It’s here!

After three long, slightly uncomfortable months, my couch, the beautiful, beautiful couch, is here. In my living room. I’m sitting on it. I’m in love.

I think I’m going to have a couch warming party.

Tags: apartment, Toledo

Three days, two bylines and one A1 story

OK, I have to make this quick, but people keep asking me how the new job is going, which I can generally sum up in three words: I love it.

I’m slowly being acclimated to my new surroundings, new contacts and new people. Veteran reporters have worked with me to make sure I know my way around the local safety service buildings and know who to talk to for different stories. (This will call for a “Perks of Being a Rookie Pt. II” post later.)

Yesterday after I arrived back at the newsroom after a short adventure to Michigan for a Monday story I’m working on, I asked if any mayhem had happened while I was out. A couple of reporters in the newsroom filled me in, they said it sounded like a pretty serious hit-skip came over the scanner about 20 minutes ago. I started making phone calls and got confirmation from a fire dispatcher that they were on scene and the crash was pretty bad. At that very moment, we started hearing reports that the crash wasn’t just a crash, but a fatal. I put on my coat before even asking if I should go (I did ask just after, got approval) and was nearly out the door when I remembered they said to take a Blade car.

I signed one out, ran out the building to find I was on the wrong side, called the administrative assistant and was reoriented to the correct side of the building before I started to aimlessly wander around the parking lot looking for the cars. Just as a mild panic set in, one of the photographers, Dave Zapotosky, rolled down his window and yelled “Taylor! Jump in, you’re coming with me.”

I’ve never been so close to crying tears of joy.

Dave and I arrived on the scene and pretty much ran through muddy lawns and deep puddles of water on the sidewalks

(it had been raining all day). I found a couple of witnesses right off the bat before the flock of media folk — self included — were briefed by the lieutenant on scene. I called in what I knew and chatted with the TV news crews briefly before making my way back to witnesses for more comments and questions. We were again briefed by the lieutenant and then we took off. Again I called in an update.

 

The night was a whirlwind of information — some straight-up, other information, such as the condition of a baby who was born in an emergency Cesarian section, was different depending on who you talked to. Late in the night, around 8:30, I finally had two confirmed official sources that the baby was in critical condition but was definitely alive.

Anyway, long story not so short, after tracking down some family and friends of the three who were killed in the crash, I filed my story and went home around 9 p.m.

You can see it online here and its page placement here.

Tags: news, the blade, Toledo

Apartment tour

Welcome to my apartment. I live behind door No. 10, the first door on the right ... or second door on the left, depending which staircase you come up.

 

View from the other corner. Ignore the boxes.

My shelves!

All of the lights are super old. (Living room)

Moving on...

Another super old light (dining area).

Dining area.

Other side of the dining area.

World's tiniest kitchen.

My oven has to be lit by hand. It's super old.

There's also a secret little fridge that opens when I push this button. It kinda smells.

To the bathroom!

Oh hey, bathroom.

I mean, I just liked the cup.

Toilet. You have to hold down the flusher until it totally flushes. Kind of weird.

My messy bed(room).

Closet. <3

I has shoes.

Tags: apartment, Toledo

Tattoo!

I got my first tattoo today. Finally. After talking about it for so long, I finally made it happen.

The Cleveland dateline tattoo is marvelous. I love it.

Anna went with me to Voodoo Monkey on W. 25th Street in Cleveland (naturally). It felt like I was being stung over and over by a billion yellow jackets with stingers on fire. It wasn’t too bad, though. Not as bad as I was expecting, anyway.

Anna, the photojournalist she is, made sure to document the entire experience for me (perk of having cool friends).

Enjoy.

Texting Kelly before the tattoo.

Signing my life away.

 

 

More prep.

Hurt. Hurt. Hurt.

 

It hurt.

Final!

 

 

Tags: cleveland, tattoo

Ahhhhh! (real busy)

Anyone who grew up watching Nickelodeon and is the same age-ish as I am will see what I did there.

Ahhhh! (real busy) aka “Ahhhhh! Real Monsters.” See that? See what I did there? Just in case you’re now sitting at your computer saying “Dang! That was a great show. I miss it.” it’s on Netflix, available for instant streaming. You better believe every season is in my queue. Pow.

Today is one of my two days off to get a massive amount of stuff done. I mean, the list is so massive and so daunting I don’t even know where to start. (Well, OK, I do have an idea of where to start, but after that, I’m lost. Item No. 1 is shower. I mean, that’s really not very hard.) And, I am a world-class procrastinator. Seriously. I am so good at it. Like right now. Right now I am blogging when I could be sending an e-mail, checking the status of my Weeds season 6 DVD (which should arrive today despite the fact I have not received shipping confirmation), showering or really doing anything that would be more productive than me, sitting here, in my pajamas, my hair bigger than you-know-what, blogging. What kind of person have I become? Sigh.

I work night shifts at the Journal on Saturday and Sunday — Sunday being my very last day at the Journal. That’s cool and all, but I’m trying to peace out of Lorain County on Tuesday. All I’m waiting on is my prospective landlord to call and say “Hey, turns out you’re not a criminal and you pay your bills on time. Apartment is all yours.”

PLEASE CALL ME, LANDLORD. PLEASE.

Waiting on a landlord is a little bit like dating someone new, or at least dating someone you can’t get enough of. It’s sitting by the phone, or, now taking the phone with you everywhere you go, waiting for that phone call or text message to come through. Hoping to hear the words “I can’t wait to see you again.”

This song is how I feel about my not-yet-landlord. I am so impatient. (Please note: I saw the apartment Saturday, spoke to the landlord on Monday, overnighted my application ($13!) Tuesday.)

Shenanigans. Always shenanigans.

I guess this is the part where I should start doing stuff? Maybe?

Tags: moving

FREEDOM!

Countdown: 5

So much has changed since my last blog post — which was all about buying the Moop bag I’ve been lusting after for years.

You might not have known, in fact, not many people knew, but I was in Pittsburgh when I bought that bag. I bought it as a congratulatory gift to self … for landing a new job. Most of the people who have any involvement in my life already know my big, exciting and kind of stressful news, but we might as well make it blog-official, too.

I am taking my talents to northwest Ohio as The Blade’s new cops reporter. My first day is March 7. My last day at The Morning Journal, where I’ve been since June 21, is this Sunday (Feb. 27) — which is what the title of this blog post is all about. After my shift ends tonight, I have five shifts left at the Journal.

Weird. Seriously. It is weird. And awesome. So awesome.

Not to mention exciting.

In the past week I’ve started to call my sources to let them know I’m leaving. I think I’ve talked to almost everyone. I’m trying to tie up some loose ends, wrapping up some feature stories and just waiting for Lorain County criminals to do their thing, listening to the police scanner to see what’s good in these neighborhoods.

I’ll wait until Sunday to go through my files and see what the folks at the Journal might want to hang on to, what might be useful for whoever picks up my Sheffield Lake/Village/Township beats.

Outside of work I’ve been a stressed out mess. Fact: this move to Toledo will be my 13th since my senior year of high school. Does anyone else realize how crazy that is?

I’ve got most of my stuff packed, Internet service canceled, Dish Network service (sort of) figured out and I found a place to live. Well, kind of.

My application will be mailed out tomorrow. The landlord knows it’s coming and he knows I’m on a very short timeline. I’m trying to move in March 1. I will do whatever it takes. I’m recruiting the guys from the Journal sports department to help me with heavy lifting and trying to con my cousin and his wife into driving the U-Haul to Toledo where I’ll meet my dad and (hopefully) my younger brother Kevyn to get myself situated in the beautiful apartment I’m dying to call home.

The apartment I love is in a building built during the 1920s. It’s beautiful. Made of brick. So fab.

The apartment itself has all hardwood floors and, in the rectangular-shaped living room, it has built-in bookcases that span the entire length of one of the walls. It is magnificent. I can’t wait to fill them with books and trinkets. I love books and trinkets.

Here’s the thing about this place: It’s on a street that is lined with vacant, boarded up homes. I mean, whatever. Fewer people in the neighborhood, right? Sigh. I don’t feel unsafe there. The building I will be living in is right on the border of a nicer neighborhood, so I’ll be OK. I’m not worried. Really, I’m not.

I’m so pumped. And I’m ready to decorate. And I really want that sofa. Feel free to send any sofa donations my way. I’ll gladly accept them. I’m sure you can use it as a charitable cause tax write-off.

Thank you in advance.

Tags: moving, Toledo

You are mine.

Moop market bag!

After two years of lusting, the Moop market bag is mine. All mine! And, to make it even cooler, I met the women who make them. Woo!

Have a seat.

I mentioned in my previous post that I’ve been obsessed with sofa shopping. And it’s true. I can’t stop. I am a woman obsessed with sofas.

I know what I want. I have a visual of how my future living room will look. I don’t know what has gotten into me. I mean, I’ve always liked stuff, but never have I zeroed in on furniture. I’ve never even cared about it, really. I blame Apartment Therapy. Really. I do.

I also blame the idea of being an “adult.” Whatever that means. I feel like since I have a grown up job that it’s time to start investing in grown up things. Which is also part of the reason I’m starting to resent cheaply made anything. The idea of “cheaper is better” ended for me about a year ago when I interviewed Althea Harper for The News Record. (Recap: Althea was the runner-up on Project Runway a few seasons ago.  She graduated from the University of Cincinnati’s fashion design program. She’s awesome. And so incredibly sweet.) She and I had a pretty lengthy conversation about Forever 21 and their cheaply made clothing.

I found a sofa at IKEA that I like, but I’ve bought IKEA furniture before and been unbelievably disappointed. Particle board freaks me out. Plus, the sofa I like is about $600, which doesn’t really bother me so much, except for the fact that delivery is super expensive and I have to put it together myself. And it has a particle board frame. Not lovin’ that.

I was directed to this sofa from Macys.com. I am in love. It’s only $99 more than the sofa from IKEA (if I buy it while it’s on sale) and I’m willing to bet it’s better quality. I’m sure my parents will tell me I’m crazy for wanting to buy it, but, hey, I’m a big girl and it’s an investment. I don’t want to keep buying furniture that’s going to break or get messed up every time I move (and I move a lot). I figure if I spend a little more now, I’ll be saving more in the long run. Plus there’s always coupons. And my Macy’s credit card (although I hope to just buy it outright).

My future sofa.

I want the sofa in charcoal. So I can accent it with pretty yellow pillows. So fun. So good. So mine.

I think I need to start a couch fund.

I’ll start accepting donations now. Thank you.

Tags: apartment, decorating, sofa

Be brilliant. Be intense.

Oh, hey there.

I guess you could say it has been awhile since my last update. More than two months. If anyone has been pained by this, I apologize. Truly. From the bottom of my heart. I am sorry.

I have been on an art kick. Obsessed with prints, paintings and photographs. Things I want to buy, to have framed and to hang up. (That and sofas. I have been sofa “shopping” for days. I use quotation marks because I am the brokest punk on the planet. And I just got a student loan statement today. Payments start at the end of March. I can just hear my bank account crying … Or maybe that’s just me.)

But, yes, obsessed with prints. I bought one in Cincinnati when I was with Melinda. I love it. My mom says it’s “interesting.” I don’t know what she means. I don’t think she likes it.

 

Here is Melinda holding my print. It's called "End of the Trail."

 

 

I also bought three today. Yes, three. From this really brilliant woman on Etsy. If anyone wants to buy more of them for me, I guess I could be OK with that.

Let’s talk about what I purchased.

Albert!

Zorro!

Behold. Albert Einstein and Zorro. These will eventually be hung side-by-side over my desk/work station area. Why? Albert will remind me to be brilliant. Zorro will remind me to be intense and fearless. I can just hear the swooshing of his sword now. Whatta man. What men.

 

Ballooning!

I bought this one just because I like it. And the orange is fun. Who needs a reason better than that? Certainly not me.

I’m anxiously awaiting their arrival (even though I just ordered and paid for them this afternoon). I have been bitten by the decorating bug. I love it.

 

Tags: decorating, prints