Free is my favorite word.

Howdy.

So here in Philly, it's time for all the college kids who live scattered throughout the city to move out. It's been funny watching people roll a giant mattress down the street. And watch the parents try to figure out how to park in a city where there's no parking and Parking Wars is a thing.

But this also means that people are getting rid of stuff! As one who enjoys 1) getting things for free!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, 2) getting cool new things, 3) new projects, and 4) being lazy and not having to transport stuff far, I was really glad when my next door neighbors were moving out on Monday and left a nice pile of junk-to-them-treasure-to-me on the sidewalk. I dug through a few things, most of which were not that exciting or not my style (giant "OPEN" sign, anyone? Actually I saw a bro walk by with that, he can totally keep it.) but there were two gems just full of potential.

whatup

One is this low entertainment console/coffee table. I'm going to use it as a coffee table, because we need one. I am a person who likes to sit with my feet up (it's a hard day's work, after all) and there's only room for one little bitty end table by the couch, so if you're on the other end, where are you going to put your plate/glass/computer/stuff?

I dusted this new friend off and killed a few spiders (muahahaha!) and now it's chilling in the living room. Banged my shin on it a few times because my muscle memory is like "whaaaaaaat is this doing in the middle of the floor? It has sharp!" but, I learned. Even the cat has gotten used to it.

"yum, coffee table"

But unfortunately, it's kinda ugly and looks like a terrific example of bad furniture decisions from decades past. I wish it was wood, because then I could sand it and stain it and it would be awesome, but I might as well be wishing it was made out of solid gold, because it's not. It's covered in wood-grain laminate and that's yucky.

So I need to paint it. Blue would be awesome and go really well with my decor. Problem with that is that my entertainment center, which is totally awesome and I love it, is blue and I don't want to a) overwhelm the room with blue, b) be all too matchy-matchy, or c) end up with a slightly different shade and clash.

I could do orange, but the couch is orange. Red would clash, so that's a no.

I could do white/cream, but the rug is cream.

I could do brown, but that would look kinda weird if it's painted brown and not wood brown, I think.

So it looks like my options are green and yellow.

This is kinda what I'm thinking:


from: 540mercantile.com

or:


from: lilaspockets.blogspot.com

or yellow, like the yellow in the couch:


from: missmustardseed.com

or stick with the turquoise like my entertainment center (and hope that I can remember what color that was...)

So these are my questions:

1. What color should the coffee table be? Blue, green, yellow, other options?

2. What do you call a coffee table if you don't drink coffee? Am I allowed to call it a tea table? Or is that something different entirely?

3. What color do you think would be easiest to re-sell if I decide to?

4. Distressed, or smooth and sleek?

Also DID YOU KNOW YOU CAN BUY PAINT SAMPLES FROM HOME DEPOT AND HAVE THEM SHIPPED FOR FREE?!!!! This is majorly exciting news for a girl without a car who kinda has a thing about not wanting to take buses in Philadelphia despite the fact that they're probably very convenient but I'm afraid I'm gonna lose my token or not have the correct exact change or lose my change and end up getting yelled at by the bus driver and booed at by the passengers or end up missing my stop completely and getting really lost and then having my phone die while I'm at the final stop of the bus route in a bad part of town and I am token- and cash-less and I have no idea where I am and I'm hungry and it starts to rain and there are no cabs and the subway is too far away. But that's a topic for another time.


Oh, and the other thing I got is this giant heavy mirror. Not sure what to do with it yet, either. I was thinking a metallic? Opinions? I'm gonna sell this one since I don't have wall space.

sorry for the awkward side pic. it's like the picture version of an awkward side hug.

How to do NYC in 6 Hours (with someone who's never been there before)

I went to New York for the day this past weekend. It was a much different situation than the last time I went. 

Step 1: Buy tickets for your second-favorite Broadway show. Yay!

Step 2: Oh, realize that you have to get there somehow. Cool. But it should be nbd because you're like 2 hours from NYC and the train is fast and cheap, right?

Step 3: WRONG. The train is fast(er), yes. The train is also $50-106 per person ONE WAY. I dunno, maybe I'm just used to flying Southwest across like 6 states for $69, but that just seems like too damn high. 

Step 4: Debate taking the bus. Read multiple reviews of taking the bus. Book tickets for the bus and pray to God that the "terrible" reviews of the bus were just karma acting on horrible people rather than being frequent actualities. 

Step 5: Get on the bus. Snag the last two seats together, score! Try not to nap on the way because you haven't really been seeing the guy you're going with for very long and making half-asleep-snorting sounds would not be so cute. They happen, you guys know it's true. 

Step 6: Enjoy the scenery, except wait, New Jersey just kinda looks like every other state ever from the highway. 

Step 7: See the skyline from 30 miles away. New York!!!

Step 8: Get off the bus, book it 3 blocks over and 11 blocks up in 25 minutes, eating peanut butter and banana and granola sandwiches you packed along the way, because you're prepared like that. 

Step 9: Get to the show, allow the guy you're with who happens to be a firefighter determine that if there's a fire in here we're all gonnn die, say your final prayers, and watch enthralled as the musical is done juuuuust right. 

Step 10: Rejoice that we didn't die a fiery death, and rejoice that the guy enjoyed the show and seemed to have a good time. Score!

Step 11: Walk through Times Square and take an official Times Square selfie, like you do. Then get the heck out of there bc people, ew. 

Step 12: Breeze by Rockefeller Plaza and say "Hey, there it is over there. Okay cool."

Step 13: Refer to your list of Yelp searches for Italian food in New York that was surprisingly difficulty and hope that you can find a hole in the wall restaurant instead. Find a hole in the wall restaurant instead and eat the second-best calamari of your life. 

Step 14: Head to Zaro's Bakery in Grand Central Terminal to get the most delicious black and white cookies ever. Try to leave the terminal but realize you've gotten incredibly turned around. End up exiting on a street with no name listed. Thanks. 

Step 15: Try to hold in your giggles as the person you're with looks up to the Chrysler Building and says "oh that's that first time I've seen the Empire State Building" and instead revel in the buulding's gorgeous Art Deco-ness and imagine that you can live right at the top. 

Step 16: Walk past the actual Empire State Building. Take the required picture of the Empire State Building. Try to take an artsy picture through some tree branches and realize that you got a piece of trash that was stuck in the tree branches in your pic. Thanks, New York. 

Step 17: Realize you have approximately 11 minutes to make it back to the bus. Book it to the bus. As it start to rain. Breeze past Madison Square Garden faster than the Knicks' fastest player. 

Step 18: Make it on the bus, find the last two seats together again, try not to nap again, and say goodbye to the city as you watch the sunset reflect back on the shiny sides of the skyscrapers. Until next time, New York. 

It's best if your last picture is really crooked and blurry because you're rushing to take it as the bus is heading into a tunnel.