Saturday, July 22, 2006
The best peanut butter and jelly sandwich...
Ok so I didnt really just have one, but I took that from the quote from one of the best 80's movies ever"you want to know what's great? Last night I woke up in the middle of the night to make myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich...and you know it was my kitchen, it was my refrigerator, it was my apartment, and it was the best peanut butter and jelly sandwich I've had in my entire life"
I just got up to make myself a midnight snack and this quote popped into my head, and it's not the first time. When I had my first apartments I had the exact same feeling.
I say apartments because there was my first with roommates, and then my first that was just mine. Both were great experiences, but very different.
My first apartment was named "Oscar the House". Guess what color it was? And it was on a yellow brick road. Ok, so it was really an alley, and our address was on "Rear" Church Street, but it was still cool. I lived on the second floor in a 3 bedroom place with 4 other roommates above an apartment with 4 fraternity guys. We drew for who got the single room and somehow I got lucky.
I moved in way before everyone else because I was taking summer classes. It was a pretty amazing summer. I cant think of a single bad memory. I loved having my own place. I did ridiculous stuff lake make my own pasta and get up at dawn to make a fabulous breakfast to jazz on Sundays. I had a friend who was a townie that I hung with alot that summer too, and it was a different way to look at a town that I had lived in as only a college student.
My roommates moved in at the end of August and although I missed having the place to my self, I had the best roommates ever. We were all friends from the dorms (yes, the previously mentioned Gordon Hall) and so we were pretty used to each other. Our landlord was a decent guy, not quite the slumlord that many of them are in that college town. When our stove went all wonky he actually bought us a new one. Unfortunately the new one came with a bonus we werent interested in- bugs. The first time we put it on to pre-heat a bajillion bugs started crawling out from under it. I still have nightmares related to that moment. I hid in the living room while my roommate Kip's boyfriend rushed to save the day. He turned the oven off and went to it with a can of bug spray. Unfortunately it was a gas stove that still had a pilot light... From the other room I heard a massive "KABOOM!" I wonder if the hair on Irv's legs ever did grow back? I guess we took the term bug bomb a little too literally! But it did work, no more bugs for us. To quote David Lee Roth in his first solo album- "those were good times, damn good times".
My first non-roommated apartment was when I lived in Arizona. It was a 470 sq ft efficiency, which is just a tiny step up from studio. It was still basically one room, but it was arranged differently so I had basically a bedroom nook and a kitchen area so it was almost like a one bedroom place. When I first moved in I owned a bed and a computer. Oh yeah and a tv/vcr stand and microwave stand, thanks to Sauder. No TV or microwave though. No other furniture. I did have a big rubbermaid storage bin that was a sorta desk. I had my computer on that and sat on the floor. I didnt care though. The day I moved in I did carpet angels I was so happy. (Kinda like snow angels, but in the freshly cleaned carpet instead) Soon after moving in I took a trip to the Salvation army and for less than 150 bucks I got a couch, my bigchair and ottoman, and a fabulous circa 1980 console TV. I still have the bigchair/ottoman and TV. My mom sees the appeal in the bigchair and has helped me make a nice slipcover for it. The TV she just doesnt get. She is consistently encouraging me to get a TV that's younger than a college freshman, but I figure if it works, why get rid of it? Ill never forget the first time she experienced my TV and was staring at the remote trying to figure out how to turn it on. She finally asked and I told her that it was simple- you had to actually get off your ass and pull that button out. Somehow this seems funny as youd think it would be the older generation having to show the younger one how stuff used to work :)
Ive come a long way since those old apartments. My place now is almost 3 times the size of the efficiency. I have a bedroom set that was not a hand me down and an actual couch from the 21st century. (OK it's Ikea, but I like it!) But no matter how many places Ive lived in, or what condition they were in, I always got that great feeling that Wendy had when she made her peanutbutter sandwich.
***first person to name the movie that quote comes from gets 3 points!
Read or Post a Comment
St. Elmo's Fire - but I want Take5's instead of points!!!
I like your 80s TV console -- it's retro-chic! (And I'm totally with you on not getting rid of something that works!)