The big goal was to make the final decision on some IKEA bookshelves. Our idea was to turn one whole wall of an empty bedroom into a "library", and then try to find a desk and loveseat/futon to make the room into a "study". Stephen says it will be a research room :). Our books have been in the basement for a couple of years, and that's been very frustrating. I was surprised, after we moved them out of the living room, how often I come across some bit of knowledge I want to find in a book, not Google.
We were in IKEA for hours! What a wonderful store. We got there about 10am and started our comparisons of shelving styles and configurations. So many choices! 11" or 15" deep? Birch, brown, or espresso? Add doors and drawers? Add extensions to make the shelves ceiling height?
We took a break more than once, first going over to the desk area, where a little boy chatted up Stephen something fierce. He was very loud and talkative, really cute. I took a phone pic - not a very good one, though.
Peter and Anne met up with us around noon and we walked around for a bit, then went to lunch at Six Feet Under. Stephen had cucumber soup with a crab cake in the center and a salad. I had blackened shrimp tacos that were so, so good, I hated it when the plate was empty. I'd love to go back again.
After lunch it was back to IKEA for the BIG purchase. We stopped in the lighting department on our way to the checkout and Stephen fell in love with a very simple brushed nickel floor lamp with a black shade. I liked it, too. We grabbed a box and headed to checkout. Once we found a cart and loaded everything on, it was a Herculean feat to get the thing pointed in the right direction. We eventually got everything paid for and then shlepped it all out to the car in the parking deck. It barely fit, but my husband is a master packer and got it in somehow. I'm sure we had 300 lbs of shelving back there.
Our next stop was Trader Joe's. I love this store, too! Great healthy food without the Whole Foods price. And like IKEA, the place is slam full of folks on a Saturday afternoon. A friend turned me onto this store, so I gave her a heads up that we were going and offered to pick her up what she needed. One of my favorite TJ foods is a healthy knock off of NutriGrain bars. They are simply yummy in strawberry, blueberry, or fig. Cute name too:
Dekalb Farmer's Market
This bike was parked outside :)
What a wonderful place. My number one reason for loving it: it's indoors, with COLD air conditioning. No barely-tolerable WalMart temps here. We were just going to run in and take a look. Well, that didn't work too well. We bought gorgeous sweet potatoes, a 22 lb sack of Lundberg brown rice, several containers of yogurt (full fat vanilla sweetened with cane juice is my favorite), gummy bears, licorice... Everywhere we walked, we had a "look at this!" moment. Can't wait to go back again.
We ended the day with dinner at Pete and Anne's. Peter's perfectly marinated pork loin and Anne's tomato casserole are worth going anywhere for, and we felt too full to move for the second time that day.
We left Atlanta just after eleven our time and got home at 1:30am. Long day. Very fun day.
Quote for the day:
"Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for." ~ Maya Angelou
2 comments:
Wow! How in the world did y'all keep going til 1:30 in the morning? I would have been purely ruint.
I can't wait to see your new library/study. It sounds awesome. I would definitely wait to see it until you had gotten all the books hauled up from the basement. I mean, I love you and all, but I don't want to participate in that project.
Yes, I sure wish I had a dumb waiter!
I love walking in that room! I need to be on the hunt for some seating, 'cause I truly want to sit and read in there very soon.
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