Anyone who has every perused craigslist knows that there are a lot of losers and very few winners. Not in terms of people, but it terms of furniture. People selling 80s couches, calling them "vintage" (when ratty and run down are more appropriate terms), and then asking $150 for them. People using the terms 'cute' (small), 'well loved' (beat up), 'several small spots' (only god knows where those stains came from). You get the picture. Now there were nicer couches on there, but people wanted to get close to what they paid. I'd get so excited to see a normal looking sofa only to realize they're asking 800 bucks for that baby. No thanks, I can get a new couch for that much.
I had been looking for weeks, maybe months, but most certainly weeks. And anyone who knows me knows that when I'm on the lookout for something, I'm relentless. Every day, hour, minute that I could be on craigslist I was surfing around using key words and terms that I knew would find me the couch of my dreams. I have to say I was pretty hopeless. It was a week until I moved into my new place, and I was going to have to take that heavy, old, camelbacked couch that I had loved at one point, but was now an eyesore and a pain in the ass to move.
And then, I saw it. The couch that changed my life. The couch that made all of those weeks of searching, the worsening eyesight as I squinted at the screen day and night, totally and completely worth it. It was a small picture, and the text if I can remember something said that their cat had scratched the arms. But from what I could see, it looked promising. And, wait for it--it was only $50. They mentioned Room & Board (a company I had never heard of), and that they couldn't get it up to their room, so the wanted to get rid of it. A phone call to my dad, UHAUL at 8am in the morning, visit to the most beautiful home in Laurelhurst, and $50 later I was the proud owner of a $1,200 couch, with additional cover and pillows.
I was ecstatic, and as I sit here remember how blessed I felt that my dad would come out and help me at a moments notice, how lucky I was to have found this couch, and how blown over I was that someone would get rid of a perfectly good couch (for $50) because they couldn't get it up the stairs. These people truly didn't need the money, they just wanted to get rid of the couch. And I was the lucky gal who stumbled upon their ad.
Yes, I know that I just dedicated a whole post to my couch. But it's seen me through the past 4 years of apartment living. It's seen many bums, hosted friends over night, seen my brief career as a dogowner, been rearranged multiple times in two different apartments, and most importantly, has been a second bed to me. Whenever I'm sick, depressed, anxious, or if my bed is full of all my clothes, my couch is there. I don't know what it is about it, but it makes me feel better to lie down on it. I fall asleep immediately, comfortable, with the tv sometimes in the background lulling me to sleep, and I just feel better. I slept on it pretty much this whole week, and yesterday I felt ready to go back to my real bed, and face the world this morning with a fresh outlook.
I LOVE my couch.
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