DailyFreakOut

Since the ordeal with Polina, I have been deep into finding a place to live in Los Angeles. So far, nothing solid but I am confident something will come through. It has to, right? I am doing my best to be positive!

I am looking on Craig’s List and other sites. Ideally, I am looking in West Hollywood; if not there the beach is my second choice. I am looking to live alone. I have lived alone for the past 3 years, going back to having roommates will be very hard. But I will do what I have to do to get a place solidified.  I have been responding to ads with this friendly email about myself plus a picture of myself so the reader will know I am normal!

Hi-
I saw your ad on Craig's list. I am very interested to learn more. I am relocating to LA from NYC 8/15.I have always loved LA, and decided I am going to finally see how it is to live in my fav city. I won't be in LA until the 15th of Aug, but I do have a very good friend who is willing to look at apartments for me. If you have Skpe we can speak that way, and be face to face (if you have a webcam). I am also on facebook.

I am 30, a marketer/writer who runs a bartending service in NYC (bar-nonenyc.com) and hope to start a chapter in LA when I move. Is the apartment furnished? I am so excited to learn more.

I love this area! Can you send me pictures?

Attached you will find my picture so you can see I am normal.

Thanks!
Pamela

Any thoughts on how to improve the search? I am open to any help I can get!

Yesterday, I was moving on from the drama Polina caused, and ready to find a new apartment. I had been emailing people all week. I had a great feeling I was going to find a new better apartment. I met Lauren for a fabulous day. We are both jobless, and decided we would try for the Hair lottery. We both had seen the show before but wanted to see it again. I was feeling confident, we would win the tickets, and Lauren’s name was called! The day was off to a great start. 

Right before the show was about to start the second act, I looked at my phone. I had a missed call from Polina. There was no time to check my voice mail before the show started again. I could not stop thinking about what she could be calling to tell me. The only thing I could think of was she changed her mind about the sublet again.  

As soon as the show was over, I could not check my voice mail fast enough. Polina had in fact changed her mind. Her company wanted her to leave in August for her Japan tour. She would need a sublet for August 15^th. She said the apartment is 95% mine.  I was over joyed. This was the apartment and neighborhood I wanted, and finally everything was falling into place! My luck was turning around. I would soon have a place to live.

This morning I woke up to this email from Polina:

hi Pamela.

thanks for your message. I was thinking and thinking and thinking....and I've decided to keep apartment even if i leave on august 15th without subleting.

I'm sorry. The only reason of all this confusion, i was super confused myself. Thanks for understanding.

Polina

Needless to say I was pissed! This is such a roller coaster of emotion. I need a place to live and everything is about her. All I could think is the world does not rotate around you Polina!

I responded to her saying this:

Polina-

You are putting me through a roller coaster of emotions. I got to be honest, this move is a HUGE deal for me, and your lack of consideration of going back and forth with your decision to sublet your apartment is just plain rude. If you decide to sublet your apartment please contact me, but ONLY then. I don't have time for this, as I NEED to find a place to live across the country.

Good luck-
Pamela

I felt like I would not hear from her again, and I officially was moving on.  She emailed me apologizing saying she never thought about my emotions and about me in this situation. She emailed me ads for apartments and even suggested an apartment that is available in her building. I would consider that apartment but it’s a year lease. I am not read to commit to a year.

Keep your fingers crossed something else comes around!

I thought I was making real progress with my apartment search. The very first apartment I found on Craig’s list seemed to be a perfect fit. It was from August 4^th until January 4^th in West Hollywood. I have always dreamed of living in West Hollywood. The rent was $500 less than my apartment in NYC a month. The renter was leaving all her furniture, pans, and bedding. I thought the apartment was adorable perfect for me and Ali.  The renter, Polina and I spoke on Sunday. We seemed to hit it off, and I knew exactly where she lived which would make the move so much easier. Polina basically told me she was holding the apartment for me. Thankfully a good friend of mine, Jeremy said he would check out the apartment. I wanted to make sure this was not a scam. That is the last thing I needed now.  I was convinced by the end of Monday, I would have an apartment.  I went to the beach yesterday, and relaxed talking in my Monday thinking happy thoughts of my upcoming move! See the pictures below. It was not the perfect apartment but it was in the neighborhood I wanted.

I got home around 7pm, and checked my email. I found a Facebook message from Jeremy saying Polina canceled, and she would get contact with me. I checked my hotmail to find an email from Polina saying this:

Pamela,

i have to apologize, but we have to cancel the whole thing. I am under a lot of pressure with cd promo, radio promo etc. and my japanese company kindly agreed to postpond tour for a few months so i wont sublet it now.

thanks and im very sorry,

Polina

I was in shock, and annoyed. How could this be?! I responded with this:

Polina-
So you won't be going away at all now? This is very unfortunate. I was really hoping this worked out, and would have sent you a check today. Please let know if anything changes.

Thank you-
Pamela

She finally said this:

yes, staying in LA until december...

but email me when you are in town and i will be happy to hang out and show you the city.

Polina

That was it. My dream apartment was not happening until Dec ember. By that time I will be settled in my new city, and loving it! I was pissed. I knew this sounded ay to be good to be true, nothing is ever that easy for me. Once again, that was the case.  While Polina was nice, and offered to show me around the city when I arrive, I don’t need a friend now. I need a place to live!

As they say back to the drawing board.  I am thankful this happened now, and not 8/13. While this is annoying, I still have 33 days to find a place to live! Keep your fingers crossed something comes across in a safe neighborhood!

The past few days I spent calling the 3 cheapest airfares I found on Kayak.com. I wrote out all my questions to ask the agent so I would not have to call back. I needed to know the pet fee, how much baggage was per bag, fee for window seat, can I have a carry on if I have an animal, what time do I need to be there if I have an animal.

After calling American Airlines, Jet Blue and Virgin America, I decided to go with Virgin America.  The flight is decent times, a $100 fee for Ali, and each bag is only $15. The American flight bags started at $15, went to $30 for 2^nd bag and $100 for 3^rd bag. Jet blue 1^st bag was free, 2^nd $30 and 3^rd was $75. I was not sure how many bags I would be taking so I figured it would be best to go with the cheapest one option. I can have up to 10 bags for $15.  I don’t think I will have more than 3 bags. Hopefully! I don’t think I can handle more than that.

I am so excited. I leave August 15^th at 11am from JFK arriving just after 2pm in LA. I was on cloud 9 today.  I finally feel like I am moving.  This move has been in planning since February but I finally feel like I am moving. After 25 years, (literally) of talking about living in LA I am finally going to take the plunge and live in the land I have dreamt about. I only wish my grandmother lived to see me move out there as I always told her I would when I was 6. There was no way that could have happened since I was 14 when she passed away.

I am looking forward to the next 40 days of planning, cleaning, packing, and saying good-bye. I am onto my next great adventure!

 

I spent the last 2 weekends home in NJ spending time with my mom, friends and family. It has been great relaxing in the ‘burbs, hanging out at the pool, and having quality time with my mom. Being home, makes me sad I am leaving. As much as I know this move will be awesome, and I know I need to try it, I am FREAKING OUT!  I am terrified everything I know will never be the same again, wondering why I want to get away from a good life, an amazing city, and all I have ever known. I can’t imagine missing out on birthdays, weddings, births.

I wonder why am I doing this to myself. Then I think you are doing this because you have wanted to move since you were 5, most likely earlier! It has been at least 25 years in the making. I might as well try, and see what happens. I have huge dreams most of the time it take me time to put them into action, here is a prime example. It’s taken 25 years for me to get the guts to make the move, and yet at times I think I need more time, more time! It’s not really an option. I am not getting any younger. I want to go out there, and try it out. If I hate it, I can still come home and know I tried it. I never am one to not try things, even though I freak out! I know I don’t want to regret not going. I wish that meant I would not freak out!

But sadly I need to go through the emotions, and know no matter what things will work out. Hopefully for the better!

 

Today the move is 41 days away, and I have officially starting freaking out. I began calling airlines this afternoon to get all the details on fees and traveling with a pet. I took notes thankfully or I would have been more confused than before I called. I didn’t realize my baggage would be so pricey to check. Airline baggage fee ranges from first bag free all the way up to $75! On top of that the pet fee is anywhere from $69-$125. Of course, the cheaper pet fee flights do not go direct to LAX. I read that it is best to fly direct when flying with an animal. In Ali’s case I could not agree more! I think flying with her should be very interesting. I am dreading it, but I have no choice.

As weird as it might be for some people she is my family and I cannot leave her behind. After 17 years, I can’t imagine moving without her.

I once again, have started to look for apartments in Los Angeles. I looked briefly in May when I was moving in July. Now that the date is set for August 15^th, I can easily look for apartments. I would love to move to West Hollywood. My Bubie (grandma), and aunt lived in West Hollywood so I feel like I know it decently well. I would feel comfortable living there and it won’t be a complete shock to me.

I am looking for a furnished sublet so I am willing to look at other areas of LA. I want a sublet so I can figure out if I love LA, and want to stay. If I stay I will then find a long term apartment. I don’t want to be locked into an apartment, and not able to move back to New York if I am miserable.

Ideally, I would love to live alone since I have been living alone for 3 years. Living with roommates again would be a little of a shock to both me and Ali.

I did find a few sublet posts on Craigslist this morning. I found perfect sublet. It’s a studio, in West Hollywood starting August 15^th for 4 months! The rent is perfect, $600 less then my apt in NYC! As one of my friends said, it sounds like I wrote the post. It’s exactly what I am looking for. Of course I emailed the poster right away, and attached a picture of me so she knows I am normal. I asked her to email me pictures of the apartment. If she sends them to me, I will post them in the blog.

Keep your fingers crossed this works out! It would be amazing to know where I am going to live.

After much thought, and anticipation I finally have decided on a date for the move. I am confident this is the right date for me. I know I have changed the date a few times, but this time I have a sense of relief with the date.

As time went on July 1^st felt too soon, considering I had so much to do, Ali was sick and I love the summer. September was too far away. I wanted to make sure I had enough time to get unemployment for a little while when I was in Los Angeles just in case I didn’t get a job right away.

I decided August 15^th was the best day for the move. I am confident this is the right date for my move. After deciding, I feel this huge sense of relief. It’s almost calming.

Let’s see how I feel when I book the ticket!