Bamboo!!

Grant and I have heard a lot of hype about Ikea and always meant to go up to Washington to check it out. Now that there is one in Portland, it made it that much easier for us, so we went last Saturday. I never knew it could be so good! There are so many treasures and ideas you can find there. It was packed. Apparently it's been really busy since it opened, but it might have been even worse considering that it was Labor Day weekend. Eleanor had a pretty good time (for a shopping trip that long). The shopping carts are even pleasant. they glide across the floor with ease. Seriously, why haven't they shared these secrets with grocery stores? Maybe it's just because they're new, it being a new store and everything. I don't know, though. I've used brand new Wal-mart shopping carts that didn't come anywhere near the smooth ride of the Ikea cart. Ok, I'll stop obsessing about the carts!

Since the place is so huge, we did a walk-through first just to scope out what we liked and wanted to come back to and possibly buy. We found these cool plants that we thought were bamboo (later learned they're a form of lily- shows how much I know about plants). Eleanor was thrilled with it. She wanted to touch/hold the bamboo, all the while almost shouting with glee, "Bamboo!" When it came time to put them back, Eleanor didn't want to part with them. What does a toddler know about a walk-through, even if you will most likely come back and buy it?

Anyways, it was a fun trip, and we will surely be headed back there again. Grant has promised that the next time we go, he'll let me try some of their food so I can get the whole experience. Apparently you can buy dinner there quite cheaply.

Here are some of our finds:

Well, yes, of course we went back and bought the bamboo! When we did, Eleanor had to hold it (duh), and she had one in each hand and repeated, "bamboo!" over and over in excitement. I received several jabs in the face with her unruly bamboo, and I could hardly hear Grant when he talked to me over the triumphant, repetitive, "bamboo!" At least she found a way to enjoy herself, and I kept both my eyes.

That is a moving truck behind Eleanor. Apparently people come to this place with empty moving trucks just to haul home their loot!

Here's our bamboo!

We found this nifty plastic bag holder. We had all these plastic bags hanging around with nowhere to go, just junking up the area behind our garbage can. Now they are nice and neat underneath our sink. Yay! A few other things we got are some cute votives for tealights, a little pots and pans set for Eleanor's birthday (shh, don't tell), and some cardboard magazine organizers. I saved the best for last. . .

Say hello to what we have been using as a bedside table for five years. Looks like it's winking at you, doesn't it? This is part of the bedroom set my mother and dad used to have. In the picture, it's sitting in my mother's spare room off the garage because we didn't waste any time returning it (although we appreciated the loaner- it got us by- thanks, Mom). We didn't have anything starting out, so we borrowed this. I think we only borrowed one of the set because my mother was using the other at the time. Ever since we moved into this house, we've had our eye on a set of bedside tables from Ikea's website. We always thought we'd make it to Washington to buy them, but that didn't happen. Thank goodness an Ikea opened in Portland!

Out with the old, and in with the new. . .

Ahhhhhhhhh!

Do you hear the angels singing in the choir? I do.

And just in case you're wondering, yes, we bought TWO of them!