Box Fort

One week after the move and there are still unpacked boxes. Almost every corner in the living room is occupied by either a box of books or by a piece of furniture that needs to be put together.

This maze of boxes got me thinking of Friends, Season 5. After Ross says the wrong name during his wedding—OMG!—during the final episode of Season 4, his marriage to Emily crashes down around him. Ross is eventually kicked out of the apartment he was meant to share with Emily.

In fly Joey and Chandler!

Ross and his boxes settle into a temporary living arrangement with Joey and Chandler. While Chandler is preoccupied by the idea of sharing his space with Ross, again, Joey is grown up enough to recognize that Ross needs their support… and that the boxes are the perfect building blocks for a fort!

The One Where Ross Moves In – Part 1[hit 7.30 - 8.15]

Chandler: What are you doing?
Joey: Nothing.
Chandler: You built a fort, didn’t ya?
Joey: Kinda.
Chandler: Oh my God, the air purifier! Ross’s air purifier! All I heard through four years of college was mmmmhmmhmmmmmm…
Joey: Dude, you should’ve gone out once and a while.
Chandler: I hate this thing!
Joey: Come on, Chandler, Ross is our friend. He needs us right now, so why don’t you be a grown up and come and watch some TV in the fort!

Oh Joey, you are so craaaaazy! Ha! Hit the next link to see more of the fort fun =D

The One Where Ross Moves In – Part 3 [hit 3.56 - end]

Essence of Bacon

My boyfriend and I love food. Yummy. In our apartment, we definitely use the kitchen. Over the past few days we have cooked up muffins, pork ribs, and breakfast burritos. All delightful.

Some people have unique secrets when it comes to breakfast burritos. However, when creating a killer breakfast burrito it is important to include a few key ingredients:

• Boiled Potatoes
  Nothing screams over indulgent breakfast food like carby, starchy potatoes.
• Scrambled Eggs
  Let’s face it, breakfast is not breakfast without the incredible edible egg.
• Cheese, Cheese, CHeeeeeese
  Enough said.
• Green Chile
  NEVER skip this step, even if the stuff in the can is not as good as New Mexican chilies.
• Bacon
  Yes, Teresa will know if there is no bacon.

Crispy bacon. Now, aside from the wealth of fat, cooking bacon has a pitfall. The smell. Even a few days post bacon cooking, our apartment still smells like bacon. Not like fresh-cooked bacon, but the air has a lingering essence of bacon. Ooo la la.

Though the scent is not going to hit the shelves as a new cologne anytime soon, the smell is not bad. Well, while lounging in a lunch-food coma, my boyfriend and I overheard a neighbor of ours in the hall comment on the smell emanating from our apartment. Little Jimmy stopped in front of our closed door to comment. The wee tyke was quick. He efficaciously deduced that the smell coming from our apartment was bacon… or so he said to his Nanny.

HA HA HA HA! Apparently our apartment is known for its food smells. Aces.

Well, this brush with eaves dropping reminded me an episode of Friends. This is the one about a beautiful girl with not so beautiful organizational habits.

Friends -The One With The Dirty Girl (1)
Hit 6.25-7.20
Friends – The One With The Dirty Girl (2)
Hit 5.25-7.09

Our apartment may smell like bacon but at least it is clean. Her apartment is just plain disgusting. “Oh thank god, it’s not Mitzy…. it’s just a rat.” I think I would have a heart attack… and not because of my bacon grease clogged arteries. =P

Interview Mishaps

Common sense dictates that one needs to brush up on his/her interview skills before walking into a job interview. As my search for a new job continues, I am looking more into creating the right impression during an interview. Let me tell you, it is a scintillating subject (*Ha, sure it is*).

Some interview “experts” advise interviewees to be beware of appearing too artificial. In other words, it is best to find the balance between being yourself and being the perfect job candidate. After reading this tip, I immediately thought of a scene from Friends. In this particular job interview scene, Chandler (Matthew Perry) is trying very hard to create the impression that he is a mature adult who does not have an overbearing sense of humor. Hmmm, nice try Chandler. He almost side-stepped the steaming pile of interview poo.

Most importantly, interview “experts” emphasize the significance of first impressions. Issues like appearance and body language fall into this category. This is a interesting topic. In my case, for instance, I have several piercings in my ears. However, I am so confident, competent and sweet natured that I can almost guarantee that a sensible interviewer will overlook the holes in my ear cartilage. Yet, that does not diminish the importance of how significant a first impression can be.

Cue Friends interview #2.  Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) walks into her Ralph Lauren interview looking professional and acting professional… up to a point. All of her positive qualities are diminished in relation to her poor departure. Bummer, Rachel [hit minute 6.22]. In the end, after a series of other interview mishaps, Rachel’s positive qualities outshine her nervous mistakes. However, I still wouldn’t suggest viewing Rachel’s interview as a positive example of first impressions… or Joey’s, for that matter =D

Ikea Saturday

I-k-k-k-kea! On the occasional Saturday afternoon when I find that I have nothing planned and that I am too lazy to participate in any productive activity, I wonder down to the local Ikea for an afternoon of entertainment. On my way to the furniture mega-store, I am reminded of a scene from Friends. The plot of the episode is entirely irrelevant, but Chandler [actor Matthew Perry] has a line that suits my Saturday outing: “I get my ya-yas from Ikea. You have to put them together yourself, but they cost a little bit less.” [Hit Minute 6:38 from Season 1part 1, ‘The one with all the poker’]

On the Saturdays in question, I definitely get my ‘ya-yas’ from Ikea. Now before minds start wandering unnecessarily into the darker corners of imagination, let me illuminate you.

First and foremost, Ikea is a veritable people-watching ground.

Throughout the three floors of this modded out warehouse is a myriad of bargain shoppers. A large portion of the group is in their twenties. This age group is a prime Ikea consumer. At a time when most individuals are scrapping by, what could be more uplifting than the prospect of personalizing a new studio apartment at about half the cost?

The second largest group of consumers on a Saturday afternoon are newly weds and young parents. Often these groups overlap with the twenty-somethings, but the newly weds and young parents each maintain their own Ikea category. Either complete with baby stroller or sans screaming child, this group of individuals is looking to furnish multiple rooms… fast. While the adults debate between the sturdiness of coffee tables, the mighty-mights hop from one floor display to the next playing pretend house.

Second, Ikea offers style inept individuals interior design visuals.

The Ikea showroom is an entire floor dedicated to displaying the products. Model rooms incorporate both furniture and accessories to create unique displays. Winding along the tile path are model rooms for every age. The design of each model has a clear pattern. Now, I am no style guru, but I can safely say that these designs are meant to inspire those of us who don’t know which colors look good together and which wood stains go with which fabrics. Taking notes based on the style numbers and color codes of each piece in a single model room, every patron is able to produce a chic layout for his or her own domicile.

Towards one corner of the showroom floor there is an entire apartment-like model that displays a kitchen, living room, bedroom, bathroom, and walk-in closet. Have you ever read/seen From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler? Well, at one point during the book/movie two children stay overnight in the NYC Met. While I wandered through Ikea’s apartment model, I couldn’t help but imagine a similar scenario taking place in the Ikea.

———-

The down side of these model rooms and the decision to waste an afternoon in a mega-store is that Ikea subtly convinces me to purchase more than I intended to. This Saturday, for example, I just came to people-watch but ended up walking out with a lamp. ‘Oh, HAMBURGERS!’ So yeah, I got my entertainment ya-yas and a lamp from Ikea.