You know you’re getting older when all you want for your birthday is a trip to Ikea.

I’ve written before about our Ikea field trips for adults.  It really is the  ultimate toy store for adults, with life-size lego sets and plenty of opportunities to bang a mallet and imagine yourself happily coexisting in 300 square feet.

We headed out around lunch time, and public transportation went smoothly enough – take the Muni down to the Financial District, then walk over to the AC transit station and take the bus across the bay bridge to Emeryville.  We decided to eat first since we were already hungry – why yes, of course we had the Swedish meatballs and lingenberry juice!

 

Then we started the grand tour of the showroom.  Follow the arrows!

I whipped my phone out every time we saw something we liked, so I could get a picture for scale and one for the name/item #.  Much better than carrying around all those product pamphlets – what did we do before smart phones?

I did snag one of those mini pencils though to jot down a few notes… miniature anything gets me every time.

We were on the lookout for a couple storage solutions – for games/dvds since our current cases are overflowing, closet organization, and perhaps a chair for the living room.  So there are a lot of pictures of Sam sitting in chairs.  He was a good hubby and had lots of opinions (of course) on everything.

 

 

 

 

 

And of course, we saw a million other things too!

 

 

 

 

After traipsing through the showroom and the cavernous basement full of home goods galore, we took a breather by the patio furniture and looked over the pictures we’d taken.

 

A chair for the living room is what I really, really wanted, but (I think) we’ve talked ourselves out of it.  I do really want more seating in the living room, but I also start feeling a bit claustrophobic when I’m surrounded by too much stuff… so I’m not sure it’s worth it when we’re already on the brink of max capacity.  I could pack up my sewing area, but I don’t want to have to do that just to add more furniture.  Because if the new chair doesn’t fit in the living room, then there’s absolutely no other place for a chair to go… no room in the bedroom, kitchen, or hallway… and that’s all there is.  Sigh… welcome to life in San Francisco.

Speaking of which… the return trip was the worst side of public transportation.  We had to wait over an hour for the bay transit bus to arrive, and when we finally got back to the city the Muni was nowhere to be found.  But we’ve learned to roll with the punches, so we walked to a nearby bar and had a drink while we waited.  I finished my ginger ale just in time for the 1 California to come rolling by, and then we were finally on the way home.

So we didn’t end up with anything big, but a few little happy things live with us now.  This cheery napkin holder sits on our kitchen table, along with a green apple scented candle that we couldn’t resist.  (Sam insisted, which I thought was pretty funny… I never knew he cared about scented candles at all.)

I’ve been wanting to try out a Pinterest pin for DIY spice mixes, so this little jar will be perfect.

A couple new storage cubes will find their way into my closet.  And last but not least… the bag is plenty of fun for Cora and Tali.

 

We’re still debating if we should take the plunge on the chair, and I’m also eyeing that laptop table and kitchen cart… we shall see if any of it ends up in our home.

Happy birthday to me (tomorrow)!  More city sights coming soon as we explore San Francisco!