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forget all the things i did today. they all pale in comparison to the one big news, and the one big news is that i might possibly have found a condominium to buy in cambridge, on eustis street, within walking distance to porter square. i know i wanted to concentrate on the cambridgeport area or maybe possibly harvard square, i know i wanted something other than first floor, i know i wanted a parking space as well, but in this current real estate market, what i saw today on eustis street is the first house that i've seen in many months that actually excited me (excited me enough to want to make an offer) and made me seriously think about living there, having it be my home. kind of ironic, i didn't even actually physically see the place! my father saw he, he had the video camera, he showed me what he shot, and just from seeing it on the 4" lcd screen, i fell in love. this was actually my second time falling in love today. falling in love with a house that is.

my morning started with the usual sunday brunch with laurie. instead of going to chinatown for dim sum at china pearl, she agreed to try out some taiwanese brunch at shangri-la (149 belmont street, belmont), this little restaurant i see everyday on my commute to and from work, that on the weekends they have a special menu where they serve nothing but taiwanese food. i walked to the restaurant since it was close to my house, took me about 15 minutes. i got there early and waited outside laurie to arrive, her car promptly pulling up to the curb at the appointed 11:20am meeting time. we had the salty soy bean milk, chinese fried dough, pan fried chive pie, steamed vegetable bun, five spice beef in crispy sesame pancake, taiwanese calamari soup, and beef noodle soup. it was very good, but we ordered way too much and ended up taking home the chive pie and the fried dough. when we got there it was just starting to be crowded, and while we ate, the place quickly filled up to capacity, and i could sense the waitstaff eyeballing us and hoping we'd leave soon. the bill came out to be $20, which is usually how much we spend when we have dim sum, just the two of us. afterwards laurie gave me a ride home.

i got home and called amanda rawson because we wanted to hang out before she had to go back to umass later tonight, her spring break coming to an end. i was able to get in touch with her but she had to go out and run some errands, so i patiently waited at home, watching the celtics lose another game, this time to the detriot pistons. it was doubly humiliating because it was a rare nationally televised game on nbc. close to 3pm and still no call, i couldn't wait any longer and left my house for harvard square, where there was a 3-4pm open house on an apartment on museum street, right behind the harvard divinity school. i caught the bus, took me 10 minutes to arrive in harvard square, and then another 15-20 minutes to walk to museum street from there. by total coincidence i met my father there, who was also checking the place out. after an initial cursory look, i feel in love with the apartment. top floor of a six unit building, it was a 700 square feet one bedroom with a living room and a dining room. no parking but museum street is so secluded, street side parking will never be a problem. tucked away behind the divinity school, it felt like a quiet oasis in the heart of harvard square. the top floor was very bright, every room lit up by the sun. it was just a really cozy place, a great view, excellent interior conditions. if there were anything to complain about, it'd be that fact that only 2 of the units were owner occupied, that there wasn't a washer/dryer inside of the unit (i was hoping it could be installed), and the exterior of the house, wooden shingles, were old and starting to rot and crumble in certain areas. nevertheless, i was in love, and when my father and i left the building, i told him, "let's make an offer."

so i was very excited, my heart was racing, i thought i finally found a place! my father drove us to the property on eustis street (he really wanted me to see it), where we couldn't go inside (the open house for that place was already over), but i could look around on the outside. from what i saw, it didn't turn me on. i was still in love with the museum street apartment, my mind wasn't swayed.

when we got back to the cafe, my father showed me the video he shot of the interior of eustis street. he was so impressed with the place, he actually shot it twice, the second time a more detailed assessment. i watched the few minutes of video in silence. all i could say afterwards was, "i want this one." location-wise, eustis street can't compare to museum street. eustis is on a narrow one way street, on the border of cambridge and somerville. street side parking would be more of a challenge to find. because it was on the first floor, it doesn't get as much sun as the higher floors, and we also run the risk of above floor noise and easy assess for would-be thieves. true, it's on the first floor, but it's a high first floor, you need to go up a flight of stairs in order to go into the house. and true, there will be people living above me, but the entire property only has one other owner occupied tenant, so we could very easily arrive at some mutually agreed upon noise guidelines. what impressed me most about the eustis place was in the interior. extremely cozy, extremely liveable, a large airy kitchen with an island, a nicely constructed southern facing deck that opens up to a well maintained backyard garden. i wouldn't have any backyard access at museum street. this way i could put up a birdfeeder, and during the summer i can stay close to my gardening roots and plant stuff in the backyard. i am so in love with the place. i'm willing to go as high as possible (within reason of course) in order to secure the property. i really think this is it. i've been fantasizing about the place all day, despite the fact that i haven't actually visited it yet. once again, the wheels are in motion.


58 museum street

living room

dining room

clarification! these are not photos of the place on eustis street! i don't have any photos of that place!


kitchen

bedroom

roof view

from the cafe i was able to get in touch with amanda and we made plans to meet in davis square for dinner at the house of tibet in teele square, a short walk from the t station. the last time i tried to go to this tibetan restaurant, it was closed. once again we had a limited amount of time to meet, being that we are starcrossed and the cruel hands of fate will not allow us to spend more than a few hours together. we ordered a tibetan appetizer sampler (tibetan food, surprisingly, is remarkably spicy in a fresh natural sort of way) and amanda got the spicy chicken dinner while i got the spicy beef. after dinner, amanda drove me back home before putting on her knitted driving helmet for her trip back to amherst.


i got home, discussed the eustis street property a little bit more with my parents, before heading back out to an oscar party at the watertown house of one of barbara's friends. we had a contest to see who could pick the most winners, i won with 10 correct picks, despite the fact that i got almost all of major category predictions wrong. i ended up winning the grand prize which was a darth vader pez dispenser.

wow, i can't believe halle berry won! i was so sure it'd be nicole kidman. the academy awards never fails to confuse me yet again. i almost cried when i saw halle berry's reaction. if i was alone at home watching the broadcast, i probably would be crying. i love tears of happiness, beats tears of sadness anyday! and then denzel washington won for best actor! how amazing is that? once again, i was so sure it'd be russell crowe one more time. even though i didn't pick either of them to win, i am so happy that they did. i just hope it wasn't a political message, and that the academy voters picked them because of their acting abilities, not because they were african-american. it just seems a little too perfect that on the night they'd honoring sidney poitier, two black actors win the most coveted best actor/actress awards.

oh, and gwyneth paltrow? such a trend setter, what a fashion barometer she is. the next hot thing for both men and women appears to be mesh wifebeaters! go out and get one from the store so you'll be the first person on the block to be sporting the latest hot look! be sure to leave the bra at home, ladies. i'm not sure about the paintbrush applied mascara though, but i guess if gwynny's doing it, it'll quickly catch on with everyone else.