Spending Spree...Part Two

Another day, another dollar (or more).

Today's big acquisition was some furniture I picked up from a store in Canton. After redoing the living room, we decided the coffee table belonged in there, which meant it was time to buy a new one.

I knew exactly what I wanted. Unfortunately, "exactly what I wanted" just wasn't to be found around here. When I'd locate something I liked, they'd tell me it would take 6 to 8 weeks until it would arrive. Ummm, no. I'm part of the "I Want It NOW" generation, so that wasn't gonna happen.

Last weekend, I took Beth and her friend, Jordanne, to Canton so they could hit Jordanne's favorite store (a health-food store called The Raisin Rack) and Beth could hit her favorite store (Border's Books, of course). Meanwhile, Mom and I trekked our butts all over town. We went to cheapie stores like Big Lots Furniture, Value City Furniture, and nice places like Arhaus. Finally, we were down to the last place we could think of. It's an east coast furniture chain called Levin's Furniture. I'd seen their ads on TV and just presumed that they only sold junkie stuff.

We walked in and were blown away. The selection was amazing and everything seemed like decent quality. Their prices were cheaper than most of the "cheap" stores, too!

Within a minute of walking through the door, we had a salesman offering to help. That's always a good sign. I told him what I wanted and he smiled and said, "of course!"

There it was. The exact table I'd been searching for was sitting in the showroom. AND it was $100 less than the others I'd seen. Best of all, he would have it within a week.

Today was the arrival day, so Mom and I headed back to Canton. That, of course, meant we'd have to start out with lunch. Today we did the Quaker Steak And Lube restaurant. Everything was themed from a mechanic's point of view. Pretty cool.

Then, to Levin's. While their store is absolutely awesome, their loading deck is not. We've had snow and ice and as I'm walking down to ring the service bell, one leg goes forward and one leg goes back and splat! My fat ass is cracking the cement (or at least it felt like it). My knee is still throbbing. With all the money people pay for their furniture, you'd think they could find $20 to put down some salt, wouldn't you?

Fortunately, we had borrowed Dad's truck to bring the stuff home (did I mention that the coffee table isn't the only thing I bought? Oh, yeah, that'll be discussed in tomorrow's post) because the back of the truck was filled to the point where we had to tie stuff down so it wouldn't slide out. And the stupid salesman assured me that I'd have no trouble fitting it in my minivan. Idiot!

Heather helped me put the coffee table together. She was a tad irritated that I insisted on explaining the difference between a locking washer and a flat washer, but hey, she needs to know these things, so she was forced to listen.

The table is gorgeous. It matches the cherry wainscoting (which you can't see in this picture because of the couch) and cherry woodwork. See the little drawer down at the bottom? Perfect for our abundance of remote controls.

But the best part, and the thing that I REALLY wanted in the coffee table was the ability to use it as a laptop desk. The top lifts up and comes toward you as you sit on the couch.



How cool is that?

Oh, apparently Melody and Harmony like it, too.