So you think renovating an apartment is hard. This is for the curious, non-cynical New Yorker who likes to see how life is lived "on the outside." We stumbled across House In Progress.net a few days ago and found it so wholesome and entertaining that we couldn't stop reading....and reading. Long story short:
A. Aaron and Jeannie got married in 2001 in Chicago and moved into his condo.
C. Neigbhorhood gets gentrified quickly, taxes rise, special assessment is levied and dog can't make it up stairs. They have to move.
D. Aaron and Jeannie buy a 1914 bungalow from an old lady who can't stand to leave and can't take all of her stuff.
E. Old lady swears she should get more $$ for leaving 70 years of her stuff behind.
F. A & J politely disagree and end up moving in with all sorts of left behind artifacts in early 2003.
G. Renovation and marriage testing work begins....
Still in the midst, Aaron and Jeannie are hard at work and their little site has become their new baby. It is littered with resources, history and photos of odd things they have found in the house. We'll leave you there to read on.... MGR
As an ex-New York native (born in Brooklyn), I am loving Apartment Therapy! Where were you when I moved to the city after college??!! Meanwhile, 16 years later, your readers should know that the hints of wholesomeness on the site is due to:
-Casseroles...or, as they call them here, "hotdish." One can only attend so many church suppers and not have one's neurons change forever.
-The lack of really excellent pizza (sorry, Chi-town...you know that I love you. But NY Pizza will always be #1 in my heart).
-Total strangers who say "hello!" all of the time ON THE STREET! Really, it gets to you. They're like the Stepford Neighbors.
-Grandparents from Minneapolis and Seattle (his side) reading along. That should probably be the #1 reason.
Ah well. I can still hop a flight back east when I start jonesing for a kniche on the stoop. And read Dooce or Mimi Smartypants when I need someone to channel my very wicked mouth online... :)