hardwood floors

My last four apartments had these beautiful hardwood floors in all of the bedrooms and living/dining rooms. As much as I love my new apartment, there is this sterile, hotel like feeling about it that the wall to wall carpeting really contributes to. I remember, the first time I went to New York City on my own was right after I moved into my first apartment, and while I was there I bought an old Josephine Baker record, some Duke Ellington, Count Basie, the Manhattan Soundtrack, and Cheap Thrills by Big Brother and the Holding Company. I kept my record player on the floor then. When I got home, I put on Joplin's Summertime, and laid down on the hardwood floor. It was November and freezing, since we hadn't put plastic on the windows yet, but there is something really nice about that memory, about being 19 and letting the little things be the big things. That was my favorite bedroom. I painted it bright orange and sponged a darker carrot color over it. I had a postcard collection that I hung with clothespins on a line i ran around the room off of the drop ceiling. I didn't have a closet, but a clothes rack that I covered with a shower curtain, and I had this huge queen/twin bunk bed that I hung curtains from, and my bed was like a little cave. I remember the day that I painted it, I was going to a concert with a boy that I liked, who was coming fro out of town, and he wanted to see my new place. So even though the walls weren't done drying yet, and he had to wait a half an hour for me to get ready since I was still covered in paint when he showed up, I made sure the walls were all painted, and that my bed was put together and made when he showed up. The livingroom was still covered in boxes, but my room was perfect. I even set up the ball pit that I had then. I do not remember now, what led me to buy a ball pit, especially one built for toddlers. I guess I've always enjoyed novelty. I also don't know why I woke up this morning thinking about all of this stuff, but I did.