A metaphor, a parable or an omen?

Dorm living with an Arabic flair!

Our living room furniture created a bit of a dilemma for us. It's got a funky style to it and is very comfortable. Initially, it was our intention to break up the set between our bedroom and the kids' rooms; unfortunately, furniture was too big and unwieldily to be maneuvered down the hallway, so we had to make it our living room furniture. One of Julie's conditions for coming down here was here refusal to go back to living like a college student. It didn't make sense to here to come all this way just so that we could do without (we could have done without quite easily without having to leave the comfort of our native lands, thank you very much). The threadbare, marker stained coverings of the furniture featured so prominently in our apartment gave one the impression of walking into a rather spacious college dorm (the 32" flat screen sitting on a dated, and beat-up hutch only heightened the college effect). Rather than constantly making excuses for our furniture, we decided to get the stuff reupholstered. 

With the help of some friends, we were able to find the fabric souk (a souk is a shopping district that focuses on a specific product--there is a gold souk, a carpet souk, and even a fish souk). Julie found a fabric she liked, and, with great effort (English was not this guy's strong suit) we were able to negotiate a price that everyone seemed happy with. It wasn't until after we left the shop that we realized we had no idea when he was coming to get the furniture. A couple of nights later, we got a call for directions and they showed up at our apartment at around 9:00 and emptied our living room. We watched our furniture go with some trepidation, not really knowing what we would be getting in return or when we would be getting it (but hey, that's all part of the adventure, right?)

The next night, there was a knock on our door and there sitting in apartment corridor was our furniture. I couldn't believe how quickly they did it. And the workmanship was, to my layman's eyes, quite good. But despite being impressed by the quality and speed with which the work was done, my wife was a little crestfallen. You see, they got fabric right, it was the side of the fabric that caused some confusion. Instead of a subdued green, we've got gold. It was an honest enough mistake. I mean if you've got a choice between green and gold, who's going to choose green. It's all about the bling in Abu Dhabi.

Neither Julie nor I had the heart to criticize the work. These guys had gone above and beyond. Not only had the done a great job on the furniture, but they successfully navigated the chaos of of parking lot two nights in a row. In the end, it was just another one of the lessons learned about the importance of crystal clear communication. We're just glad we haven't ordered the living room curtains yet. 

This is what Julie wanted. 

This is what we got. It 's definitely growing on us.