Well, hi everyone! I mentioned last week that I’ve moved into a new apartment, and the time has come to discuss it. Let it be known that I love my new home.
When I was in high school, I used to daydream about being a young adult in a small, clean apartment. I have made that dream a reality! And, even better, I have three wonderful roommates who are also my wonderful friends.
Here’s our living room:
I’ve been holding off on sharing pictures because I was hoping we would get a bit more *visual interest* happening on those blank white walls, but that process is dragging on. We’re definitely working on it, though.
In addition to artless walls, you may notice that there are NO WINDOWS.
This is probably the biggest problem with the apartment—no windows in the living room or kitchen. It makes it a bit annoying to take good food pictures (you’ll be seeing a lot of my bedroom window for the next year or so). All in all, though, I think it’s pretty standard for a four-bedroom apartment to have a windowless living room. The pesky bedrooms are blocking all the exterior walls!
I am quite proud of our space. It already feels really cozy, I think. The couch, chairs, and table were all free off Facebook Marketplace, and the coffee table was only like $7. It’s a bit beat up, but I think it’s absolutely adorable. And that gorgeous lamp? We really did a good job, in my humble opinion, of scrounging and hauling and trekking and schlepping to make this space feel like a home.
And here’s my bedroom:
Again, I know, it needs art. And probably a rug. And somewhere to sit. But it feels so good to have a space that is truly mine. Also, shoutout to my roommates for supplying me with the bed frame, the nightstand, the lamp, the fan, and the curtain. I’m a little parasite leeching home-goods from my friends.
Here’s my favorite part of my room:
It’s my little shelf of knick knacks! If I had unlimited budget, I would love to put some wallpaper on the backs of these shelves. But even as it is, I think it has a nice, cozy vibe. Many of my readers (i.e., friends and family) may find themselves represented, in some way or another, on this shelf.
I won’t show pictures of the other bedrooms, but let me just say that my roommates all have much better decorated rooms than I do; mine is the only straggler that still has nothing on the walls.
It’s been so so fun to live with friends, and one of my favorite things about this new setup is the food! We all love to cook and bake, so there’s always something exciting happening in the kitchen. There are donuts being fried as I write this.
It feels good to be an adult in an adult home! I’m very happy to be here.
The food:
Miso stir-fry improv:
My roommate and I made this together! He had never made tofu before, so I guided him through the process, which was fun. This was also basically complete improv on my end, and I think it turned out pretty good! Miso is a fun addition to a stir fry.
Snoop Dogg Cookies:


These are peanut butter chocolate chip cookies from Snoop Dogg’s cookbook. They turned out good, but very fragile (and I don’t think they were underbaked). When we tried to stack them in tupperware, they just crumbled together, and I wound up eating the last of the batch with a spoon. The flavor was good, but I definitely prefer the peanut butter chocolate cookies I made for my boyfriend back in April.
Potato tacos:
I’m on a personal mission to answer the question, “How many different ways can I put refried beans on a tortilla?” These tacos turned out quite bad, but it was totally my fault. I didn’t follow anything in the recipe. I think they have potential to be delish, and one day I will make another attempt that actually does this concept justice (I didn’t add any cheese, even though the recipe calls for an entire bag of shredded cheese).
What I learned:
Big garlic
I learned that Scrub Daddy is genuinely worth the hype and a million times better than any sponge I have ever used before
Hi! I'm here from Jenny R.'s post and absolutely love the apartment tour! I lived in a 4-bed teeny tiny NYC apartment in Greenwich Village when I graduated from college in 2010 and have so many wonderful memories from it. We also had no windows in the living room or kitchen (which were just one big room) because of bedrooms that had been carved out of the living space! You're going to have such a great time with your friends.
Actually, it is NOT normal to have no windows in a NYC apartment room. In fact, you can't call a bedroom a bedroom in NYC if it does not have a window, for example.
Many windows are indeed only opening to a view of a building wall but there are still reasons youi must legally have windows that open in certain rooms.
I hope you got a good rate on the monthly rent. Sounds as if this apartment was a conversion from a larger space.