Movin’ On

Things required when moving:
1. lots of boxes,
2. bubble wrap,
3. patience,
4. organizational skills.

Things you wouldn’t think you would need, but having them really helps:
1. wine,
2. professional movers,
3. shoe insoles,
4. friends with trucks who are available at a moment’s notice.

Thanks for being patient with me as we made the transition from renters to first-time homeowners. It was crazy signing those papers and knowing that we OWN our space. It’s liberating and scary at the same time.

It’s official!

We hired a local moving company (Von Paris Moving & Storage) to manage all of our heavy stuff. If you can afford it, hiring professionals is worth.every.penny. Our house has some lower ceilings so having people who’ve done plenty of maneuvering was clutch. I did have some cringe-worthy moments: most notably as I listened to them lug my armoire up the steps, and when they tried to squeeze our queen-size boxspring up the same flight of stairs (spoiler: it didn’t fit). Yet, at the end of the day me and my Type A personality were glad it was them and not my friends, father-in-law, or my dad and brother.

Even with the movers, we shuffled a lot of stuff ourselves from our old place to our house ourselves. (Tip: our movers were paid by the hour, so to keep costs down we packed everything we could prior to their arrival.) I was offered to try Dr. Scholl’s® Massaging Gel® Insoles, and knew this would be the perfect opportunity. When they arrived, the shoe on the back looked like a women’s flat, and so I originally tried them for a day at work in my ballet flats. EPIC FAIL. The insoles, while certainly giving support, were too bulky and I ended up removing them halfway through the day. With sneakers, however, they were awesome. The perfect level of comfort and my feet felt energized even after a full few days of moving. I’ve kept them in my shoes and now walking the dog is also more enjoyable!

As for the friends with trucks…we hit up the 4th of July sales and found furniture we loved. One piece was available to order, and the other had to be taken that day. Now, I’ve wanted an oversized chair for as long as I can remember. When we found one that matched the couch we were buying, it was a done deal…or so we thought. We had to take it that day and with two mid-size sedans, it wasn’t happening. Thank heaven for a co-worker who lives nearby and helped us out at the drop of a hat!

such a pain to move, yet so comfy

The movers did their thing on Tuesday and we spent most of the day Wednesday unpacking. Thursday was spent enjoying the holiday, and the rest of the weekend has been used to purchase furniture, acquaint ourselves with Lowe’s, unpack the millions of boxes we have scattered about, and having our immediate family members over for a tour. It’s been a whirlwind first week of July, but it was a good one!

Note: I received the Dr. Scholl’s® Massaging Gel® Insoles as part of the BzzAgent program. While I did get the product for free, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Try It Tuesday: PODS

With the recent move under my belt, I have to take this opportunity and give a shout out to my new favorite moving buddy – PODS.

I can’t speak for similar moving companies, but PODS seriously made my move so much easier. I rented a 12 foot unit and fit an absurd amount of stuff in there: an L-shaped couch, full size sofa bed, 3 dressers, 2 nightstands, 2 large mirrors, 2 end tables, a desk, a printer table, a queen-size mattress, headboard, footboard, 2 IKEA chairs, a kitchen table, 4 chairs to go with that, an ottoman, 3 boxes of shoes, multiple boxes of kitchen stuff…well, you get the point. It was stuffed from floor to ceiling (which they recommend as to minimize shifting).

PODS delivered the unit to my door and the technician couldn’t have placed it any closer to the edge of the driveway if he tried. I was extremely thankful for this because it meant that my lazy bum could still park in front of the house as opposed to by the front curb. The JA, my brother and his dad loaded it up with the free furniture we acquired thanks to a co-worker. The unit sat there for a week or so (you rent it for a month) and then we began packing the rest of my belongings.

I scheduled for it to be picked up and, despite a small hiccup, my POD got picked up in the morning and moved to my new place quickly and efficiently. It only took up one parking space (don’t want to upset the neighbors!) and I had people meet me here to do the unloading. We had the POD unloaded within a matter of hours.

I then scheduled a final pickup of the unit for Saturday. Even though the website listed the company as being closed, a driver showed up to move my unit from my new abode. The technician did an AWESOME job of moving the unit without having to disturb the neighbors. Billing was handled by putting my credit card on file.

The device they use to actually move the POD from the truck to the space and vice versa fascinates me. If you use PODS, I highly recommend you watch the technicians in their process.

Honestly, it was the next best thing to hiring a moving company to move my stuff. I know the men in my life appreciated not having to move stuff into a van, drive it, and unpack it all in one day. It was a bit more expensive than I had hoped, but certainly worth every penny.

Have you ever used a company to help you move? Did you have a good or bad experience?

Psst – to see other items in my Try It Tuesday series, click here.