Our Ugly, Boxy But Right-For-Us Car

We did it. We're car owners. Earlier this week I took the train to Westport to test drive some Honda Elements. It's an ugly car. No arguing about that. But, it has great cargo space, it's sporty, has pretty good gas mileage, it's reliable... and it's relatively cheap. We thought about other cars, from VW Passat Station Wagon to Toyota Rav-4. After reading reviews in Consumer Reports, we decided on an Element. Very good overall ratings. I took several spins, returning again and again to Turkey Hill Road. Each test drive we'd see women walking dogs. Expensive dogs. Then the sales guy told me that we had just past Martha Stewarts old, er, compound. Of course, Turkey Hill. Then it all made sense why these woman all looked the same. These were all Martha wanna-be's. After hours and hours of waiting for them to prep the car, I drove back to the city with a new roof rack on the car -- which I had proudly negotiated for.

Furniture Shopping and Shopping and Shopping

With the clock ticking, last week we headed downtown to do some furniture shopping. Hours upon hours of furniture shopping. We landed upon a place called Bo Concept, which I can only describe as a more upscale, more pretentious IKEA. It was in, no surprise, Chelsea so the pretension was taken to a new level. Let's put it this way, if I were wearing a tight-fitting, all black outfit accessorized with a studded, flourescent pink belt, I wouldn't feel out of place. In fact, that was our sales guy's uniform -- not that there's anything wront with that. We went on to West Elm. Still chi chi modern. Still in Chelsea. But we were surpised by how much we liked there. We liked their slim upholstery couch and took pictures of Olga sitting on it. Next up: The Door Store Furniture, which doesn't really sell doors. It, too, was in Chelsea but it felt a little out of place, like it better belonged at a strip mall in North Jersey. Jam-packed with furniture. We did like their faux leather sofa bed but I'm not sure if that sort of thing is legally allowed in Connecticut.





We took a break at Union Square to have lunch at Blue Water Grill. Hint: I'm not exactly sure what makes them so special but their shrimp lettuce wraps are incredible. After a (long) stop at the Strand Book Store, we finished our shopping at Crate & Barrel. Just when we thought the only thing we would purchase all day was lettuce wraps, we found a bedroom set we liked and could agree on -- the Loop Collection.

We finished the day at Pottery Barn, where they didn't have the couch we had come all this way to sit on. So, we sat on other couches and pretended this could be the couch we want. As we schlept our way home, we thought: furniture sure is expensive... and, damn, those lettuce wraps were good.

Our Lazy Branch

Our real estate broker, Ed, emailed and told us that "something happened" to the pine tree in our yard. A branch didn't break, but bent over. He said it was very strange, and luckily, no damage was done. Ed sent pictures today. Strange indeed. It's almost as the branch got a litte tired, decided it was done with this standing tall notion, and lied down for a little rest, with our fence for back support. Now, closest I've come to a chainsaw lately was the cheese knife at Landmarc so we were glad to hear that the lazy branch is going to be removed before closing.

More of the Nook

A New Look for the Breakfast Nook

The house has a great breakfast nook... that needs to be rescued. Here's what I think happened. A few years ago the owners renovated the kitchen. They must have bought extra countertop. They looked around and said, "let's see, where else could we use this. Let's put it in the nook." Now, a bar might work in this space but we don't think it works as well using kitchen countertop. We have a few ideas about what do. Go bistro: put in a high standing, small, round table. Surround with cute little chairs. Go loungy bar dining: use high standing narrow table, use stools. Go classic nook: build out benches, put in matching table. We've both debated exactly how much room the nook has and what will it accomodate. Judge for yourself.

Things We Probably Won't See in Stamford

Defenders of Paris Hilton's freedom (in Union Square).

Nooks and Crannies and Why We're Buying this House

Olga says that this house is like an English Muffin: it's full of nooks and crannies. Here's a few reasons we're buying the house:

1. There's a door to the stairway going upstairs.

2. There's random cubby holes around the house for extra storage.

3. There's a breakfast nook (that needs a bit of work).

4. The stone fireplace built in to the wall in our backyard.

5. Original wood and stone in the basement.

6. The porch.

7. The stone woodshed.

8. The working fireplace (as opposed to the "faux place" in our current apartment).

9. The classic "horse and buggy" doors to the garage/basement.

10. The completely fenced in backyard for Dougan.

The Way-Out-of-Scale Floorplans

Most times when you look at houses on the web they're accompanied by floorplans. Not our Springdale house. I guess the owners are old school. So, we've been doing some experimenting on our own to come up with something that remotely resembles the layout of the house. The first attempt, meaning most of the first floor, was a complete disaster. The second floor was easier, but then again it's only two rooms and a bath. The house is great in so many ways but you'll notice on the second floor... not a lot of closet. Uh oh. What's Olga going to do with all her shoes? We're going to have to be creative and figure something out. Click on the images for a better view. (As noted, they're way out of scale; doors are also missing, or they're large enough for a moose to fit through.)

The Inspection -- "Bad Pipes. Good Bones."

"I always find things," said Jerry our inspector, "so don't worry." Yeah right. Remember, we don't know how to fix things. That's what landlords are for. He started on the rooftop. Pretty much okay there. Gutters? Not up to snuff. We need to extend them, clear them. Let the water flow. Piping in basement? Problematic. Rust and corrosion. Put replacement on the to-do list. Boiler? A crusty old bastard. Good "flame" but like a car with 90,000 miles. Upstairs whirlpool tub? After Jerry turned it on, a faint trail of moisture appeared on the living room wall. Leaking, ever so slightly. No way to fix without open chest surgery to diagnose and fix. This issue would hold us up from locking in a mortgage rate, which will now cost a couple of hundred bucks a year. First life lesson learned buying a house: Never, ever buy a whirlpool tub. They all leak, and they never get used (which is why the owners didn't know that it leaked). What's a matter with warm, still water? Or, a shower for that matter? In the end, Jerry said that the house has "good bones," which is a nice thing to hear. I don't know what our grade was, but we passed the inspection test.

Connecticut (Is that how you spell it?) Here We Come

Well, we're really going to do it. After 4.5 years or so of Upper West Side living, preceded by a year in London, we're leaving NYC for the burbs. The Springdale section of Stamford, CT to be exact. Goodbye sunset rooftop parties. Hello fresh cut grass. A car. A yard. A real kitchen (and dining room). BBQs. Space. W i g g l e room. (Yeah, and a commute too.) Of course, we could have bought a condo. Maybe with a pool. Self-manicuring lawns. People who fix things for you. Naahhh. That would be too easy. Instead we bought, er, are buying a Prohibition-era house that needs some TLC -- Tender Loving Cash. It's a house now, but we're going to make it our home. Too bad we barely know the difference between a philips and a flathead screwdriver. It'll be yet another adventure.