move along, move along....

well, it's happened...we are moving. i am sad to say it, but i know it's the right thing to do. Dave and I have been going back and forth on it for a while. We both LOVE Brant Rock and our beach house, but we know that with the impending arrival of little baby G we needed a place that would be more condusive to having a child.

We live in a place now that doesn't have a washer/dryer in unit (we go to the laundrymat across the street), we have metal spiral stairs, which are cool, but i am nervous about carrying a baby up and down them, plus for me, the commute to work is anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half each way depending on traffic (imagine doing that drive with a six month old with a diaper full of poop) so we decided it was time to move forward and get a place that was closer to Boston and inbetween our two jobs.

So for the past week since the wedding I've been focusing on the apartment search. Dave went back to work and I called all sorts of places to schedule appointments to look at different apartments all around the Quincy, Braintree, and Weymouth areas. First, let me say that I was HORRIFIED by the quality of some of the places we saw. I can't imagine that someone is going to want to pay $1,200 plus utilities on a two bedroom place in a brick building that smells like trash. Disgusting. Second, let me say that I am amazed at how some creative photography can make a place look nicer than it is. These homeowners and real estate agents should become part of the paparazzi considering how wonderful their work is. Anyway, we looked at 7 places in total. Our biggest challenge which limited the search was the quest for a de-leaded apartment. Apparently anything built before 1978 would have lead paint in it. This means that any exposure could be damaging to baby G's development. And yes, I do realize that I grew up in a house with lead paint and so did my parents and their parents, BUT I don't want it on Dave and I that we didn't take proper precautions to ensure our childs safety. If for any reason it develops a learning disability or brain damage because we didn't ensure that it was living in a de-leaded environment then I'd feel awful and probably never forgive myself.
That is what limited our search. I called 20 places that were not de-leaded so it wasn't even worth us going to look.
We ended up going into a random realtors office who had a place for rent in Quincy, in a very nice area called Hospital Hill. It's very residential, 2 and 3 family homes, kid friendly and quiet. We looked at it and put in our deposit this past Thursday.
It's amazingly nice - 2 bedroom, hard wood floors throughout, completely re-done and de-leaded (I spoke to the painter who de-leaded it), and has a back patio, storage, central AC and a washer/dryer downstairs in the basement. It's a beautiful home that is owner occupied, so that makes it even more desireable. if the owner lives there, you know you are getting a better deal because they LIVE there. They take care of the property. I love it. It's not beachfront, but as Dave has told me, we got LUCKY finding this place. It was the 3rd one we looked at. We loved it right away and for two people starting their life together it was perfect, but now it's time to move on and share the wealth!