Finding a new flat

 my lovely mantle

I promised myself that I wouldn't start out this blog post apologising that I haven't posted anything for a long time......but of course I still want to. I am actually a bit surprised that it's only been just over a month since my last post, I thought it would be longer!

So, what have I been up to? Well lots of new and exciting things. I've started a new job! I am now a social media strategist at a lovely agency called Wax. I started there on the 19th of April. It's been going very well and I am happy with my new role. I've also been wrapped up in location based social media apps and blogging about that over on Foursquaregames. The main thing that's been on my mind is the fact that Matthew and I are moving out of our flat.

Our lease is up on June 19th and we've decided that we are going to live on our own. At the moment we are sharing a two bedroom flat with another couple. They've been easy to live with, but I am just ready have our own place. I am tired of just living in my bedroom and having to do the washing up immediately after I am done eating :)

When I first moved in with Matthew he was living with his mate Wayland, that was in Chiswick. When we moved to the flat we're in now, Shepherds Bush, Wayland came with us. I didn't mind living with Wayland. I was still pretty new to London and it was nice to have him as a friend. He started his own business and needed to move to another part of England for a while, so we were left with the choice of either paying all the rent or getting in flatmates.

Of course at the time I was way too cheap to have ever done that. I still have a hard time getting my head around how expensive London rent is, but I am now ready to bite the bullet.

I tell you looking for a flat isn't a walk in the park. Matthew and I have been looking online. Most flats are rented through estate agencies or on Gumtree. Gumtree is what we use over here instead of Craigslist. The main problem is that the estate agencies like to advertise flats that either don't have to let or have been let already! 

What should happen is that if the flat is under offer to be let they should flag it as under offer and most websites will do that. I was on the phone to one estate agency because I was interested in a flat and they told me that it had been let. I then asked about some others that were on their site and they said that they weren't available. I was like, why do you still have them up? So you don't have any flats to rent, but you have them all still on the site? He answered that they keep them up until the people move in. Nice. They keep them up so it looks like they have all these flats. How lovely.

It's really a pain. You call these people and you're lucky if they ever get back to you. I can't wait until we just find a flat and can move in.

We've finally decided on an area, sorry Becky we aren't moving to the East End. Although I really wanted to, it's just too expensive at the moment. Matthew and I are trying to save as much money as we can, so although we could afford a more expensive flat closer in town we've decided to save a bit of cash and go......gasp! south of the river. 

We've been looking in Brixton. My friend Mary is living there and it's closer to where Matthew's sister lives. I like it over there and hopefully we can find a flat. Matthew and I spent the afternoon there yesterday and we liked it. I love the Ritzy theater and we found some good pubs. I really want to be somewhere new and have a decent sized flat.  So fingers crossed we find something good!

Happy Weekend

 

 Lovely Day/Night Print Set by LovelyMPLS on Etsy 

It's always nice when the weather is nice in London and then I find out through FB that weather is also nice in Minneapolis. I had a really nice weekend that started out on the right foot on Friday. I went for an interview that I felt really good about. I enjoyed the people that I met and the role was what I was looking for. Most importantly I felt a connection with the interviewer. We will see what happens. They were going to see a few more people and I should be hearing back something today. 

After the interview I walked into Clerkenwell to meet Mary and a few of her colleagues for a bit of wine. The weather was nice and we were able to sit outside. It was a fun time and I was sad to leave when I did, but Matthew was locked out of the flat. I met Matthew at the Queen Adelaide for dinner, where he was patiently waiting for me. He had a book a pint to keep him company. That was nice as well. They do a good burger and hand cut chips at the Adelaid.

On Saturday I went to a workshop called facilitating fresh thinking, run by Rebecca Mackenzie. The workshop taught us how to run brainstorming sessions. It was a fantastic workshop. There were five us of there, two people I knew from the presentation workshop last year.

We went through exercises and games and then Rebecca led us through a brainstorming session. It was so much fun. We had to come up with campaign ideas for a brand called Bovril. I must say that we came up with lots of great ideas. Later in the afternoon we broke up into two groups and ran our own sessions while Rebecca coached us through it. I met some lovely people and learned some great techniques. 

Matthew and I didn't do much on Saturday night. I was pretty worn out from the day's workshop, it went from 10:30-5p.m., so I actually feel asleep around 8 o'clock. Matthew was busy working on a piece of course work that had to be handed in on Sunday so he was fine with that. 

Sunday the sun was out as well. Matthew and I drove up to North London to look at a few areas we might want to live. I can't say enough how excited I am to be moving in June and to be living on our own.  These last two months are going to fly and then we'll be somewhere new. Can't wait. 

When we got back to the flat we both had some work to do so we sat together and worked on our laptops while Come Dine With Me was on in the background. What a nerdy couple we are. 

I am looking forward to this week. I should be hearing back from my interviews, I've got to line up some more and just keep the search moving forward.  Here's to a good week!