Thursday the 3rd
Today we decided to go farther afield and head toward Bonita Springs. Tina called Carmen and she gave us the name of a sales person at Ashley Furniture and another place called City Furniture. Apparently these two businesses are co-located in the same building, owned by the same people but Ashley carries furniture made specifically for them and City carries a half dozen other brands, mostly bigger furniture for bigger homes.
We got there and spent twenty minutes just wandering around to see what they had. Eventually Tina asked for the sales person Carmen told us about but it was her day off. So we found someone else who helped us. We finally located a really nice coffee table and end table plus a set of bedroom lamps at City Furniture. After completing all the paperwork, delivery was set for that evening.
Then we went back to the Ashley side of the building where we had found a really nice powder blue leather loveseat, a small five drawer dresser, two night stands and a pair of table lamps for the living room. After writing up the paperwork, we tried to consolidate the two shipments but the truck had already been fully scheduled so we were assigned a Friday morning shipment.
We got home around 2:00 PM and an hour later the Fridge was delivered, set up and the old one hauled away.
Later that evening our City furniture shipment arrived and after getting everything delivered and put where we wanted it, we called it a good day and cashed in our chips.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Shopping fun in Naples - Day 3
Wednesday the 2nd
This morning I finished washing the Master bedroom and bathroom floors, then we went out shopping again. We started at the consignment store to sign a consignment agreement and schedule pickup for later in the afternoon. Then it was on to several more consignment stores where we found a beautiful powder blue ultra suede love seat, just the right size, which we ordered for delivery that evening.
Then it was on to Pier One; Lowes to order the new fridge (for delivery the next day); Best Buy for a new TV; back to Pier One for the TV Table, then home to assemble the new TV system, wait for the old furniture to be picked up and the love seat to be delivered.
Power shopping, ya gotta love it!
This morning I finished washing the Master bedroom and bathroom floors, then we went out shopping again. We started at the consignment store to sign a consignment agreement and schedule pickup for later in the afternoon. Then it was on to several more consignment stores where we found a beautiful powder blue ultra suede love seat, just the right size, which we ordered for delivery that evening.
Then it was on to Pier One; Lowes to order the new fridge (for delivery the next day); Best Buy for a new TV; back to Pier One for the TV Table, then home to assemble the new TV system, wait for the old furniture to be picked up and the love seat to be delivered.
Power shopping, ya gotta love it!
Shopping Fun in Naples - Day 2
Tuesday, March 1st
Before we could do anything the service technician from Cool Home A/C came out to install a Humidistat. This is a humidity sensor and control that hooks in to the A/C thermostat controller to make sure the A/C kicks in if the humidity reaches a certain point, providing some measure of control against mold and mildew for when we are gone. He came out around 9:30 AM and was gone half an hour later.
Once the humidistat was installed we took photos of the furniture we were getting rid of and emailed them to a consignment store. Then we were off for another day of Power Shopping. We ended up getting a fridge ordered from Home Depot to be delivered the next day. But when we got home and checked the dimensions, the new fridge was about an inch too wide. So back to Home Depot and canceled that one and tried to order the next smaller unit. Unfortunately the soonest that one could be delivered was the day after we were leaving so we cancelled the whole order and decided to go to Lowes.
What a day!
Before we could do anything the service technician from Cool Home A/C came out to install a Humidistat. This is a humidity sensor and control that hooks in to the A/C thermostat controller to make sure the A/C kicks in if the humidity reaches a certain point, providing some measure of control against mold and mildew for when we are gone. He came out around 9:30 AM and was gone half an hour later.
Once the humidistat was installed we took photos of the furniture we were getting rid of and emailed them to a consignment store. Then we were off for another day of Power Shopping. We ended up getting a fridge ordered from Home Depot to be delivered the next day. But when we got home and checked the dimensions, the new fridge was about an inch too wide. So back to Home Depot and canceled that one and tried to order the next smaller unit. Unfortunately the soonest that one could be delivered was the day after we were leaving so we cancelled the whole order and decided to go to Lowes.
What a day!
Shopping Fun in Naples - Day 1
Monday the 28th
Today I finished hand scrubbing the guest bath floor and guest bedroom floors, then we went shopping for furniture. We had decided to get a couple of new love seats for the living room, new TV for the living room (move the old TV into the Guest bedroom and get rid of the other TV that didn’t work), replace the TV table, replace the coffee table, new end tables and lamps, bedside tables and lamps for the master, a new night stand, mirrors for the bedrooms and bathrooms, storage cabinets for the bathrooms and a new fridge.
Fortunately I had budgeted for all this because originally we were looking at a newly re-furbished condo with nothing except appliances. Even though we had a functioning fridge, we had it on the highest setting and it was not very cold. The freezer would barely keep ice frozen and at least one steak we had for 2 days went bad and had to be thrown out. We decided that this wasn’t a good situation so replacing the fridge became a priority.
We decided to start our shopping at consignment stores and places like Target, JC Penny’s and such. Over the next few days we ended up checking out other places like “Rooms to Go” and Pier One Imports. We bought one mirror, found a place to sell our stuff and took a couple of business cards. But even though we spent pretty much all day shopping, we mostly just looked, not being in a big rush.
Today I finished hand scrubbing the guest bath floor and guest bedroom floors, then we went shopping for furniture. We had decided to get a couple of new love seats for the living room, new TV for the living room (move the old TV into the Guest bedroom and get rid of the other TV that didn’t work), replace the TV table, replace the coffee table, new end tables and lamps, bedside tables and lamps for the master, a new night stand, mirrors for the bedrooms and bathrooms, storage cabinets for the bathrooms and a new fridge.
Fortunately I had budgeted for all this because originally we were looking at a newly re-furbished condo with nothing except appliances. Even though we had a functioning fridge, we had it on the highest setting and it was not very cold. The freezer would barely keep ice frozen and at least one steak we had for 2 days went bad and had to be thrown out. We decided that this wasn’t a good situation so replacing the fridge became a priority.
We decided to start our shopping at consignment stores and places like Target, JC Penny’s and such. Over the next few days we ended up checking out other places like “Rooms to Go” and Pier One Imports. We bought one mirror, found a place to sell our stuff and took a couple of business cards. But even though we spent pretty much all day shopping, we mostly just looked, not being in a big rush.
Monday, March 7, 2011
32nd Annual Naples National Art Fair
Sunday the 27th
This morning started out cloudy with the threat of light rain showers for the Naples area. But by 10:30 the sun was peeking through the clouds so we decided to go into town. Naples host five different art shows starting in November with the Naples Fall Fine Art & Craft Festival, followed by the Downtown Naples New Year's Art Fair on Jan 1 & 2, the Naples National Art Festival in February, the Mercato Fine Arts Festival in early March and the Downtown Naples Festival of the Arts in late March.
We spent all afternoon wandering around, fascinated by the rich diversity of talent on display. We found several artists with pieces that would go in our new condo, eventually purchasing a small tile horse. We talked to several artists, got business cards and expect to pick up a couple more pieces next year when we’re down here. Eventually we decided that it was time to think about dinner so we drove over to one of our favorite restaurants, the Dock, down on the bay next to Tin City. We had soup and grouper tacos, Yummmm!!
This morning started out cloudy with the threat of light rain showers for the Naples area. But by 10:30 the sun was peeking through the clouds so we decided to go into town. Naples host five different art shows starting in November with the Naples Fall Fine Art & Craft Festival, followed by the Downtown Naples New Year's Art Fair on Jan 1 & 2, the Naples National Art Festival in February, the Mercato Fine Arts Festival in early March and the Downtown Naples Festival of the Arts in late March. We happened to be here at the right time to take in the 32nd annual Naples National Art Festival. This is a juried show that draws artists from all over the country but predominantly from the East Coast. This year there were over 250 artists displaying their works in Cambier Park in the heart of Naples. There were food vendors and musical performances in the band shell and people everywhere! With the sun out it was a scene of vibrant color, flashing color from shiny sculptures, whirling glass whirl-a-gigs, paintings without number, glassworks and oh so much more.
We spent all afternoon wandering around, fascinated by the rich diversity of talent on display. We found several artists with pieces that would go in our new condo, eventually purchasing a small tile horse. We talked to several artists, got business cards and expect to pick up a couple more pieces next year when we’re down here. Eventually we decided that it was time to think about dinner so we drove over to one of our favorite restaurants, the Dock, down on the bay next to Tin City. We had soup and grouper tacos, Yummmm!! After dinner we came home and spent some more time organizing, checking our lists, identifying things we still needed to purchase (light bulbs, miscellaneous odds and ends) before calling it a night.
To see all our photos, click on:
Day 2 in our new condo
Saturday March 26th
Another beautiful day, but being tired, we slept in until 7:30 am. I got up first and made a pot of coffee then Tina got up and we cut up some fruit for breakfast. We spent some time planning our day with assembly of patio furniture the first item on the agenda. First up was a bathroom project. The faucet in the guest bathroom needed to be removed and the hole caulked.
With a screwdriver from my new “Simple Tool Kit” I removed the faucet from the pipe. Using a piece of copper wool, I plugged the hole around the pipe and applied silicone caulk. Back went the faucet on the pipe and I secured it as close to the tile as possible. Then this got a bead of caulk to finish of the job.
After finishing the kitchen floor, the rest of the living room and entry hall floor, I decided to call it quits for the day and washed up my buckets and mop towels, put everything away and assembled the table.
Another beautiful day, but being tired, we slept in until 7:30 am. I got up first and made a pot of coffee then Tina got up and we cut up some fruit for breakfast. We spent some time planning our day with assembly of patio furniture the first item on the agenda. First up was a bathroom project. The faucet in the guest bathroom needed to be removed and the hole caulked.
With a screwdriver from my new “Simple Tool Kit” I removed the faucet from the pipe. Using a piece of copper wool, I plugged the hole around the pipe and applied silicone caulk. Back went the faucet on the pipe and I secured it as close to the tile as possible. Then this got a bead of caulk to finish of the job.Next was the patio furniture. Unwrapping all the pieces we managed to assemble the two chairs and put them in the screened lanai. Then we started in on the small patio table. Ooooopps, a part was missing. Tina volunteered to go back to WalMart while I stayed home to start washing the tile floors.
I had most of the dining room done and was starting on the living room when Tina got back. Turns out they wanted her to bring the whole table back. So we packed things up and back she went while I continued with the floors. I had most of the living room done when she returned. Seems like the people at WalMart couldn’t figure out how to help us. Swap out the whole table or give us the part. Finally they decided to just give us the part we were missing. What a hassle. But at least we could put the thing together.
After finishing the kitchen floor, the rest of the living room and entry hall floor, I decided to call it quits for the day and washed up my buckets and mop towels, put everything away and assembled the table.With the table complete we put it out on the lanai between the chairs. And of course we had to try them out, perfect! I continued testing the comfort level of the new furniture while Tina started dinner, baked chicken and a nice salad, yummm! After dinner, I washed the dished and cleaned the kitchen (my normal routine, then we watched a little tv while catching a few chapters in our books. Tomorrow will not be all work, we plan to go into town to the International Arts Fair.
Day One in our New Condo
Friday, February 25th
A beautiful morning, we woke up late and walked over to Chrissy’s Bayside Café for breakfast, then went back to our room, packed up and checked out in time to meet Carmen at our new condo for the walk through. From there we followed Carmen over to Naples Title where we met with Tim to sign the final papers. Once that was done we thanked Tim and Carmen for all their help, took our new condo keys and headed out for some shopping.
But first we had lunch at Fridays on Pine Ridge and Tamiami Trail (US 41). From there we made several stops to pick up essentials including a stop at WalMart for new bed sheets and a final stop at Publix for some groceries. Then it was off to our new home where we unloaded everything, put away clothes and groceries and collapsed after a pretty full day.
After a nice dinner in our new place we realized that we forgot a mattress pad. So we headed back to WalMart to pick one up. While we were there we looked at patio furniture for the screened in lanai. Once we got back home, we made the bed and started planning what we wanted do over the next couple of weeks.
A beautiful morning, we woke up late and walked over to Chrissy’s Bayside Café for breakfast, then went back to our room, packed up and checked out in time to meet Carmen at our new condo for the walk through. From there we followed Carmen over to Naples Title where we met with Tim to sign the final papers. Once that was done we thanked Tim and Carmen for all their help, took our new condo keys and headed out for some shopping.
But first we had lunch at Fridays on Pine Ridge and Tamiami Trail (US 41). From there we made several stops to pick up essentials including a stop at WalMart for new bed sheets and a final stop at Publix for some groceries. Then it was off to our new home where we unloaded everything, put away clothes and groceries and collapsed after a pretty full day.
After a nice dinner in our new place we realized that we forgot a mattress pad. So we headed back to WalMart to pick one up. While we were there we looked at patio furniture for the screened in lanai. Once we got back home, we made the bed and started planning what we wanted do over the next couple of weeks.
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