Thursday, August 4, 2016

A Fun Day at IKEA

My friend Jeanne and I are lucky that our daughters are very good friends as well. They have been friends since 7th grade when Becca was new to the middle school whereas Kaefer already had an established group of friends who went with her to middle school. Kaefer and Becca soon became friends and have been two wonderful goofheads ever since. 

When both girls got accepted to the University of California - Becca to Santa Barbara and Kaefer to Davis - the four of us were quick to check our calendars for a dorm shopping day at IKEA. The nearest IKEA is near Berkeley and that is where we went.


There is this big metal chair outside between the blue-yellow store and the parking garage. Ever since it had been there Kaefer has enjoyed climbing on it, and of course nothing could stop our girls to do so this time. Becca is much taller than Kaefer, so they were arranging themselves on the chair until they looked the same hight. The goofiness had started and didn't stop until we were back home.

IKEA has not only furniture but also kitchen utensils, tools and all the decoration items we obviously cannot live without. They do a great job in displaying it in a beautiful way that of course tempts the customers to buy buy buy (which is really easy at IKEA since the prices are very reasonable).


Those orange dishes in the lower left corner are ALWAYS a huge temptation for me. They have the same dishes in turquoise and a combination of the two looks gorgeous. I wonder when I will finally become weak and buy both sets.

IKEA's showroom includes tiny "appartments" that are fully furnished and very inspiring. The closets always contain a few pieces of clothes and we had enormous fun taking those clothes out and "trying them on". 



The girls stopped in the "café" - another opportunity for silly photos.


And of course the four of us had to try out the beds! Not that we were in any need to buy one...


It took us hours to get through the showroom and we were exhausted and hungry (and still had to go through the Marketplace with all those decorative items - I always call this part the Bermuda Triangle). Fortunately IKEA has a restaurant (every decent furniture store at least in Germany if not Europe has a restaurant because furniture shopping makes hungry and you have to think over some good food about these big decisions you are going to make) and we soon found ourselves at a table at the window over Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes (an IKEA staple) and chicken tenders with fries. And look what we found for the "little ones":


Bibs!!! College kids need those for sure!!!

Before we descended to the Bermuda Triangle we saw this one in the children's department - it cracked me up! The wolf eating grandma! Now this is a great way to tell the story of Little Red Riding Hood!





11 comments:

Elephant's Child said...

It looks as if you had a WONDERFUL day. And on the other side of the world I have been smiling along with you. Thank you so much.

The Cynical Sailor said...

The wolf eating grandma is great! It's neat that you and your friend's daughters are also friends. Such an exciting stage in their lives - all grown up and heading off to college.

Marie Smith said...

Such a great post, celebrating the girls and the next part of their journey. It looks like the Moms had a great time too.

JoZart Designs said...

Lovely to see you all goofing around, having fun. It looks like IKEA is a big occasion for you to visit. We have one just 20 mins or so down the local motorway so we go quite often and I must admit I am due a trip as we are doing major changes and decoration in our house. When my DD visits from Brighton she has to go as her nearest is the far side of London.
Thank you so much for your Golden Wedding message. It really is scary how long we have been together.... not only 50 years married but we met 7 years before (15 me/16DH). Still having fun!
Jo x

Molly said...

What a FUN day!

Darla said...

It certainly looks like you had a lot of fun. IKEA is like no other store. I can get there in about 15 minutes but I try not to go often as I come home loaded with things I probably don't really need.

Anonymous said...

Ikea is a great place for a day of fun. When I was living in California a few years ago my sister and I visited the closest one several times and always had a blast. (Yes, I even bought furniture - a sofa and dining table, which are with me here in Maine now.) "Bermuda Triangle" is a great name for that department of decorative miscellany, though for us it was the kitchenwares that were our greatest temptation.

GreenComotion said...

What a fun trip y'all had, Carola!
The Big Bad Wolf is definitely a cool addition - may be not for Grandma :)

Have a Happy Weekend!
Peace :)

Linda said...

Looks like a great time! Your photos are lovely! Thank you so much for sharing. :)

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

What fun!! I'm not usually much of a shopper, but I do love shopping -- and eating -- at IKEA!

Magic Love Crow said...

What a fun day! I have never went to an Ikea store before, now I want to go! Great photos! Really loved them all! I want those orange dishes too! LOL! Hugs!