Archive for January, 2012

How I resemble my dad (or why customer service is important)

Posted on: January 18th, 2012 by Andrea No Comments

Last week was the first time in our new house that we had several major and consecutive snowfalls. There was so much snow that we were a bit at a loss where to put it all. I quickly discovered that my boots just weren’t cutting it…my feet were warm, but my ankles were freezing (and my pants soaked) as the tall snow drifts just drifted right in. My mission was clear: get taller boots.

I did some research, narrowed it down to a few brands, and found a store that carried them all. At my first opportunity, I made my way there….only to wait. And wait. And wait for someone to serve me. When I finally did get served, the service was lousy. Of the two pairs of boots I’d asked to try on, the salesgirl brought me one completely random pair, and the other I wanted, well…the colours didn’t match…I tried them on anyway. I liked the fit, and if she’d have just come to see how I was doing, I was ready to buy them…provided she got me a matching pair.

So I put my own boots back on, and waited…Where was my salesgirl? She’d completely disappeared. After a few minutes of wondering and looking for her, I said “f**k it” and walked out of the store.

And right there is how I resemble my dad: not only by concluding that my time is important and that I deserve to be well-served as a customer, but by insisting on it….and (this is key) by walking out when the store didn’t deliver.

I went two doors down to another store, walked in and was immediately served by a friendly, smiling and attentive salesgirl. She was helpful, full of suggestions on fit, comfort and function…and (you know where this is going) I bought my boots from her!

Here’s what I got:

Sorel’s Cate the Great

Friday I’m in Love: Tea

Posted on: January 6th, 2012 by Andrea No Comments

I have had a *wonderful* two weeks off over the holidays during which time I’ve accomplished very very little. But that’s ok. I wanted this time to rest, relax, catch up on some much needed sleep, and to properly distance myself from work (you know…to stop the constant hum of work-related crap constantly circling the back of my mind).

In these respects, my vacation was a grand success. A large part of which is due to the time I took to just sit, read, watch old movies, or play World of Goo, Contre Jour or Machinarium on my new iPad (thank you Stuart!). Regardless what I was doing, though, I did it with a cup mug of tea…and with homemade cookies (thank you Aunt Paige!).

Since I’ve been so tea-focused of late, here are few tea-related items I’m currently loving:

Pinned by Kaitlyn Titus via Beauty and Grace

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hairbrainedschemes’ A Cup of Tea and a Long Book print

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Pinned by Emma Edkins via Marley.and.Me

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Skinny laMinx’s Everyone Came to Tea tea towel

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Pinned by lorentsia via source

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Teresa Doyle performing “You’re My Cup of Tea” (skip to about 1m 45sec to go immediately to the song).

Chair Challenge

Posted on: January 5th, 2012 by Andrea 3 Comments

Of all the household items I need to purchase for my house, I never thought that dining/kitchen chairs would be the most difficult. Without exaggerating, I’ve been searching for months. Why is it so very complicated? Here’s why:

1. The chairs must be aesthetically pleasing to me.
If this were the only criteria, I’d be done. But, alas, many of the chairs I think look beautiful, don’t necessarily feel beautiful once you actually sit on them. Or else they send shivers up my boys’ spine, making him feel like he’s been thrown back in time and is sitting in high school detention. I’m looking at YOU fiberglass shell chairs.

(I should note at this moment that I LOVE these chairs. As in, I abso-freaking-lutely ADORE them, and still harbour the hope that we’ll end up buying a mix of chairs for our dining room table, these included…though as a purist, I insist they be made of fiberglass and not plastic.)

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2. The chairs must be well-constructed and sturdy.
We’ve sat in a lot of chairs over the last few months. And every single one of them has been subjected to the “wiggle test”…as in, sit down, and wiggle about. Does the chair feel solid? Does it feel like you might topple off it? Or that it might bust?

Alas, one of my most budget-friendly picks from IKEA failed the wiggle test.

(IKEA’s transparent Tobias chair was too wobbly and, according to the boy, too prone to scratches.)

It also means that the chair needs to look like it’s well-made. If we’re going to spend $300+ on a chair, it’s gotta look like it’s worth it. Though it was comfortable (and passed the wiggle test), the Calligaris Flair chair did not pass the “it looks like it’s worth it” test.

(Surprisingly, the Flair Chair‘s seat upholstery was rather cheap looking once we really examined it.)

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3. The chairs must “fit” us.
In other words they need to be comfortable for both a 6-footer and a 5-footer…the length of our respective legs and bodies play a big role in how each chair “fits”. Unfortunately, what is comfortable for one of us can be pretty uncomfortable for the other. A chair back that reaches my shoulder can jab my boy in the middle of his back…or one that is deep enough to sit comfortably and support his thighs leaves my feet dangling like a kid.

(These vintage chairs from Antiquités Curiosités on Montreal’s Amherst street were beautiful….but just didn’t fit my boy’s long legs.)

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Add all of these criteria up, and suddenly you’re rejecting chairs left, right, and centre….but not all of them. Our current front-runner is sohoConcept’s Patara chair:

It looks great; doesn’t look like a detention/school chair; passes the wiggle test; looks well-made; and mostly fits us both…it’s a touch tall for me, but as a shrimp I’m used to it and can totally live with it.

We’ve yet to pull the trigger, though, as they carry a pretty hefty price tag…here’s where my “mix and match” idea may come into play!