Hey everyone! I hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend, I certainly did! There were many ups and downs… but it all turned out alright!
As you may remember, I was moving apartments this weekend. Not too far, just up from Lincoln Park into the Lakeview neighborhood (about a mile away from where I was living). I was pretty overwhelmed with the move since I’d been at my apartment and accumulated WAY too much stuff. In college I moved constantly and took pride in calling myself a “nomad” since I owned so little and moved so easily. Unfortunately this was not the case.
I had to be out of my apartment by noon on Saturday, but couldn’t move into my new apartment until Sunday morning. I’d rented a Budget truck for 8:30am on Saturday to load my stuff in. My plan was to park it in a lot near my building and then unpack and return it Sunday morning at 9:30am after moving into my new place. Well, that was a lovely idea…
Budget called me at 4pm on Friday to tell me that they would “probably” have my truck available at 2:30pm on Saturday. I called my building manager to ask if I could leave late, but he said I had to be out by noon for the painters. Budget truck told me this is “just how they work” and that my actual reservation basically meant nothing. I called several other places and no one had a truck. Ensue tears. I pulled it together and came up with a new plan: my brother and I would use his car to move all my stuff to his guest bedroom before noon Saturday, then do the same thing again Sunday morning to move all my stuff to my new apartment.
So basically, I moved twice this weekend. I was VERY lucky to have such a patient brother to help me out with this, and Kelsey and her boyfriend who came and filled their car with a load, then brought it back Sunday so that was just one less that we had to unload into my brother’s apartment. To say it was a rough move would be an understatement. But we did it, and I will NEVER move again without hiring someone to do it for me. Ever.
The best part? My headboard didn’t fit in his car, so I had to CARRY it to his apartment and then to my new apartment. I looked like a crazy person but at this point it seemed totally normal.
But hey, check out that view:
Worth it, huh? I think so.
So that was the “down” part of the weekend, although I am so thankful for my brother and friends who helped out. The up part? The BEST bachelorette party ever on Saturday night! Here is one of the few blog-appropriate photos that I took from the evening:
It was amazing. Lots of laughing, dancing and memories that I’ll have forever.
After my move on Sunday, I headed over to Lindsay’s for a Labor Day barbeque. We hung out on her roof deck and grilled burgers, enjoying the beautiful view:
I got a ride back downtown from Kelsey and while walking to my bus stop I got some more reminders of why I love living in Chicago so much:
Yep, this city has really grown on me.
What did you do for Labor Day weekend?
Any moving horror stories?
What an amazing view you have! Definitely worth it.
I think. Haha. That is so crazy about what all you went through with moving! I hope the budget truck company didn’t charge you anything. It sounds like they didn’t fulfill the agreement that you made with your appointment. Why would they even give you a time in the first place if they didn’t plan on sticking to it?
I would say that having to move your headboard by hand is worse than my moving stories. However, this year when I got into my college dorm room I discovered that since the main entry door is not centered in the room and on MY side, I have like 1/2 of the wall space as my roommate (okay, not really but still!) the door takes up a ton of space both in just its existence and swinging function. That’s a full 9 square feet of space that I don’t have 🙁
I don’t even know, but I don’t think I was charged anything. And that’s so annoying you got that much less space – in dorms every bit of space is important!!
Hell yes, Chicago is the best 🙂 I love the photos! Great view from your place too!
Thanks!
I hate moving!!! Moved my boyfriend into his new apartment this weekend up 6 flights of stairs…NO ELEVATOR! I don’t think I’ve ever carried so much in my entire life…reminded me why I work out lol Your view is gorgeous!
oh gosh, that’s awful! At least I had an elevator!!
I moved this weekend too, but fortunately I didn’t have any SNAFUS like that! The view from your new apartment must have been worth it though, so gorgeous.
I’m glad your move went smoothly! Haha I know we were both worried!
So glad you’re done with the move! When Ian and I moved we found out the day of our planned move that we couldn’t get into our new place yet and that the person living there (not on the lease) was refusing to leave until the last possible moment. We ended up parking a truck at our old place with all of our stuff and staying at Ian’s brothers for the night and next day. It was really stressful but we survived!
The headboard pic cracks me up!
Omg I remember that, how obnoxious of them!
Wow, your view is gorgeous!! I am uber jealous!
Thanks, I’m so excited about it!
The right side of my fave looks FAB in that pic!
your new place is SO CUTE! Can’t wait to come overrrrrrrrrrr
The right side of your face ALWAYS looks fab! The left side, however…
And come over ANY TIME! ALL THE TIME!
I would have been upset too if they didn’t have the truck when I had made a reservation.
The only hiccup I had the last time I moved is when I went to return the rental truck, the guy at the counter said he didn’t know how to do the paperwork to do a return cause he was new. He said we’d have to come back that night when a co-worker was there, but we’d have to pay extra cause it would be over the time limit. Needless to say I wasn’t impressed and we ended up going to a different location and they were able to accept it.
oh hell to the no! Haha I would have been trying to find a manager for that one!
sigh. so i love reading your blog – really, you know this – but it’s so hard for me to see pictures of chicago and know i probably won’t ever make it back permanently. good thing i can live vicariously through you. the weekend looked like a crazy one and i cannot believe your moving story. i am with you 100% – never moving without help ever again. just out of curiosity – bets on how soon it will be before people nicholas cage your new apartment? i can’t wait to read about it lol.
At least you always have your parents to visit! (and me!). And I don’t know if they’ll ever be able to Cage me – all the others we relied on boyfriends they lived with or handing over keys for pet sitting. They don’t have any way of getting my keys!
Oh no! I’m sorry to hear everything was a little more stressful than you were hoping for! I’m glad it all worked out in the end though.
Haha yea, at least it worked out! I felt better after Saturday morning was all packed up, because that was the only time-sensitive day. After that I knew we had done it once so we could do it again!
I hate moving so I can’t imagine having to move twice in one weekend! Glad your brother was able to help you! And I LOVE your view! The city seems like such an awesome place to live!
SO lucky to have my brother, and I absolutely love living in the city!
not a huge fan of moving- well mostly moving all our stuff. we do like going to new cities though 🙂
beautiful view!!
hugs
I agree, I love new places but the actual moving of my stuff is not fun!
Chicago is so beautiful! I cannot wait to go back soon to explore more. I feel like there’s so much to do!
SO much! You guys really should come back, it’s so close!
Moving is sooo stressful. I said I’d never do it again without movers, but I shouldn’t complain, I didn’t have to carry a headboard down the street! I’m glad that you’re all moved in now!
Hahaha I’m pretty sure there aren’t many people who’ve had to carry their headboard through Lincoln Park/Lakeview…
I had a similar situation happen when I moved out of my college apartment 2+ years ago. My parents rented a moving truck back in NY (because it is a hell of a lot easier to get a rental reservation than in Boston) but then a hurricane hit a few days before. Because of the storm, lots of trucks were stuck in various cities. When my parents went to pick up the truck the morning of the move, the moving company told them that the truck wasn’t there yet, but that it would be there by 10am. 4pm rolls around and the truck FINALLY pulls into the lot. I ended up having to wait until the next day to move, even though I had to be out of my apartment by 8am. I think we started packing up at 5am. Nightmare. The whole rest of the day I was there the landlord came by 3 times, the painters wanted to come in and paint, and the cleaners wanted to come in and clean. I kept having to turn them all away. Thankfully your move worked out in the end – jealous of your view!!
Ahhhh that must have been so stressful! Haha pretty much what happened here!
That sounds like the move from hell!! That’s great you had super people to help you out.
I moved a lot when I was younger, but no “horror” stories really.
Moving is always a pain – so sorry you had a rough one. My last two moves in the city we hired movers which was so worth the money especially when moving from third story to third story apartment.
Your new place sounds wonderful though -what an amazing view!!