Apartment-warming at the Pineapple
Hoo boy, that was an interesting party!
Before I get to the main story (the party), I must say that the past week I feel like I’ve only been at my apartment to sleep, and not much else! Tuesday evening I went to the DC Atheists Meetup, then had to figure out stuff for the Women in Architecture web pages I am redesigning. Wednesday evening I went with Aaron and Crystal to the Nationals game, my first trip to the new stadium, and had a lot of fun there. Thursday evening I went with Aaron on an evening bike ride along Rt. 50 through Arlington National Cemetery and around National Airport. Friday evening I did laundry and met up with Aaron to watch “Inglourious Basterds” and later hung out with people. So, it finally came to Saturday, and it was time to clean my home the whole day in preparation for the party!
Cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning
Saturday (from the moment I woke up in the morning) was spent cleaning my apartment. I left for a bit to get to my parents’ house to pick up some cube storage and other things I still had there. Due to my lack of being at my apartment through the week, I had not kept up with my cleaning, and the place was a mess! Also, I had no decorations for my walls! I had printed out some photos I had taken over the past 12 months at Kinko’s, and started sorting them to put them up on my walls along with the biking pictures from a calendar I had. All in all, I got the job done and my apartment looked almost as good as when I first moved in (of course, 10 hours after starting to clean!).
The first guest, Mr. VIP
Seeing as it was his birthday, Moe came over a little early to help set stuff up. He had made the party into a co-party “Bob Moe Apartment-warming/Birthday Party” on Facebook, though after a quick phone call, we sorted things out earlier in the day. We couldn’t find ping pong balls (that’s going to be on my to-do list for next time) so we had to figure out some other way to entertain our guests.
Soon, more people started to show up, and the party was on! I spent the first part of the party talking more than anything else, barely having anything to drink at all. This was mostly because I was excited to have so many people I knew together in the same place. Haha, I had people I knew from previous jobs, current job, high school, college, and more there! It can be a little stressful when mixing circles of friends, but everyone seemed to get along fine and I was able to talk to everyone at some point in the night.
Parking fiasco
A couple of people were going to check out a bar and return later, when suddenly people start saying “My car has been towed.” Not just one, but a couple of people had their cars towed! I had told everyone to park in the visitor’s parking lot for my apartment complex, but after consulting my copy of the lease, the truth was different. Apparently, everyone needed to have gotten a permit from the main office by 5 pm in order to be able to park in the VISITOR parking lot! I was used to my apartment in Harrisonburg that left your car alone if you parked in the visitor lot.
So we tried to figure out a number to call, and the signs around the visitor lot had no phone number! I tried to have them call the emergency maintenance number since they’d probably know, and then found out that the number no longer exists! So the owners of the cars found another of the “Towing Enforced” signs for the regular parking and got the number for the towing company and started walking to get their cars back. I felt partially responsible (for all intensive purposes, it was my fault since I was giving out the wrong information) that this all happened, so while everyone was getting their cars back I ordered pizzas for everyone to have when they returned.
The party at that point felt like someone had pushed a giant PAUSE button as we were trying to figure things out.
Pizza and tow-truck drama
After some time (and an awesome Pizza-Tracker that worked from Dominos), people started returning to the party and the pizzas arrived. Everyone had to find another place to park, a little farther from my apartment, but they eventually were able to get a non-towing spot. I think having pizza as they returned helped make people feel better, though it’s hard to feel happy after putting down $150 (I think that was the amount) for your car getting towed. I started hearing about an altercation that Moe had with the tow truck guy, but was still unsure what exactly happened.
Then Moe returned, one of the last to get back after a lengthy ordeal. With each person returning in a slightly bad mood, I motioned people to the pizza and got them drinks. Then I heard the full story from Moe. He had punched a tow truck and bent one of the mirrors when the tow truck driver, a huge dude, got out and shoved him. Carlo acted as peacemaker and had alleviated the situation (thank you, Carlo!). Everyone then settled down and the party was “unpaused”.
An impromptu superhero cameo
With things having picked up again, we started drinking more. I went back and forth between groups of people, then settled in the kitchen with Moe for a good deal of time hanging out with him and others. And then, while Carlo and I were talking with Moe, Moe decided to lean against a door and suspend himself by putting his foot on the facing wall outside the kitchen, when his foot goes RIGHT THROUGH the wall! Looking at the gaping hole, we all saw that the drywall was super thin. I’m talking it was only 1/16th of an inch thick! I didn’t freak out or get angry at Moe, I kinda just started laughing cause it just surprised us all. I then told Moe, “Well, Moe, I guess you just found out you’re not Spiderman!”
People leaving, partying still til dawn
After a while longer, the last of everyone left, leaving myself and Moe to continue things. We ended up staying up til around 6:30 in the morning, so we definitely kept busy, mostly catching up and talking and joking about stuff. Man, what a great party, even with so much bad stuff happening, we thought. And the pilot party (like for a tv show), as I referred to the party, ended.
The (annoyingly simple) truth of parking
So, earlier today I went with Moe and checked out all the potential parking spots around my apartment among other things we did, and much to our chagrin we saw how easy it could’ve been to park. The location of parking, without a yellow curb and with no signs saying “Towing Enforced” or “No Parking”, was just a little farther down Thomas Street from my apartment, literally less than a minute walking!
Final thoughts
My “pilot” party helped me discover many new ideas and pitfalls of having a get-together here. I figured out the parking situation, and will make sure I am prepared for beer pong for the next time. I found that my apartment can service at least a party of 12 without anyone feeling cramped. I found out that my friends can get along with each other (commonalities were biking, video games, and went to school with or worked with me at some time) even though they live very different lives. I’m very excited for the next party I throw at my apartment, and I know now that I can do it.
And lastly, and most importantly, ever since getting the apartment, I feel that I’m going through a social renaissance that’s making me happier than I’ve ever been in a very long time.
Before I get to the main story (the party), I must say that the past week I feel like I’ve only been at my apartment to sleep, and not much else! Tuesday evening I went to the DC Atheists Meetup, then had to figure out stuff for the Women in Architecture web pages I am redesigning. Wednesday evening I went with Aaron and Crystal to the Nationals game, my first trip to the new stadium, and had a lot of fun there. Thursday evening I went with Aaron on an evening bike ride along Rt. 50 through Arlington National Cemetery and around National Airport. Friday evening I did laundry and met up with Aaron to watch “Inglourious Basterds” and later hung out with people. So, it finally came to Saturday, and it was time to clean my home the whole day in preparation for the party!
Cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning
Saturday (from the moment I woke up in the morning) was spent cleaning my apartment. I left for a bit to get to my parents’ house to pick up some cube storage and other things I still had there. Due to my lack of being at my apartment through the week, I had not kept up with my cleaning, and the place was a mess! Also, I had no decorations for my walls! I had printed out some photos I had taken over the past 12 months at Kinko’s, and started sorting them to put them up on my walls along with the biking pictures from a calendar I had. All in all, I got the job done and my apartment looked almost as good as when I first moved in (of course, 10 hours after starting to clean!).
The first guest, Mr. VIP
Seeing as it was his birthday, Moe came over a little early to help set stuff up. He had made the party into a co-party “Bob Moe Apartment-warming/Birthday Party” on Facebook, though after a quick phone call, we sorted things out earlier in the day. We couldn’t find ping pong balls (that’s going to be on my to-do list for next time) so we had to figure out some other way to entertain our guests.
Soon, more people started to show up, and the party was on! I spent the first part of the party talking more than anything else, barely having anything to drink at all. This was mostly because I was excited to have so many people I knew together in the same place. Haha, I had people I knew from previous jobs, current job, high school, college, and more there! It can be a little stressful when mixing circles of friends, but everyone seemed to get along fine and I was able to talk to everyone at some point in the night.
Parking fiasco
A couple of people were going to check out a bar and return later, when suddenly people start saying “My car has been towed.” Not just one, but a couple of people had their cars towed! I had told everyone to park in the visitor’s parking lot for my apartment complex, but after consulting my copy of the lease, the truth was different. Apparently, everyone needed to have gotten a permit from the main office by 5 pm in order to be able to park in the VISITOR parking lot! I was used to my apartment in Harrisonburg that left your car alone if you parked in the visitor lot.
So we tried to figure out a number to call, and the signs around the visitor lot had no phone number! I tried to have them call the emergency maintenance number since they’d probably know, and then found out that the number no longer exists! So the owners of the cars found another of the “Towing Enforced” signs for the regular parking and got the number for the towing company and started walking to get their cars back. I felt partially responsible (for all intensive purposes, it was my fault since I was giving out the wrong information) that this all happened, so while everyone was getting their cars back I ordered pizzas for everyone to have when they returned.
The party at that point felt like someone had pushed a giant PAUSE button as we were trying to figure things out.
Pizza and tow-truck drama
After some time (and an awesome Pizza-Tracker that worked from Dominos), people started returning to the party and the pizzas arrived. Everyone had to find another place to park, a little farther from my apartment, but they eventually were able to get a non-towing spot. I think having pizza as they returned helped make people feel better, though it’s hard to feel happy after putting down $150 (I think that was the amount) for your car getting towed. I started hearing about an altercation that Moe had with the tow truck guy, but was still unsure what exactly happened.
Then Moe returned, one of the last to get back after a lengthy ordeal. With each person returning in a slightly bad mood, I motioned people to the pizza and got them drinks. Then I heard the full story from Moe. He had punched a tow truck and bent one of the mirrors when the tow truck driver, a huge dude, got out and shoved him. Carlo acted as peacemaker and had alleviated the situation (thank you, Carlo!). Everyone then settled down and the party was “unpaused”.
An impromptu superhero cameo
With things having picked up again, we started drinking more. I went back and forth between groups of people, then settled in the kitchen with Moe for a good deal of time hanging out with him and others. And then, while Carlo and I were talking with Moe, Moe decided to lean against a door and suspend himself by putting his foot on the facing wall outside the kitchen, when his foot goes RIGHT THROUGH the wall! Looking at the gaping hole, we all saw that the drywall was super thin. I’m talking it was only 1/16th of an inch thick! I didn’t freak out or get angry at Moe, I kinda just started laughing cause it just surprised us all. I then told Moe, “Well, Moe, I guess you just found out you’re not Spiderman!”
People leaving, partying still til dawn
After a while longer, the last of everyone left, leaving myself and Moe to continue things. We ended up staying up til around 6:30 in the morning, so we definitely kept busy, mostly catching up and talking and joking about stuff. Man, what a great party, even with so much bad stuff happening, we thought. And the pilot party (like for a tv show), as I referred to the party, ended.
The (annoyingly simple) truth of parking
So, earlier today I went with Moe and checked out all the potential parking spots around my apartment among other things we did, and much to our chagrin we saw how easy it could’ve been to park. The location of parking, without a yellow curb and with no signs saying “Towing Enforced” or “No Parking”, was just a little farther down Thomas Street from my apartment, literally less than a minute walking!
Final thoughts
My “pilot” party helped me discover many new ideas and pitfalls of having a get-together here. I figured out the parking situation, and will make sure I am prepared for beer pong for the next time. I found that my apartment can service at least a party of 12 without anyone feeling cramped. I found out that my friends can get along with each other (commonalities were biking, video games, and went to school with or worked with me at some time) even though they live very different lives. I’m very excited for the next party I throw at my apartment, and I know now that I can do it.
And lastly, and most importantly, ever since getting the apartment, I feel that I’m going through a social renaissance that’s making me happier than I’ve ever been in a very long time.