Friday, November 28, 2003
Wednesday night started off at Hooters for some good ol chicken wings. After stuffing ourselves with as much bird as we could, we headed to Crate And Barrel in Union Square. Our focus for that night was the following: chairs and kitchen table. There were a lot of nice pieces of furniture there but most of them were out of our price range. Plus, they didn't have the shade of wood we were looking for. From there we drove to Copenhagen where Aileen had seen a circular table. Seeing it again lessened her liking for it so we decided to pass it up. Then we headed to IKEA where we came out empty-handed as well.
I'm starting to think Scandinavian Designs will be the place we'll buy our chairs. They have several venge chairs to choose from so we just need to agree on the style. I'm still looking for a desk but I think I may have found that winner at SD. As for a kitchen table, the search continues. Aileen woul prefer a simple circular table but so far our quest hasn't lead us to any eye-catchers.
I'm starting to look for lamps. I'm looking for a more modern design since our condo will have that kind of feel to it. Rounded edges are a no-no; most lamps I've been looking at have 90 degree angles. Also, I've banned any kind of torchiere lamps from our place. I want all our lamps capable of using compact fluorescent bulbs due to their energy saving qualities.
Move in date is a little over 1 week away and there are a lot of tasks at hand. Here are a few. I need to switch over the utilities to my name; update all my credit cards and banks with the new address; tell the post office to forward mail to the new address; acquire condominium property insurance; tell GEICO my car will be garaged in DC (hopefully, it lowers the rate); get a new Driver's License; sign up for DSL (I can never go back to dial-up)... more I can't think of right now.
I'm starting to think Scandinavian Designs will be the place we'll buy our chairs. They have several venge chairs to choose from so we just need to agree on the style. I'm still looking for a desk but I think I may have found that winner at SD. As for a kitchen table, the search continues. Aileen woul prefer a simple circular table but so far our quest hasn't lead us to any eye-catchers.
I'm starting to look for lamps. I'm looking for a more modern design since our condo will have that kind of feel to it. Rounded edges are a no-no; most lamps I've been looking at have 90 degree angles. Also, I've banned any kind of torchiere lamps from our place. I want all our lamps capable of using compact fluorescent bulbs due to their energy saving qualities.
Move in date is a little over 1 week away and there are a lot of tasks at hand. Here are a few. I need to switch over the utilities to my name; update all my credit cards and banks with the new address; tell the post office to forward mail to the new address; acquire condominium property insurance; tell GEICO my car will be garaged in DC (hopefully, it lowers the rate); get a new Driver's License; sign up for DSL (I can never go back to dial-up)... more I can't think of right now.
Wednesday, November 26, 2003
I had my heart set on a specific energy saving front loading washer by Kenmore but the snobs at the Tanforan Sears gave me no signs of love. Sears at Hillsdale was our main stop last night. Upon our arrival, we headed straight for it. It was looking at us in a stacked formation; dryer on top. Ai prefers the stacked setup; I don't. There was a salesman nearby talking on the phone who helped us after hanging up. He was a very professional Mexican salesman by the name of Kenny. We bought both the Washer and matching dryer plus 5 year warranties on the items. Kenny was nice enough to give us 10% off so that helped our wallets. I opted to sign up for the Sears card since that allows me to defer my payments until April of 2004 without accruing interest. Of course, I plan on paying it off before then. He also gave us free shipping so Kenny turned out to be a really nice salesman after all.
The reason I got a front loader was due to the amount of water it uses. Since I'll be paying for water, I wanted a machine that would help me save a few dollar every month. Plus, I hear they're energy savers too. Hence, I'm getting a rebate from PG&E and the water dept of Daly City thanking me for purchasing the unit. Sweet deal.
The reason I got a front loader was due to the amount of water it uses. Since I'll be paying for water, I wanted a machine that would help me save a few dollar every month. Plus, I hear they're energy savers too. Hence, I'm getting a rebate from PG&E and the water dept of Daly City thanking me for purchasing the unit. Sweet deal.
Monday, November 24, 2003
This past Saturday, I went to Scandinavian Designs in San Mateo to buy my bed frame. It's a queen-sized platform bed with horizontal wooden slats on the 2 sides and foot. It comes with a big headboard and all the pieces have a cherry finish to them. The mattress appears it will sit fairly low to the ground which is fine with me. I have yet to buy a mattress but I think I have my heart set on a futon mattress consisting of 4 inches of slow recovery foam. I had also purchased a matching nightstand as well but later on returned it when I saw a fairly similar nightstand for a much cheaper price at Organized Living. I waived the shipping charges to decrease the total cost but then I drove to Lowes to buy some heavy duty straps. The plan is that I'll strap the frame down to the roof of my car once it arrives in the warehouse. Hopefully, I can strap the unassembled dining room table to the roof of my car too. Shipping charges really kick your ass.
I've been doing a lot of research on Washers lately but I'll dive into that topic more after I actually purchase one.
I've been doing a lot of research on Washers lately but I'll dive into that topic more after I actually purchase one.
Friday, November 21, 2003
723-4 : A New Beginning
First Entry for this journal and so far a lot of things have happened. The most significant events are several purchases in furniture.
Tuesday, November 18th was our official closing date and before we even got word of the close, Ai and I bought a couch and matching ottoman from ZGallerie. Upon arriving on Union St, we fed the meter with 52 minutes worth of coinage. Apparently, it took us longer than that to contemplate certain layouts and colors. I was set on getting a couch made from Microfiber material due to its stain resistant qualities. We both wanted a darker shade of brown but in the end we settled for "99-Butter" It's not really yellow but more of an overly light beige. Due to the lack of space in our living room, we decided to get an ottoman which is about 32x24x16 in size. Oh, and our couch is 96x39; it's a monster at 8 feet long. We really wanted an over-sized chair but the limited space made us think otherwise. After the purchase, we walked back to the car to find a lovely note from San Francisco's finest informing us that our meter had expired; a lovely note that will cost me $35 to reply back.
Yesterday, the 20th we headed back to IExpress on Howard St. We visited this store 2 weeks prior and saw some nice tables we thought would enhance our dwelling quite nicely. After browsing through the store for about 10 minutes our eyes feasted on a 79x34 dining room table in a venge (pronounced wen-yay or ven-yay) finish. It was right then and there Ai made the executive decision that this would be the one; this was our Neo, the chosen, the golden child, mother of all tables, etc. Talking to the salesperson (the only one in there at the time), we were told the table would be discounted 20% off so that made the purchase a lot easier to swallow. We saw a couple of nice coffee tables too. One of them was an extremely low sitting table that had it's legs towards the center so it had the appearance of floating off the ground. We were told to hold off by the worker since the construction and finish was questionable. After closer scrutiny, we noticed the stated flaws.
We still have a lot to buy but the costs are adding up. In the long run, we'll be happy with our purchases and will feel that we didn't settle for anything but what we thought was best for us. But with all these furniture costs, I also got a big kick in the ass with a notice showing me how much my property taxes are going to be. Things will be tight this coming year but I'm looking forward to the experience. Till next time
First Entry for this journal and so far a lot of things have happened. The most significant events are several purchases in furniture.
Tuesday, November 18th was our official closing date and before we even got word of the close, Ai and I bought a couch and matching ottoman from ZGallerie. Upon arriving on Union St, we fed the meter with 52 minutes worth of coinage. Apparently, it took us longer than that to contemplate certain layouts and colors. I was set on getting a couch made from Microfiber material due to its stain resistant qualities. We both wanted a darker shade of brown but in the end we settled for "99-Butter" It's not really yellow but more of an overly light beige. Due to the lack of space in our living room, we decided to get an ottoman which is about 32x24x16 in size. Oh, and our couch is 96x39; it's a monster at 8 feet long. We really wanted an over-sized chair but the limited space made us think otherwise. After the purchase, we walked back to the car to find a lovely note from San Francisco's finest informing us that our meter had expired; a lovely note that will cost me $35 to reply back.
Yesterday, the 20th we headed back to IExpress on Howard St. We visited this store 2 weeks prior and saw some nice tables we thought would enhance our dwelling quite nicely. After browsing through the store for about 10 minutes our eyes feasted on a 79x34 dining room table in a venge (pronounced wen-yay or ven-yay) finish. It was right then and there Ai made the executive decision that this would be the one; this was our Neo, the chosen, the golden child, mother of all tables, etc. Talking to the salesperson (the only one in there at the time), we were told the table would be discounted 20% off so that made the purchase a lot easier to swallow. We saw a couple of nice coffee tables too. One of them was an extremely low sitting table that had it's legs towards the center so it had the appearance of floating off the ground. We were told to hold off by the worker since the construction and finish was questionable. After closer scrutiny, we noticed the stated flaws.
We still have a lot to buy but the costs are adding up. In the long run, we'll be happy with our purchases and will feel that we didn't settle for anything but what we thought was best for us. But with all these furniture costs, I also got a big kick in the ass with a notice showing me how much my property taxes are going to be. Things will be tight this coming year but I'm looking forward to the experience. Till next time
