Where are you, dream home?

Apartment hunting was a real pain this weekend. I wanted to sit on the couch and watch movies or go out in the sunshine and go shopping at 3rd Street, but noooooo...I had to drive all over Los Angeles to find a stupid apartment.

First I went to the Valley to see what was close to work. I saw a pretty nice place; it was a bit small but it had a huge walk-in closet. (Just enough for my shoes.) The only downside is I have to pay an application fee and a holding fee. I took an application form and said I'd get back to them.

Then I drove to the other side of town to look for the "charming 1 BR" advertised. It was in such a ghetto, scary neighborhood that I didn't even get out of the car; I drove right past it and went to the next one on the list.

This apartment advertised that it was in the "heart of Hollywood," which sounds like some trendy area full of bohemians and artsy restaurants. Wrong! It was a great building, but it was in the most run-down part of Hollywood. There was even a protest in the middle of the street. Not that quiet, old Hollywood apartment I had hoped for.

I'm getting so frustrated with this whole process of filling out applications, writing checks for various fees, and looking and looking... Argh!! It's driving me crazy.