let there be lamps!

since i moved in to my place last year i've been spending money. excessively some might think. i realize it's a natural progression and i'll get things as i need them. like a place to sit - therefore my first major purchase before moving in was a couch. next, i needed a place to sit other than the couch to eat and do work. since i have no tables, then came the counter stools, etcetera, etcetera.

i decided early on to take my time and find furniture that would stay with me for the long run. some ikea is ok, but not in excess. that's not to say i LOVE everything i've picked out. there are a couple of things that i wish i could replace already. almost a year and a half later, i still have painting to do, my bedroom and bathroom still need a lot of work, and i'm still spending. some people have been questioning my spending. but i have finally realized that i sway toward mid-century design. hence, the dining room table and chairs, and the sideboard. it's a relief to have that sense of style direction.

i have to back up a bit here.

earlier in the spring, nolan unsuccessfully attempted to install a pendant lamp in my "dining room". since may, i have been light deficient. he spent time preparing for the installation, borrowing an old wiring book from his roommate and buying a volt checker. it was 10 p.m. at night, with all the power turned off, he was up on a ladder, and i was on a step stool holding a candle up as high as i could for him to see what he was doing. my arm ached, and kept sinking dangerously low to his groin area. i kept telling him i would call a real electrician and not to worry. finally, he called it quits.

one day he called me to say that his upstairs neighbour was an electrician, he was going to bring him over to fix my light. that's when i started looking for a light for my bedroom, so i could get one properly installed in there as well. i have looked around A LOT. i have gone into morba like 10 times thinking that this is where "my" light is. nancy came to meet me there and we stood back and looked at them. there was something wrong with all of them. then we walked by quasi modo modern, and in the back, was MY LIGHT. the only problem was the price. anyways, i didn't walk away with the light. i always need to contemplate these things, reason it out, talk to people and get them to help me to justify it.

i showed my friend artur the light, and he made a good case for me. he said, "you always bring your lunch to work, you never buy coffee, you walk to work. you've practically paid for the lamp in a month." he makes a good point. yes, i like clothes, i'll splurge at times, but i am a sales rack hound. i hardly eat out. i walk everywhere, summer, winter... i love walking! i buy one, maybe two drinks on nights out. my recent trip to nyc, that was my first vacation in FIVE YEARS. i am sure people who see me in these situations think i'm cheap. guess what? you're right!

yesterday nols and i were on the phone again discussing the light. "did you find a light yet?" after i told him about the bubble lamp, he tsk tsk'd me. i told him about how i am really good at saving, and listed all the ways. "but you spend a lot on music." which is nonsense, and which i find funny because he is always coming over to burn music off of me, for gifts no less!! pssst, nols, it's called the internet... downloading.

so anyways, i pretty much know i want this lamp. it's just a matter of when. i have money saved, i am comfortable with my finances. i think it's normal to ask people what they think, but i think most people know by now that i am very financially responsible and don't make hasty decisions. i have a mortgage to worry about.

the lamp i like is the pear lamp, in the front row, left hand side in the picture. what do you think?