Today marks one full week in my new apartment! This was the first “big move” I’ve ever made, as in, the first that actually involved a moving company rather than just suitcases filled with clothes and small miscellaneous items. (All the credit for previous moves, by the way, goes to Southwest Airlines’ 2 free bags policy…)

From running back and forth between apartments—and I mean this literally, as I don’t have a car—and unpacking, I hit 28,620 steps on Moving Day, which is roughly 11.5 miles. That’s insane. And I really felt it, too. By the end of the day, the soles of my feet were so sore that standing felt like a workout. It reminded me of my barista days in college when I had to stay on my feet during 4-hour shifts!

Anyways, I felt lukewarm about the moving process itself. At first, it was going great—one of the movers worked super fast, and my boxes were loaded into the truck in under an hour. But once we got to the new apartment, things slowed down. At one point, my furniture had been left unattended in an elevator and was just traveling up and down my building—apparently the doors had closed before the mover himself could get in. And at another point, one of my bags (which has since been recovered) got stolen!

In short, the actual process of moving was a chaotic whirlwind, but eventually all of my things found their way to my new space. Phew. Then came unpacking.

I had planned to unpack over the course of several days, but it ended up taking much less time. This was because I’d found out that the Comcast wire to my apartment had snapped and needed to be replaced by a technician. This meant that I had no Internet for the first several days in my new apartment, which was not only terrible because it’s 2020 and the Internet’s a huge part of our lives, but also/especially because I’m a software engineer and literally could not do my job.

But I could unpack, so that’s exactly what I did during my short Internet hiatus. By Monday night, only two days post-move, I was basically done.

There are still some remaining home projects to complete, like mounting my TV and assembling my new furniture as it arrives (I’m still waiting for a couch and a patio set), but these feel manageable. I know the TV setup will be a big task, but I’m feeling particularly confident after successfully hanging my heavy mirror and shoe shelves (a quick tip: drywall anchors are a must!).

Beyond that, actually living in the apartment so far has been amazing. I like to leave the curtains slightly drawn so I can wake up to sunlight, and that’s been a major game changer—I’m now a 6:30 AM gal, which is wild. (On a side note, I think Coconut’s circadian rhythm has gotten a big boost from the sunlight too—he has so much energy in the morning that he literally bounces on the bed until our walk.) I’ve also gotten better about staying hydrated (I keep a water bottle near my bed now) and started working out again since this building has a gym. In general, I just feel a lot more in tune with myself. New apartment, new habits!

To christen my new oven, I made this lovely chocolate cake (“One-Pan Crazy Cake” by Amanda Kludt, found in Cherry Bombe: The Cookbook). It turned out beautifully and was so delicious—and best of all, it cooked super evenly because this oven actually works! I cannot tell you what a relief this is, especially after using an oven that was 100+ degrees off for the past year.

A fun fact about this cake—it actually has no butter or eggs in it because the recipe was developed during World War II, when groceries were rationed. It’s still insanely moist and flavorful, though. (Also, the photos don’t pick it up super well, but the cream cheese frosting actually has the slightest tint of pink—I colored it naturally using cherry juice!)

I had two friends who live nearby over for cake on Monday night, and it was the perfect way to house-warm the new apartment (one of them even brought me a lemongrass candle as a gift, which smells fantastic). Honestly, when it comes to this new place, I have zero complaints. It really feels like a new page has turned in my life, and in general things just are….lighter.

Anyways, I’ve got to swing by the old apartment today to pick up some things I left (how did I forget my colander!?), so I’ll end with the food I made in the week leading up to the move, when I was desperately trying to use up everything in my freezer.

In order, the following are: soy-sauce marinated shrimp with eggs, meatballs and penne with homemade marinara, glazed condensed milk cake, and Alison Roman’s buttered salmon with onion and dill (this looks more like abstract art than fish, but trust me, there are salmon fillets under there).