i can’t believe i’ve already been in my new place for four weeks this friday! writing that just now i had to check the calendar because it doesn’t feel like that long, but i’ve been a homeowner for a whole three weeks and i can’t believe it! the first week didn’t quite count as living alone – i had friends visiting and i was traveling, but when they left and i had my first official night alone in the apartment, i realized something kind of shocking – i had never slept alone in an apartment/house in my entire life.
i started thinking about it and one of the perks of growing up close to a fairly large family is that every time my parents went away – even when i got older – some family member came and stayed with us, or we went and stayed with them. then in college when i was alone at home i’d have friends come stay the night. and i got lucky when i went to school, i had amazing roommates all four years, i lived in a double or a single in an apartment all throughout college. and i continued living with people the year after graduation and whenever they went out of town i stayed with a friend or had a friend stay over. but on my first night in alone in the new apartment a realization hit me, i was living alone for the first time! and i was both terrified and beyond excited.
those first few nights were a little scary. right now my apartment has very little furniture and hardwood floors with no rugs, this combination means it’s very, very echo-y. every little noise i heard freaked me out and had me up turning the lights on and making sure no one was in my living room, stealing my cardboard box tables. a little embarrassing, i know, but for me it was part of the process. once i got out of my own head and realized i was being a tad ridiculous it’s been kind of fun! i’ve learned a lot already and i’m looking forward to seeing what living alone has in store for me!
what i’ve learned so far:
1. i can wake up at 6:00 a.m. and make a smoothie or juice an entire apple tree and not worry about waking anyone else up.
2. i can decorate the apartment however i want.
3. i am completely unable to cook for anything less than a small army. seriously it’s impossible #leftoversfordays
4. getting out of bed in the morning can be hard if there’s no one there to actually make sure you’re up – i had the world’s best college roommate freshman and sophomore year, she always made sure i was up for class, and when i lived with the boys or the dougherty’s everyone was getting up for work or school around the same time so it made it a lot harder to over sleep.
5. living alone isn’t lonely. i love people, and i love talking to people and i was really worried that it was going to be incredibly lonely living alone. but it isn’t. there’s something peaceful about being able to come home to my own space without anyone else around. with that said sometimes i really miss coming home and having someone to talk to.
6. i don’t have to plan my routine about anyone else. i can shower whenever i want without worrying about running out of hot water, and i can get up early and play whatever music i want while i’m making my smoothie.
7. grocery shopping is so much easier, that is, once i figured out that i was better off shopping every couple days to avoid wasting food before it went bad – there was a lot of wasted fruit that first week.
9. no more spontaneous 10:00 p.m. milkshake runs to good stuff, it’s a little tough when you live across town from most of your friends.
10. it’s a little too easy to stay in bed, in pjs all day long when you’re living alone and don’t have anyone to motivate you to get your butt in gear.
have you lived alone? any tips for a newbie? leave me a comment and share any wisdom you may have!
