New girl in New York: 'twas a lazy day for daisy may

Today it was rainy and thundery. It was beautiful. I love the rain, you really miss it when you live in a drought. So to have it here is wonderful. Though it does make it mighty tough to go out and face the elements. So what did I do? I stayed inside all day long and became creative. I haven't had a proper day like this in so long. Honestly I don't think I can remember the last time I have had a complete day of doing nothing. So today has been bliss. I did help Irene clean, so I wasn't completely useless! I took to taking arty photos and completing my first illustration in weeks.

So today is as good a time as any to talk about my living circumstances. I am living with my aunt's friend, Irene. She's been here for a long while now and has a two bedroom apartment in the East Village. She's very lucky to have the space to accommodate visitors as space in New York is not only pricey but very hard to come by. Irene has a rent stabilized apartment which means that the super is required to keep her rent at a certain cost, whereas he could probably get 3 times the amount if it were not. I cant remember how long ago the rent stabilization act came in but its a great thing for people like me! The apartment itself is on the fifth floor of a walk up building. Which means if you get down to the street realising you've forgotten your phone you need to go back up those five flights of stairs to get it...then back down again. You learn to remember your stuff! It's worse when your in a hurry. But it's great forced exersize! Whilst it is a two bedroom apartment, it is still fairly cosy. The bathroom is a bath (with shower) wedged in one side and a toilet. No basin. It takes a bit of getting used to brushing your teeth in the kitchen! The kitchen is moderately sized however I was spoilt in my East Brisbane home and am missing the loads of bench and cupboard space. The bedrooms are well sized, especially mine with its loft bed (something I will look at investing in) however I do get to enjoy the roar of traffic and sometimes fairly constant sounding of police and ambulance sirens. Again, you get used to it. It's pretty cool...very different to what you are used to in Australia.

There is also a different vibe when looking ad's for apartment rentals. One of the first ones I found advertised for a female room mate. Now this was before I decided to get my own place, so I looked it up. It said something like "looking for a female (18-mid 20s) room mate who is happy to walk around naked and will receive free rent. Nothing sexual..." Like to see something like that in Brisbane! It didn't even state whether it was a male or female advertising. Now I thought THAT was funny. I'll tell more if I find anything juicy advertised.