Ikea mania

I have gotten to be a pretty lazy blogger lately...between the busy season at work, the fall semester beginning, and fundraising and training for races, I just haven't had much extra time! I did have time, though, to go to the neighborhood Ikea last weekend to organize me a closet. By the way, there is a very high concentration of Ikeas in the mid-atlantic; there are two within 40 miles of our residence, and a third another 30 or so miles away. The closest is only 10 minutes away!

I was there for about two hours, figuring out, with the help of the lovely sales associate Evelyn, exactly which pieces I'd need to assemble something like this:

Then I went on down to the self-service area and loaded every one of those 50+ heavy metal pieces into my cart. Then from the cart to the check-out belt thingy. Then back into the cart. Then into the car. Then Kyle brought them in. We haven't attempted assembly yet, but we've already found one error. I'm sure we'll find others, so it's a good thing we only have to go 10 minutes to make the switcheroo.

I also picked up this light for the wall in the closet:

And of course some little halogen bulbs to go in the light:

And, when little Miss Evelyn noticed these items in my cart, she made a great suggestion. She told me how difficult it is to screw the tiny bulbs into the just-so fitted fixture, but hark! For only 99 cents, I could purchase a dishwashing brush with a suction cup on the end- the perfect tool to wrangle the bulb into its place. Wow, is that knowing your product or what?! Way to go, Ev!

And my tip for you: use your debit card at Ikea. You will receive a 3% rebate good for your next purchase. And of course, don't forget the meatballs and vanilla soft serve.