The irony is almost too much to bear. I like that it wasn't enough to describe it as luxurious. They just had to add enviable. As if you were undecided, not sure if you wanted to live somewhere luxurious. But enviable? Why yes! Of course!
Well let me set you straight. Jillian Square may have been luxury living 20 years ago. In fact, I'm sure the textured wallpaper was all the rage in 1986. Time and smoke damage though have taken it's toll so that now, poor Jillian is just dingy. Like a lady who has seen better days but has been beaten down by hard livin': too much dope, drink and smoke. The ol' stove. Put a fork in her, she's done!
Some days I feel like I'm living on the Maury Povich show what with the drama that goes on outside the complex entrance at 2 am on a Saturday night. What's that now? Your baby daddy's leaving you again because his other baby mamma is pregnant with someone else's baby? Whatever. He'll be back next week, hunny! Here, have another MGD while you wait. Or the boys "writing" in the snow. Always a sign of enviable living! My sister thinks I live in the tenements.
My apartment is on the ground floor and next to the stairs, so I hear everyone's comings and goings. Most of the time I can tune it out. Similar to how in my Bay Area condo I have learned to tune out the airplanes flying into Oakland airport. You get used to it and soon it's just another background noise like the hum of the refrigerator.
One up side of my fancy living is that my co-worker lives in the apartment above me, and because she has a three year old daughter, all is quiet by 8:30 at night. It's actually been great to have Hollie and Henley upstairs. Evenings of wine (I only have to stumble down the stairs and hope I didn't leave my keys at work), Saturday mornings of cinnamon rolls and coffee. Henley often has sleepovers with her same age cousin, Savannah. Good fun for when I'm missing my girlie, Ms. Jussy-Bussy. How can you not love it when a 3 year old wraps her arms around your waist and cries, "don't leave, Header, don't leave!" Super cute these girls. Super cute!
But back to my luxurious living. My apartment is supposedly "fully stocked" with all the amenities a person could need. I have 4 plates, 4 glasses, 2 wine glasses, 4 coffee mugs and 4 each of spoons, forks and knives. One wooden spoon, a can opener, a few pots and pans, and 2 plastic mixing bowls round out my assortment of kitchen wares. The one necessity that wasn't in my kitchen was a wine opener. Imagine my horror. I think my liver actually cried out in pain.
Oh, and you should know that this apartment comes compliments of your tax dollars! Apparently if you have a permanent residence and travel for a job, you're eligible for a tax-free government stipend to pay for your housing at the new job. Fabulous! It worked out well for me -- I'm getting free housing and I didn't have to deal with any of the logistics of securing the housing. Someone though is making a fortune off this deal. In defense of Jillian Square, I do have to commend them for cleanliness. The linoleum circa 1983 was spic and span.
But come. Let's take a tour and you too can be envious!
First, the kitchen. Both the advantage and disadvantage of living in a small space is that you're never more than five feet away from the kitchen. And when you have no tv, no internet and no books to read, well, a lot of time tends to be spent in the kitchen...inventing alternatives to a wine opener.
The view from the kitchen looking towards the bedroom. Bathroom is around the corner.
The bedroom. I have since replaced the decades old generic Day's Inn bedspread with a comforter from Sears in a lovely seafoam green.
The view from the kitchen into the living room:
Looking at the kitchen from the living room:
I do have a balcony. Although I can't open the sliding glass door to it until after May 1st.
Sunset from Jillian can be lovely though.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, concludes our tour of enviable luxury. If you come to visit you now know what you're getting. Or, you can make a reservation at the Day's Inn. Tell them I have one of their bedspreads.
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