Saturday was IKEA day! Samara and I planned on going pretty close to opening time, and we did ok on this front. Car inspections sometimes take longer than planned, so no big. We were on the road at 11 AM, and that's when the real adventure started.
The wind had been blowing strongly all morning {a lovely sound to wake up to whilst still snuggled under blankets}, and so driving was pretty exciting by itself. There were leaves dancing all over the road - as Samara put it, "the artist in me is delighted, but the driving part of me is terrified!" So true!
Once we were on the freeway, the wind wasn't that bad; or rather, we couldn't feel the wind as much. But we were not the only ones on the road. There is construction in the left lane of the freeway, and the giant round traffic not-cones-more-like-barrels were left in between the lane and the concrete barrier. Well, in between is a generous expression. Some of them were actually on the yellow line. As we continued on our merry way, one of these traffic barrels was blown into our lane, directly in front of us! I swerved, but keep in mind we were going 60 mph and there was a car in the lane next to us. Right next to us.
Mercifully, the barrel stopped moving and I was able to avoid hitting it, the car next to us, or being hit by the car behind us. Phew! Our heart rates were definitely elevated. Samara called DOT to report the road hazard and I continued to drive carefully. Thankfully, the construction zone ended shortly after that incident so we didn't have any repeat occurrences.
We made it to IKEA and headed inside, joining the herds of couples, families, and friends winding their way through the store. Everything was wonderful until we came to the very end: the boxes of furniture. Samara was purchasing another bookshelf for her room and wanted one of the shelves to become a drawer. This is a simple process: buy the bookshelf and buy a drawer to go inside it. Assemble at home like a boss. Done.
However, the process of finding said bookshelf and drawer proved to be quite challenging.
After locating the bookshelf, we went in search of the drawer accessory...and found the front of the drawer. Um, what? Non comprendo. So then we went in search of an associate. He found us a much smaller box that claimed to contain the rest of the drawer. Now, I know geometry and I didn't always cooperate in high school, but I do know that if something is going to fill the same space as something else, the box will probably be close to the same size. But this was not the case. Confusion abounded, including in the mind of the associate assisting us.
After more venturing between the aisle and the computer and the associate's phone, Samara decided that a drawer is not worth all this trouble, so we headed to check-out. 5 hours later {almost} we exited the parking garage.
It was after 1pm and lunch was on the forefront of our minds. Taco Del Mar struck our fancy, so we hopped off the freeway and up the hill to the closest one. Or so we thought.
I don't know if you guys have heard Miley Cyrus's song "Wreaking Ball" but it describes our TDM saga quite well. We found the restaurant after much anticipation...and then we saw the darkened windows, the locked door, the deceitful operating hours that claimed to be open at that moment, and the realization hit us like a wreaking ball. TDM was closed without explanation, rhyme, or reason.
Sadly, hangrily, defeated we got back on the freeway and made our way to the trusty, open TDM near home. Mexican food has never tasted so good!
Bellies full, we went home to assemble the bookshelf. I think a good summary of that experience is this: two of my blisters have popped already. Yep. {Side note: if anyone has a normal-sized screwdriver, Samara and I are in the market.}
After the cussing bookshelf was assembled, my sis came over and we finished Season Two of Sherlock. Augh, Reichenbach!!! Moving on, because January 19th is coming!
All in all, it was a good weekend. Full of goals that were accomplished, although not in the way we envisioned. We were not injured on the freeway; we didn't injure anyone {fellow shoppers or inadequate associate} at IKEA, and the Taco Del Mar near our house has gone up several notches on the "best things that have ever happened to us" list.
Happy Monday, yo.
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