8:00AM, #movingday
Oh.
So hiring movers is the best decision in the world.
Last time we moved (from Hell’s Kitchen to our UES apartment), I was in tears by 10AM. You see, we had hired some guy off of CraigsList who promised to bring a van and helpers…and then showed up alone with a hatchback, and proceeded to try to charge us three hundred more bucks for things we “hadn’t told him we had” (false).
Anyway, Kendrick fired him, and I was plopped down on the sidewalk, crying, before I’d even eaten breakfast. We ended up calling my parents and random high schoolers into action, and the whole thing was completely miserable and one of the most physically taxing experiences of my life (I mean that).
After that day I promised myself that the next time I moved I would save up the cash to hire real, actual, professional movers. I Twitter-sourced a bit to find a good company, and several of you pointed me in the direction of Men On The Move, and YES YES YES.
I seriously, from the bottom of my heart, cannot recommend these guys any more highly. I had kind of a complicated move (repeated re-schedulings of our expected closing date, plus I had random pieces of furniture sprinkled at various places around town that had to be picked up in advance, that kind of thing), and so in the weeks leading up to the move I was in constant contact with people at the company who knew my name, were fantasically on-the-ball, and made me feel like my move was personally important to them.
The movers arrived on the dot of nine to begin packing on Wednesday, went over the paperwork with me carefully and clearly (no hidden fees whatsoever), were professional, courteous and friendly from start to finish, were thoughtful about labeling boxes and asking me about anything they weren’t sure about, and reassembled every single piece that they’d broken down once we arrived at our new place. They made Kendrick feel comfortable about how his delicate electronics were being packed. They hoisted a ten thousand pound wardrobe to the second floor through our balcony, by hand. Like it wasn’t no thing.
Even with four movers helping out, though, man: moving is a project.
Whew.
And at the end of the second day, when both Kendrick and I had dissolved into the sweaty messes pictured above, they were still energetic, helpful…and smiling. (Maybe not in this photo, but generally, I swear.)
Again: it was awesome.
Recommended. Highly.
And after it was all over, Mom (who should probably start renting her services out to people who are moving, because she is amazing at organizing and bizarrely peppy all the way through, hours after everyone else has reached their breaking point), Kendrick and I celebrated with Chinese food.
I had a cold beer (Apartment Packing Tip #10)…
…and retired to our new bedroom.
And then couldn’t fall asleep until about 3AM, because I was so excited/worked up/overwhelmed.
Much, much more to share, but I’m going to take to heart the Number One piece of advice I hear given to new homeowners: one thing at a time.
