Moving in NYC, Happy Anniversary

We all know that moving is a hassle. The packing. The planning. The paying-for-it part. But I think that trying to find a new apartment to rent in New York City (hence the photo -- nice, right?) is actually the hardest -- much less when, like me, this also involves locating a new roommate via such glorious devices as Craigslist.

It also involves so much paperwork. Between gathering my employment records and letters of recommendation, as well as all the communications and e-mails between myself and realtors and prospective roommates, plus all of the forms proving my identity and the application itself, I'm up to my elbows in electronic files and actual forms. Just to move! I keep almost chickening out and staying in my apartment (which I really hate after two years) just to avoid the whole hassle, even though I'm already entrenched in it and might as well just push forward by now.

Oh, right. And I guess I should mention that this month is my two-year anniversary in NYC. Happy Anniversary, self! Sometimes I really cannot believe I've been here (in this region much less this exact ghetto apartment) for that long. Other times it feels like I've merely blinked and the time disappeared. For example, when I was checking my credit score it told me that I had an 8-year-old credit history. But that's impossible, I thought. I opened my first credit line in college! ... Oh wait. Oh, god. I'm old.

My big points of pride right now are finagling ways to cut costs, like asking friends to help me move (TBD) and avoiding broker's fees (also slightly up in the air but I don't want to talk about it). I also truly hope that this will work out -- KNOCK ON WOOD -- and I will finally live in Manhattan instead of Brooklyn. But we'll see. If you have any prayers or voodoo vibes or good thoughts to send my way re: moving, I would greatly appreciate them, C/O Style Bard.