I’ve given up my princely pad on Beach, the guy palace I shared with Dan to move into a lovely one-bedroom apartment with Emily in the trendy Main Street area. Although it was tough leaving Dan, who’s been an awesome roommate for the past 2 1/2 years, I’m looking forward to living with Emily. Change is always good, and this change will grow our relationship.

The move went pretty smoothly. I rented a set of reusable bins from Frog Box, which arrived 4 days before our move date and slowly packed up all my possessions during the week. I have a lot of stuff. A small percentage of it I was able to get rid of (mostly clothes that haven’t been worn once since I moved to Vancouver), but the there was also a lot of stuff I’ve slowly acquired of the past 2 1/2 years in Vancouver that I never thought much about – recreational gear, electronics, books, board games, and lots of furniture.

Emily and I were lucky that we were able to move into our place a few days before December 1, so the weekend before we got a crew of volunteers, Dan rented a moving truck, and we moved all of our stuff into our new places. With Dylan, Christina, Rhea, Brian, Theresa, and Ambrose helping (thanks again!) we made short work of the move. We still have some unpacking to do, but we’re starting to settle in.

Our new place is really nice. I love the location. It’s on a quiet residential street 2 blocks from Main and Broadway. So we get the benefit of all the shopping and bus routes, but without any street noise. There’s a brand-new community centre being built a block away, and some of my favourite vegetarian restaurants are within walking distance – The Foundation, Budgies Burritos, Bo Kong, and Radha. The only downside is the distance from work. I still haven’t tried to bike it yet – hopefully I’ll be able to a few times next week, but it will take close to an hour.

The apartment is really nice inside – hardwood floors, big bedroom and living room, and new appliances (including a dishwasher!). The only downside is the tiny kitchen. We bought a mobile counter to put just inside the living room to give us a bit more kitchen space. Some of the changes I’ve still getting used to, like having a dishwasher; not having to listen to automobile noises off the bridge all night; not having an XBox (I’ll end up buying one soon); and picking up free digital TV channels. Our little antenna picked up crappy channels downtown – the shopping channel was the only one that came through cleanly. Now we get CBC, CTV, and Global in crystal clear digital. Why would anyone pay for cable?

You would probably expect moving in with the girlfriend would be the biggest change to get used to, but Emily and I have been spending so much time together lately, that we’ve pretty much been living together, but in two different homes. The only tension so far has been around squeezing all of our stuff into a one bedroom apartment. We’re going shopping for a dresser today, because our closet is bursting at the seams.