Stuck in my apartment waiting for my mattress.
There are a million free things on Craigslist, but not only can I not leave my apartment I don't have anyone to help me move things, and it's kind of drizzly.
Mattress arrives around 2pm. I soon embark (in the rain) on the 1 train up to the Bronx where there's a Target. I buy cheap sheets and a comforter, a lamp, some canned and nonperishable foods, and a carton of eggs because they're a dollar. Turns out, sheets and lamps and cans of food are heavy. On my way back-- it's only a block to the subway, and five blocks from the stop to my apartment, but still-- I have the unfortunate appearance of someone in need of a sherpa. (NYC Survival Tip: replace purse with LeSportsac weekender when running errands.) At least then it wasn't raining.
Later, my roommate tells me her friend who lives in the building is trying to get rid of her bed. I text her, go take a look, and though it's nice she wants $50 for it. But her roommate is getting rid of everything besides her bed for free! She offers to give me her tall dresser, her desk with drawers, a cupboard and a hutch, a bookcase, an entertainment center with shelves that she used for shoes (I will undoubtedly do the same), a computer chair, and two kitchen chairs! This is what you call freaking awesome, incredibly lucky, and extremely convenient.
The giving roommate agrees to text me when her stuff is ready to go, which happens at about 10:30pm. We move everything but the desk into my room, and she goes off to Panama. I fall asleep around 2am-- my new mattress is a little firm, plus despite all these improvements things don't quite feel like home yet.
TODAY:
I didn't eat anything yesterday besides yogurt and granola, some pasta, and a pita with hummus, so I took myself out to breakfast. Then, as I'm getting ready to go see Central Park and go look for a clock radio, a mirror, and a rug in thrift stores, the girl with the bed texts me. I can have it for free, just come now. So up I go. She and her dad help me move the bed, AND they get the heavy desk onto a dolly and move that in too. Feeling extremely appreciative for the significant ways people we likely won't ever see again help us, I reassemble the bed myself in five minutes, clean things up a bit, and then decide this warrants a sheets upgrade. The set from Target had a hole in it when I took it out of the package, and that just won't do.
After setting off for the Bronx only to learn the line isn't running above 168th St., taking the A train back to 125th (near me), and wasting 45 minutes, I walk to the Marshall's in Harlem. I pass the historic Apollo Theater which now has a Starbucks as one of its neighbors (hey, there's a McDonald's in the central sacred square in Cusco, Peru...it's literally built within four walls that were made by the Incas...so this isn't as bad, I guess). I walk home with Ralph Lauren sheets and three nice big pillows. This time I look just as encumbered as I did Friday, but I have a spring in my step: "HUAAAHHH Yeah That's right I'm BUFF!" (but really guys it's pillows in here....)
So there you go. $300 bed + $100 desk + $150 chair/dresser/shelves/bookcase (a $550 value, not including delivery) MINUS "Awesome fortunate appreciation-inspring good luck discount" + $380 mattress set + $70 bedding = $100. And I'm happy. As you see in the photo, I'm going to use the hutch as a storage bench. The How-To, I guess, is just to have initiative, and go with the flow, and be appreciative of the blessings you are given.
A few shots from the subway and around my block:
Great score! I love the bed!
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