Sunday, April 8

I found it (the apartment I've been waiting for) in the Castro last Thursday.

It's perfect: 1-bedroom, fireplace, french doors, built-ins, period detail, really cute. The view, out the two bay windows is Twin Peaks and the evening I was there I watched the fog as it came rolling in. Spectacular!

The only thing is: it's minuscule. Maybe 400 square feet with a single medium-sized closet. The kitchen has a stove that looks like a toy, and you can hardly turn around in it. Not unexpected, but still hard to imagine actually living there, especially with the $1600/month price tag. As my friend Jeff pointed out, that could afford me a 4-bedroom house in Saint Louis. Ha! It also has an ugly gas heater bolted to the floor directly in front of (and obscuring the view of) the beautiful fireplace. It's huge, a veritable piece of furniture you'd end up trying to decorate around. Or try to hide somehow, like an elephant in the middle of the room.

But, as Riaz told me, it's not about size it's about how it feels. And this place feels so right. I put in my application and am waiting to hear. Along with probably 40 other people wanting the same apartment.

In the meantime, I found another, much larger place in a crappy neighborhood 1 block off of Golden Gate park, which sounds like a lovely location but is not. Double or triple the size of the other place, I could bring more to fill it up but would hate coming home to it every night. So there's that.

Also applied for one on Valencia at 20th that's a 5 on the 1-10 scale. Not as big as the above-mentioned one, but GREAT location right in the heart of the Mission, hardwood floors, new kitchen (that I can actually eat in). It lacks a certain amount of character, however, and has only one very small closet. One. Where would I put all my...you know...stuff?

Last but not least, I have a lead on a place ON Dolores that's not even on the market yet (it's in rehab). It's been described as a 1-bedroom that's "beyond huge". No idea how much or if I could even get it before everyone else but I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get in there to see it.

Some sad news from home: my aged Remi is very sick and in the hospital. Her kidneys appear to be failing and she's not doing well at all. Poor Sarah, my awesome cat sitter, who's had to deal with this. I'm cutting my trip short to be with her, leaving tomorrow evening.

After I see the place on Dolores, I hope.