We "Craigslisted" and Carted Home A Couch - NYC Style

I've learned a few things since moving here if you're a person who's on a budget (like us):

1. everything is more expensive in the Big Apple


2. you only buy, steal, or borrow what you can carry home


3. Craigslist is like the super Wal-Mart of the cyberworld (but with the added bonus of getting to anonomously negotiate prices through email)

We needed a little couch for our little apartment. My husband claimed that if we couldn't find a dejected couch stranded on the sidewalk, then we would find a good couch for little money on Craigslist. I had never "craigslisted" before, but I only had to browse through a couple of posts before I was completely obsessed. We scanned Craigslist daily, scoured for bargains. Our hard work paid off when we found a slightly used beige colored Ikea couch for a good price. Only a short (yeah, right) ten blocks away awaited our first newlywed couch (note the enthusiasm in this sentence because it doesn't last for long).

After my husband and the couch seller struggled to carry it down six flights of perilous stairs that had an incline of at least 70 degrees and miniature landings made for those under four feet, they dropped it on the sidewalk outside the man's apartment. With our confidence and muscle strength waivering, we lifted the couch and began a slow, painful walk home.

We managed to walk ten steps between pit stops when we realized that we would never make it home before the first snow at our current pace with the now extremely heavy and awkard couch. Rounding the third block, we dropped the couch and brainstormed - we needed a cart and quick. As I regained my strength and basked in the sun while lounging on the newly acquired couch a far seven blocks from our apartment, my husband tracked down a teenage Fresh Direct delivery boy who, for an un-named amount of cash, offered his services. We loaded the coach horizontally on the cart and pushed it down Broadway at breakneck speed. I failed to mention earlier that the beige couch doned an ever tacky neon pink/orange/red Hawaiian flowered slipcover to keep it clean on its trip home. Apparently, Hawaiian slipcovers aren't really in style in the city, judging from the looks we got.

I melted the rubber soles on my New Balance tennis shoes as I dodged Sunday afternoon shoppers. We were jay-running at major intersections on Broadway. Is this typical? Who knows - I'm new here. We made it to our little apartment with our extremely heavy couch after we re-ran over a smooshed rat and raced taxis on West End's four lanes. Thank you Craigslist for the great couch (when I don't have to carry it), thank you Fresh Direct for hiring great people, and thank you NYC for a great newlywed memory.