I love IKEA

Yesterday had been planned for a while. Isabelle, Verena and I took a trip to IKEA to get things to furnish my studio. OH I was so excited. I met up with them at 11:30 and we were off in the Espace. I never expected to fill it up with so much. We went and it is so hard to get started there. There is so much to see and it's so hard to make a decision. Isabelle found something before me - two cowskin footstools. I ended up finding a coffee table, desk/table with chairs, things for the kitchen and bathroom, a mattress, duvet, duvet cover, sheets, pillows, etc. Isabelle asked if my bed was a 90, which is a single. Well the matress I had was not a single. I told her it was bigger, but I didn't measure because I didn't know I was getting a new mattress. She said, "Okay we'll get a 140 since they don't have a 120." I went along with it. With our three carts, we go check out. It was quite a steep bill. We waited for them to bring out the mattress and footstools. I saw the mattress and thought, "Eh, that's kind of big." Well we can't fit everything in the car. A sweet man from IKEA came and helped us for an hour. Yes, an hour. The mattress went onto the top of the car. During the drive it was flying up, but didn't fly off thank goodness.
Barthelemy, Balthazar, and Basile meet us outside with Pierre, who is standing in the street with his camera ready. He is always taking pictures. We all start loading things up. I take down the old mattress and say a few curses in my head because once I saw the space where the mattress goes, I KNEW it wouldn't fit. Oh my gosh. They bring it up. We hoist it, push it, grunt a few time, and there you have it. A good 6 inches is hanging off. Good Lord, I will roll off the top and break my neck on the stairs! Basile asked if I measured. I said no. He said "That would have been smart to do." I wanted to cry because he was frustrated because they were leaving in a matter of hours to Greece and there was so much to do. I wanted to apologize profusely and explain that I didn't know I was going to get a new mattress or I would have measured. Whaaaaaaaaa!

Notice the mattress is WAY to bigThe "before" pictureThey leave, I mope. Isabelle calls to say that Barthelemy has been telling her for months that he's had dreams that he had a big bed. He would trade with me. I would get his single and he would get my queen. Byebye comfy over-sized bed. I love you. We made the switch. I now have a nice bed that will save me from a plumet to the floor in the middle of the night.

I spent all last night using a manual Phillips screwdriver putting my furniture together. It was horrible. Men in France are not like American men. I miss my dad's workbench that I could go to and grab whatever I needed (and usually not return). They don't take pride in the size of their tool boxes or their contents. No drills here. No fancy tools. Just the basic set you would find a single girl or grandmothers utility closet. As a matter of fact I think my grandmother has a better tool set than the French men. I finally got it all together. And here you will find the pics of my studio finally...

That's a little makeshift bed for when Sammies and Braggs come to see me in a couple of weeks. Also, it's nice to read there

From the window above my bed you can see the Eiffel Tower and Dome of Invalides if you stick your head out


Once again, no shower curtain
I miss American closets. Emily and Ash, you wouldn't survive.