Casa Mia

'My' street - it was barricaded for the Halloween parade.
No one was murdered don't worry.

This is the big week!  We are finally moving into our new home!  Back in Software Development this would be what we call the Implementation Week.  Speaking of which, some folks rave about the Agile approach - you release small amount of features on a regular basis and you continuously correct and improve and add more features until you get to a stage where everything is close to perfect.  I kinda dig it too (I had my own Scrum Wall back in our Sydney home to manage the whole big overseas move).  However when it comes to moving into a new place I am all about Waterfall and the Big Bang https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterfall_model.  Continuos 'development' would mean I will be living in the 'moving' stage for an extended period of time, and after all the chaos we went through ever since Nelson got his job offer I don't think I could handle any more of that.  :-)

Without further ado, let me walk you through this Waterfall project:

Requirements:

• Sufficient 'stuff' to enable running of 2 co-dependent adults' day-to-day lives.  This include (but not limit to):
• Enough couch space so the above mentioned adults do not bicker over who is taking up more than their fare share of the sofa rendering the other person sulking on an ottoman
• Comfortable mechanism to put feet up when required, after a long day of working/museum hopping
• Enough storage for pots, pans and cutleries
• Enough pot(s), pan(s), and cutleries to last till shipping container arrive post Christmas (I now no longer remember what is in shipping...)
• Somewhere to have meals like civilised human beings (which means not on the sofa)
• Somewhere for the same adults to use their laptops without having to visit chiropractor afterwards
• Storage for files, documents and random work stuff
• Comfortable device to sleep on after a long day of working/museum hopping/shopping (which means camping air mattresses do not count)
• Somewhere for he-who-shall-not-be-named to dump clothes in the bedroom so they do not infest the apartment like cane toads https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cane_toads_in_Australia
• Storage for clothes, shoes, and general crap
• Somewhere to put dirty laundry
• Privacy mechanism to enable situations such as not decently-dressed or dozing off on the couch with mouth opened
• Constraints:
• Only one bedroom
• Tiny kitchen
• Little built in storage space
• Small bathroom
• No internal laundry
• Limited budget cannot go crazy and buy posh designer furniture like in movies

This would give you an idea on how
 small the kitchen is - and the stove is smaller
than the microwave!
Welcome to #NYC living - so I heard.
ps. excuse my feet!

Design:

• Two couches - one each (no bickering!)
• Long coffee table with storage for laptops also for putting feet up
• A kitchen island that works as 1) extra food preparation space 2) storage 3) dining table 4) desk 5) inspection station when HUGE toilet paper rolls were accidentally bought

• A decent bed and an even more decent mattress - no earthquake when someone tosses and turns
• A bench at the end of the bed (as a stop gate to prevent the day's clothes to go on the floor)
• Chest of drawers in the bedroom (to make up the lack of actual storage space in the storage space)
• Large laundry basket
• Blinds (faux wood for the bathroom, timber for the rest of the apartment)
• Buy only 1 x pot and 1 x pan and 2 sets of cutleries (and see if we could last till Christmas...)

Implementation Day 1 - Wednesday

• The first to arrive were the lovely folks from West Elm.  3 guys to deliver 3 pieces of furniture (2 of them were tiny nightstands).  Go American efficiency!

the 3 amigos - one box each keeps the chiropractor away!

• Next up were the boys from http://www.ifurnitureassembly.com/, Konstian and Konstian (no kidding!)  These are the guys who 1) shop in IKEA on my behalf (with a shopping list I created on the IKEA website), and 2) went to the New Jersey IKEA to save me money on tax, and 3) delivered all the flat packs to the apartment, and 4) assemble all of them on site in a speedy and friendly manner.  They are truly amazing!  They have put together a 2 seater sofa (which is called a love seat here), a kitchen island, a chest of many many drawers, and put up a massive mirror on the bedroom wall.  They also cleaned up afterwards.

Konstian #1 putting the love seat together.
Notice that he took off his shoes
and did all the work on cupboard boxes.
His mom has taught him well!

• While I went cushion shopping (partially because I felt bad just sitting there watching the boys lived through my ultimate nightmare of putting up IKEA furniture), CB2 had delivered the red sofa and floor lamp.  With moi MIA means they missed out on the tip!  Uh-oh! (oh well)
• Last but not least:  Sitting room rug has arrived too! 

End of Day 1:

Implementation Day 2 - Thursday

• Guys from Times Warners came to install the cable for internet - can't live without that.  (side note:  the live-in Super told me we are the only unit out of 50 in the building who don't have a TV.  I wonder how she knows that... and I am keeping the trend strong.  TV sets are a real mood killer.  I am bringing reading and chatting back in fashion!)

Shower caps on shoes - Yes Respect the Floor!  I like it.

• Time to call the ifurnitureassembly boys back!  This time only one of the Konstians turned up.  We now have a sideboard for the sitting room and the coffee table!

End of Day 2: (somehow managed to bruise my finger without having to assemble anything whatsoever)

Implementation Day 3 - Friday

• Today is the day I could finally use the bathroom without worrying about if I might accidentally scare little children - no extra explanation needed.

Shower curtain from Anthropologie.
Before the blinds were installed
I had to use 2 large shopping bags
as my modesty screen.

• We also moved all our stuff from Midtown to our new home in a Uber car.  With a modest gratitude the Uber driver was quite happy to help us move all the luggages to the front door.

Implementation Day 4 - Sunday (final implementation yahoo!)

• The bed has arrived!  Round of beer for everyone!  Now I can call this a home.  To celebrate the happy occasion I made the first home-cooked breakfast in a very long time.  It was a mix between a traditional Aussie brekkie and American style (thanks to the bagel) but yes it is nice 'to be home'!

Week 4 non-moving-related highlights:

- First house party in NYC:  we got invited to a really lovely dinner party in the Upper West Side.  Great food and great company and a very disturbing party game called https://cardsagainsthumanity.com/  There are some words that I can no longer un-learn since... and not in a good way.  :-)

The most extravagant charcuterie board ever.  

Next week:  my one-pot wonders!