I Bought an Apartment

Woo! I bought an apartment and it is lovely! Thank you all for your good thoughts/wishes/prayers, I am sure they helped. The 47m² apartment is in Hornstull area, on the first floor. The (minor) three minuses are: no balcony, no bedroom and no bathtub. The rest are only pluses! The price was less than my maximum so I can buy furniture too. If I can get an extra loan, I'll go wild in IKEA and buy everything at once. :)

On to the description.

It's got a newly renovated and big kitchen (woo! I can put a sofa in there!*) with brand new fridge, freezer and dishwasher. The hob and oven are in very good condition, but I might replace them in the future just to match the other appliances. I adore the wallpaper and curtains the previous owner has put up.

The bathroom was renovated this summer and it is a total dream. New everything, heated floor and the kind of showerhead I've been wanting to have. The tiles are marbled grey and simply stunning. Love!

Although I originally wanted a two room apartment, I decided to buy this one regardless. This one room is big enough to be divided up to two if I felt like it. It is big enough to have a four-poster bed in there and not feel cramped. Another dream come true there, I've wanted a four-poster for years. I'm planning to have a couple bookshelves, computer table, a sofa, sofa table and possibly a rocking chair also in there.

The entry hall is also spacious (well, compared to what I'm used to), has plenty of closet space to store all my fabrics, yarn and clothes. If it's not enough, I'll put one chest of drawers in the room. Yes, there's still space for that and more!

Can you tell I've been fantasising about furnishing the apartment and that I'm completely in love with it?

* I'll explain about kitchens and sofas later, when I'm not so bubbly and actually have coherent thoughts again.

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A Flyby Post

Just a quick note to tell you that there are things happening at the aparment search front that make me very busy. I tank you for the comments and emails, I will get back to you as soon as I can.

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I Am So Tired

I've always had problems falling asleep and now it's worse. Looking for an apartment on a definite deadline is nerve wrecking. Weighing each apartment, how much can I bid, it's features, pluses and minuses, location and the amount of work/money it takes to make it habitable is what's keeping me up at nights.

It's not that most of the apartments need repairs. You see, I have no furniture besides two mattresses, a computer table and a chair. I sold my custom-made furniture that I had in Tallinn, and what I brought with me has been retired already (except for that one computer table).

If I bid the maximum amount of the loan guarantee, the monthly loan payments will be so high that I will not have anything left to buy furniture with. I've bid the maximum a few times because I wanted that apartment so bad. There was this 2-room apartment at Hornstull that came with the furniture... Sigh. I didn't get that one.

So I continue to go to apartment showings, bid, worry and sleep wery little as a result. I just wish this was over and I can sleep in peace.

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Yarn Shops in Tallinn

Anja asked me something I've been meaning to do for years, but never got around to it. So here are the yarn shopping tips for a tourist in Tallinn.

Lõngapood
Pärnu mnt 46
map

Variety of yarns. Largest seller of pre-yarn.

Liann-Lõngad
Tallinna Kaubamaja B korpus, Kaubamaja 2
map

Finnish and Estonian yarns.

Kangas ja Nööp
Narva mnt. 5, "Foorumi" kaubakeskus

Finnish and Estonian yarns.

Veimevakk
Tartu mnt 35
map

Gedifra, Adriafil, Novita etc.

Pronksi lõngapood ja ateljee
Pronksi 6

This is a new store that I haven't visited yet.

These are the yarn stores that I can verify are still in business. I hope this helps you find good yarn in Tallinn.

Update from Terje: I can add here a small shop in Kaubamaja on the first floor and a new shop at Tartu maantee - Veimevakk (Gedifra, Adriafil, Novita etc).

I will add maps to these as soon as I can.

Another update: Kaubamaja and Veimevakk are added to the list and the maps are updated.

Update from Outi: Filati is no more and there is a new store. I'll fix the maps after I'm back from vacation.

Update: Kangas ja Nööp has moved to a new location.

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Fantastic Four Meme

I snagged this meme from Real Epicurean.

4 jobs I’ve had in my life:

1. Painter of transparencies of animated movies.
2. Web designer.
3. Second line tech. support for Finnair.
4. Information systems (databases/data warehouses) analyst.

4 places I have lived:

1. Tallinn, Estonia. Grew up in Tallinn and stayed there until I moved to Sweden the first time.
2. Mariager, Denmark. Went to school there for 6 months.
3. Dublin, Ireland. Moved for a job, lived there for two years, but missed Stockholm all the time.
4. Stockholm, Sweden. Moved here again this summer and I'm stayin'!

4 places I have been on vacation:

1. Crimea, Soviet Union. Mum took me there when I was a kid.
2. Leningrad, Soviet Union. Went a couple times as a teen, with family and school.
3. Stockholm, Sweden. Went with Mum years before moving here.
4. Kuopio, Finland. A winter vacation sponsored by the company I worked for.

4 of my favorite foods:

1. Thai curries. Love them all, hot and mild.
2. Siberian dumplings (pelmeni). A staple food in Estonia, sadly nowhere to be found in Stockholm.
3. Indian curries with basmati rice.
4. Sushi.

4 places I would rather be right now:

1. In my own apartment. (I wish I had one!)
2. Somewhere where there's snow and at least 10 degrees Celcius below 0.
3. Taking a tour of Ireland.
4. Taking a tour of Scotland.

4 friends to tag for this meme:

No-one.

Not that I don't have friends, but I do not forward chain letters or chain memes. If you think it is interesting, and want to take part, please do so.

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I got a loan guarantee! Woo!

I visited my friend K yesterday. She had offered to dye my hair last week but we both were busy. The last time I had my hair dyed was in April and it was in desperate need of colour. I went for blue-black again, it is the safe choice — I've had it before and I know that it suits me. I have experimented with other colours, but I always return to black.

Today I had an appointment in Handelsbanken. I had applied for a loan to buy the apartment and today at the end of the meeting I got an official letter saying that they guarantee a loan. Of course there is a limit and they want me to become their full customer, but I have a guarantee that I can go ahead with the process! Woo!

I've chosen a few apartments on the market in Gröndal, I'll check them out on Sunday when they are being showed and decide if I want to bid on them.

Thank you for your good will/prayers/thoughts, please keep me in your thoughts a while longer. R has told me I need to move out by Christmas and the buying process can take a while. Even if I win a bid next week and finalise the loan, I might not be able to move in immediately.

Everything will be fine in the end, but right now the going is rough.

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Weekend Update

I've not entirely kicked the cold, but it is getting better. I still tire very easily and it's been busy weekend. I didn't have much energy to post on Friday.

On Thurdsay after work I met with Myra and her friend in a neighbourhood cafe. We talked and chatted and (they) knitted and I had a very good time. I was planning to take the Baby Bell Bottoms with me, but forgot. I definitely won't forget next time.

I've been looking for apartments and have decided to buy one in Gröndahl area. I believe I have good chances of getting a loan and finding an affordable apartment in that area should not be too difficult. I am keeping an eye on a few that have a perfect layout, are spacious enough, but not too big and the apartment complex has a solid economy.

I met with another friend on Friday for lunch and she has helped me enormously. She and her partner have bought and sold apartments and have accumulated lots of experience in the process. I rely heavily on their advice about the whole thing.

I have never asked for prayers/wishes/good thoughts before. This time I do, I need your support this time in my life, I must move out and soon. Please remember me in your prayers or wishes or thoughts. Thank you.

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I haven't had so much fun for a long time!

The Kick-Off trip was a blast! I came home with a cold (too much dancing + going outside to cool off) and the conviction that my colleagues are the best.

I almost finished knitting Daisy on the bus on Thursday. I hadn't packed a backup project, so I went yarn shopping on Friday during free time. I bought 4 skeins of brown Idena Juvel, one of variegated Juvel and two balls of gold Filatura Di Crosa Brilla. The plan was to get enough yarn for Baby Bell Bottoms, but I couldn't resist the variegated for baby shoes and the Brilla for a skinny summer scarf.

Ravelry rocks. I had queued the Baby Bell Bottoms, so it was very simple to use the public PC to check the yardage and print the pattern. I finished knitting Daisy on Friday after yarn store visit, and cast on for the Bell Bottoms on Sunday as the bus to Stockholm was leaving the Spa. I didn't knit very much because the cold was kicking in.

Daisy, all ready for seaming.

I made an effort to go to work on Monday, but had to leave early because I could not concentrate or even keep myself wholly awake. Tuesday and Wednesday were spent in bed, sleeping, and today I'm back to work. I missed the gym open doors day on Tuesday, but they have another next Tuesday also. I'll go then instead.

The baby was born yesterday and I'll be finishing the trousers, seaming the sweater and then blocking everything at double speed.

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