solo furniture shopping

I spent my Saturday afternoon browsing through different furniture and home stores in Manhattan trying to find a coffee table for my living room. I don't think I've ever gone furniture shopping by myself before, and it's not much fun. At most of the stores, especially Crate and Barrel, I was surrounded by couples, so I felt weird being alone. I also hadn't measured the space in my living room, so I had to guess at what would fit in it. I've figured out that a rectangular table will be far too big, but there aren't many square tables at the proper height for a coffee table. I looked at several "side tables," but those are a little taller than coffee tables and most of them would look out of place in front of the couch. In addition, I need to think about the tabletop. I'm likely going to use it as a foot rest as much as for eating or working, so I need something sturdy. Many coffee tables have glass tops, and I'm not sure I want one -- I'd have to clean it all the time and watch that I didn't put my foot through it. Maybe I should get an ottoman instead. I found a few possibilities, so maybe I'll have one picked out and in my apartment in the next few weeks. And there's always the chance I'll find a gem sitting outside someone else's apartment in my neighborhood.

I also looked at dressers and found a few that were affordable and would look good in my bedroom. That's another purchase that will allow me to get rid of some of the "poor man" plastic drawers I've had forever, and might be even more important than the living room table. I'm getting along OK without a table, but the lack of a dresser is going to hurt in a few weeks when I break out my spring and summer wardrobe. I'll need a place to put all my polo shirts and shorts, and I don't think there's enough room on the shelf in my closet.

My reward for finally getting out and at least looking at furniture was a trip to the Virgin Megastore in Union Square, where they're having a $10 CD and DVD sale. Here's what I picked up:

Bruce Springsteen, Born to Run
Radiohead, OK Computer
The Beach Boys, Pet Sounds
Queen, Classic Queen
Moulin Rouge
Stargate

I had hoped to do better, but there wasn't as much that I actually wanted as I thought when I stopped in the store last night. But that way I kept my spending in check. If I'd bought everything I considered buying, I'd have spent two or three times as much. And I'd probably have needed another CD rack at home.