Tips on Getting Enough Heat for Your Apartment

October 24, 2011 | By Alex AuthorMy First Apartment

It’s getting cold in Chicago, which means it’s time to fire up the heater! For apartment dwellers, this can mean one of two things: either you have a radiator, or you have a thermostat. Let’s deal with them separately. Apartments with a Radiator If you have a radiator, you’re lucky in one respect: your landlord is…

Make This Hummus/Potato Salad for Your Next Potluck Party

October 22, 2011 | By MFA Editors AuthorMy First Apartment

Our food blogger and CIA student Sam shows how to put to use your new kitchen equipment and stocked pantry and throw a potluck dinner party. HUMMUS, POTATO AND ZUCCHINI SALAD by Sam A potluck dinner is a great way for friends to get together and have an affordable, home-cooked meal. Often there are a wide variety of dishes served, and…

How to Make Friends in a New City

October 18, 2011 | By MFA Editors AuthorMy First Apartment

MOVING TO THE BIG CITY…ALONE by Katie Moving to a new city is an exciting and scary time, and it can be even more daunting when you’re doing it on your own. I started my career and life fresh out of college in NYC a little more than a year ago. I moved to the…

Our Tailgating Party Tips & $100 Gift Card Still Up For Grabs

October 3, 2011 | By Alissa AuthorMy First Apartment

Hi guys, it’s Alex again, Alissa’s boyfriend. As you may remember, I hosted a tailgate-at-home party event this past weekend, only a month after having moved cross-country. The event was sponsored by Apartment Guide (see disclosure below), which has a whole host of information about maximizing your apartment space, and gussying up your apartment for your…

Get Your Apartment Party-Ready and Enter a $100 Giveaway Challenge

September 26, 2011 | By Alissa AuthorMy First Apartment

Hello, it’s Alex again – Alissa’s boyfriend. As you may remember from last week, we just moved cross-country. Now we’ve gotten a challenge from Apartment Guide, to host a Tailgating at Home party next week! This is no small task. We’ve gotten the apartment live-able, but frankly, it’s still a mess – we’ve only been here…

20 Tips for Surviving New York City on a Budget

September 5, 2011 | By Alissa AuthorMy First Apartment

Maybe you saw last week’s semi-sappy post about leaving NYC. Well, this week I thought it might be more helpful to share some of my NYC honest-to-goodness learnings. 1) Use a broker when searching for apartments. It’s more $, but you’ll get a better deal on the month-to-month rent plus a better place in the…

Goodbye, New York

August 31, 2011 | By Alissa AuthorMy First Apartment

I was about to email a friend whose name begins with “L-e” and my grandpa’s now-expired email address popped up within Gmail – an address I haven’t had the ability to use in over four years. Almost the length of time I’ve lived in New York. Gramps wasn’t New York’s biggest fans; he once asked…

First Apt News Round-Up from the Web: Open House Etiquette, Moving and Commuting in NYC and IKEA’s New Blog

August 23, 2011 | By MFA Editors AuthorMy First Apartment

Every now and then we bring you some pearls of first apartment wisdom found on the web. Today’s crop includes latest advice from the “Getting Started” column in the New York Times and the news about IKEA’s new design/photo sharing blog. (While the NYTimes advice is very New York-specific, a lot of it applies to…

MFA Test Drives the “Muscle Car” of Portable Air Conditioners

June 27, 2011 | By MFA Editors AuthorMy First Apartment

As the hot, sticky summer settles in for the long haul, the nice folks at the Air & Water, Inc.,; an independent online appliance retailer, let us test drive their new portable air conditioner. We assigned the task to our technology and large appliance expert, Andrew. Here’s what he found out. “I live in a…

Stressful Month One in the New Apartment

June 4, 2011 | By MFA Editors AuthorMy First Apartment

Our guest blogger Dedreanna sends an update of the first month in her post-grad apartment. MOVED IN – MONTH ONE By Dedreanna It’s been exactly a month since we moved into our first apartment-the most stressful month of my life. There’s no way to fully understand what it’s like to live on your own (with roommates)…