Conflicted
I've been feeling a bit conflicted lately about a few things.
For starters, our parking spot, while heavily discounted at $40 a month (the rest of the neighborhood ranges from $125-150 per month), it is a mile away from our place, blocked into a driveway by the home's owner. We've been fine with that cost and playing musical-cars each time we need to drive (which is about once a month), but now the owner has informed us that, come January, he wants to raise the rent and add another car behind us. That seems a bit ridiculous.
So now the conflict becomes: do we: a) suck it up and pay and put up with the 2nd car behind us; b) sell the car and put the money away for when we do need one later in life; or c) wait for next year, then try to find an apartment that has parking included in the rent?
That leads to the next conflict; Do we look for another apartment? Boston and its surrounding neighborhoods is hell when it comes to searching for apartments. You find a gem online, only to find it's already been rented, then you're dragged around to a bunch of crapholes by some undergrad who doesn't give a damn about what you said you want in a place. And when you quickly settle on something, (because in this town, if you don't decide within that evening whether you want it or not, it WILL be rented out from under you), you owe the douchebag a full month's rent as a "fee" for his 20 minutes he spent with you. Mind you, rent around here ranges from $1200-$1600 or so a month.
We really do love our place, but for the $1525 a month we're paying, I feel we're at the top dime for what we're getting. We have heat/hot water included, as well as a washer/dryer in-unit, but there is no parking, nor is there a dishwasher, and this is a one-bedroom we're paying that much for. I'm curious if there is something that has all that for a comparable price in our neighborhood... I'm terrified of inadvertently downgrading, or being stuck with another landlady from hell like our first apartment had. (You know the movie "Duplex"? That upstairs old lady neighbor was our landlady, accent and crazy included.)
I feel like I'm at a point in my life where I'm between stages. I'm still a twenty-something, which generally means fashionista styles, and getting away with some shorter skirts, lower tops, and higher heels than most older women should wear. On the other hand, I have a professional career in an East-coast city where conservative dress is what is appropriate if you want to be taken seriously and looked at as successful. This probably also stems from an episode in high school where someone I thought was my friend started telling people I was getting slutty because I wore wide-strap tank tops to school (you couldn't even see cleavage), which followed with "looks" from people and one episode of what I'll call "inappropriate touching" by a male classmate. I fear that if I don't project the conservative, professional image out here, that I'll be looked at as a slut and not taken seriously.
It doesn't help that my work attire consists of comfortable scrubs that I'm too tired to change out of until bedtime, but I digress. How do I find the balance between having fun with fashion, while not looking like a stuffy old conservative hag or a fashionista slut?
It is fun to get to dress well, though. Any time I go back to the midwest, I almost feel accosted for wearing a nice, well-made, brand name coat, or dress, or shoes; I get looked at as if I regard myself as better than everyone else just because I'm in fancy clothes.
Someone once said to me "The clothes you choose are like your uniform: when you see someone in a police uniform, you assume they're a police-person, right? Same goes with scrubs (someone in the medical profession), or a suit (business person). Sure, call it a stereotype, but the majority of people who are in these types of clothes are in that type of profession. So if someone dresses in a short skirt and plunging neckline, why are they so shocked when someone mistakes them for a stereotypical slut?" -I can't remember who said this, but it was a man.
For starters, our parking spot, while heavily discounted at $40 a month (the rest of the neighborhood ranges from $125-150 per month), it is a mile away from our place, blocked into a driveway by the home's owner. We've been fine with that cost and playing musical-cars each time we need to drive (which is about once a month), but now the owner has informed us that, come January, he wants to raise the rent and add another car behind us. That seems a bit ridiculous.
So now the conflict becomes: do we: a) suck it up and pay and put up with the 2nd car behind us; b) sell the car and put the money away for when we do need one later in life; or c) wait for next year, then try to find an apartment that has parking included in the rent?
That leads to the next conflict; Do we look for another apartment? Boston and its surrounding neighborhoods is hell when it comes to searching for apartments. You find a gem online, only to find it's already been rented, then you're dragged around to a bunch of crapholes by some undergrad who doesn't give a damn about what you said you want in a place. And when you quickly settle on something, (because in this town, if you don't decide within that evening whether you want it or not, it WILL be rented out from under you), you owe the douchebag a full month's rent as a "fee" for his 20 minutes he spent with you. Mind you, rent around here ranges from $1200-$1600 or so a month.
We really do love our place, but for the $1525 a month we're paying, I feel we're at the top dime for what we're getting. We have heat/hot water included, as well as a washer/dryer in-unit, but there is no parking, nor is there a dishwasher, and this is a one-bedroom we're paying that much for. I'm curious if there is something that has all that for a comparable price in our neighborhood... I'm terrified of inadvertently downgrading, or being stuck with another landlady from hell like our first apartment had. (You know the movie "Duplex"? That upstairs old lady neighbor was our landlady, accent and crazy included.)
I feel like I'm at a point in my life where I'm between stages. I'm still a twenty-something, which generally means fashionista styles, and getting away with some shorter skirts, lower tops, and higher heels than most older women should wear. On the other hand, I have a professional career in an East-coast city where conservative dress is what is appropriate if you want to be taken seriously and looked at as successful. This probably also stems from an episode in high school where someone I thought was my friend started telling people I was getting slutty because I wore wide-strap tank tops to school (you couldn't even see cleavage), which followed with "looks" from people and one episode of what I'll call "inappropriate touching" by a male classmate. I fear that if I don't project the conservative, professional image out here, that I'll be looked at as a slut and not taken seriously.
It doesn't help that my work attire consists of comfortable scrubs that I'm too tired to change out of until bedtime, but I digress. How do I find the balance between having fun with fashion, while not looking like a stuffy old conservative hag or a fashionista slut?
It is fun to get to dress well, though. Any time I go back to the midwest, I almost feel accosted for wearing a nice, well-made, brand name coat, or dress, or shoes; I get looked at as if I regard myself as better than everyone else just because I'm in fancy clothes.
Someone once said to me "The clothes you choose are like your uniform: when you see someone in a police uniform, you assume they're a police-person, right? Same goes with scrubs (someone in the medical profession), or a suit (business person). Sure, call it a stereotype, but the majority of people who are in these types of clothes are in that type of profession. So if someone dresses in a short skirt and plunging neckline, why are they so shocked when someone mistakes them for a stereotypical slut?" -I can't remember who said this, but it was a man.
posted by kitty Cat | 7:09 PM
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