Now, I really expected yesterday to be a very simple, very boring sort of day. I spent the morning reflecting on the year past while Wes was at work and musing on what we'd do for the rest of the day. Little did I know that our plans would change along the way rather unexpectedly.
And even less did I know that there were a few twists waiting for me at the end of a nice evening out.
When Wes got home from work, we finished up the left-over curry dishes we'd had for dinner the night before (pre-cooked from the grocery store's deli selection) and went over the list of Things to Do Today. On the list, we had dimensions written down for the new desk, bed and stove top that we decided to go look for (there were also a bunch of doodles from when Wes and I discussed unicorns, curlicues and other random things with Mike on Saturday morning).
The upstairs currently has two out of three bedrooms that contain beds. The last one, which leads to the master, "en suite" bathroom, does not yet have a bed, or really any furniture at all. Thus, Wes and I went out in search of the bed to fill it. We also had our eyes open for a computer desk, so that he can actually turn one of the bedrooms into a study (which he's been planning to do all along).
As for the stove. Well.
The first day that I was here, the first real day anyway, I tried to make hard boiled eggs for tuna salad. The stove, while turned to 7 (full heat!) barely got above room temperature and the eggs only just managed to cook. When Wes tried again later the next day in order to make soup, the circuit breaker blew and we decided that something might be up with the stove. Juet maybe, you know.
Once we get an electrician in to check things out (they're coming Friday), we'll know for sure, but the stove that the townhouse came with is sixteen years old and direly in need of replacement.
Now, since I don't yet know squat about the Shire, I naturally let Wes lead the way out into the wild world of domestic shopping.
The first place we went was Harvey Norman, a sort of department store in the traditional sense, but without shoes and clothes. I'm tempted to call it a home goods store, but that seems to downplay the scale of things quite a bit. They have everything you could ever want to furnish your home, plus electronics, gadgets and gizmos galore. Honestly, they're a bit like Fry's in Houston.
To begin with, we looked over the rather slim selection of computer desks on display. The information placards were decidedly lacking in information and because we had no a tape measure on hand, we had no idea as to the desks' dimensions. That, combined with the prices on the pieces, sent us on our way rather quickly.
We soon had checked out the entire section of the store stocked with the beds (and found really nothing at all that was to our liking). There were a lot of large, heavy ensembles with massive headboards that put images of cemeteries in my head. The rest were the sort of bed that you avoid getting into in the dark or while intoxicated, because the boards around the base would be sure to break your shins.
Discouraged, but not entirely beaten, we headed to the kitchenwares section to see if we could find ourselves a nice, new ceramic stove top (coil and hot plate elements no longer seem to exist here and there are no gas lines in the house to speak of). Adam, the associate who happened to come to our rescue, showed us the joys of induction stoves when we asked how they work.
If you haven't seen these ranges in action before, you really should go to a store and ask for a demonstration. They work by using a magnetic field to generate friction withbyourbpot or pan (thus producing heat), which keeps the cooking surface cool and allows you to control the temperature remarkably well. Adam showed us several models at different price ranges, offered a special deal on the model that would fit the size of the old stove, as well as the overhead range hood. Surprised by the ease with which we'd found something we liked, we departed in an optomistic mood.
Model numbers and catalog in hand, we moved on to seek out desks and beds once more.
On the way out, Wes suggested we duck into the electronics section to take a look at their cameras and tablets, because he was intent on finding me a birthday present before we went home and was appalled at the weight of my laptop when he brought it downstairs for me while I was sick.
Once there, I was faced with a slew of options. Cameras were out of the question for the simple reason that they didn't have the right models, so we moved on to PC tablets. There were models from Acer, Asus, Apple and Motorola, to name a few. We browsed around, tried a few out, and decided that the Acer Iconia (recommended highly by his friend Mike) was the one to go with after all. While the iPad2 was tempting with its good looks and slim profile, the lack of compatibility with the kind of media I tend to watch was an unfortunate deal-breaker.
We then went down to the JB HiFi on the first floor, where we found the same model for cheaper. It took a bit longer to hunt down a member of their staff to get the actual boxed model from the back room, however. In th mean time, we browsed BluRays and TVs and waited (Wes has joked that he wants to put a TV in the main bathroom over the tub; the scary it is that people actually do that now).
Having finished up at JB, we wandered through a small self-assemby furniture store, seeking out a bed and desk. We found nothing to our liking for either and kept going, back out into the fresh air and away from the housing super center.
On a whim, we ducked into a fairly high end furniture store by the name of Domayne just next door to the far more humble self-assembly shop for a peek.
Yes. Y abuse. My big pet peeve. But in we went anyway.
Now, while we were browsing, a very chatty, besuited and somewhat anxious saleswoman approached us. She commented on the unruly, tattooed nature of JB employees (because of the bag we were passing between us) and we cringed inwardly, expecting her to kick us to the curb for not coming in wearing a ball gown and tails. We feared impending snobbery, but it turns out that Christine (for that was her name) was very helpful indeed.
She showed us their mix and match range of bed frames, told us about the 20% off promotion running on them and demonstrated the hydraulic lift on one of the models. She really did go out of her way to display the beds to their best effect. More than slightly impressed, we told her we'd definitely consider such a set in our options and went on our way to the next shop.
Super Living Direct and Gary were our next stop. They specialize mostly in wooden furniture, quite a bit of it custom. Most of the furniture in the townhouse has SLD to thank for its creation. There, we found a corner desk for Wes to use for his study and two bookshelves for BluRays and books. Sadly, stil no bed. We also got to see Jess, Gary's very large white German Shepherd, and proof that some people have scary memories and aren't me.
Gary remembered every piece of furniture ordered and all delivery delays from the last time Wes was in, as well as his name and the colors he had preferred. Considering more than a month had passed, I was fairly impressed.
Having completed part of our mission, we back tracked to seek a solution to the rest.
We discussed things a bit and decided that the bed at Domayne was out best bet and went back to discuss prices and mattress options with Christine. In the end we chose to go with the mix and match set option with the hydraulic lift (so we can store linens and spare pillows for guests) and a fairly simple, lightly padded headrest. Deposit paid, we left Domayne and went to find something else. Something that had struck me on a whim.
Under the stairs, in the front foyer of the townhouse, we have a lot of empty space and a blank wall. Because we have no coat closet, Wes and I agreed that it might be nice to find a wall-mouted set of hooks to serve as a coat rack.
We found hat stands. We found coat racks. We found combination coat racks with hat stands and umbrella baskets. We even found one set of wall hooks, but it was not meant to be, for sadly, the hooks that we found were meant for bathroom tile and suction cup mounted. Once again slightly disappointed, we crossed the parking lot for the brief drive home again.
After a bit of a rest (and a lot of playing with new toys), we put on our jackets and walked up to Chi, the local Japanese-Chinese place. The restaurant itself reminds me a lot of Houston. The dishes are mixed between Chinese, Japanese and generic Pan-asian. The menus are all falling apart and put in little plastic sleeved booklets. The food, however, is great.
We ordered mostly appetizers, which included pork gyoza, korrokke (potato cakes), takoyaki (octopus balls), agedashi tofu, salmon sashimi and edamame (soy bean pods). We also split an order of the special seafood yaki-udon, which was amazing. The udon dish is a Chi specialty and typical only in that it has stir-fried noodles like other yaki-udon. It comes prepared with shrimp, squid slices, carrots, onions and those strange, dried fish flakes that 'dance' with the heat of the dish--Christy and Courtney refer to it as Klingon food since it looks like it's still alive on the plate. It was really well seasoned and tasted amazing.
At the end of the meal, there was only one other table left occupied in the restaurant. As we sat there, finishing up our dinner (I was picking the shrimp out of the udon to give to Wes), the owner-cum-chef came out to help with the clean up. He stopped at our table to see how we had liked the udon, ask if I was trying to figure out what was in it as I picked through and chat a bit. He recognized Wes from previous visits and asked if I was a friend. He gaped and marveled when I said "no, he's my boyfriend."
At first, we prepared to be insulted because, well, shock of that nature is rarely complimentary, but then he said the fateful words: "oh, but you're so young!"
Wes and I both started laughing and I explained my age. I told him that it was my twenty-sixth birthday and we were out celebrating. This time he gaped even more over how much younger than that I look (supposedly, he may have just been trying to flatter me). After asking a few more times if I was sure about my age, he said he'd be right back, that he'd bring me a surprise (but not to get excited because it wouldn't be a big one).
We heard him shout "it's her birthday!" as he disappeared into the kitchen and started laughing again.
A few minutes later, he and his wife reappeared with a small champagne glass full of ice cream, topped with strawberry syrup, a candle and a brightly burning sparkler. The candle was melting the ice cream slowly and kept tipping over, so while things burned, they quickly sang Happy Birthday (with the help of the other table in the room). It was silly and amazing and I wish I had photographic proof of the event. It was very sweet of them to do.
As Wes said that night as we were leaving, that is now officially Our Local Place. They know us and feel comfortable enough to take little, silly liberties like that.
After we finished our dessert and Wes paid, we stopped off for milk at the SupaBarn, then walked home to watch some Breaking Bad before bed.
All in all, much more eventful day than I had anticipated!
And even less did I know that there were a few twists waiting for me at the end of a nice evening out.
When Wes got home from work, we finished up the left-over curry dishes we'd had for dinner the night before (pre-cooked from the grocery store's deli selection) and went over the list of Things to Do Today. On the list, we had dimensions written down for the new desk, bed and stove top that we decided to go look for (there were also a bunch of doodles from when Wes and I discussed unicorns, curlicues and other random things with Mike on Saturday morning).
The upstairs currently has two out of three bedrooms that contain beds. The last one, which leads to the master, "en suite" bathroom, does not yet have a bed, or really any furniture at all. Thus, Wes and I went out in search of the bed to fill it. We also had our eyes open for a computer desk, so that he can actually turn one of the bedrooms into a study (which he's been planning to do all along).
As for the stove. Well.
The first day that I was here, the first real day anyway, I tried to make hard boiled eggs for tuna salad. The stove, while turned to 7 (full heat!) barely got above room temperature and the eggs only just managed to cook. When Wes tried again later the next day in order to make soup, the circuit breaker blew and we decided that something might be up with the stove. Juet maybe, you know.
Once we get an electrician in to check things out (they're coming Friday), we'll know for sure, but the stove that the townhouse came with is sixteen years old and direly in need of replacement.
Now, since I don't yet know squat about the Shire, I naturally let Wes lead the way out into the wild world of domestic shopping.
The first place we went was Harvey Norman, a sort of department store in the traditional sense, but without shoes and clothes. I'm tempted to call it a home goods store, but that seems to downplay the scale of things quite a bit. They have everything you could ever want to furnish your home, plus electronics, gadgets and gizmos galore. Honestly, they're a bit like Fry's in Houston.
To begin with, we looked over the rather slim selection of computer desks on display. The information placards were decidedly lacking in information and because we had no a tape measure on hand, we had no idea as to the desks' dimensions. That, combined with the prices on the pieces, sent us on our way rather quickly.
We soon had checked out the entire section of the store stocked with the beds (and found really nothing at all that was to our liking). There were a lot of large, heavy ensembles with massive headboards that put images of cemeteries in my head. The rest were the sort of bed that you avoid getting into in the dark or while intoxicated, because the boards around the base would be sure to break your shins.
Discouraged, but not entirely beaten, we headed to the kitchenwares section to see if we could find ourselves a nice, new ceramic stove top (coil and hot plate elements no longer seem to exist here and there are no gas lines in the house to speak of). Adam, the associate who happened to come to our rescue, showed us the joys of induction stoves when we asked how they work.
If you haven't seen these ranges in action before, you really should go to a store and ask for a demonstration. They work by using a magnetic field to generate friction withbyourbpot or pan (thus producing heat), which keeps the cooking surface cool and allows you to control the temperature remarkably well. Adam showed us several models at different price ranges, offered a special deal on the model that would fit the size of the old stove, as well as the overhead range hood. Surprised by the ease with which we'd found something we liked, we departed in an optomistic mood.
Model numbers and catalog in hand, we moved on to seek out desks and beds once more.
On the way out, Wes suggested we duck into the electronics section to take a look at their cameras and tablets, because he was intent on finding me a birthday present before we went home and was appalled at the weight of my laptop when he brought it downstairs for me while I was sick.
Once there, I was faced with a slew of options. Cameras were out of the question for the simple reason that they didn't have the right models, so we moved on to PC tablets. There were models from Acer, Asus, Apple and Motorola, to name a few. We browsed around, tried a few out, and decided that the Acer Iconia (recommended highly by his friend Mike) was the one to go with after all. While the iPad2 was tempting with its good looks and slim profile, the lack of compatibility with the kind of media I tend to watch was an unfortunate deal-breaker.
We then went down to the JB HiFi on the first floor, where we found the same model for cheaper. It took a bit longer to hunt down a member of their staff to get the actual boxed model from the back room, however. In th mean time, we browsed BluRays and TVs and waited (Wes has joked that he wants to put a TV in the main bathroom over the tub; the scary it is that people actually do that now).
Having finished up at JB, we wandered through a small self-assemby furniture store, seeking out a bed and desk. We found nothing to our liking for either and kept going, back out into the fresh air and away from the housing super center.
On a whim, we ducked into a fairly high end furniture store by the name of Domayne just next door to the far more humble self-assembly shop for a peek.
Yes. Y abuse. My big pet peeve. But in we went anyway.
Now, while we were browsing, a very chatty, besuited and somewhat anxious saleswoman approached us. She commented on the unruly, tattooed nature of JB employees (because of the bag we were passing between us) and we cringed inwardly, expecting her to kick us to the curb for not coming in wearing a ball gown and tails. We feared impending snobbery, but it turns out that Christine (for that was her name) was very helpful indeed.
She showed us their mix and match range of bed frames, told us about the 20% off promotion running on them and demonstrated the hydraulic lift on one of the models. She really did go out of her way to display the beds to their best effect. More than slightly impressed, we told her we'd definitely consider such a set in our options and went on our way to the next shop.
Super Living Direct and Gary were our next stop. They specialize mostly in wooden furniture, quite a bit of it custom. Most of the furniture in the townhouse has SLD to thank for its creation. There, we found a corner desk for Wes to use for his study and two bookshelves for BluRays and books. Sadly, stil no bed. We also got to see Jess, Gary's very large white German Shepherd, and proof that some people have scary memories and aren't me.
Gary remembered every piece of furniture ordered and all delivery delays from the last time Wes was in, as well as his name and the colors he had preferred. Considering more than a month had passed, I was fairly impressed.
Having completed part of our mission, we back tracked to seek a solution to the rest.
We discussed things a bit and decided that the bed at Domayne was out best bet and went back to discuss prices and mattress options with Christine. In the end we chose to go with the mix and match set option with the hydraulic lift (so we can store linens and spare pillows for guests) and a fairly simple, lightly padded headrest. Deposit paid, we left Domayne and went to find something else. Something that had struck me on a whim.
Under the stairs, in the front foyer of the townhouse, we have a lot of empty space and a blank wall. Because we have no coat closet, Wes and I agreed that it might be nice to find a wall-mouted set of hooks to serve as a coat rack.
We found hat stands. We found coat racks. We found combination coat racks with hat stands and umbrella baskets. We even found one set of wall hooks, but it was not meant to be, for sadly, the hooks that we found were meant for bathroom tile and suction cup mounted. Once again slightly disappointed, we crossed the parking lot for the brief drive home again.
After a bit of a rest (and a lot of playing with new toys), we put on our jackets and walked up to Chi, the local Japanese-Chinese place. The restaurant itself reminds me a lot of Houston. The dishes are mixed between Chinese, Japanese and generic Pan-asian. The menus are all falling apart and put in little plastic sleeved booklets. The food, however, is great.
We ordered mostly appetizers, which included pork gyoza, korrokke (potato cakes), takoyaki (octopus balls), agedashi tofu, salmon sashimi and edamame (soy bean pods). We also split an order of the special seafood yaki-udon, which was amazing. The udon dish is a Chi specialty and typical only in that it has stir-fried noodles like other yaki-udon. It comes prepared with shrimp, squid slices, carrots, onions and those strange, dried fish flakes that 'dance' with the heat of the dish--Christy and Courtney refer to it as Klingon food since it looks like it's still alive on the plate. It was really well seasoned and tasted amazing.
At the end of the meal, there was only one other table left occupied in the restaurant. As we sat there, finishing up our dinner (I was picking the shrimp out of the udon to give to Wes), the owner-cum-chef came out to help with the clean up. He stopped at our table to see how we had liked the udon, ask if I was trying to figure out what was in it as I picked through and chat a bit. He recognized Wes from previous visits and asked if I was a friend. He gaped and marveled when I said "no, he's my boyfriend."
At first, we prepared to be insulted because, well, shock of that nature is rarely complimentary, but then he said the fateful words: "oh, but you're so young!"
Wes and I both started laughing and I explained my age. I told him that it was my twenty-sixth birthday and we were out celebrating. This time he gaped even more over how much younger than that I look (supposedly, he may have just been trying to flatter me). After asking a few more times if I was sure about my age, he said he'd be right back, that he'd bring me a surprise (but not to get excited because it wouldn't be a big one).
We heard him shout "it's her birthday!" as he disappeared into the kitchen and started laughing again.
A few minutes later, he and his wife reappeared with a small champagne glass full of ice cream, topped with strawberry syrup, a candle and a brightly burning sparkler. The candle was melting the ice cream slowly and kept tipping over, so while things burned, they quickly sang Happy Birthday (with the help of the other table in the room). It was silly and amazing and I wish I had photographic proof of the event. It was very sweet of them to do.
As Wes said that night as we were leaving, that is now officially Our Local Place. They know us and feel comfortable enough to take little, silly liberties like that.
After we finished our dessert and Wes paid, we stopped off for milk at the SupaBarn, then walked home to watch some Breaking Bad before bed.
All in all, much more eventful day than I had anticipated!
