Day 15: An IKEA adventure

October 9, 2010

What do people do in Portland on a rainy Saturday afternoon? Go to IKEA! We decided to embrace this phenomenon and check it out for ourselves. Neither of us had actually ever been to an IKEA. We also happened to need a new couch. So, we started off after Jacob's nap.

First, it's a decent drive from our neck of the woods to IKEA, especially in the rain and when we had to turn around once to close our garage door (something we're definitely not used to). Probably about 35-40 minutes. 

Second, the place is a massive, maze-like wharehouse. Not prepared for that. Fraser was ready to walk back out as soon as  we walked in. Meandering through room after room of stuff to buy, avoiding fat, slow people and their unruly children, and all the while trying to actually make a decision on which couch to purchase for a a few hundred dollars is not his idea of a good time. Personally, I could've taken a lot longer to walk around. I wanted to oggle everything.

After realizing we were going against the flow of traffic (due to the arrows on the floor), we turned around ("I don't like being herded," says Fraser). Finally we found the couches. Sat on several. Jacob ejoyed this part. Fraser didn't care what we ended up with at this point. We also had to figure out how to actually buy the thing we wanted. Fraser went back downstairs while I stayed by the couches with Jacob. He came back as I was talking to a salesperson, both of us discovering that you take a little sheet of paper (with a map of the store on the back; how convenient) and write down the number of what you see. You then proceed to a pickup area to get your item. Unless it's a small item which you can put in one of their yellow bags. Or if it's a large item (like a couch) which you then purchase and pick up from a different area or have delivered to your house.


Whew! After way too long in the store, we finally had the one item we came for plus an easel for Jacob ("Should we get this now or closer to his birthday," I ask. "I never want to come back here so we're getting it now," says Fraser) and a  99 cent squeegee for the shower ("Might as well," says Fraser). Not bad, not bad. Our new couch is couch, chaise AND pull out bed. The bed pulls out kind of like a trundle to match up the longer chaise section with the couch. Good idea. Comfy too. We were sold. Literally. Hmm.

Had an interesting Fall Curry dinner last night from Cooking Light. Not bad but definitely not like a curry, either. Not saucy enough or something. Not flavourful enough. Curry powder just doesn't do the trick. But it was fast and filling enough which is what we were looking for. Jacob and I had also made a Bananas Foster Banana Bread this morning which was good throughout the day. I don't think mine was as fluffy as it's supposed to be. I forgot to add baking soda until the end when it was already in the pan so that could've had something to do with it. First elevation, then missed ingredients. I don't know that I'll ever get my breads to rise properly. It does taste good, though, thankfully.