Hubbalicious is back at work today, so it is me and my friend the painter holding down the fort. He seems to be an interesting fellow - he was a born here in Stuttgart to Croatian parents. When he came of age, he decided to go home to Croatia and serve his mandatory military time there. He became the equivalent to a Navy Seal. When he tried to make a career of it, he wasn’t guaranteed a Seal slot – so he walked away from the military entirely and returned to Germany. Now he is painting my house. And I imagine he could kill me with his bare hands if he wanted to…. Seriously though, he’s a very nice man. He enjoys practicing his English with us, and LOVES to chat with Hubbz about all things military and political. (He also tells me to “ask my husband” about any question he has about the house. Clearly a different gender structure where he lives…)
While our painter friend paints, I work. Since my temporary internet solution is based on a cellular network – I work propped up on our windowsill in order to get a strong enough connection to work. We cannot wait to get our internet set up!! It’s kind of the hinge for all of our communication and comfort needs here. Soon, it will be the hub for us to have a US phone number, American tv shows AND of course, wireless internet access in the whole house!! Here’s what I mean:
Basic cable is included in our rent. This consists of about 30 channels in German - plus CNN International and BBC International (the only English speaking networks). We haven’t even bothered to set up the tv yet, since we 1) have no time to watch it and 2) have nothing interesting tempting us to watch it. Our tv is actually a computer monitor that Hubbz noticed was dual voltage as we were packing up our things in VA. I’m fairly certain he’s going to make a case for a new tv when the time is right. He doesn’t know that I know….but I figure there’s nothing wrong with a little mystery in your marriage :)
Once we have internet, we will set up our Slingbox. The Slingbox, is a friend to all tv addicted Ex Pats – like yours truly (and Mr. yours truly) over here. It’s basically a tool that routes into a cable box set up in the US, and allows you to watch the tv and control the cable box remotely from your computer using the internet. It’s GENIUS. Here’s how it works:
My sister in law added a cable box to her normal subscription package (we contribute to her monthly cable bill) and plugged it into the wall (not a tv set) in her home somewhere. The Slingbox connects to the cable box, and an internet connection. We will soon be able to log into a website that makes our computer, the tv that is connected to the cable box! We’ll have use of the dvr, we can subscribe to Showtime, just like we were back in the good Ol’ U-S- of tv addicted -A!
Through Vonage, we were able to subscribe to an internet phone service that allows us to have a US phone number. This will allow all of you time zone minded loved ones to call us at domestic rates at our home in Germany! AND, as if it couldn’t get any cooler, we ported my old cell phone number over to the Vonage phone – I get to keep the phone number I’ve had for more than 10 years now! I know my mom is happy about that one!
Fast internet will also allow us to have and use Skype. We’re really excited about this. It is so nice to see your shining faces and see how big your kiddos have grown, AND, once the apartment is finally settled in (a day that I KNOW will come, but is hard to ever envision right now!) we can swing the webcam around and show our families where we live! What fun!
This all sounds great, doesn’t it? Well it’s the GETTING internet that seems to be the stumbling block around here. First of all, there’s the language barrier when trying to set it up. My husband is a saint and has handled this for us. One might be able to argue that he wants internet/tv more than he hates talking to people on the phone…but I’m going to give him the points for sainthood anyways. I’m a giver like that :)
The next hurdle is getting the guy to actually show up. We’ve heard so many horror stories about people waiting fruitlessly all day long for the cable installer – and then getting a notice a week later via mail about how the cable guy came but no one answered the door. Or worse, the installer comes, pokes around the wires and says something to the effect of: “these wires weren’t installed by us, call Deutsche Telecom and ask them to fix them, then we’ll come back and install your internet” Of course, Deutsche Telecom has zero interest in sending a service rep when you are not using their service. And if you do get the wires fixed, you're back at the bottom of the list waiting for an appointment. The stories I’ve heard indicate that it will take upwards of a month to get the cable installed – sometimes two months. So I’m not holding my breath!!
Showing posts with label painting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label painting. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Friday, September 3, 2010
A TRUE LABOR DAY
Hello Labor Day Weekend! Hubbalicious has a FOUR day weekend (they really do know how to do this right, over here!) and we are going to devote it to: well….labor! The painter showed up, coffee in hand, and proceeded to start with the bedroom. We know we are going to need to buy closets, and we figured that the sooner the room is painted, the sooner we can set them up and get our clothing put away (which constitutes a fair amount of boxes in here!).
So, with the painter established, we left him at work and headed to the hardware store and to Ikea. Our goal: to finally pull the trigger on the closet purchase, and to seek and find some light fixtures for the ceilings. It also occurred to us last night, as we tucked in for our first night in the new place, that we are living in a fishbowl. These great big beautiful windows are like tv screens for our neighbors! We had to undress in the bathroom – and I couldn’t read in bed. So, some sort of quick and easy drapery is at the top of our list as well!
It was a long day, and I have a lot of gratitude and respect for my friend who decided to tag along. Having just settled into her place a month or two before us, she knew what she was in for, and trooped along with us!! She was also an invaluable resource for how to navigate the usage of our VAT form at Ikea.
We also made a discovery about closet purchasing which shed a little light on my failed shopping experience earlier this week. It turns out, the reason that the Ikea clerk wouldn’t sell me the closet part that wasn’t in stock, may not have been attributable to her staunch values and sense of what is fair. Buying closets at Ikea means taking a flat bed cart to a warehouse and picking up each component pieces to stack on your cart (save one or two…although not the one or two BIGGEST parts…). You then wheel your cart to the cash register, pay for the items, and THEN wheel them to the “Transportation”
So, closets have been purchased as have some white sheers for the windows and some temporary lights (SIDEBAR: What are temporary lights, you may ask? Let’s pretend you did. Here’s the answer: Each room in our house has these wires hanging from the ceiling. They are waiting for a light. I haven’t ever bought ceiling lights before, and while there are many wild and crazy options – it’s taking me some time to figure out what would be appropriate for each room. For me, the lamps are fine – so the ceiling light is gravy. Hubbz, however, has a different perspective. To HIM – the wires on the ceiling are truly bothersome. Additionally, he is accustomed to ceiling lights (it turns out he’s had them in just about every house he’s lived in…I can’t say the same). AND it’s truly frustrating to him to not be able to hit a light switch and navigate through a room – apparently his spidey sense for finding a lamp in a dark room is not finely tuned. SO his request was that we buy some very cheap ($3) ceiling lights which he will hang whilst we decide on the permanent light for each room. How could I possibly argue?)
BUT- here’s the thing about the temporary lights….they don’t come with a temporary ladder…
So, with the painter established, we left him at work and headed to the hardware store and to Ikea. Our goal: to finally pull the trigger on the closet purchase, and to seek and find some light fixtures for the ceilings. It also occurred to us last night, as we tucked in for our first night in the new place, that we are living in a fishbowl. These great big beautiful windows are like tv screens for our neighbors! We had to undress in the bathroom – and I couldn’t read in bed. So, some sort of quick and easy drapery is at the top of our list as well!
It was a long day, and I have a lot of gratitude and respect for my friend who decided to tag along. Having just settled into her place a month or two before us, she knew what she was in for, and trooped along with us!! She was also an invaluable resource for how to navigate the usage of our VAT form at Ikea.
We also made a discovery about closet purchasing which shed a little light on my failed shopping experience earlier this week. It turns out, the reason that the Ikea clerk wouldn’t sell me the closet part that wasn’t in stock, may not have been attributable to her staunch values and sense of what is fair. Buying closets at Ikea means taking a flat bed cart to a warehouse and picking up each component pieces to stack on your cart (save one or two…although not the one or two BIGGEST parts…). You then wheel your cart to the cash register, pay for the items, and THEN wheel them to the “Transportation”
So, closets have been purchased as have some white sheers for the windows and some temporary lights (SIDEBAR: What are temporary lights, you may ask? Let’s pretend you did. Here’s the answer: Each room in our house has these wires hanging from the ceiling. They are waiting for a light. I haven’t ever bought ceiling lights before, and while there are many wild and crazy options – it’s taking me some time to figure out what would be appropriate for each room. For me, the lamps are fine – so the ceiling light is gravy. Hubbz, however, has a different perspective. To HIM – the wires on the ceiling are truly bothersome. Additionally, he is accustomed to ceiling lights (it turns out he’s had them in just about every house he’s lived in…I can’t say the same). AND it’s truly frustrating to him to not be able to hit a light switch and navigate through a room – apparently his spidey sense for finding a lamp in a dark room is not finely tuned. SO his request was that we buy some very cheap ($3) ceiling lights which he will hang whilst we decide on the permanent light for each room. How could I possibly argue?)
BUT- here’s the thing about the temporary lights….they don’t come with a temporary ladder…
Thursday, September 2, 2010
FINALLY HOME!!
Ah the joys of military moves! The German company that was scheduled to deliver our things called last week to ask about the parking situation and to confirm their scheduled arrival time at 8:00am. In the US the arrival time of military movers is flexible at best – but we didn’t know what to expect here in Deutschland. Turns out, it’s not so different….
We got to the apartment at 730am and emptied car load number two. Then we ran around contemplating paint chips in the daylight. I had NO IDEA that picking paint colors was so difficult. I could describe the shade and colors I wanted for each room – but too many options made selecting the actual color overwhelming! When the movers finally arrived (at 930) we also held the chips up to furniture and to the bedspread. That helped a bit.
Our shipment took a bit of a circuitous route to our apartment. In a perfect world, our furniture would have been loaded from our Norfolk home directly into large shipping crates on the truck. The crates would have been sealed up and then transferred to a ship and delivered to us in Stuttgart unopened (assuming customs didn’t need to see our furniture). However, our move was hung up by a paperwork item in Norfolk. So, our stuff was instead loaded on to the truck, sans crates, and then unloaded at a storage area. Six weeks later (due to yet another paperwork glitch) it was loaded into crates and forwarded to Germany. This meant that our stuff was handled by movers a total of FOUR times, instead of twice. Of course, every time our posessions are handled is another opportunity for damage and loss. Judging by the way our stuff came off of the truck – we think it must have been handled about seventeen times…..
We had a total of seven crates worth of household goods. The movers were nice and spoke very little English. I had prepared the empty apartment in advance by taping a number to the door of each room. I figured I know my numbers in German better than I know the names for “living room” and “guest room”. When the movers needed direction as to where to put items, it worked pretty well to give the number in German (although it turns out that pointing works pretty well also!)
Our furniture is pretty beat up. Hubbz dresser came without one of its legs (we later found it in one of the drawers - um...thanks??). There are chunks missing from the legs of our bed and sofas. The entire shipment looks pretty much like someone threw rocks at it (my friend B says that perhaps it was used as a shield from pirate attacks)! Our kitchen table (which is about as old as we are and not a piece of quality furniture by any measure) showed up in the first crate – with only three legs. The fourth leg showed up in the seventh crate. (We were honestly kinda bummed, because we are ready to buy a new table and the replacement money would have helped!)
Three truck loads later, all of our belongings were off of the truck…and piled in the center of each room so the painter could begin work on the next day. Hubbz had an evening conference call at work, so I dropped him off on base, and went back to the hotel to pack up the clothes – our last load of items to be moved into our new apartment. We turned in at 11:00, tired from the day’s adventure, excited about settling into the new place, and even a bit wistful about leaving the hotel which was our first German home! We chuckled at the realization that while we felt like our German life had been “on hold” for three months – we had already created a lot of memories of our time here :)
We got to the apartment at 730am and emptied car load number two. Then we ran around contemplating paint chips in the daylight. I had NO IDEA that picking paint colors was so difficult. I could describe the shade and colors I wanted for each room – but too many options made selecting the actual color overwhelming! When the movers finally arrived (at 930) we also held the chips up to furniture and to the bedspread. That helped a bit.
Our shipment took a bit of a circuitous route to our apartment. In a perfect world, our furniture would have been loaded from our Norfolk home directly into large shipping crates on the truck. The crates would have been sealed up and then transferred to a ship and delivered to us in Stuttgart unopened (assuming customs didn’t need to see our furniture). However, our move was hung up by a paperwork item in Norfolk. So, our stuff was instead loaded on to the truck, sans crates, and then unloaded at a storage area. Six weeks later (due to yet another paperwork glitch) it was loaded into crates and forwarded to Germany. This meant that our stuff was handled by movers a total of FOUR times, instead of twice. Of course, every time our posessions are handled is another opportunity for damage and loss. Judging by the way our stuff came off of the truck – we think it must have been handled about seventeen times…..
We had a total of seven crates worth of household goods. The movers were nice and spoke very little English. I had prepared the empty apartment in advance by taping a number to the door of each room. I figured I know my numbers in German better than I know the names for “living room” and “guest room”. When the movers needed direction as to where to put items, it worked pretty well to give the number in German (although it turns out that pointing works pretty well also!)
Our furniture is pretty beat up. Hubbz dresser came without one of its legs (we later found it in one of the drawers - um...thanks??). There are chunks missing from the legs of our bed and sofas. The entire shipment looks pretty much like someone threw rocks at it (my friend B says that perhaps it was used as a shield from pirate attacks)! Our kitchen table (which is about as old as we are and not a piece of quality furniture by any measure) showed up in the first crate – with only three legs. The fourth leg showed up in the seventh crate. (We were honestly kinda bummed, because we are ready to buy a new table and the replacement money would have helped!)
Three truck loads later, all of our belongings were off of the truck…and piled in the center of each room so the painter could begin work on the next day. Hubbz had an evening conference call at work, so I dropped him off on base, and went back to the hotel to pack up the clothes – our last load of items to be moved into our new apartment. We turned in at 11:00, tired from the day’s adventure, excited about settling into the new place, and even a bit wistful about leaving the hotel which was our first German home! We chuckled at the realization that while we felt like our German life had been “on hold” for three months – we had already created a lot of memories of our time here :)
THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG
We checked out of the hotel and I headed “home” to start the unpacking process. The painter met me at the house and we decided we would paint all of the rooms, including the inside of the closets. This is a bit of a bummer, because it really inhibits the unpacking – but we’ll be glad to have everything painted and fresh in a month (or at least, that’s what I keep telling myself!)
We selected a colonial blue for the dining room, taupe/beige for the bedroom and living room, pale blue in the Guest room and (after some input from my Facebook friends) yellow in the kitchen and bathroom. Tomorrow we start with the bedroom – so we can set the closets right up when they arrive!
I’m off to dive into my first set of boxes….Here we go!!
We selected a colonial blue for the dining room, taupe/beige for the bedroom and living room, pale blue in the Guest room and (after some input from my Facebook friends) yellow in the kitchen and bathroom. Tomorrow we start with the bedroom – so we can set the closets right up when they arrive!
I’m off to dive into my first set of boxes….Here we go!!
Saturday, August 28, 2010
DID I MENTION WE'RE MOVING ON WEDNESDAY?
Yeah – we are. And for two people who have been waiting 3 months for this fateful day – we are ASTOUNDINGLY unprepared! How is it that two otherwise normally functioning and even (dare I say?)“productive” members of society managed to run out of runway on a THREE MONTH approach?? Clearly, this is a question that I am not equipped to answer - but I digress….
So – here’s how the World of Crazy turns for our little family:
One Month Ago –
I emailed our landlord (LOVE him) and asked about procedures, when he’d like to schedule our move in walk-through (more on that in another post), etc. He replied stating that he (like the rest of Europe) was on holiday for the month of August and that he’d still be gone on our move in date – and he’s already asked our real estate agent (do NOT love him) to help represent him during the walkthrough. Surprisingly (to the landlord, not to us) the real estate agent has not responded to this request to date – and if I wouldn’t mind arranging the meeting with the agent directly, he’d get back to enjoying his time with his family (because apparently a month plus, isn’t enough quality relaxation….not that I would know!). I send the email and (still not surprisingly) get no immediate response.
One Week Ago –
The Real Estate Agent sends Hubbalicious and I an email, with a link to YouTube video of the apartment next door – and asks us if we know anyone from the military who might be interested in it. The email begins “I hope that you are enjoying life in your new apartment…” Fabulous.
Hubbz volunteered to respond to the agent, because we agreed that he would be more friendly than I would (I tried to argue that responding only with “Please send us the appointment time for our walk through – Sincerely, Us” is not MEAN per se – but I had to concede that more flowery language may ensure good relations with the man who holds our house keys for the time being). Hubbz sent the message and got no immediate response.
Tuesday –
We got an email from the agent (YAY!!!!) asking if he could share our contact information with the current tenant (BOOOO) at our HG Apartment who had some household items she was interested in selling to us. As I am in a hospitable mood (having just eaten chocolate) I write back a friendly note granting permission for the information release and gently prodding for a time for our appointment (don’t laugh, I CAN be nice if I want to be...sometimes...after chocolate...). As I am finishing the last line of my email – another email comes from the agent, this time addressed to the tenant with me in cc – with our contact information. So much for asking for permission…. I add the line to the part about passing the info along: “Thank you so much for asking before you sent our information! We appreciate your kind respect.” (See – Mean Me would have changed my answer to “Please do not pass our information along” to embarrass him for already doing so and thus make a point….ahhhhh, it’s a chocolate miracle :))
Friday –
The current tenant at the HG Apartment called me and asked if we would like to buy her closet. It’s a large system of wardrobes with built in drawers that occupies a good 25% of the real estate in what will be our guest room. She said it’s a very nice system but that it’s a pain to deconstruct and that she’d be willing to part with it for half of the price they paid for it 3 years ago. She was asking $1000. Yup, a cool kilo. That’s how we roll in these parts. It’s a “Big Money for Small Furniture” kind of city. I agreed that Hubbalicious and I would swing by on Saturday am to examine said closet and make our decision then.
As I hung up the phone, I realized that I had NOT done my closet research. I have no idea if $1000 is a good deal for a closet of any quality…and what a quality closet might look like…. So geeze, I guess I’d better before I go see some closets before I have to evaluate the potential for savings in the morning! So I collected myself and rushed off to Ikea to see what I could learn (interestingly enough – what we call “i-KEY-ah” in the US, is called “ICK-kay-ah” here….). What I learned was that Ick-kay-ah has a LOT of cool stuff!! After spending a good chunk of time there, I flung my exhausted self back into Home Sweet Hotel Room and started navigating paint colors
.
Sidebar: Painting a rental property is part of your obligation as a tenant here. You can choose when you will paint, but the place must be painted during your tenure. The military acknowledges this and therefore grants us a Move In Housing Allowance (MIHA) for paint. However, please note the “I” in MIHA stands for “In” and therefore this allowance is only good for painting done during your move IN process. You must submit your painting bill within 30 days of your move in date to collect the reimbursement. This makes for a hectic move in period…but allows us to customize our new apartment to our liking.
The painter was due to drop off paint color options for us to peruse on Friday evening. He wanted me to choose colors and call him today with our decision so he could begin work on Thursday. Figuring that I’d have a small window in which to make my choice, I started visiting paint company websites (and the local hardware store) to try to familiarize myself with some options. I discovered that most paint companies (Sherwin-Williams, Behr, etc) have a paint choosing tool which allows you to upload a photo of the room you want to paint and “try on” colors. It even suggests complimentary colors for accent and trim. (That was a colossal time sponge – but really fun!). Of course, being that I am …well, me…I was unable to make any firm decisions. I decided to call off the painter until I had seen my furniture again and was able to hold up the chips to my bedspread or art work.
Saturday –
We finally got a chance to sleep in a bit (a respite from the jetlag we’ve battled since our return from the states last weekend). But we hit the ground running and made it downtown in time for our appointment with the old tenant and check out the closet. (It’s a nice piece, but takes up the entire wall of the guest room in sliver and frosted glass). I must admit the bigger draw for me, was a new opportunity for me see the apartment and for Hubbz to take some measurements. The meeting was pleasant and we left them with the promise that we’d let them know our decision by the end of the day. We then found the closest café and poured over the Ikea catalog to try to figure out our best closet solution. In the end, we decided to buy a new closet system since we wanted to have our clothing in our bedroom (not in the guest room), and a new closet could be customized to our needs. We will probably spend about the same, so the extra convenience is gravy!
After our decision making coffee break, we shot down to the local Media Markt store and bought Hubbalicious a pay as you go cell phone (a decision that was 3 months in the making) and me a wireless internet solution so I can continue to work while we’re waiting for our internet installation to happen (typical runtime window – one month plus!!). Then it was off to Ikea for part deux.
Ikea was crowded and crazy (which those of you who know my darling husband will realize, are not conditions suited to easy and relaxed shopping. The timer starts when we walk in the door and the grumbling begins exactly 27 minutes later!). We were able to figure out our top ideas for a closet solution based on the outward appearance (dimensions, wood color - we'll figure out the "guts" of it later). We also swung by the local Ikea competitor here (called MOMA). Its stuff was a bit flimsier – although no less expensive - so we crossed them off of our list. Then we dropped off the car, and the electronics back at Chez Marriott, and grabbed a train for a visit to the Stuttgart Wine Festival with some friends. I’m invoking Fight Club rules on this particular night – but let’s just say… it was a rainy, funny, wine-y, foodie night that will live in infamy.
Sunday –
This brings us to today. Shops are all closed here on Sundays, so we’re laying low and recovering from…. um…..“jetlag”…… all day….not much happening here….. Still no word from the realtor about Weds (shocker!!). Much like every step we’ve taken in our journey towards this, the “Holy Grail Apartment”…it’s slow going, but we remain hopeful :)
So – here’s how the World of Crazy turns for our little family:
One Month Ago –
I emailed our landlord (LOVE him) and asked about procedures, when he’d like to schedule our move in walk-through (more on that in another post), etc. He replied stating that he (like the rest of Europe) was on holiday for the month of August and that he’d still be gone on our move in date – and he’s already asked our real estate agent (do NOT love him) to help represent him during the walkthrough. Surprisingly (to the landlord, not to us) the real estate agent has not responded to this request to date – and if I wouldn’t mind arranging the meeting with the agent directly, he’d get back to enjoying his time with his family (because apparently a month plus, isn’t enough quality relaxation….not that I would know!). I send the email and (still not surprisingly) get no immediate response.
One Week Ago –
The Real Estate Agent sends Hubbalicious and I an email, with a link to YouTube video of the apartment next door – and asks us if we know anyone from the military who might be interested in it. The email begins “I hope that you are enjoying life in your new apartment…” Fabulous.
Hubbz volunteered to respond to the agent, because we agreed that he would be more friendly than I would (I tried to argue that responding only with “Please send us the appointment time for our walk through – Sincerely, Us” is not MEAN per se – but I had to concede that more flowery language may ensure good relations with the man who holds our house keys for the time being). Hubbz sent the message and got no immediate response.
Tuesday –
We got an email from the agent (YAY!!!!) asking if he could share our contact information with the current tenant (BOOOO) at our HG Apartment who had some household items she was interested in selling to us. As I am in a hospitable mood (having just eaten chocolate) I write back a friendly note granting permission for the information release and gently prodding for a time for our appointment (don’t laugh, I CAN be nice if I want to be...sometimes...after chocolate...). As I am finishing the last line of my email – another email comes from the agent, this time addressed to the tenant with me in cc – with our contact information. So much for asking for permission…. I add the line to the part about passing the info along: “Thank you so much for asking before you sent our information! We appreciate your kind respect.” (See – Mean Me would have changed my answer to “Please do not pass our information along” to embarrass him for already doing so and thus make a point….ahhhhh, it’s a chocolate miracle :))
Friday –
The current tenant at the HG Apartment called me and asked if we would like to buy her closet. It’s a large system of wardrobes with built in drawers that occupies a good 25% of the real estate in what will be our guest room. She said it’s a very nice system but that it’s a pain to deconstruct and that she’d be willing to part with it for half of the price they paid for it 3 years ago. She was asking $1000. Yup, a cool kilo. That’s how we roll in these parts. It’s a “Big Money for Small Furniture” kind of city. I agreed that Hubbalicious and I would swing by on Saturday am to examine said closet and make our decision then.
As I hung up the phone, I realized that I had NOT done my closet research. I have no idea if $1000 is a good deal for a closet of any quality…and what a quality closet might look like…. So geeze, I guess I’d better before I go see some closets before I have to evaluate the potential for savings in the morning! So I collected myself and rushed off to Ikea to see what I could learn (interestingly enough – what we call “i-KEY-ah” in the US, is called “ICK-kay-ah” here….). What I learned was that Ick-kay-ah has a LOT of cool stuff!! After spending a good chunk of time there, I flung my exhausted self back into Home Sweet Hotel Room and started navigating paint colors
.
Sidebar: Painting a rental property is part of your obligation as a tenant here. You can choose when you will paint, but the place must be painted during your tenure. The military acknowledges this and therefore grants us a Move In Housing Allowance (MIHA) for paint. However, please note the “I” in MIHA stands for “In” and therefore this allowance is only good for painting done during your move IN process. You must submit your painting bill within 30 days of your move in date to collect the reimbursement. This makes for a hectic move in period…but allows us to customize our new apartment to our liking.
The painter was due to drop off paint color options for us to peruse on Friday evening. He wanted me to choose colors and call him today with our decision so he could begin work on Thursday. Figuring that I’d have a small window in which to make my choice, I started visiting paint company websites (and the local hardware store) to try to familiarize myself with some options. I discovered that most paint companies (Sherwin-Williams, Behr, etc) have a paint choosing tool which allows you to upload a photo of the room you want to paint and “try on” colors. It even suggests complimentary colors for accent and trim. (That was a colossal time sponge – but really fun!). Of course, being that I am …well, me…I was unable to make any firm decisions. I decided to call off the painter until I had seen my furniture again and was able to hold up the chips to my bedspread or art work.
Saturday –
We finally got a chance to sleep in a bit (a respite from the jetlag we’ve battled since our return from the states last weekend). But we hit the ground running and made it downtown in time for our appointment with the old tenant and check out the closet. (It’s a nice piece, but takes up the entire wall of the guest room in sliver and frosted glass). I must admit the bigger draw for me, was a new opportunity for me see the apartment and for Hubbz to take some measurements. The meeting was pleasant and we left them with the promise that we’d let them know our decision by the end of the day. We then found the closest café and poured over the Ikea catalog to try to figure out our best closet solution. In the end, we decided to buy a new closet system since we wanted to have our clothing in our bedroom (not in the guest room), and a new closet could be customized to our needs. We will probably spend about the same, so the extra convenience is gravy!
After our decision making coffee break, we shot down to the local Media Markt store and bought Hubbalicious a pay as you go cell phone (a decision that was 3 months in the making) and me a wireless internet solution so I can continue to work while we’re waiting for our internet installation to happen (typical runtime window – one month plus!!). Then it was off to Ikea for part deux.
Ikea was crowded and crazy (which those of you who know my darling husband will realize, are not conditions suited to easy and relaxed shopping. The timer starts when we walk in the door and the grumbling begins exactly 27 minutes later!). We were able to figure out our top ideas for a closet solution based on the outward appearance (dimensions, wood color - we'll figure out the "guts" of it later). We also swung by the local Ikea competitor here (called MOMA). Its stuff was a bit flimsier – although no less expensive - so we crossed them off of our list. Then we dropped off the car, and the electronics back at Chez Marriott, and grabbed a train for a visit to the Stuttgart Wine Festival with some friends. I’m invoking Fight Club rules on this particular night – but let’s just say… it was a rainy, funny, wine-y, foodie night that will live in infamy.
Sunday –
This brings us to today. Shops are all closed here on Sundays, so we’re laying low and recovering from…. um…..“jetlag”…… all day….not much happening here….. Still no word from the realtor about Weds (shocker!!). Much like every step we’ve taken in our journey towards this, the “Holy Grail Apartment”…it’s slow going, but we remain hopeful :)
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