a long post about a table.

one of the last things on my list of "essential items that i need for my apartment" (right under toilet paper and a mini baby pumpkin) was a table and chairs. i could get the ones i wanted from walmart.com, which made them the least amount of hassle to obtain. so i lived for the first few weeks in my apartment eating on the floor in front of my couch using magazines as coasters. it was working pretty well for me, but i figured that if i ever wanted to invite anyone over to see my apartment they might not appreciate the japanese style dining.
so i ordered them. and i waited. and just when i thought i might bust from waiting, i got an email saying they had made it to the store (free shipping site-to-store!) and i could come pick them up anytime.
i spent a good deal of time talking myself in and out of going to pick them up by myself. it was sure to be a heavy, awkwardly large box that would be easier to handle with a friend. but all my friends were far away and unable to come for the evening. so i figured that i am a single woman living on my own and a very capable one at that. i went to walmart.
the nice man put my table on a dolly and helped me to my car with it. it was an interesting battle to finangle the 3x4 foot box into the cavalier whose trunk wont open, but we managed to make it work:




it wasnt until i made it back to my apartment that i fully realized exactly what i had gotten myself into. here i am, a 5' 2.5" tall, 120 pound woman living in a second floor apartment, with a 3x4 foot 101 pound box to heft out of my car and up a flight of steps. this was starting to seem like a not-so-good idea. but i had a point to prove - i am a capable, industrious, strong single woman - so (after quickly glancing around the parking lot in hopes of seeing a strong man who might be willing to help me) i hefted the monster box out of gretchen and across the short distance to my door. after it took a decent amount of effort just to get the box far enough inside so i could shut the door, my hopes of actually having a table and chairs in my apartment began to waver a little. i ended up flipping the box end over end in order to make slow progress up the stairs. even as i type that, it seems a lot easier said than done. there were a few moments in which my own mortality seemed very real, and one particular moment that i remember thinking that if i were to fall and be crumpled in a heap-o-mando at the bottom of the stairs and allowed this bigger-than-me box to land on top of me, there would be no one to worry about me and no way of anyone knowing that anything was wrong. and even if someone were to come to my rescue, they wouldnt even be able to get in to help me because the door wouldnt open because i and the table in a box would be smushed against it.
at one point, when i was mere inches away from the top of the stairs, i was certain that i was going to just have to let go - i was in pain all over, i was overheating in my hoodie and i couldnt even take a break to take it off, i couldnt budge the box another inch, and my grip on the railing was slipping. i was really hoping for a movie moment where a big strong guy would just ring my doorbell and come to my rescue, but no one came. i have no idea how i got that box up onto the landing, but i did. and it sat there in the middle of my living room. i was too tired and sore to even lift my camera to take a picture of it sitting there. the appropriateness of the sight that greeted me at the top of the stairs - a message of survival and encouragement - was not lost on me :)
the next night (after i had spent the majority of the day popping ibuprofen and recovered a little) i decided to put the thing together. the first chair (out of four) took me an hour to put together. i got better as i went, and had the last chair together in 20 minutes. i was all done in time to watch Glee at nine. i was so proud of myself. theyre so pretty :)i have most recently accesorized them with uber-on-sale placemats in the most gorgeous shade of sage-y green that match my scheme perfectly and look gorgeous against the dark brown fake wood.
come visit anytime. me and my table are ready for you :)