In any event, I ordered in, pizzas and fennel salads from Motorino on East 12th Street. Vivian brought flowers, in case someone was moved to Instagram. I hankered for candles, and flicked off the overhead lights.

The apartment comes with recessed ceiling and undercabinet lights on dimmers, along with a nifty task light you tap on and off, and a tough-looking standing lamp with a bare bulb, chosen by Ms. Schmidt. Still, there was no way to read comfortably in bed. Ms. Schmidt said she had been bothered by that deficiency, too, so she’s ordered LED lights you’ll be able to clip to the side of the cabinets on either side of the bed.

We could have sat eight; 10 would have been pushing it. As it was, there wasn’t room to open the fridge or push back the chairs — these were solid Italian folding chairs with a slim profile that fit in the closet; you get four with your furnished apartment. We didn’t really notice, being well exercised by office gossip and shared work trauma. My guests were delighted by the Penelope contraption, and plopped down on the bed to test its mettle. They enthused over the spare décor and shiny surfaces. Easy to hose down, opined Alexandra and Julia.

“It is the working mother’s dreamscape!” wrote Ginia a few days later. “Micro apartments take me away — 300-Lego-free square feet! But where do you put the books?”

The best part of the evening, to my mind, was being alone again, after whisking away the pizza boxes and the bottles, shrinking the table back to its slim desk size, and unfolding my namesake bed. I killed the lights, slid open the window and raised the opaque shade, so I could see a linden tree from my nest. As I drifted off to sleep, I imagined a life swept clean of my grubby, needy possessions and instead envisioned a new, improved one that was sparely accessorized by Ms. Schmidt’s resilient and independent succulents, neutral art prints and soft baskets. So lightly encumbered, I would spring easily from my tasteful and tidy micro unit into the cultural soup of the city. Which is the point, of course.