Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Chit-chat Wednesday another year older and more organized







Hello,
Thanks for popping in. I had the loveliest birthday. Daisy woke me at a very early hour filled with great excitement, and ran to fetch the present she had wrapped for me (a cosmetic brush she had stolen out of my bag).
On the phone message bank came the welcome news that I had shortlisted again for the Sisters in Crime annual Scarlet Stiletto award. In previous years I have won the Scarlet Stiletto and other awards including the Kerry Greenwood Malice Domestic. For the last two years I have failed to place but hurrah, it looks as if my dry spell is over.
The Scribe and I dropped Daisy at her preschool and headed to Ikea. Regular readers will know I have never been to this iconic store. I almost felt as if I was back in Stockholm when we first entered the doors and found ourselves in the food section.
It was an incredibly overwhelming experience - but we were prepared! We had a list we'd been working on for months. We had our measurements and I had vowed not to be distracted by the 'pretty things' and think purely of storage.
We purchased as much storage as you could imagine, as you can see from the photo (which I have to admit isn't all we bought). Another two trolleys of flatpacks are not in shot. There was a time when I would have sniffed at the thought of Ikea storage and wanted antique or found objects on the street. But I have been living in such a cluttered little house for so long that all I want is ORDER. I felt like screaming "Everybody leave the store right now! It's my birthday and I need the storage more than you, so move out!"
I managed to restrain myself and we finally figured out the very complex method of buying things Ikea style. Who would have thought you do it all yourself? That was a shock! We did stop to buy some needed sustenance and that of course is the Swedish Meatballs. Truly, I could almost have been back in Sweden. Almost.
I bought no pretty things. I did buy a Pax , a Hemnes, a Trofast craft storage and an Extorp. And did I mention Billy? My new and favourite friend. We picked up an obscene amount of Billys and threw in a Benno for good measure.
We realised with horror we had run out of time and still hadn't packed our flatpacks. How quickly three hours doth fly in Ikea! I had visions of Daisy's preschool teachers waiting to go home with a fretting Daisy. With happy hearts we decided to return in the morning to complete our shopping list. Then I reasoned I will have time to head to the pretties. I am not a person who is good at practical things like storage and so I was thrilled with my buys (and faintly disturbed I was so thrilled to be in Ikea). But I do think that my trip to Ikea bought back many happy memories of our holiday in Sweden and made me long to return to the beautiful fairytale country.
Thank you for all your Birthday wishes. I am grateful to have made it through another year and feel very blessed. On Friday I will post a couple of rather beautiful books that the Scribe gave me for my birthday.
The postscript to this is the Scribe and I went out for our second trip to Ikea which nearly killed us. It was incredibly frustrating and where are the sales people when you need them? I think the worst job on earth would have to be an Ikea salesperson! We spent three hours just packing flatpacks onto trolleys and getting totally lost in all the bureaucratic madness of the store. I think my daughter's preschool teacher summed it up well when she said, "Ikea gives you the hope you are becoming the organized person you never do become." Or words to that effect.
It is very difficult for me to even think clearly after two days at Ikea. We have a delivery man arriving tomorrow and then the Scribe is faced with thousands and thousands of flatpacks arriving which he has to somehow assemble. Even an Ikea staff member who saw our trollies said, "Good luck with assembling all that lot." And after another four hours in the store I never did get to look at the pretty, frilly and desirables although I did take home some Swedish meatballs. And so I am one year older and hopefully more organized! xx

21 comments:

  1. Belated birthday wishes darlin,
    Can't wait to see your birthday books they sound fabulous!

    Hugs

    Kimmie
    x

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  2. awwwww lovely way to celebrate your birthday xx hope u had a wonderful time...i havent had meat balls for yonkys i must have a go at making some ;0)xx

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  3. Happy birthday dear! I love going to Ikea for a nice walk and for the swedish meatballs:)

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  4. I am so excited for you - all those bookshelves!!! Gosh I love Ikea! I get all wired just reading about other people's adventures there, and I am hanging out now for another visit!!! I'll try to hold out until the Christmas holidays... Wendy xxx

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  5. whoops! i forgot to say happy birthday before - hope you enjoyed your day. i love ikea, but it is a bit of a time trap. i've heard that in sweden(?) they have an ikea hotel attached to one of the stores so you can stay overnight and maximise your shopping! i'd be there! you did well to get all that storage. i love looking at the homewares, and i know it isn't quite vintage/unique, but affordable swedish design is not to be sneezed at!

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  6. Happy birthday! Glad to hear your dry spell is over, and i'm also impressed at learning of your past accolades.
    Ikea is cool, you just have to watch what you buy at times. some stuff is very . . .delicate.
    I had no closet space in my apartment when nina and i moved in here. So we went to Ikea and bought three huge and great looking wardrobes with accessorizing draws and raks, etc. They have been the great help but i have had to secure the frames of at least one of the doors as they started coming apart.
    Still, is beautiful and serving us well.
    Love the swedish meatballs. . .
    Have a great one!

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  7. Happy belated birthday wishes hun! Daisy is so cute with your cosmetic brush!!! Will be back soon to read your entries more fully - dashing about on holiday but don't want to be fully out of the loop! Write soon xxx

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  8. Happy, Happy Birthday!! Such a delight to see you and your bd meatballs. you looks maaavelous, daaaaling.

    I'm totally envious of Ikea. We don't have one handy.

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  9. You look absolutely gorgeous! I'm glad you had a fun birthday- there is an Ikea about 30 minutes from my home and I go about twice a year. I recently went and got a coffee table (it was only $60!) and it looks quite nice. I like mixing expensive home furnishing with less expensive ones- I think it makes the home look modern and fresh and you can never put a price on a well organized home! You made me laugh when you said all your want is ORDER. That is all I want too!! In my office, that is. It is soooo unorderly! xo

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  10. Josephine~ Yes, yes, belated Happy Birthday wishes! and Congrats on your Happy news!

    I have never been to an Ikea, though I have browsed their website. I love getting organized but, indeed, it takes organizational skills just to get started and purchase said organizational supplies. I've never heard of flatpacks...hmmm...have to google that! ;)

    Love the photo! You look so happy enjoying your Swedish Meatballs.

    Cheers to another happy, healthy, prosperous and love-filled year!
    ~Calli xx

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  11. it's cup weekend here this weekend and i told fudge (my partner) that we're overdue for an Ikea trip! it's one of those things...i really look forward to it, but hate it when i'm there...we always argue about something stupid and he looks petulant and for a bar or a hardware department! anyway...i need another Billy, too. the three old ones are full. and i love the little food store after the checkout.....does the sydney one have that? where you can buy all manner of swedish food stuffs? like cloudberry jame...as far as i know it's the only place you can buy it. (mind you, it's a bit sweet). congrats on the nomination....i really must read your books...i will ask reader's feast (best bookstore in melbourne) to get them in.....be well....xxx

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  12. I am glad you had a wonderful day Josephine. I have a love/hate relationship with Ikea. Either way it is overwhelming for sure.

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  13. Happy Belated Birthday Darling, wishing you many healthy, happy and wealthy years surrounded with loving family and friends.

    Love & Hugs
    Duchess

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  14. I meant to say Happy Birthday too!!!!
    Wendy xxx

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  15. What would we do without Ikea. The only thing that freaks me out about Ikea are those flatpacks, lucky you have someone to put them together. Happy birthday by the way, I am an October girl too., Carla x

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  16. A wonderful and happy birthday! Scorpios are fantastic, one of my favorite signs (after Pisces and my own Aquarius sign). I hope you had a great time exploring the dark caves and mysteries of Ikea. There's a store in Massachusetts, but I've never been! Thou art braver than I! Oh, and I know what you mean by wanting so badly to be organized. My hubby and I moved to a house in September and we still feel we haven't truly moved in. All those flatpacks look tempting! Good luck and I'm glad you celebrated your birthday in style!

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  17. Just catching up as I've been away two weekend in a row - I'm behind with everything!

    Belated happy birthday, had a feeling you were a Scorpio - we're just a day apart (and many years as well as miles!!) as mine was Oct. 26. Glad you had fun, and a trip to IKEA is always an adventure.

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  18. Hello again gorgeous girl.

    I just love your grace and style and have awarded you a blog award.

    Please pop by my blog to accept it.

    Squishy hugs


    Kimmie
    x

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  19. Happy birthday Josephine
    from
    kat x

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  20. Happy birthday to you lovely lady! I adore those Swedish meatballs at Ikea...worth the 1 hr drive to our closest one just to have lunch. ~xoxo~Janet

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