Nothing dramatic, mind you. But Larry & I have been slowly but surely replacing and adding things to our home. Last fall, we got rid of the brown couch I had bought when first moving into NYC; we also replace the bed frame I’d had since picking it up in an outlet furniture warehouse in Las Vegas. Very good things to replace, and our place looks that much better for it.
What I think was driving Larry crazy though was the TV stand I had purchased when also buying my flat screen LCD TV. When I moved to Manhattan, I didn’t have a TV so of COURSE I had to buy one. I ended up buying my Samsung from the Crutchfield catalog, which is an amazing place to buy electronics. I would say you get things for a fair price – it’s probably not the cheapest, but in my experience, you get wonderful customer care. Crutchfield always gives you custom manuals and stickers to really help you understand how to use your equipment, which is amazing. I remember when I bought a car stereo for my VW Jetta, the website asked for your make and model of car. They then provided particular installation instructions for how to make that car stereo fit in a 2003 VW Jetta. Incredible. So needless to say Crutchfield is awesome. I brought all that up because when buying the TV, a matching TV stand/component rack was also offered, and it was great. Two giant black glass shelves that perfectly matched the look of the Samsung. My components were in heaven. But of course, it looked…busy. And hiding cables isn’t happening. But you know what, it worked and served its purpose. But yeah, it could look messy.
Mess be gone! Our favorite furniture place, Crate & Barrel, was having a sale on their media furniture and we had a $200 coupon to use before it expired in the beginning of February. Larry had picked one out via the catalog that definitely fit into the mid-century modern look we’re leaning towards, but we needed to see it in person. Off to the Grove we went, but when we saw it, well, I wasn’t a huge fan, at first. The lighting in the showroom gave the unit a distinct green tint, and I was put off. We walked away and around the showroom looking at other things we could potentially spend the $200 on, but when we came back, I think we were able to see that it would actually look really good still. We ordered it (and ended up getting helped by a clerk who was a riot, and had lots of stories to tell about his work in the movies industry) and then had to wait nearly a month for the unit to come out of a backorder status.
This weekend though was when we finally got it! Yay! The delivery was painless and didn’t involve any assembly, but the adventure was far from over for us, as moving lots of components as well as disconnecting them from the A/V receiver and then reconnecting them….takes time. Plus, while the media console is big, the receiver’s depth is bigger. We had to cut a small hole in the back of the console using the Black & Decker jigsaw I got a while ago, I think with my Dad in Colorado. I surprised myself by doing the work fairly easily. Power tools don’t have to be scary.
Anyway, here are the pictures of the living room transformation – it looks amazing now and MUCH cleaner.
March 3, 2013 – New Media Console Time
The day before, we set up the hammock and stand up on the roof. A neighbor of ours in the same complex had a hammock on their roof and I got jealous, especially remembering the one I had when in Colorado. So I ordered the same thing from Brookstone and I am so excited to use it as the nice weather begins again in SoCal. It’s sooooo relaxing a way to spend an afternoon. Will have to get a rooftop party on the agenda again soon!
March 2, 2013 – Hammock Time
That’s really all the changes for now. I’m fighting a battle against this tendonitis I have in my left arm right now – I’d really love to be free of it for the most part by the cruise. Here’s hoping! Also, I’m seeing a GI doctor at the moment to really try to get to the bottom of the swallowing issues I’m having. Got to do a “barium swallow” this past Monday and hopefully will be getting my follow-up endoscopy next week. Maybe there will be some answers and I can also eat in peace on the cruise too.