my shipment arrives and updated apartment pics.

many of my new colleagues showed up in dubai with a bag or two.

pretty casual, i thought...for the amount of things you're willing to move around the world with.

i showed up with two bags.

and then 37 boxes arrived about a month later.

insert cringe face.

now, to be fair, i once lived in a three bedroom, 2.5 bath condo and i've pared down quite a bit over the last eight years.

but leaving milan i was given a shipment, so sending all my worldly possessions didn't cost me a thing! and while i sold quite a bit to my coworkers in milan, i still had a lot of stuff.

and having lived in tiny italian apartments for the last 7 years, i thought for sure that my apartment in dubai would be bigger.

but i was wrong. my apartment here is the exact same square footage as my last italian apartment- about 55 sq. meters, which is just under 600 sq. ft. for all you fans of customary measurements out there. in other words, it's small.

my shipment arrived mid-september and i was terrified of how all the boxes, let alone all the actual things would fit in my apartment. this apartment does not have the built in storage my last place did.

i anxiously awaited the arrival of the shipment and i caught a glimpse of the truck as it was arriving.

of course, the very nice men wanted to unpack for me.

i nearly had a panic attack.

as there would be absolutely no space to sit everything while you figure out where to put it. and they were just randomly putting it anywhere.

i had to sign my life away that nothing was damaged and that they did everything i wanted.

there were boxes everywhere.

boxes upon boxes. upon boxes.

after i convinced the workers to leave i was able to start tackling the boxes one by one. doing this allowed me to try and find space for each thing and determine what other storage i would need to find.

and while it took several weeks, and a large ikea order, i've sorted everything in a place and now my little place feels enough like home to enjoy it.

here are a few updated pictures of my living room and kitchen area.

i've arranged all the art i've bought from my travels.

there's pictures on the wall from my very first trip from milan to the south of france, trips to amsterdam, rome, barcelona, iceland, london, venice, denmark, siena, warsaw, budapest and a parting gift from caitlin of the duomo in milan.

i bought a rug and ottoman from a local furniture store and combined with my "tiny" tv on the ikea stand, the living room was nearly finished.

i ended up taking apart the coffee table that was put in the apartment and hiding it under the couch. i moved the kitchen table along the wall and only kept two chairs with it. you can see the other two chairs hiding in corners.

and i had a big january clean out here to reduce even more of what i wouldn't need in this apartment or in dubai. with that, i had space to get these two fun bar stools.

i bought a bookcase of sorts to line the hallway and hold some of my travel knickknacks.

now i'm ready for visitors! i don't have a ton of space, but i'll make room for you!

who's coming first?