Apartment for One, Please

I currently live alone in a studio apartment. It happened more out of necessity than choice – I had barely any time to find an apartment in a new state, and I didn’t know anyone yet.

Turns out, I actually love living the solo life. I’m the type of person that needs my own space. Although many people would find it hard to believe based on how talkative I am (sorry, coworkers), I actually require a lot of quiet time.

I also don’t like to share closet space.

People often ask me whether I enjoy living alone. Since the answer is sometimes #complicated, I compiled a little pro/con list for anyone thinking about whether or not to go the roomie route:

Pros:

• You can make the pantry in the kitchen into a shoe closet. Honestly, this list could stop here.
• No one is around to judge the fact that 99% of your ‘dinners’ are microwaved. Or that you like to not-so-occasionally take a spoon to the jar of peanut butter. Or order unreasonable amounts of Grubhub. Ok, so I like food.
• Don’t feel like having to add another pair of pants to your laundry basket? Guess what? You don’t have to wear any!
• Have a sudden urge to vacuum and scrub down the apartment at 1:00 AM? Go to town!
• On the other hand, don’t be afraid to see just how tall that pile of clothes on the floor can get before you break and decide to do something about it.
• Can you say Netflix? Hunker down in that comfy bed for hours on end if you feel like it. This is a judgment-free zone.
• Want to use all the space in the fridge for insulin, rosé and seltzer water? You do you, girl.
• A roommate might not necessarily agree that your apartment needed that faux fur rug and matching fuzzy blanket/pillows. You don’t need that kind of negativity in your life.

Cons:

• Watching Stranger Things and Law and Order: SVU at night is a liiiittle less comforting when you live alone.
• When you think you hear a cockroach crawling around, you’re on your own. Which means you have to sit upright on the couch with all the lights on for most of the night when you just want to sleep.
• Sometimes a fridge only filled with liquids gets a little sad.
• When the delivery guy includes two forks with your order, you won’t feel ashamed.
• Bills are expensive. Splitting them means more money for things like those suede thigh-high boots you just had to have.
• You have a built-in person to go out with. Or at least to encourage your lazy self to try.
• If your roommate is a real person who actually cooks, you can potentially reap the benefits.
• Added backup when you press snooze on your alarm 64 times. Every. Single. Day.

Yes, I know that these lists have the same number of items. I said it was complicated, didn’t I?

Colorfully Yours,

Haley