Flat Finding Fun

In the morning I got up and walked down past Baron's Court to see a flat that I'd read about online. At £750 for a self-contained flat, it seemed like an amazing deal, and although I was apprehensive about living on my own, I was willing to give it a shot.

Yet even before I got there, I was pretty sure that I wasn't going to go for it. The walk from Baron's Court tube station took longer than I anticipated, and was only as short as it was because I short-cut through a cemetery that was obviously closed after dark. Without that short-cut, the Tube must be miles away. I arrived a bit early and checked out the neighbourhood, and it also seemed a bit run-down and dodgy-looking.

Still, since I was there, might as well see the flat. Yet as soon as I walked in, my impressions were confirmed. The flat was so small that even standing in it made me feel claustrophobic. Yet, I felt obliged to at least chat for a bit with the landlord, even though I desperately just wanted to get out of that teeny tiny space. Got out of there as quickly as I could, however!

In the afternoon, Emily was having a belated birthday party, and so had her brother, sister-in-law, and a few friends with kids over. The house turned into an absolutely manic scene with kids everywhere, running, playing, crawling, and screaming.

I was kind of surprised when Emily's nephew, the approximately 1-year old Freddie, absolutely took to me and kept coming over to me with his arms outstretched, saying, "Up!" No idea when his aunt was there, his parents were there, and there were so many better choices why he kept picking me, but I still went for it. (Only rationale I could think of was that all of the adults knew each other and were more interested in socializing with each other, whereas since I didn't actually know these people, I was quite happy to instead play with Freddy). In the end, I spent almost the entire party holding Freddie, looking out the window and pointing at all of the cards that drove by.

The adults also didn't seem to be too alarmed about what the kids got into, like when Freddie at one point must have gotten into my room, and found my half-eaten apple from earlier in the day. I guess that was the end of my apple then, as Freddie absolutely polished it off!

The only adult conversation I really had was with Emily's sister-in-law, who is an absolutely charming woman who I've always liked. At one point we were in the kitchen chatting and I mentioned how much I was going to miss this place...and I was surprised when Emily's sister-in-law mentioned she knew about that and simply assured me I had time to look. I kind of wonder how Emily broke it to her family, that she was kicking out her flatmate. The whole thing just seems so weird, as we're all friendly and smiling and everyone acting so nice...all while I'm being kicked out of my home. And nobody thinks this is weird?

I went into my room just to take a break from the madness, and discovered that I'd missed a message from Nikola on my phone, asking if I'd be interested in getting a drink before the party we were both going to that evening, as he would come into London early if that was the case. Argh! I was so annoyed, as obviously I would much prefer to go out for a drink with Nikola than stay at the madness that was this party. Yet, by the time I called him, it was too late, we'd just have to meet up at the party itself.

So at least I took the opportunity to get changed and ready, and then made my escape from the flat full of children. I was going to the flat-warming party of two friends from Balliol, who had been for ages talking about this flat that they were going to move into, but the move-in date was endlessly being put off. And now, incredibly, they were finally living in the new flat, and were having a party so we could all see it!

The flat itself turned out to be utterly gorgeous. You could see why they'd been renovating for so long, there were so many great little touches, and the place was just beautiful, with great lighting, beautiful decor, and quality touches everywhere. After the dump I'd seen that morning, I wanted to live in a flat like that! Of course, as I talked to my friend Nikola about it, he said, "Well, you have to keep in mind that you get what you pay for..." True, true. A flat like this one, particularly on the open market, would likely cost me an arm and a leg. But, seeing how nicely it was set up, it made me think about how I perhaps shouldn't be so exclusively focused on WHERE a flat is located, but also think about how I would enjoy living in the flat itself.

Despite having missed our drinks together, Nikola and I just spent the whole evening talking to each other. Not like I would have expected it to be otherwise, as there's something to be said for a friend you are such good friends with, the two of you are always soaking up the pleasure of each other's company. He really is my favourite person to talk to, always... Although I was still bummed to have missed the chance to have drinks, just the two of us, as here we were constantly being interrupted by other people at the party who wanted to talk to us. Silly people!

It was also really interesting to see Zhan with his girlfriend, Brianna. The two of them weren't very physically affectionate, but then again, knowing Zhan, why would I expect him to be? Still, I find that odd when two people are dating and won't lay a hand on each other in public. Yet, Zhan talked about camping and hiking trips that they'd gone on together, as obviously they were spending a lot of time together. She seemed to absolutely worship him, although unsurprising when he's the older, good-looking, totally-able-to-do-anything guy. And I wonder if perhaps that's exactly what Zhan needs, not an equal so much as a cheerleader, a girl who is happy to be in awe of a guy who is a super-star. Made me think about my friend Lavan, and how it's been posited that he as well needs a younger girl who will look up to him. Looking at Zhan and Brianna, maybe there's something to that?

Finally, at around 12:30 AM, decided it was time to head home. Unfortunately, when I went to get my coat, we discovered that somebody had accidentally taken Zhan's coat, mistaking it for their own (as there was a very similar-looking coat to his still remaining in the pile). Wouldn't be a big deal except that his wallet was in the pocket! Although since it had been a private house-party, we were assured it would turn up somehow, and figured we'd all just go home and sort it out later.

Also, as I departed, it was funny as Florie took that moment to tell me how much she liked my outfit, super-short shorts with a silk shirt and grey blazer. I basically think it was that the outfit made my legs look like they go on for miles, something that Florie (who is shorter than five feet) I think admires!

Got out to the street, found a bus stop where the night buses were running (I'd missed the Tube!) and got a bus back to Shepherd's Bush. Glad to live close, so it's an easy good-night!