The bean bag decision

Mercifully, this week has been less exciting than last week. We don't take possession of our new place until March 17th, so this week was full of the arrangements that go with new places: power hookups, internet, sourcing appliances, moving logistics, etc. Full disclosure - Justin handled 99% of all of that.

As I mentioned in my previous post, we are now playing a rousing game of 'what do we actually need to comfortably live'. Its harder than you think. We already agreed to order a bed & related linens from ikea. There is a kitchen table & chairs in the apartment already. We know we are going to do a big trip to k-mart for immediate, need to have consumables like hand soap, toilet paper, etc. For kitchenware, we are mostly going the thrift store route. You can find some surprisingly good quality pots & pans if you know what you are looking for.

Aside: Thrift stores in Australia are called opportunity shops, which is shortened to op shop. This is a nation that LOVES shortened words and nicknames, so their Salvation army stores are called Salvos and their St. Vincent de Paul stores are called Vinnies.

Our furnishings plan has a clear gap - a couch/the living room. I am the first to admit - it sucks to live in a place without a comfortable place to sit and lounge. Its literally called the 'living' room. Its where a lot of time is spent. Probably because of that, couches are expensive if bought new. There is a thriving used market for them, but that requires some patience, and ideally a large vehicle for pick up. This puts us in an awkward place: Do we pay the money for a new couch that can be delivered and we will have right away? Or do we live couch-less and uncomfortable for a while until we find something for the right price & convenience? Or do we split the difference, and buy a cheap but probably uncomfortable couch to get us through until we can get something better (aka the best-worst of both worlds)?

We went back and forth on this for a while until we came to a decision that is both affordable, and provides us with comfortable seating: Bean bag chairs.

Now, if you read that, and your next thought was critical, doubtful or skeptical, I would challenge you to sit and reflect on the following question: When was the last time you had to completely furnish a living space from nothing to livable within a few days, on as small a budget as possible, with no vehicle access, and no one else to help out? If the answer to that question is not 'definitely within the last year', then I am probably not interested in hearing your criticisms or doubts of our plan. If you still feel strongly enough about the bean bag decision that you feel compelled to tell me your non-positive thoughts, then you will be relieved to know we are happy to take donations that we will absolutely put towards the purchase of a couch. In the kindest, most loving and respectful way - put up or shut up.

With that disclaimer out of the way, lets talk about bean bag chairs. I had mentioned in an earlier post that Australians seem very into bean bag chairs. There were a bunch of outdoor ones at the beer fest we went to our first weekend here, I have seen them as a seating option in coffee shops, there is even one in the lunchroom at my work. I previously haven't sat in a bean bag chair in years, but I'm happy to lean in. They are cheap, comfy, and relatively easy to move (because you buy the cover and the fill separately). Plus, when we do eventually get a couch, they will still be usable and just as comfortable. They will just be an additional seating option rather than the only seating option.

Right now we are feeling like we have most of the bigger furnishing decisions made, which is nice. We both have had waves of decision fatigue and anxiety through this process. I think a lot of this is rooted in the current transiency of our situation. We like our AirBnb, but its an AirBnb. Its not our home, and its not really something we can start to invest in. Not only are we in a temporary space, but we don't have our own 'home' to go back to. We have been essentially nomads since the second week of February when we packed up all of our stuff. I know we did the nomad thing for 8 months when we were backpacking Europe. But in that situation we were moving locations every few days. We weren't just living our regular lives.

Both of us really liked our stuff and our home in Halifax. We spent the 4.5 years since we got back from Europe curating our furniture and belongings. It felt like we had just gotten to a place where our stuff was actually OUR stuff. Not just things people gave us because we really needed a coffee table and they had an old one in the garage. Now we are starting over. Again. To be honest, sometimes that feels like a hit to the ego. I do think that once we are situated, once the absolute basics are covered, the process of re-building will be really fun. Justin & I both love scouring thrift stores and online market places for cool stuff. But before we get to the fun part, we both need a little stability.

I never think I have anything to write about until I sit down at my computer. I definitely didn't think this was the direction this post would take. I have a whole other spiel about eucalyptus trees, but I think I will save that for another day. We have an exciting weekend of festivals and taxes planned (not sarcasm. We are planning to file our Canadian taxes this weekend. Justin LOVES filing taxes. Its super strange). I'm sure I will have more to post about it later in the weekend!