by Annie | Jun 9, 2010 | Other
It’s hard to describe how elated I am to finally sleep on a real bed after almost 3 weeks of sleeping bags and hard ground. After a late start, I spent most of the morning staring quizzically and turning my head one way, then the other, at various Ikea instructional diagrams for our new bed frame. There was also much squinting and head scratching involved. Slowly but surely, the thing came together. Later in the afternoon, an Australian delivery guy dropped off our mattress, made to order from the Bedder Sleep Store where we’d tested out several mattress options last week. The mattress we chose was the one I nearly fell asleep on while testing. Fitted with pocket springs and a firm foam core, it’s ready for the sleeping. Sweet dreams,...
by Annie | Jun 8, 2010 | Other
What did people do before Craigslist? Every few seconds, at the click of a button, you can find several new listings for everything from fish tanks to RVs. In my quest to furnish our rather empty apartment, I’ve been scrutinizing every listing, trying to picture each item within the hodge podge of our new knick knacks. It always amazes me how valuable people think their items are and, sometimes, why they purchased said items in the first place. Take, for example, this “Leather Peach Couch”: Question 1: Why would anyone make this? Question 2: Why would anyone buy this? Question 3: Why would anyone buy this used? In addition, the listing titles can often be deceiving. Don’t be surprised when a click on “Vintage Loveseat – $400” leads to a picture of a saggy wingback chair with a faded floral pattern or “Modern Coffee Table – $125” actually refers to a strange contraption with only a small semblance of a flat surface. The ads often proceed to explain how much the items originally cost, as if that’s an excuse for the exorbitantly high prices they’re demanding for the items in their current state. Perhaps my favorite listing of the day was for a beige “microswaid” couch. Craigslist is also notorious for bad spellers. So far, my Craigslist hunt has netted me a microwave and several sofa scoutings. Who knows what tomorrow will bring? That’s the beauty of...
by Annie | Jun 5, 2010 | Other
It’s not often in life you get to start over from scratch, but that’s exactly what we’re doing here in Vancouver, at least in terms of furniture and household goods. Luckily, Ikea is but a hop, skip, and a jump from our new apartment in the Kits neighborhood of Vancouver. After testing out the slim sofa pickings, we had great success in picking out a table and chairs, bed frame, and numerous knick knacks one needs to function from day to day. It’s true what they say though – you get what you pay for. The three pots we got, while they were a mere $7.99 for the set, came with the following warnings in the insert: – To prevent salt stains on the inside of your cookware, do not add salt to your food until the contents are boiling. – The base is slightly concave when cold. Thus, always leave cookware out to cool before cleaning it. – Never let the cookware boil dry, because the base becomes skew when overheated. – Food that is stored in the cookware may take on the taste of metal. – The handle can be damaged by the flame when the cookware is used on a gas burner. Sounds like I might have better luck using a plastic cup to cook my food. The good news is, the pots did great in helping me prepare tonight’s dinner. No warping or salt stains yet. I’ll have to keep a close watch on them...
by Annie | Mar 26, 2010 | Other
With blossoms peeking out all around DC, the National Cherry Blossom Festival kicks off this weekend, starting a two week celebration of the friendship between Japan and the U.S. and signifying the beginning of spring in the nation’s capital. In 1912, the first two cherry trees were planted by the First Lady Helen Taft and the wife of the Japanese ambassador. In 1915, the U.S. reciprocated by presenting Japan with a gift of flowering dogwood trees. In 1965, Japan presented 3,800 more trees, many of which still line the Tidal Basin today. Over 1 million people visit DC each year to see the cherry blossoms. If you’re not going to be here, take a look at what you’ll be missing: Ah, the fresh air, the sunshine, the breathtaking beauty. Of course, there will also be hordes of tourists everywhere, so I guess you shouldn’t sad about missing that part of...
by Annie | Mar 25, 2010 | Other
Well, actually, the water bottles below are built to hold cold water (not haute), but you get the idea. I recently attended a meeting at a design firm and was given a bottle of water shaped like a flask. What a novel idea! I could drink the water, fill it back up with <ahem> other clear liquid, and reuse the “water” bottle. Here are some other fun water bottle designs you might run across: In case you’re wondering, the multi-colored bone-shaped bottles were designed for vitamin waters for kids. The bottles double as toys that connect to each other like K’Nex or Legos. Neat,...
by Annie | Mar 3, 2010 | Other
Residents and tourists of DC are no doubt familiar with the seemingly useless box/post fixtures on many street corners in the District. Back in the day (ca. 1860s), these wrought-iron fixtures served as emergency call boxes. They contained telephones with direct connections to the police station. Once a call was made, the globe on top of the pole would light up, indicating to arriving police officers where help was needed. A century and a half later, many of these fixtures, too heavy to be removed, have fallen into disrepair. Since the call boxes were replaced with the 911 system in the 1970s, the phones in the call boxes have been removed, and many of the poles vary from drab shades of gray to dull shades of tan. However, since 2002, the Arts on Call project has worked to beautify over 100 call boxes by repainting and embellishing them. Here are some that you might see while walking around DC: So the next time you see one of these things on the street corner, stop and take a moment to appreciate this valuable piece of DC...
