We got a bed.

Soon after moving in we became fed up by the cots and airbeds.  It was to be our first trip to IKEA as a couple; Swedish meatballs, confusing fake rooms, unfinished furniture, a sign of things to come?

We braved IKEA one morning shortly after Christmas, it was packed, a suffocating but strikingly hip maze.  We only wanted a bed.  After an hour in the car and the somewhat disorienting feeling of the store, like being in a playhouse designed for grown-ups, the classic mix of hungry/angry began to set in.  Fatigued by the crowds and distracting shiny objects, we were hangry.  So we hunted down the food court, more crowds, more confusion, too many smells.  The meatballs did not live up to the hype, but they helped us recharge.

We grabbed the bed and mattress we had come for and got them stuffed into the car.   Arriving back at Tracy Cottage, with our loot, now after dark, the assembly process began.  Matt took point while I made a pizza because, well, pizza. We somehow had both extra and missing pieces, but Matt was a hero and made it work.  

Our quest essentially took the entire day, but silver lining, I grabbed all their kitchen makeover info and got a look at the line of butcher-block counter tops.  Once we had gone through all the trouble we began seeing lots of reasonable beds we liked on Gumtree.  Typical. 

-Nicole