EN Blogger Contestant Yvette Seger amassed a following with her “Insanity in the Middle” video , and we’re delighted to announce she’s agreed to contribute a regular “Tips for Eventers Living in Itty-Bitty Apartments in the City” EN column. Thanks for writing this, Yvette, and thanks for reading, Eventing Nation. Without further ado, we bring you Yvette’s first installment.
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From Yvette:
Tips for Eventers Living in Itty-Bitty Apartments in the City – Welcome to My ‘Hood!
Hey, Eventing Nation…guess what? I’m baaaaaaaack! And ready to deliver eventer lifestyle tips that would make Martha Stewart cringe. I know – I missed me too!
Well, now that the EN blogger contest has concluded and you know a little bit about my unorthodox training methods, my favorite word, and probably even watched me shower with my safety vest, I guess we know each other well enough for me to tell you a little bit about the 550 square feet that I call home. (No, my friends, I wasn’t joking when I said “itty-bitty.”)
Although I am a Clevelander by birth and demented self-deprecating sense of humor, I’ve been calling Washington, D.C. my home for the past eight years. The D.C. area is one of the few areas in the U.S. that does not seem to have been even remotely affected by the housing crisis, so finding a habitable apartment at an affordable price in a neighborhood for which chronic references in the “Crime” section of The Washington Post is not the only claim-to-fame can pose quite a challenge. Case in point: my first D.C. apartment was a walled off section of a family’s basement. After two years of being “that girl who lives in the basement,” I finally decided it was time to rent a real apartment (okay, studio) in a managed building.
While I’ve long outgrown my apartment (I call it the largest, most expensive walk-in closet – slash – tackroom in DC), there is one – no, make that two reasons – why I continue to reside in 550 square feet:
I live small so they don’t have to!! (Roger Rabbit and Finders Keepers)
A big part of my personal “insanity in the middle” is the fact that I stage my diverse and busy life – two horses, two guinea pigs, full-time job as a science policy analyst, second seemingly full-time job as horse management judge and volunteer with the U.S. Pony Clubs, and shoe addict (197 pairs and counting…) – out of this teeny-tiny apartment. But without this chaos, I would have no reason to come up with my tips for eventers living in itty-bitty apartments in the city, and you wouldn’t be able to use my clown car life as an example of “gee, glad that’s NOT me!” Win-win, yes?
So let’s get back to it, shall we?
Tip for Eventers Living in Itty-Bitty Apartments in the City #3:
The timeframe of 11 pm through 6 am is best for avoiding confrontation with your floormates over the laundering of money filthy/hairy/smelly saddlepads, stable sheets, polo wraps in the communal washers and dryers. They all know that’s not cat hair, and can probably guess that the WeatherBeeta sheet isn’t the newest trend in club wear. You might be able to fool your more gullible neighbors that polo wraps are the legwarmers of the aughties, though.
