Your memory's bound me like a chain, I wish it would break*

I'm not sure if anyone is interested, but I thought I'd post some pictures of my new place so you can see what living in a hotel looks like (um, anyone who has ever been to a hotel probably knows, but whatever, it's my blog and I'll post what I want to post dammit!)

If you walk in the front door and look straight ahead, you see my "living room" (technically you see a table about a foot in front of you which seems to be where I collect my purse and work incidentals), but move about a foot past that.

The living room has two coffee tables that are put together to make one big table.  They kind of irritate me.  I am trying to figure out where I can put them.  I feel that they make the area look too small.

Then, if you are still at the front door and look directly to your left, you see a counter with two chairs which acts like a combination dining room table and kitchen island/bar thing.  Then there is my little tiny kitchen.

The lighting makes it difficult to take pictures.  I apologize.  But that's a blurry rendition of my fridge and dishwasher.  I have a small stove top, but no oven.  This makes me sad.  Especially because I just read the most amazing sounding recipe today and I would love to make it, but it requires an oven.  I guess it's better for me that I don't have one.  Just imagine the calories in those things!

Then, if you walk about 15 feet into the room, you see a set of doors (they are to the right of the picture frame shown in the picture of the kitchen...not actually shown, but you get an idea of how far), these lead to my bedroom.

It's a very typical hotel bedroom.  Not particularly large or exciting.  Has a bed and a dresser with a TV on it (not shown) and two night tables.  Pretty standard fare.  Then, if you look to the left of this view of the bed, you see the bathroom.

It is a very boring bathroom.  The sink and mirror are outside the actual bathroom across from my closet.  The toilet and tub are both in a small, plain, quite boring room.  However, the shower is quite nice.  Excellent water pressure (strong enough to clean, but not so strong it hurts), pretty roomy, and has little shelves for my soaps.

There are some drawbacks to living in a hotel for a year:

• It’s not home. No matter what I do, it’s not my furniture, it’s not my decorations, it’s just not me.  The rooms are very impersonal and nondescript.  And I like color when I decorate.  Lots and lots of color. All this brown is kind of depressing.  
• I find it hard to sleep in hotels. No matter how nice or fancy they are, they’re still a hotel and it takes a while to get accustomed.
• I don’t have anywhere to put things. And I have no true storage areas. I have one closet in the entire place…and it’s in use storing my clothing. I need another closet. However, I have a million little tables in the place. I could do with fewer of those. (As a random side note, everyone should notice how clean I managed to make things.  Considering how little space I have, I feel that I did a good job finding a home for everything)
• The internet and TV kind of suck. The TV is direct TV, but it already went out once (in the middle of watching the game!), and the internet is super slow. Even the TV is slow to get started and change channels.

However, there are some definite perks:

• It’s free to me. I don’t have to pay for rent for a year.
• I have a king size bed. I’m pretty sure I could sleep 6 people without a problem on this thing (assuming they don’t move around a lot).  I'm not sure how I will be able to go back to sleeping on my full size bed after having this thing for a year!
• I have two TVs in a relatively small area. I can keep one on in the living room and one in the bedroom and never miss more than a second of the show I’m watching (I don’t usually do this…but I did it while unpacking and watching football, and never missed a play!).
• I get free breakfast every day and free dinner 3 nights a week (tonight consisted of a salad and clam chowder.  Sweet).  
• It’s free. Did I mention this?
• I get maid service. This includes making my bed, emptying the trash and cleaning my bathroom every day and once a week I get a heavy duty cleaning in the room (you don't really think my bed would look all lovely and made on my own did you?)

So, I figure the perks outweigh the drawbacks, but it’s still been a weird adjustment.

*Dierks Bentley