A New Place on Stueckle Avenue

Well, after years of angst living with parents and Auntie K, it's finally almost time to be an adult, on my own again (glory be!). I've found the PERFECT place. Jennifer knows a woman who restores Craftsman-style buildings in a historic neighborhood in Anaheim for rental. Here's the long list of benefits, with only a few hang-ups:

--Biggest selling point: the charm of being in a building with HISTORY-- Barbara strips all the paint off the wood fixtures so the original beauty of the dark wood shows through, there are delightful built-ins throughout for storage, and charming Craftsman-style windows in a sunny front room. Beautiful wood floors, too!

--Affordable-- Have to make it an issue in my current financial state of debt: cheaper than anything I've found in my months of searching, even the studios, yet it's a one-bedroom. As my pay raises (which is a fact I can't count on this year, if district rumors are correct), I'll have some breathing room to start saving to possibly buy my own place after a few years. In fact, her rental costs as little as the rentals I was dreaming of in Portland and Seattle when I thought they seemed so much more affordable than D.C. and California...

--Space-- The front rooms in these units feel GIGANTIC: They're essentially split into two large rooms, so you can use the front room for a TV and couch and the back room for a study/music room; I think I'm even going to convince my mom to let me move my piano in so I can start using music therapy to get me through the harder teaching days and brush up on my old skills that have been neglected... Barbara also gives us a large two-car garage out back so I can store my car safely and use half the space to store things I'm not using everyday.

--Building-- The building is painted a wonderful olive green with ORANGE window accents and it is big enough to be a community, but not so big you feel like a number-- eight units.

--Location--It's around the corner from Obama headquarters in Orange County, so I'll be walking to do my volunteer time every Saturday... and throughout the week once he wins this Primary and I'm free for the summer (it WILL happen, Nevada and New Hampshire be damned...). I could also walk to see Jennifer, too. Still further from work than I'd like to be, but closer to the freeway than K's and one exit closer on that freeway.

So...drumroll please? Here are the shots Barbara sent me this morning. Projected move-in date: A month and some change while restoration efforts are finished up. I told her I'd be willing to wait until the summer or fall for a spot, because she's working on a few places, but I think there's a good chance she's going to give me a shot when her next place is completed.