with so much new stuff to explore. We were finally able to get out and take some pics of the new neighborhood this weekend. Enjoy!
Pic from last week’s move-in
Last weekend we moved to our new apartment and we are now all settled in and recuperating. We’ll take some pictures of our new neighborhood and share them on the blog soon! I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend – enjoy some links 
Something seemed off as soon as our potential new landlord cracked open the door to the basement apartment in Southeast DC. She seemed normal enough, but her pants were unbuttoned and an inch of bare belly showed under her business-casual blouse. One whiff inside the door and we knew she was hiding a dirty secret.
“Is that incense?” I asked, pointing to the smoldering stick on the windowsill.
“Smells good, hmm?” Hmm.
I looked around and noticed all the windows were cracked. Incense was burning everywhere. I began to investigate further.
“What’s that smell? Is that… pee?”
“No, no. Previous tenant had big dog. Would you like to fill out an application?”
I’m not sure if we were just tired of our apartment search or if it was that we hadn’t come across an apartment this cheap in DC before, but we ignored our common sense and reached for the form.
“Is that water on the floor?” I said as I looked up at an obviously damp ceiling.
“Oh, yeah, somebody must have spilled that there.”
I took a final sniff around the room and walked up to Josh who was filling out the form.
“Do you really want to pay $35.00 to apply for this place?” I said quietly in his ear.
He stuffed the application in his green shoulder bag and we were on our way.
College Hunk Hauling Wagon
Our house minimizing project is going well. We haven’t reached an amazing goal of owning 100 items each (maybe in a month or two), but we have drastically cut down our possessions. We are planning on moving to a cheaper apartment very soon (and had a time limit of one month), so to stick to our schedule we declared this past Sunday Donation Day.
We took heed of the Tornado Warning and headed to the basement. What better time to clean out the storage unit? When the wind picked up, I just wedged myself between a few boxes, tucking my left foot behind the camping gear. Everything we sorted was big and bulky and it took a few heaves and hos to lift the bike rack. But what at first seemed to be the worst process ever got easier as we made our way through the storm.
We’ve managed to smile most evenings while hunched over a box of clutter, but the stress doesn’t fade away with the morning sun. The small creases in my partner’s brow prove to be fresh with worry. Will we finish it all by May?
Before – some of the stuff we got rid of.
With the anticipation of moving into a smaller apartment and someday living in an even smaller itty-bitty space, we’ve decided to simplify our kitchen essentials. To do this we ignored the “What every kitchen needs” list and paired down our forks and knives to fit the “Simplified Kitchen” model.
It’s amazing what you find when you get rid of all your stuff
The most important thing I learned through this whole experience was that my huge wardrobe didn’t make me happy. Instead, it resulted in frustration, guilt, and time wasted trying to keep my clutter organized. But despite this, the best part of decluttering my closet was discovering myself through all the piles of clothes. Here’s what I learned:
Josh and I have dedicated the month of April to decluttering (and evacuating) our home. The more critical thing to note is that in addition to simplifying our lives we are also trying to move into a cheaper and smaller apartment by May! Crazy? Yes – change sometimes is designed that way. We hope by simplifying our stuff and finding a cheaper place to live we can completely pay off both of our student loans by the end of this year.
I might not be adding new items to my closet anymore, but it doesn’t mean I can’t play dress up. My good friend Tobey emailed me with a proposal a couple of weeks ago. She works for Nana, a DC-based online boutique, and the owner, Jackie,needed pictures of their 2013 spring line. Josh and I immediately accepted – we love to work with local businesses. Josh assumed the role of photographer and I was the model.
