Gardening in High Heels

cultivate a beautiful life

Dating in the Real Estate World

It’s no secret I’m on the hunt for a new place (when something is happening in my life, it’s all I talk about; I’m a broken record that way). And my goodness, if finding a new place to live isn’t like dating, then I don’t know what it is. It takes a special listing to get the girl and Pittsburgh, lots of you are doing it wrong.

Dating and real estate don't sound like they'd be similar, but you'd be surprised as the similarities between apartment hunting and dating profiles.

First, let’s talk about your picture. If you want me to click on your listing, you best have a least one picture that isn’t blurry and was taken in the last year. And it better be a real photo of you, not the same standard “model apartment” shots that your 10 other listings have.

Oh yeah, why do you feel the need to spam us with your other listings? Can’t you just say, “Call Stephanie and ask about our other availabilities”? It seems to me that it’s harder to write 10 different listings, but whatever. It’s like Tom Haverford and his 26 profiles, only distinguishable by middle initial.

Now how about that listing title. “Charming and quiet” tells me nothing. A much more appealing headline would be, “Charming 1 bedroom apartment in quiet neighborhood.” Much better. If I feel like you’ll satisfy what I’m looking for with just a quick snapshot of what you offer, I’m much more likely to click on your listing. Who knows, I may even schedule a showing. Crazy!

Once you get into the listing, then the fun really gets going.

If you type in all caps, I’m out. I don’t want a landlord who yells at me. Ditto Every Word Being Capitalized. If you can’t figure out the English language in a grammatically correct fashion, I don’t know if we have any chance at communicating on a meaningful level.

Now, I understand, you don’t want to give it all away up front, but a little info is nice. What’s included in the rent? Do I get a parking spot? How about pets? These are standard questions that would make this process go a lot more smoothly and help you weed out the unnecessary applicants. Why waste your time showing an apartment if the girl has a cat and your building is deathly allergic to felines of any kind?

And you better not be fibbing about your square footage. What a disappointment that can turn out to be.

How’s your luck when it comes to dating in the real estate world?

 

7/100 — #100DaysBlogging

Sunday Lately, 60

Sunday Lately is a weekly link up brought to you by the Blogger Tribe. Link up and see what's been happening lately!Sunday Lately is a weekly linkup hosted by the Blogger Tribe (which is being fearlessly lead by Meghan, Nicole, Katy, and myself). We e-hang out every Sunday, sharing a small glimpse into the last week of life in our own worlds. We’d love if you could join us!
This week’s themes: Completing, Visiting, Repeating, Writing, Scheduling

 

Completing

Awkward: I’m wrapping up the time in my house. Like I mentioned last week, I don’t have to move out when my mom and stepfather moves back in, but it’s a small house and it doesn’t have rubber walls. Makes me sad to move twice in the space of a year.

Awesome: This will give me a chance to tackle some organizational things I guess!

Visiting

Awkward: I was in the hospital on Friday, so I guess you could say I was visiting the hospital this week. I’m fine, I just have problems that stemmed from that sinus infection I had at the beginning of the month. I did get to learn some fun baseball facts while I was there.

Awesome: I had a great mastermind session with a couple of friends yesterday. I volunteered my house before I knew I’d be moving and before I knew I had vertigo and couldn’t drive and it all kinda worked out. So they visited me. It was awesome.

Repeating

Awkward: Banging my head against the wall. Ugh I don’t want to move, and again, I’m not getting kicked out, but I either pack up all of my stuff, pay to store it, and live in my old, tiny bedroom that’s still painted purple from middle school or pack it up and have a little more space to myself. I’ll stop sounding like a broken record soon.

Awesome: To-do lists. I write lists when I get worked up.

Writing

Awkward: See above. Stress writing lists.

Awesome: #100DaysBlogging is a challenge that Emily Levenson came up with – writing something (anything) for 100 days in a row. Today is Day 6 for me. I’m trying to let go of judgement and needed a special topic and just write.

Scheduling

Awkward: I should get my tonsils removed, so I have to schedule the surgery soon. Yay for me.

Awesome: Marissa and Kristin and I got together on Monday just to catch up. No blog talk. It was fantastic to have a break. This new food pyramid is something that Kristin put together that we’d like to submit to the FDA.

Possible food pyramid change via My Life as a Teacup



What have you been up to lately?

6/100 — #100DaysBlogging

Baseball Riots and Vertigo

I’m giving myself a pass on yesterday’s #100DaysBlogging post, so today is counting for days 4 and 5. I had every intention to write this, but then I came home and feel asleep on the couch. Give me a break, I was in the ER, okay?

I was sitting on the ER bed and my dad was to my left. Every time I moved my head to look at him, it felt like my vision was trailing behind and would catch up after a few seconds. He said it reminded him of the “glowing puck.”

Apparently in the 90s, Fox had a contract with the NHL to include glowing electrodes in the puck that would “make it easier” for home viewers to see the puck because it glowed.

It was called FoxTrax. I wish they were punnier with the name and somehow worked in “trot” instead of “trax.”

Other things I learned yesterday:

  • There were three major league baseball games that ended in riots.
    • 10 Cent Beer Night at a Cleveland Indians game — can you imagine where that went wrong? Nope, me neither.
    • Disco Demolition Night — because who wouldn’t think that blowing up a box of disco records would do irreparable damage to the field?
    • Washington Senators’ final game at RFK Stadium. Fans were angered and the impending move to Texas and stormed the field looking for souvenirs. Oh and the security staff had already walked out — I know when I’m mad about something, my first reaction is to cause mayhem, too.
  • The 70s were a weird time for baseball.
  • I have vertigo. And not the Hitchcock movie.
4-5/100 — #100DaysBlogging

Change

Every single cell in your body regenerates every seven years. You are constantly a new person, even if you don’t realize it. So if you say you never change, you’re lying. You are in a constant state of change.

“Every single cell in the human body replaces itself over a period of seven years. That means there's not even the smallest part of you now that was part of you seven years ago.” - Steven Hall. We are in a constant state of change.

Change is constant. How we experience change, that is up to us. It can feel like death or it can feel like a second chance at life. If we open our fingers, loosen our grips, go with it. It can feel like pure adrenaline. Like at any moment, we can have another chance at life. Like at any moment we can be born all over again.

-Meredith Grey, Grey’s Anatomy

3/100 — #100DaysBlogging

Stuck

Remember that episode of The Office when Andy tries out for America’s Next A Cappella Sensation and he ends up sitting down and whining, “Oh I can so just sit here and cry!” Yeah, I kinda feel like that today.

I just wanna sit here and cry.

I’ve been blocked and stuck and sick to boot, which doesn’t help to get me in a good, creative, let’s go kick some ass mindset at all.

I can’t decide where I want to be personally or professionally. I don’t know where I’ll be physically in a month, so it’s hard to get my mind to agree to staying in one place long enough to focus on what I want to do in the future. Or to make up its mind about what to have for dinner tonight. Or where to put that shelf because, oh hell, will I even have this wall in a month. Does that make sense?

It feels like I’m just staying in one place while the world acts upon me instead of me going out and making things happen. I understand that life has cycles and this is just a low cycle for me. We all have them. Instead of fighting it and trying to struggle against the tide, I’m just going to embrace it and ride it out.

Learn how to embrace the tides of life - you'll be so much happier when you don't have to fight against the waves.

So, no uplifting positive message, just writing what’s real for me right now. Like I said yesterday, I’m trying to be comfortable with vulnerable stuff and for me, that means sharing the good and bad with you guys.

If you do want a positive, uplifting message, I wrote all about where I turn when things get messy.

2/100 — #100DaysBlogging

Let’s Play

           

People Really Dug These

We Belong in the Garden Together