The Importance of Rugs
Rugs, blankets and curtains, all things you will see for 365/2= 284.5 days of the year are very important in bitterly cold NJ. Our rugs from last year were abused from the days and days that we trampled on them with our snow and salt ladden boots. They gave up altogether and decided to attack the vacuum cleaner, which they did. One ribbon went courageously into the vacuum and spinned till the vacuum stopped. The fate of the rugs were the garbage, but not without many memories.
Our old bedroom rugs were with us in Italy. They were bright cherry red and the first time I saw them I thought, "WOW...that is pretty darn red." It was all I could look at each time I walked into my bedroom. Those crazy bright red rugs turned out to be a sunbeam on each foggy day in winter. The days when the sun only shined for 4 hours, those wild rugs shined for 24. When it rained for days and days and days and then it rained for another week, those rugs were warm like a fire. I loved reading next to those bright red rugs. I was sad to throw them away. NJ winter is just as long, if not colder, than winter in northern Italy.
I set out on my rug quest with a list of what I needed and what wouldn't do:
Need:
1. Bright color that preferably matches with blanket colors
2. Something that won't kill the vacuum cleaner
3. Something so cheerful that the dreariest of days will be perked up
4. Something creative
Not need:
1. Neutral colors
2. Dark colors
3. Bright grandma flower patterns that I love but the man loathes
So off I went to Marshall's who has not only really nice things but discounted and actually costs less than Target. Rugs tend to get beat up with north-eastern winters where we drag in a lot of street salt so the rugs need to get changed (tossed out) every couple of years at most.
I hurried into Marshalls at 5:30 PM along with the rest of the office crowd that got off at 5 PM and needed those 30 minutes to get from the office to the store. Everyone looked hungry, ready for dinner, tired of emails and meetings but at Marshall's on a mission. Someone needed shoes another a pot and me: rugs. Hungry office people at 5:30 PM are as savage as a caveman on a grumpy day. Try avoiding stores at all costs then, but then again it is better to go rug shopping on a weekday than on a weekend when you get the Weekend Warriors. Those are the people who feel it is their duty to shop on Saturday's to show their weekend efficiency. They go in with the determination of a wild gopher searching for a good log: cute but deadly. Weekend Warriors flap out t-shirts on display, elbow you to get the last good hair-drier, and are the ones who jump in line right as you got to the line and inevitably have something or another that needs to take forever to get rung up. So it is best to shop for rugs on a Tuesday at 5:30 pm when your stomach is dying for dinner.
There I found myself, facing life, winter psychology, colors that might not match, textures that might feel nice but were the wrong color, and wondering why 98% of rugs were in neutral. Does no one else get the winter blues in NJ and crave to see bright colors? I mean neutrals are so bland. And who wants to see beige for 284.5 days of the year? If it is snowing what color do you want to wear? A red sweater, right? A beige sweater is just like a poop on the snow. And a beige rug is like a poop on the mind. Anyway, after 13 minutes of pondering my stomach said, "Hey lady, feed me or else." So I high-heeled my way to the front of Marshall's when I saw them relaxing by the luggage. They were so bright, so crazy screaming "We will we will rock you!" that it made me think of Sweden and Norway and happy cold days all at once.
I spread them out, imagined seeing them every single day for 6 months of winter, smiled and went home happy.
Rugs are important. If you see them every single day they can perk you up or just be there blandly rolling along. I feel the same way about anything you use every single day, it should be fun and inspire you to do something! If that coat makes you feel like Sherlock Holmes well by golly I hope you find some great mystery. etc.
ps the kitties like the new rugs too
It put them in a rolly-polly mood, as I hope I will get in a rolly-polly mood when the weather is -15 and I need to chop a layer ice off my car every morning in the months of January, February, March and half of April before shivering off to work. I will need those bright colors to get me through days of icey-gray.
Our old bedroom rugs were with us in Italy. They were bright cherry red and the first time I saw them I thought, "WOW...that is pretty darn red." It was all I could look at each time I walked into my bedroom. Those crazy bright red rugs turned out to be a sunbeam on each foggy day in winter. The days when the sun only shined for 4 hours, those wild rugs shined for 24. When it rained for days and days and days and then it rained for another week, those rugs were warm like a fire. I loved reading next to those bright red rugs. I was sad to throw them away. NJ winter is just as long, if not colder, than winter in northern Italy.
I set out on my rug quest with a list of what I needed and what wouldn't do:
Need:
1. Bright color that preferably matches with blanket colors
2. Something that won't kill the vacuum cleaner
3. Something so cheerful that the dreariest of days will be perked up
4. Something creative
Not need:
1. Neutral colors
2. Dark colors
3. Bright grandma flower patterns that I love but the man loathes
So off I went to Marshall's who has not only really nice things but discounted and actually costs less than Target. Rugs tend to get beat up with north-eastern winters where we drag in a lot of street salt so the rugs need to get changed (tossed out) every couple of years at most.
I hurried into Marshalls at 5:30 PM along with the rest of the office crowd that got off at 5 PM and needed those 30 minutes to get from the office to the store. Everyone looked hungry, ready for dinner, tired of emails and meetings but at Marshall's on a mission. Someone needed shoes another a pot and me: rugs. Hungry office people at 5:30 PM are as savage as a caveman on a grumpy day. Try avoiding stores at all costs then, but then again it is better to go rug shopping on a weekday than on a weekend when you get the Weekend Warriors. Those are the people who feel it is their duty to shop on Saturday's to show their weekend efficiency. They go in with the determination of a wild gopher searching for a good log: cute but deadly. Weekend Warriors flap out t-shirts on display, elbow you to get the last good hair-drier, and are the ones who jump in line right as you got to the line and inevitably have something or another that needs to take forever to get rung up. So it is best to shop for rugs on a Tuesday at 5:30 pm when your stomach is dying for dinner.
There I found myself, facing life, winter psychology, colors that might not match, textures that might feel nice but were the wrong color, and wondering why 98% of rugs were in neutral. Does no one else get the winter blues in NJ and crave to see bright colors? I mean neutrals are so bland. And who wants to see beige for 284.5 days of the year? If it is snowing what color do you want to wear? A red sweater, right? A beige sweater is just like a poop on the snow. And a beige rug is like a poop on the mind. Anyway, after 13 minutes of pondering my stomach said, "Hey lady, feed me or else." So I high-heeled my way to the front of Marshall's when I saw them relaxing by the luggage. They were so bright, so crazy screaming "We will we will rock you!" that it made me think of Sweden and Norway and happy cold days all at once.
I spread them out, imagined seeing them every single day for 6 months of winter, smiled and went home happy.
Rugs are important. If you see them every single day they can perk you up or just be there blandly rolling along. I feel the same way about anything you use every single day, it should be fun and inspire you to do something! If that coat makes you feel like Sherlock Holmes well by golly I hope you find some great mystery. etc.
ps the kitties like the new rugs too
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| Getting fluffy for winter |
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| Take this, General Winter! |
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| They approve |
the end
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