A peek inside

At last! Some images from my crib. It's still rather austere with plain white walls and limited furnishing, but I'm certain that I will make it snug and personal in due time. However, the apartment is just 400 sq ft (approximately 37 sq m), so there isn't much room for extravagance.

The magic number welcomes you at my door.

This is the kitchen part of the room that serves as hall, kitchen, dining area, study, living room, dance floor, and library. The step stool by the window is essential, as the cupboards are positioned at the perfect height for a medium-sized giant.

I'm hoping to find a comfy armchair to snuggle up in, but currently this corner of the room is where I spend most of my waking hours when at home.

For reasons of economy, I soon realized that the impression I was aiming for in terms of furnishing had to be "shabby chic". I found these wooden crates at a local rummage sale, put one on top of the other and abracadabra: a home made shoe rack.

My bedroom. The chair, the bedside table, and the mirror (which will be wall mounted eventually) were all found at various thrift stores. Cheap is the new black!

This was just a brief introduction to my lodging; more pictures will be posted as I start decorating. Welcome back!

A lot like love

It's funny, really; I keep catching myself smiling dumbly on my way to work, or giggling unwittingly during an evening jog as I get a glimpse of the sparkling skyscrapers downtown.

I just feel so lucky.

Chillaxin

The Arnold Library at FHCRC sure has some comfy armchairs to crawl up in on a quiet Friday afternoon. A pleasant spot for some grant reading in peace and tranquility.

IKEA revisited / I depend on me

Saturday made me ridiculously full of myself. Ollie and Nancy had been kind enough to lend me their van while they spent the weekend in their cabin, opening up the opportunity for me to go back to IKEA and buy a bed frame without being subject to two-faced advertisers on Craigslist. Great! There were, however, a few circumstances that made me slightly nervous. In fact, they made me anxious enough that I didn’t get much sleep the night before.

What bothered me was mainly this:

1. I had never before driven a car in the US.
2. I had never before maneuvered on a five-lane freeway.
3. I had never before driven a van.
4. I had no GPS to guide me.

Without embroidering the story too much I would simply like to conclude that not only did I make my way out to Renton and back (approximately 32 km, one way) without injuring myself or the borrowed vehicle, I actually did it with confidence and delight. All by myself!

(Yes, I took a picture while approaching Seattle on the way back, but only when traffic slowed down.)

As if that wasn’t enough, once home I also assembled the full-sized bed frame on my own, even though the instruction manual recommended getting assistance, and managed to put the base and mattress into place.

So damn proud of myself! And the bedroom? Way better now.

Ups and downs

I’m sorry for poor updating but this has been a crazy week, the move-in being a real rollercoaster ride. I spent my first night in the apartment last Sunday, and I must admit that the whole experience awoke all kinds of feelings in me. For the first time since I left Sweden, I started getting really homesick, missing my comfortable life in Gothenburg. Longing for stability and familiar faces. Luckily, one of the neighboring bars hosted some kind of wild karaoke party that night, keeping me company as I lay awake staring at the ceiling. I must say that the crowd happily bawling out Gloria Gaynor’s “I will survive” (sic) at 1 am actually made me feel a little less lonesome and a bit more cheerful; any other night it would probably have bothered the heck out of me, but not this night.

Since then, things have improved considerably, albeit with a few interesting incidents. To summarize:

Sunday: Moved in, finally. New floors, cupboards, countertop, bathroom cabinet, light fixtures. Apartment not quite ready, though. Paint fumes and dust. Shelves missing in cupboards. Gas stove not working (no ignition). New bathroom cabinet wouldn’t close. Sigh.

Monday: Bathroom cabinet fixed, shelves installed in cupboards, apartment cleaned. Stove still not working. Sigh.

Tuesday: Took the day off and went to IKEA in Renton by bus. (My friends and colleagues just look at me like I'm mad when I tell them this. You did what? The bus!? No no no… We’ll drive you there, for Chrissake!) Anyway, it worked out pretty okay, even if it may not have been the most time-efficient mode of transportation. This wouldn’t have bothered me much if it wasn't for a rendezvous I had scheduled later that afternoon. I was buying a used kitchen table I'd found through Craigslist, and managed to get to the appointed place in time after hurrying as much as I could. 20 minutes later, I had to realize that I'd been stood up... Not much to do; I dragged my tired body back to the move-in mess. Back to the non-working stove. Sigh.

Wednesday: The kitchen table-guy emailed and apologized, offered the table for free if I still wanted it. Me: yay! I had already arranged for Nancy to help me transport a bed frame I was buying from another woman, so the timing was great. One hour before we were leaving I got an email from the woman, containing one sentence: “Already sold it.” Oh, come on… Tried to stay positive. Picked up the kitchen table, which was perfect. Finally, some good news! Showed Nancy the improvements in the apartment since she last saw it; opened the refrigerator to demonstrate that the hinges had been moved from the left side to the right – and the door came off. Eh... Awkward. I couldn’t get it to close properly and the landlord wouldn’t answer his phone all evening, so I simply gave up and went to sleep. (It really didn’t matter that much as I hadn’t stocked up on food anyway, because the stove still wasn’t working.) Sigh. 

Thursday: Landlord apologized for not noticing my phone calls, promised to fix refrigerator door and stove right away. Emailed later and told me that he needed some spare parts; the fridge was temporarily fixed but I had to use some force to shut it properly. The stove still wasn’t working, but a repair guy was on his way. Sigh.

Friday: New email from landlord, saying that the stove was deemed unworthy of repair. New stove would wait for me when I came home. And it did! And it works! (Also, fridge door taken care of.) YAY!

Christmas comes but once a year

...so we might as well get started. Right?

The (roaring) sound of soccer

Sunday afternoon offered a pleasant break from the move-in misery when Seattle Sounders FC took on their nemesis Portland Timbers at the CenturyLink Field in Seattle. The Seattleites are highly devoted to their soccer team with an average crowd for this season of 43 000; a baffling number that ranks their attendance higher than that of many great teams in the major European leagues. This Sunday, however, was exceptional, when no less than 66 452 (!) spectators saw the Sounders defeat the Timbers with 3-0. All Swedes can be extra proud over the ex-IFK Göteborg defender Adam Johansson who did an outstanding job throughout the whole game, including a crucial run that directly lead to the oh-so-important 1-0 goal. Once again, I owe this precious treat to season ticket holders Shani and Scott who offered me to join them.

This piece of paper was probably worth quite a lot of money as the game was completely sold out. And I got it for free! I am positively spoiled.

Let's just say that the view was pretty good from where we stood... And you gotta love the skyscraper backdrop.

Did I mention that it was sold out? It was sold out. And the fans were crazy; chanting, singing, clapping and cheering the whole 90 minutes.

Me and Shani. Scott actually brought me a scarf so that I could show my colors and avoid being "naked" in the crowd. Major THANK YOU for this awesome event!

And you know what? In two week's time, I get to go again! Yay!

Hurry up and wait

I guess I was pretty naive to think that things would run smoothly with my move-in to the new apartment. Pretty damn naive... Although I'm very grateful for the place being extensively renovated (new floors, cupboards etc.), the makeover apparently took more time than the landlord anticipated and I'm still staying at the old place; all packed up and ready to go. Sigh. Frustrating, to say the least... But hopefully, this is my last night here. And honestly, who cares in the long run? As soon as I get settled in properly, this aggravation will surely be forgotten.

Until then, I can rejoice at the bargains I made today when Nancy and I went rummage sale shopping together. For instance, I bought a fully functioning vacuum cleaner (including bags) for $5, a kettle (Braun) for $3, and a cool, gold framed vintage mirror for $5. All in all, I spent $45 on 23 different items. Let's just keep our fingers crossed and hope that I'll have a home to put them in tomorrow...

Keyed up!

Just picked up the keys to my new apartment. My own apartment! It's a tiny one bedroom unit in the heart of Fremont, and I can hardly wait to start filling it with curious items and peculiar furniture from the nearby thrift shops.

As I currently own little more than the clothes I'm wearing, I'm practically a charity case. Luckily, there are a lot of wonderful people surrounding me; Ollie and Nancy are providing me with a bed, and another friend from work gave me a whole box of plates, bowls, mugs and various kitchen utensils to start out with. The generosity! I feel deeply indebted to them.

Thus, tomorrow I'll take my bags and few belongings and begin a new chapter of my Seattle adventure. Stay tuned for pictures and a more detailed exposé of the apartment and its surroundings!

Meta

Awkward, yet flattering: Minimalist Street Fashion.