After 8+ hours and 15 apts, Home Sweet Home??

After eight-and-a-half hours of walking all over the Upper West Side and looking at 15 different apartments with seven different people, we put an offer on a little apartment on 98th right off of Riverside Dr. It wasn't the biggest, it wasn't the fanciest or the “nicest,” the sunniest, or the most likely to be chosen by anyone else, but I do think it is the most “us,” despite the tiny kitchen, and the shabbiness. I couldn't understand the attraction the place held on me (or Carlos for that matter). He put his finger on it only after we got home—the place has a European vibe—reminding us of the apartment we stayed in in France.

French doors, high ceilings (very high ceilings), the huge gray marble foyer, the old-world styling of the rooms (corners rounded off near the ceiling)--it just has an attraction. The kitchen is absurd and I am afraid of regretting it later, but I am hoping that a rolling island will help that be more tolerable. I am also hoping that I can make the bedroom walk-thru to the toilet more private for our bedroom, I think that the living room area will be charming and the office/library/L's room will be cute as well. It is in the back of the building on the first floor so it should be quiet but have low light. It is on the first floor, which is great with a baby and stroller, etc. I hope that if we like it and do well there that they will let us know if something bigger becomes available (especially if our family expands). The walls and floor/ceilings are thick and the piano should not be a problem. In fact, there is a piano teacher above us—maybe C can finally take lessons! A woman from the building told me that she loves it there, that it is like a vertical neighborhood. I hope so!

I am only feeling a bit torn about Riverside Park vs. Central Park. We'd been looking near CPW for so long, hoping for it so much. We even could have been the neighbor to some people L & I met at a CP playground last week. L got on great with their son, and it would be cool to be neighbors with these cool people but... but I don't know. That apartment is $500 more per month! That is a lot of gluten-free doughnuts!

If nothing else, it should be a quiet, nice place to meet other kids and parents.

If nothing else, it should be and adventure.