Apartment Hunt Fatigue

As professionals in your mid- twenties no matter what city you are in there is one fact: Apartment Hunting is Awful! No matter what you do, you feel you are paying a lot for not much. So after my first true apartment hunt (after college living) and conversations with friends here are my conclusions and tips.

 CONCLUSIONS:

- Apartment hunting differs greatly by city. Talk to people to learn what they did to get their apartment.

- Surprisingly, online presence of good apartments is often lacking. ( third party sites are more useful). Its getting better  but you might be surprised at places that do not have websites (at least this is true in Madison, WI).So driving around neighborhoods and writing phone numbers, and checking Craigslist like crazy might be a necessity.

- Good apartments turnover quickly, you might need to sign a contract faster than you want. 

- If you live in a college town, August is a terrible time to move. Rules are also very different if you want places close to campus. In Madison it is common for people to sign leases between October- January for leases that start in August.

- If you live in a place with a major employer like EPIC, there are apartments that mostly cater to that corporate.

So that brings me to some TIPS

- Know your priorities while apartment shopping ALWAYS

- Make a list of your TOP 5 most important things you are looking for.  If you are living with someone else, have them do the same.  Then compare it : if your lists are different, then talk and compromise. If you cannot compromise on this list, you probably should not live with them.

M and Mine were as follows:

- Price (we had a price in mind we wanted to be under that)

- Location (close to work and on the bus line, was what mattered to us the most)

- Pet Friendly (we have our meowy kitty to worry about)

- More Square Footage than we currently have

- In unit Washer and Dryer (we are spending way too much on laundry currently)

- Always read your contract, and ask questions. This shows the landlord you pay attention, and keeps them on their toes, and makes you aware. You might also get a thing or two in return. We asked about painting, and the lady said " well if you really want, come down and talk to us"

 Here is one we did not list but should be a no brainer: Available when you need it!

Its annoying, but finding a place you want to live at is important. Enjoy!

Coming into your OWN style

I am not really fashionable. I am not sure that it is or ever has been a goal of mine. But I like to dress well, and feel good about what I am wearing.I grew up with a mother who was very cool about letting my sister and I dress ourselves. As long as we dressed appropriately for the occasion and company (meaning dressing more modest when we met elderly relatives) she let us pick out our own clothes from a pretty early age. When I moved to the US, I was a little lost. Fashion back then was very different than it was in India. Furthermore my body was changing and I was growing up. I really struggled with style. My mom just really wanted me to feel comfortable, and happy so she let me do what I wanted.

In high school I wanted to dress like the popular girls who were trying to be “sexy.” I bought tanks tops, and shorter shorts, than I was used to. I started wearing those but I never felt particularly comfortable, no matter how much I tried to convince myself otherwise. Showing off your mid-rift became “in” when I was in high school. That my mom did not let me do nor did our high school really. I also had a really difficult time getting pants that fit correctly. I learned later that I never would. A belt is a necessity for me, most of the time.

In college I still wore tank tops, but now I found things that fit be a little better. Slowly my style evolved to be a little more stylish. But still like most college students, involved way too many sweatshirts and t-shirts. After college for my first job I had to buy business casual clothes on a tight budget, so again I really did not like many of the clothes I was wearing. I did not know what my style was and it showed. A few years passed, my clothes really did not make me happy. My personal clothes felt like I was still an undergrad, and my professional clothes were uncomfortable.

So about a year ago I started trying to find my style. I wrote down how I wanted to dress, and here is the list I came up with:
1) Comfortable and Myself
2) At work: Professional and at ease
3) Night Out: I wanted to be classy and sexy
4) Feminine and Age appropriate

Slowly over the last year I have been dressing in a way that I really like. It’s not perfect yet, I still am uncertain sometimes but I have started finding myself. My major problem was that I did not know how to dress very well for my body. So I started to look to the internet for help and came across some blogs that helped me find myself. Those blogs are the following:

1) Putting Me Together
2) Franish
3) Academic Chic (they don’t really blog anymore, but I find their website useful)
4) J’s Everyday Fashion
5) Kacie's Kloset 

Really I came across, “Putting me Together” in a Google search and her lovely blog roll led me to the others. I like them all because they dress like everyday people, just more stylish.I have learned a lot from them in the process.

I think our society causes women to feel a lot anxiety about their bodies.Dressing in a way that flatters your body can be a really good way to suppress some of that anxiety. No matter what size you are, there are ways to dress that flatters you while being yourself. You have to find that style. It takes time but it’s possible. Don’t be discouraged if you buy some wrong things, it’s learning and it takes time .I think you need to be comfortable and yourself. If you are not- it’s going to show.  Whatever“Yourself” is, can and should evolve over time. If you love jeans and the t-shirts may be the styling changes. If you love skirts may be the length and cut changes. Dressing everyday in a way you like makes you feel better because clothes are pretty much mandatory in society they become an extension of who you are.

Many people say you need to dress better because people judge you. While the argument is unfortunately true, I don’t think that should be your primary motivation. I think you need to dress in a way that makes you feel better and you like. Don’t try to change overnight. Take your time. Clothes are like most things- it’s never going to be perfect. If you want to change how things are it also takes time. I am in still on a journey but I am slowly coming into my own style that I like and enjoy!  :)

The Quest For the Perfect Masala Chai

"Chai"( Hindi) or "Cha" (Marathi and Mandarin) simply means TEA.

In India tea is preferred with milk. So Chai is a black or red tea with milk.  Chai can be more elaborate and then is referred to differently, like Masala Chai (tea steeped with various spices which Americans commonly associate with "Chai tea"), or Adhrak Chai (Ginger Chai, the milk is steeped with ginger)

Growing up I was not a fan Chai in all its forms. A ritual in India of sorts is in the afternoon, you have Chai, and a snack. The Indian tea time if you will although South India substitutes filter coffee. A favorite thing to do is to dip Parle- G (a slight sweet biscuit/ American cookie) in chai. I ate the biscuit dipped in tea left the Chai. 

Later in life I discovered I love plain tea. Black, and Green tea equals great. Much later I discovered I also adore Masala Chai, it takes plain Chai and makes it absolutely delightful.

Unfortunately, I still have not discovered the perfect Masala Chai Recipe. My parents are not big on Masala Chai so my normal solution of ask "Mom" with Indian food is sort of a fail. M and I, often experiment with Chai Recipes, we  have had some good, some bad but nothing great.

So when we want good Masala Chai we go to Indian Restaurants. Our favorite for Chai here in Madison, WI is Dhaba! We also find most coffee shops' Chai to be not very good. Surprisingly Dunkin' Donuts has a Vanilla Chai, which is pretty decent. Its not really a true Masala Chai, but good in it's own way.

So a goal for this summer is to find my go to "masala chai" recipe.

The Blog Begins

Recently married and surprised at how personal people get once you get married/ are getting married. Questions are asked that well stunned me. None the less, its good to be speechless sometimes.

Life is interesting, it was even before I was married. However, here is a point and I have a start.

So I am starting to share the daily somethings of  a woman in her mid twenties, who is:

- Generation 1.5 Immigrant (I move from India to the US, when I was 12)

- Married to someone who is a different race and religion than me (Yup, I am the girl that married the white guy and love it)

-Working Full-Time (That thing people need to do to pay the bills. I happen to like what I am doing but its not my career)

-Going to School (getting a Masters Degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis, with a higher education emphasis)

I imagine my life is as complicated and as boring, as most other people, perhaps a little different. I don't know. But here is to figuring it out and enjoying it!