Settling in: Wednesday

Wednesday was supposed to be the day we were all "done" furnishing, and could spend our time exploring Long Beach and having fun. Ha! That totally didn't happen.

We got up early and decided to drive straight to the "big" IKEA in Covina, and eat at a diner there, but when we got there we remembered IKEAs have restaurants, and had our breakfast there. Mom got Swedish pancakes and lingonberry jam as well as a cinnamon bun, whereas I had breakfast potatoes, eggs and sausage. Mom said the pancakes tasted just like some sort of Afrikaans pancakes and I tried the jam and it tasted great. My breakfast was apparently very South African because the potatoes tasted just like SA chipped potatoes, the eggs were real, and the sausage links tasted just like escort pork sausages (only they were much smaller). Needless to say, we bought a packet of the sausages before we left, and they are now in my freezer.

Breakfast over, we moved along to the furniture departments in search of the loveseat/sleeper sofa and the dining table and chairs we'd previously decided to buy. Unfortunately, when we found the loveseat its price had gone up and we decided not to buy it. This turned out to be positive in the long run, since the main room of my apartment is on the small side. And while the loveseat is built on a small scale, the other furniture takes up enough room that I prefer to have the space than the loveseat.

Anyway, I was disappointed, but I knew the move had cost a lot so I didn't protest the loss of the loveseat, but went on to the dining room department instead, where we FINALLY found the little table we'd been looking for. We drifted through the other departments, admiring and wishing for a superfluous income till we got downstairs to the accessories department, where we got two green tubs for my closet to hold my socks and underwear, a green hand towel for my bathroom, two green cushions for the hard wood chairs of my dining set, and a green and white plastic dustpan and brush. (I'm sure you're beginning to see the theme here.)

We got a cart and picked up the table and chair set I wanted then proceeded to checkout and drive home where the great assembly mania began.

To start with, we'd tried to assemble the bookcase the night before but couldn't figure it out, so we'd gone to bed tired and annoyed. We called Dad before we set out to IKEA and he insisted there would be holes drilled in certain parts so that we could do it and we'd obviously using the wrong part. After getting back from IKEA and hauling everything up the stairs we took a second look at the bookcase and sure enough, he was right. Although, we're still a little mad at Target for not LABELING the pieces as the directions said they were.

So the bookcase was assembled in mere minutes, and then we started struggling with the desk. And by struggle I mean we fought with it from the time we got back from IKEA (a little after noon) till Mom's friend Joe called and asked to meet us at 3 pm, and only finished it late that afternoon AFTER we got back from meeting Joe.
Joe was very nice, and the restaurant we met him at was very nice too, with its own beer and some seriously yummy calamari. It was set on the beach too, and we got to look at the waves flowing over the white sands, the effect only slightly marred by the big oil rigs and tankers sitting in the bay.

Once we were home and the desk was finally assembled, we began on the table and chairs. The IKEA items were much easier to construct than the Target ones, but by this point Mom's and my hands were seriously sore and the table and chairs took longer to assemble than would be the case otherwise. When we finished though, and everything was organized, seat covers on chairs, printer and computer on desk, it was totally worth it. My very own furnished apartment!

By this time we were starving again, but didn't want to have a repeat of Tuesday night, so we were trying to decide where on earth we were going to go, when I suddenly had a brainwave and asked Mom if she still had that Outback Steakhouse giftcard she'd been given awhile ago. She did, I checked my Garmin for a nearby location, and we set off.
The food was yummy - I had a mixed platter with chicken, shrimp, fries and baby back ribs while Mom had something smothered in mushrooms with garlic mashed potatoes. Unfortunately when we ordered drinks Mom ordered a glass of wine and I didn't feel like wine so I got a beer. The waitress said, "It comes in a big bottle, is that alright?" I assumed she meant an oversized bottle (like 1 1/2), so I said it was fine, but lo and behold the beer she brought out had a volume of ONE PINT EIGHT OUNCES! Needless to say, I did NOT finish it. I did drink nearly a pint though, so I didn't feel too guilty about wasting the rest of it.

After dinner Mom and I went to Target to pick up some last minute things, not the least of which were some groceries since I had practically nothing in my pantry at that point. Then we finally got to put everything away and go to sleep after a very VERY long day!