Wowzers, it's that time again... This weekend marks living in New York for 6 years! I feel like every year this day sneaks up on me -- the longer I'm here the faster time seems to be going. Even when life gets a little crazy though, this is one post I make sure I write every year because I think it's so important to share milestones and document where life has taken me. I must say, this year does feel quite a bit different to write too. SO much has changed in the last year (exciting stuff!) that while there are certainly many constants, my life as a whole looks a lot different than years past. 

My NYC anniversary has always been a little bittersweet for me. While I've enjoyed my time in NYC I've been pretty outspoken with my struggles with homesickness which has always been something that tugged hard on my heart. And while I definitely still have my moments I don't feel sad at all today.. It may have taken 6 years (dang that's a long time) but with all the changes in the last year I'm feeling prettyyyy great about everything.

On biz...

In the last year I've had 4 pretty major life changes -- I left my long-time job, started my own business, moved in with Chris, and then moved into a new apartment. Holy changes! While every year certainly brings growth, you could say I added some miracle grow to this year because it's been a heck of a year for personal and professional growth.

While all of those are pretty big changes, starting my own business has definitely been the biggest change. This time last year, I had some ideas and goals in mind for taking a chance in the freelance world, but let's be real here. I had no idea if I'd actuallyyyy be able to make it happen. It was certainly a big risk, but no risk no reward right?! While I certainly did some planning (and saving mulah) I approached starting my biz with the same mentality I did moving to NYC... Why not?! If it doesn't work out I can always move back.. or find another adventure. And while I'm not normally one to brag... guys can I take a moment to say that I have KILLED it since taking this risk?! Serious #Humblebrag right there but I am SO proud of how well I've done so far. Don't get me wrong it has been A LOT of work and late nights, but danggg has it been worth it. Even more than being able to pay those bills -- which is obviously top priority -- proving to myself I could do this has been so rewarding. It turns out I'm a lot better at this business thing than I thought I might be 😉.

More on that reward part too! This flexibility thing... ah-mazing. We've had so much going on this year so having the flexibility to take off a little early any day of the week, meet a friend in town for biz in the middle of the day or book flights mid-week has opened so many doors. I just booked a trip home for October and December which will be my 3rd and 4th trips home THIS year! HOORAY for being able to work anywhere I have a wifi connection! Which means I will have officially spent more time (and still have some to add) back in Washington in the last year than in the previous 5 years combined... And that's a BIG deal to me. I've been so much happier and while airport goodbyes still suck, knowing I can come back for a visit pretty much whenever I want is an incredible feeling.

On moving...

I've been dating Chris almost as long as I've lived in the city (6 years next month) and while I was ready to live with him at least 3 years ago, he's always been on his own schedule. After being very patient... ok let's be real I haven't been that patient he finallyyyy decided this was the year he was willing to part with his longest long-term relationship.. his apartment. Of all of the changes over the last year this one was the easiest for me. Let's get real.. when you live on the same block and stay over at least 6 of the 7 days you pretty much know what you're getting into and I was very excited about this new chapter for us. Plus, being able to split rent while I embarked on my freelance adventure was certainly a nice perk too. 

The toughest part of moving in together was actually the fact that we ended up doing it twice. After Chris moved into the studio we ended up having to move again because my landlord sold the building (yes that's happened twice to me now). That process was a little stressful at times, and I was nervous about applying for the first time being self-employed but looking back the process actually was pretty smooth and now we have a much bigger space. Helloooo having a bedroom and backyard! So even though that caused a lot of stress, I'm very happy with where we are now and cannotttt wait to share an apartment tour now that I'm done with all of my projects (more on that later). I was joking earlier you know you've made it in NYC when you have enough space (in our case indoor and outdoor) where you can be lazy and text the other person from another space haha. So according to my theory we have finally "made it".

On the city...

With all of this year's changes, I can honestly say I enjoy living in the city SO much more. While I liked it before most of the time.. even after being here so long, it always felt temporary to me. And while I certainly don't know if I'll be here forever, with the changes over the last year I have totally different vibes about it. Plus working from home perks... if the weather is God awful -- dead of winter and summer I'm talking to you -- you can minimize some of the time you have to go outside. Not having to commute the majority of the time is a whole other reason to love the city more now too! 

I finally feel like I can have the best of both worlds and it is such an amazing feeling. This sounds soooo cheesy, but I've had this dream vision for what my life could look like one day if I worked really hard and I truly feel like it has become a reality in the last year. So cheers to you NYC, it's been a wild ride and it's certainly not over but boy am I excited for the next year together.

I just hit the 3 week mark in my new apartment and I must say I am LOVING it! I was a little worried how transitioning from a one bedroom to a studio was going to go, but it really hasn’t been much of an issue. My new apartment is surprisingly actually almost the same size as my old place square footage wise — with my estimates at least. I estimated my old apartment was about 384 sq ft and the new place is apx 370 sq ft + a 99 sq ft balcony. So for the months I can use my balcony I actually have more livable space! It’s been a pretty easy transition too because I moved 2 blocks from my first apartment in the city so I’m very familiar with the neighborhood!

Over the weekend I had a couple of my girlfriends over for my first official BBQ to celebrate the new digs and now that they’ve seen it, it’s time to share it with you!

So drumroll please……Here we go!

When you enter my apartment there is a landing space (not sure it’s really big enough to be considered a hallway) that has my coat, hall and main closets. To the right, you’ll find my bathroom and directly behind that you’ll find my kitchen.

Hey little kitchen! One of my favorite things about my apartment is definitely my dishwasher! After not having one for four years, you really forget how amazing they are ;) I love the brick in the kitchen too. I’ve always loved the character of exposed brick, and even though this brick has been painted, I still think it adds a little something!

Then onto my living space!

As you might remember, my old apartment was very colorful! Not that this place isn’t, but you’ll notice I decided not to paint the walls. You can’t really tell in the photos, but the walls are actually kind of an off-white and I ended up deciding that I really liked having the light walls because it made the space feel brighter and more open. Plus, since it’s a studio I figured if I did paint it would just end up chopping up the space. So instead of painting I decided to get a little creative with some other options…

You’ll see above my bar cart that there’s some wall confetti! I saw this concept on Pinterest and fell in love. You can buy wall confetti wall clings, which are pretty affordable actually, but I decided to go the DIY route. All I did was buy a couple sheets of gold paper at Michaels — one solid and the other glittered. Then I took a circle craft hole-punch and cut out several circles. Add a little double-sided tape and walah, wall confetti! I also decided my new wall collage needed a little extra glitter, because, well, everything is better with glitter! So I added a little extra sparkle to a couple of my frames and my ampersand.

On the other side you have my bed. Not a huge difference in its setup from the last place.

Then onto the other side of my apartment! So not only do I have some fun wall confetti, but I decided to brighten up a couple of my walls with washi tape. I LOVE this stuff because there are so many options of what you can do with it. I decided to do a little bit of an abstract pattern to liven up the space. The great thing about it too is it peels off easily without hurting the surface, so if you decide you want to change it, it’s super easy to switch out. 

Here’s another angle of the space. 

Then onto my desk space.. You’ll see another dose of washi tape too. I just couldn’t resist!

The last room of the space… my bathroom! Nothing too crazy in here.. My bathroom is pretty small, but I really love the subway tile that runs throughout!

Now onto my personal favorite part of my apartment… My BALCONY in all of its finished glory! The previous tenants left me the table, so I decided to add a coat of spray paint to brighten it up a little bit.

I had one goal.. Have the cutest, brightest little balcony on the Upper East Side. Now, I haven’t been to all of the balconies in the neighborhood, but I’m pretty happy with the finished project. 

I think Scooter is too!

Awww, my BBQ! I got this propane grill from Coleman that I just can’t get enough of. It’s from their tailgating series and was the perfect size for the space. Plus, it folds apart which will be great to be able to bring it inside during the winter.

Then there’s my plants! Because I can actually have plants now! No promises on how long they’ll stay alive.. I don’t exactly have a green thumb, but I’m giving it a whirl.

I picked up some herbs at the farmer’s market too!

I didn’t want to go too overboard since we’re getting to the end of summer, but here’s the start of my balcony garden!

And that’s a wrap! Hope you guys like it! I had a lot of fun decorating and am really happy with how it turned out!

If you have any questions about the products/ideas I used, hit me up in the comments section!

For one reason or another, apartment brokers generally do not tell you the square footage of apartments in the city. It’s always seemed strange to me since square footage is usually one of the first things you’re told. So why is this? I’ve heard a few answers from brokers, including it’s because when the apartments were built they did not keep count of square footage and because the layouts have changed over time. I never really bought either of these responses though because it doesn’t take a mathematician to do an estimate of square footage, especially when we’re dealing with small spaces.

Personally, I’ve always assumed it was actually because of legality issues and my suspicions have furthered since continued outrage over the last year about a push for micro-apartments that are 325 square feet. There’s been reports that the units are “breaking the law” because of a law stating apartments must be at least 400 square feet in NYC. I did a little research on this so called law and surprisingly couldn’t find too much info on it, other than it was enforced in 1987 and that apartments could not be built smaller than 400 square feet. Like I said, I’m not super educated on this law, but I’m going to go ahead and assume that it only applies to new builds because the majority of apartments ARE NOT 400 square feet in the city. And since my apartment was built in 1915, if my assumptions are correct, my apartment missed the law by a lifetime!

Case and point, I did apartment hunting this summer. Now I was looking for studios on the lower price range and they were tiny. Think, an oversized bedroom. I was totally okay with what my money could buy and was just excited to get my own place. So imagine my surprise when I scored what I thought was a BIG one bedroom on the Upper East Side that I could afford. Say what?! A one bedroom!? Is this real life? For those of you that have been reading, you know how excited I was about my score and every time I described my apartment to my friends and co-workers, the word “big” (by New York standards of course) always came out of my mouth. 

So after 5 months in my apartment I decided to figure out just what “big” meant and I got the tape measurer out. My apartment is pretty much a long rectangle so I started by doing the measurements of each room and then added them all up. I have a few slightly slanted walls in my living room where the window is, so my number is just an estimate, but what I ultimately came up with was…. 383 square feet. 383 square feet?!? My BIG one bedroom apartment was only 383 square feet?!? I mean I knew it would be small compared to other cities, but I wholehearted believed it was close to 500 or maybe 450, but 383? Oh boy.. Not what I was expecting that’s for sure! And what’s even scarier is if 383 square feet is a “big” apartment — for my price range of course — then the other apartments I was looking at couldn’t have been much more than 200 square feet, if that. Much lower than that 1987, 400 square feet law.

So my question is.. if old buildings are exempt (I’m assuming) from the law then why don’t people talk about square footage? What’s the big deal? Is it the atrocious price per square foot? Is it the fact that the number might scare people away? Is it because the brokers simply don’t know? What is it?! Which then leads me to also ask, what is the big deal about these micro-apartments? Yes, they’re small, but clearly most New Yorkers are already living in smaller spaces that weren’t actually built to optimize every square inch. A lot of questions, and not many answers! All I know is, I probably won’t be using the term “big” as much in reference to my apartment, but I’ll love it all the same!