Let me begin by filling you in on yesterday, as I could not get internet before I had to go to bed. Yesterday was overall a somewhat futile day because I went on an excursion to try and find a bed. I attempted to go to a mattress store, but the bus routes I'd have to take to get there were very tedious and somewhat complicated. I felt like I could do it though, so I packed up my laptop (for good measure) and headed down one street, made the first transfer and got to the intersection I'd hoped I'd reach. That's when the surprise came... as it turns out, Google Maps sometimes severely under-represents distances... so what seemed to be a ten minute walk on Google Maps was more like a 10 min. bus ride from that intersection where I'd been dropped off by the bus. I tried to start walking the distance but it was ghastly hot out and no shade in sight. Of course I didn't have any fluids with me, so after about 10 min. of walking, I gave up and turned around and had to return defeated to downtown (where I was supposed to take another transfer of busses to go home). I decided not to go home, though, and instead I walked around the downtown area for a little while, and just as I was walking I noticed a familiar face walking towards me! And I recognized Ayva as she came towards me! We were both so shocked! Ayva is a girl who used to dance at the same studio as I did when we were younger and we've taken class together at Ballet Vic a number of times, too. Well, I can hardly explain to you how it feels to see a familiar face in the midst of foreign territory and loneliness, topped with whipped frustration from the city's less-than-ideal transit system, and smothered in sticky sweat from the all-too-hot air. Ayva dances in Toronto, but she was visiting her cousin in London. We stood chatting for a few minutes and that basically turned my day completely around and I felt so much lighter and happier and effervescent after having seen her :)
Now, about today... My mother arrived today, and we rented a car together! I took three busses from my apartment just to meet her at the airport. I feel very proud of myself for having pulled that together -- especially given yesterday's embarrassing transit mishap and failure. So we rented a car and caught up all morning. Then we had an appointment in the afternoon to go see a lady's apartment who was getting rid of a BUNCH of stuff for free... all we needed was a way of getting it delivered. So we were pretty excited to at least be able to find a few things to start with and for a great deal! When we made it to the apartment, though, we started looking through the furnishings and the available items and it was all but sickening to the sight and smell. This woman had been a long-time smoker and lived with cats. Furthermore, her items were old, old-fashioned, tacky, and of questionable quality. She had actually had someone else showing the apartment's items to us (perhaps from shame?), but we still felt quite awkward as we did not know how to leave without seeming rude. In the end we took just two items - a garbage bin and a standing lamp, both of which could be salvaged. The lady had perhaps three or four items that were decent and I would have taken, but of course those were the three or four items of the entire apartment that she was not parting with.
I think we both felt a little let down and disappointed when we left that apartment because the lady who showed us the stuff had been very enthusiastic and had made it sound as though it were great stuff we'd be seeing, but alas... it was nothing of the sort.
So next we went to see some used-furniture stores. Interestingly, there's about a whole 2 blocks somewhere on the outskirts of downtown or something, where there are stores beside stores beside stores of used clothing, used furniture, or some mixed combination of the two. Omigosh was that ever a great sequel to our most recent horror. Most of the people walking around outside those stores were... well... not well off and not very pleasant, unkept, filmy, and - excuse me but - downright grimy!
Oh! I must tell you that I saw a cheaply made, faux-hardwood dining set in a thrift store (a table and four chairs), scratched but otherwise in decent condition for $500! $500? What? For faux-hardwood (I guess they call that laminate when it's floors... do they call it 'laminate' when its furniture?)? Scratched? In a THRIFT store? We just walked straight out of that one.
I was starting to get very turned off by London when finally we entered a little jewel in the middle of the rough, and in the jewel was another little jewel... a dining set. Hardwood! Real hardwood. Oak with a walnut finish. All antique-looking and a perfect size for my apartment. I wasn't sure about it - probably due to how dispirited I'd become about all the sketchy furniture and crude people I'd seen already in such a short time period - but thankfully my mother talked me into getting it. We ordered delivery from the same lady in the store (her husband's job) and now I have a dining set which I love sitting - or perhaps a better phrase to use would be, "posing itself" - in my dining/kitchen area! A treat!
We also managed to find a few other little filler-furnishings in another little decent store along those couple blocks of expensive-thrift madness.
This evening we found further triumph in the furniture finding process by finding someone within the building who was selling a number of items, including a couch. So I finally have somewhere comfortable to sit that is not the floor! :) Hence my picture today at the top of the blog.
We also somehow managed to go to Costco today and buy a BUNCH of stuff and also to a grocery store. Thanks to Mom my apartment now looks much more like a home, and my fridge is full and I am super well equipped. And so I am so grateful for my Mom, who came all the way here just to be my support system and an amazing one at that.
Also, I want to take a moment to thank my sister, who, despite her busy schedule of taking two condensed summer classes, found the time to paint me four beautiful works of art (which arrived in Mom's suitcase) in warm red and orange and yellow colours, which now brighten my apartment so beautifully. They are fiery and sun-like and I know I am especially going to appreciate them so much during the winter to come.
Family is wonderful, even from afar :)
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