All Grown Up

I got some new furniture last weekend. A couch for my family room, a love seat for my living room. And a leather recliner. In general, not a big fan of leather recliners myself, but let's just say I bought it to make a couple of other people very happy. Because apparently, that is what I live for.

My new furniture makes me irrationally content. I sneak downstairs and peek in on it as though I expect to catch it doing something it shouldn't be doing. But the love seat is just sitting there, where I left it, after about 200 different attempts at arranging it, that is. The couch too (the recliner, I'm not so sure; I think it may be something of a trouble-maker).

I see them there, and I have the urge to clap, and exclaim out loud "Yay!" I may, in fact, have actually done this. Several times.

Don't judge me too severely. Come on, admit it. You know how I feel.

Remember when we were kids and our parents purchased something boring like furniture or an appliance? I thought they were crazy to get excited over items that were clearly so mundane. Or maybe they were just old.

Although actually, an appliance was always fun because it came in a huge cardboard box. Which my parents would allow us to play with for a few days before they got rid of it. All the neighborhood kids would gather in our driveway and take turns closing each other up in the box. Which we'd then knock over, pushing and kicking it around the driveway while the person inside laughed and screamed for his or her life.

Ah, good times...

These days, I prefer the appliance to the box. I guess that means I'm old. Or maybe crazy. Or perhaps, just a grownup.

I recall when The Ex and I were in our 20's and we bought our first house, and then our first refrigerator, washer, and dryer. I was genuinely thrilled to own these things. But I was also confused that I could be so thrilled over appliances versus say, shoes or books or a vacation in Bermuda.

Then I realized what had happened. I'd become a grownup. And the definition of a grownup, apparently, is one who is able to find ridiculous fulfillment in appliances. As well as furniture.

Don't even get me started on flooring and counter tops.

How about you?

 

Comments

[Jen on the Edge]

I finally felt like a true adult when I finally had a living room that did not contain any particle board shelves or hand-me-down furniture. Never mind that I already had two children, the furniture was the signal that announced my grown-up-ness.

[Ocean Girl]

I am excited with you, arranging new furniture, that's celestial happiness.

It must be I was already a grown-up because growing-up we(all five of us) were excited over anything new or not, that came through the door. And I don't remember any boxes. I remember the day we had our FIRST washing machine, FIRST blender. Dryer, microwave oven, dishwasher came only EIGHT years after I was married.

[Jan]

I ran around taking pictures like mad and posting them all over my blog while squealing like a schoolgirl when we bought our wine hutch and curio, then a few months later our new bookshelves (all hand-made by an exceedingly accommodating Amish man).

If you want to talk flooring and counter tops - wait until we remodel the bathrooms this winter. We may all explode with satisfaction. LOL

[Lynn]

Nice furniture like that? Who do you think you are? The Kennedies? *wink* Seriously, I know how you feel. I'd lived on my own for severeal years before getting married, and had a few things--nothing fancy, mostly second hand. Then I married, moved here and bought a piano. Also not new--but it was a PIANO. And I felt that I had arrived! New stove, fridge, and couch (now looking kind of shabby) later, I still have to say that, even though having grown-up things is thrill-worthy, I still like playing in the appliance boxes, too. It's good to have balance.

[class factotum]

The thrill of my own washer and dryer was the thrill of not having to haul two overstuffed hampers of dirty clothes to the laundromat (during daylight hours, of course) and sit there for at least three hours while the panhandling winos wandered in and out. It was the thrill of not having to own two weeks' worth of everything. It was the thrill of being able to do other things while I washed clothes. It was the thrill of being able to wear my favorite clothes more than once every two weeks.

I feel you, my sister. Now go sit on that sofa and sip a glass of wine. Use a coaster.

[LPC]

It's Home. And Home, more than almost anything, deserves an enormous Yay!

[Picture Imperfect]

Wow, it's beautiful!!!

I don't own my house yet so don't really spend money on furniture or appliances, but I sure can see the appeal! I can't wait to buy my first house and set it all up (over a span of decades I'm sure because I won't have any money after I buy the house lol) with nice furniture and cool appliances.

Totally worthy of a "Yay!" and I'm thinking you could even get away with a "Yay ME!!!" I know I wouldn't judge you. ;o)

Have a wonderful day Maureen!

[Erin@TheLocalsLoveIt]

Congratulations. I was a weird kid. I preferred to sit alone in my room and design homes and cut out pictures of how it would be decorated. So I've ALWAYS loved appliances and furniture. Always.

[~The South Dakota Cowgirl~]

Ah yes! New furniture! And the memories of playing in big boxes when you were a kid. Priceless!

How appropriate for me to read this post, right now. Seeing as how I have been in a constant form of clinical depression since starting the Prednisone.

Zach and I got our first brand new washer and dryer last January when we moved back into his old house (the one he built and shared with his obnoxious ex wife) but I digress; do we really want to know how I feel about living in this house? He was 39 and I was 31. A first for both of us. It was lovely.

I haven't ever been more excited about something. We'll have them paid off in Janauray, and then I've decided it's time for a dishwasher. I don't have one currently, unless you count Zach. So yes, I can relate. We just got some new chairs for our living room, and I plan to show them off this week in their own happy little blog post.

[Erin]

I have been happy to have my own stuff in my own place. Not hand-me-down and not something I bought with a man. :-)

[Twenty Four At Heart]

I have accent pillows on my couch out of the fabric of your loveseat/couch in the above picture. WE'RE PRACTICALLY TWINS!!! : )

[kathryn]

Beautiful furniture! When did we become grown-ups? Can't we just be juveniles...with good taste?

[Heather]

I felt that thrill ealier this year when I got my first BRAND NEW matching washer and dryer set. I was grinning from ear to ear for weeks.

I've been trying to save for a couch, but that is going to take at least a year. Then I realized if I had that new couch, I probably wouldn't let anyone sit on it and what will the dogs and cats do to it. I want it, but scared to get it.

Congrats on your purchase!

[Mama Badger]

Ahhh, beautiful furniture. Do you let the kids sit on it? And why isn't it covered in plastic. That's how you know your old.

I think our love of our stuff comes from working so hard for the money that bought it. It's the satisfaction of knowing that when you show up at 8 and leave at 5 you acutally got something for it. Something you can enjoy for a while.