continued homeware saturday shopping

i'm still debating the calm part
And just when I thought perhaps that I was through carrying heavy boxes of furniture up several flights of stairs...

The day started off like... well, I was going to say "most Saturdays", but Saturdays have felt a little different since I moved, at least until Ma arrives and we head out to the supermarket.

I did a little tidying up around the place this morning, and then when Ma arrived there was the "come and carry things up the stairs so I don't have to" text message that I think is going to become a regular part of our Saturdays. Not that I mind especially.

And then we headed off to the supermarket... that really should have been an indication of the type of day we had in store... somehow, even though I thought I'd been stocking up on things last Saturday after having reasonable empty cupboards due to the move, there ended up being a lot more groceries this week. My fridge is definitely full now, and the cupboards are looking nicely filled.

On the way back from the supermarket we stopped off at Godfreys to take a look at vacuum cleaners for the new place. And you know how sometime you just happen to be in the right place at the right time... this was kind of one of those.

There was only us and the woman who worked there in the store, and I couldn't help thinking she seemed familiar, but got talking to her about the robot vacuums (which were pretty much a pipe dream once she started talking prices) so I didn't say anything. The longer she spoke though, the more familiar she seemed... it turns out that she was actually Carrie, the girl who sold both Ma and me our laptops. And clearly she's the kind of person who is just built for retail, since she was as knowledgeable about vacuums as she was about computers back in the day.

Oddly enough (or not, depending), she actually remembered us too... which  I suppose isn't that surprising since we bought two laptops and two netbooks from her while she was working at Good Guys.

things that are black and white and red
They had a deal where you got a vacuum, a turbo head for the vacuum and a steam mop, so I ended up going with that... the vacuum is adorably small and cute (and since it's a Hoover and I'm in the bad/questionable habit of naming things, he'll be Edgar, at least until I forget) so at least now I'll be able to look after the carpet here in the new place.

Yesterday I made a list of either all the things that I want or else need (or some combination of both) for the new place. Some of it isn't overly urgent, it's just so that I remembered that I needed it. So our plan for the rest of the day was to at least get a few of the things on the list... and, as it turns out, one or two things that weren't on the list.

First up was a stop back at Godfreys to grab a replacement head for Ma's vacuum since hers was getting a bit past it (and I had her vacuum at my place, which was lucky)... then we headed off to the land of the big blue meatball (okay, that sounded better in my head), IKEA, again.

And it's a little bit dangerous when the nice Swedish designers from IKEA start designing Japanese themed items. I mostly managed to resist, but the plate with the wave/cloud shapes (that are also part of my tattoo design) had to come home with me.

The real reason were were there was to grab three frames... but we ended up having to walk through the whole downstairs area, so there was some stopping to look at curtains and whatnot, so it took a little longer than it might have otherwise done. I did get the frames though, so that's the main thing.

Next up, since we were in the area and Ma had a voucher she got for Christmas, was Harbourtown. Now I loathe Harbourtown with almost every fibre of my being... mostly because, you know, people... but also because the whole place is mostly a waste of time for me. There's no point in looking at clothes, and there really isn't that much other stuff worth looking at.

Ma found a nice handbag in the place the voucher came from (it'll work nicely as a slightly more dressed-up handbag for Fringe time, and will also be easy to pack in her suitcase for Sydney), and I found a big-ass cookie sheet in one of the kitchenware stores. Thankfully the nice woman in the store said that she would make a note on the receipt that I could return it if it didn't fit in my oven, because, you guessed it... it doesn't fit. Ah well.

After we'd wandered up and down the length of Harbourtown and gotten a bite to eat from the quasi Mexican place, we headed off to Kmart, which was actually the main destination... or perhaps just held the largest item I was looking for.

When I bought the smaller Billy bookcase during the move, I actually wanted a console table (only I didn't know that that is what is was called until later) to dump my keys and whatnot on as I walked in the door. The bookcase has been doing okay, but I found that Kmart had fairly cheap versions of exactly what I wanted (even though they only came in black or white). And I figured there was another spot on the other side of the living room that would also fit of the the tables very nicely, as well as giving me a nice spot to display some artwork and whatnot.

I also needed a new screwdriver and some extra Command stick on hooks, since I didn't get enough of the right kind the last time... and given that the front door slammed itself shut a couple of times last night and again this morning, I was in the market for some kind of door stop... that's where the ball of rope comes in... it's all kinds of awesome (and much more attractive than the sheep doorstops they also had).

So then, with the car full of bits and pieces we started heading back here. Granted, there was also a quick stop at Officeworks for cable ties, and a detour to the Haighs factory shop... and I think we got back here not long before 5pm. Which is impressive given we started the day at around 8am.

the completed table... and that was just me grabbing random things that came to hand easily to decorate it... looks pretty damn good
After Ma left I started putting together the first of the two tables... and I have to say it wasn't anywhere near as easy as putting together IKEA furniture. It was also very clear very quickly that the table was pretty much worth exactly what I paid for it. But it will do until I can afford something better further down the line.

Once I'd put the first one together I had a bit of a break to eat some dinner, and then put the Burger Theory Art Burger prints into the frames I bought. It was nice to finally do something with them since they've been sitting in a ziplock baggy since November 2012... and they now look really nice next to the Summer of the Burger print I put up last Saturday.

I also hung the Peter Drew pixel alphabet... it's really nice actually having somewhere where I have the space to actually put artwork on walls. And bless Command hooks for letting me do it without having to put giant holes all over the walls.

Anyway, once the hooks were on the walls, they needed to sit for an hour before I put the pictures up, so I want back to constructing the second table, which took less time than the first once, since I knew what I was doing this time around.

I'm still not completely sure how I'm arranging all the stuff along the wall by the door, but the other table slotted right into position and I just grabbed a few bits and pieces that all seemed to go nicely together (both from a circles and/or a black, white and red motif). That included my great uncle's old SLR (which was also my first SLR) which I originally intended to sell, but I never got around to it... it does make a nice decorator object though, and I might slot the Lego camera in alongside it at some stage to see how it looks.

Then I stuck the castor cups to the bottom of the chair legs with velcro dots so they'll actually stay in place and pretty much called it a day.

Phew...

Now all I need to do is get my new vacuum out tomorrow morning and give the carpet a good clean... and sort out what's going where with the other table.

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