There's no such thing as too much Scandinavia.

With the Olympics ending today, we thought what better way to pay homage to all things
Scandinavia than going making the long trek out to suburbia to visit Ikea. We got some
stuff to better organize and maximize the space in our little home. The thing that stood
out to me during this trip to Ikea was the fun artwork that they had in their display frames.

Totes McGoats...

TOTES McGOATS!

SQUIRREL!!

:)

Ikea.

We went up to Ikea to look at dressers to better organize and maximize our closet space.




We got two Malm dressers. One for my stuff and one for Genifer's stuff. I'll post a photo of
our new maximized closet space just as soon as I've completely all the required assembly.

ps. It didn't even dawn on me to take any "work-in progress" shots. I was a man on a mission.
A mission straight from Scandinavia. :)

A rainy Saturday.

Rainy Saturdays call for a trip to Ikea in West Chester...

And what's one of the best parts of making the pilgrimage out to Ikea?

50¢ hot dogs...

The $15 hot dogs at Senate don't have anything on those delicious Ikea dogs...

When we got home, Oscar supervised as I assembled our new shelf...

:)

Insert something clever and Swedish sounding here.

On my way back downtown, I stopped at the Ikea in West Chester since I was out in that
direction anyway. My kitchen stools have been getting increasingly wobbly. I don't think
I've been out in West Chester since all the back at the end of June in 2009. Geez.


After much debate, I decided on some new stools and a few other little odds and ends.
I love how when you are trying to navigate to find your boxes of stuff just how much it
looks like that last scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark...

"We have top men working on it now." "Who?" Top. Men."
LOL. I love Ikea. :)

Corners of our home.

I finally got done building our new additions from our trip to Ikea. First, we got this cool
storage unit to help organize all our mitten and hats and scarves in our coat closet...

And second, we got a new, much smaller desk...

The old desk ate up a ridiculous amount of space in our bedroom so we put it in storage.
I had forgotten how nice it is to have a desk with a couple of drawers! And it just fits in
the space so much better. Our little home just keeps getting more and more amazing! :)

The pursuit of all things Swedish.

It was a gorgeous Saturday in Cincinnati. Why wouldn't we drive up north to Ikea?


One of the best parts about going to Ikea is grabbing a couple of 50¢ hot dogs...

We got some odd & ends stuff but my favorite things we got were these two cacti...

They remind me of all the fun we had at Spring Training in Arizona! :)

I ♥ Ikea.

Ikea, originally uploaded by thadd.

The place has been a godsend. With the exception of actually purchasing the furniture I've
picked out, I think I have everything I need for my new pad.

Because of Ikea, I'll be able to furnish my entire apartment for not that much more than
my Chair of Dreams below. God bless Sweden and their inexpensive home furnishings.

It's what's for breakfast.

We had some delicious Ikea Cinnamon Rolls for breakfast this morning...

YUM! :)

Swedish pilgrimage.

This evening we made a pilgrimage out to visit purveyors of all things Swedish, Ikea...


We got some new stuff for our home. Photos to come soon. :)

New furniture.

This afternoon I went to Ikea to look at furniture for my apartment downtown.
I think I have it all sorted out. Ikea has some great pieces, for super cheap.
I think I will be able to furnish my entire apartment with a one-stop shop!

There's going to be a lot of furniture assembly happening on June 13th!

What better way to spend a rainy afternoon?

We spent the rest of our rainy afternoon shopping for some home stuff at Ikea.

You go in that place. And when you re-emerge into the outside world, three hours have
passed and your bank account is a few hundred dollars lighter. But we got a whole bunch
of new organizational stuff for our place. :)

Corners of our home.

Here's some of the stuff we got on our trip to Ikea yesterday. We got this DVD shelf...


And we got this loveseat. Hooray for more seating!




We also got a bookcase for our bedroom but we haven't assembled it yet. :)

Pause for paws.

When I was assembling my new Ikea stools this evening, Svensk couldn't help but chew
on the cardboard and play in the boxes...

Cats love making forts out of boxes.

Moving day in photos.

Ikea, originally uploaded by thadd.

Moving, originally uploaded by thadd.

It's a disaster, originally uploaded by thadd.

Goodbye neighborhood, originally uploaded by thadd.

Goodbye house, originally uploaded by thadd.

And with that, this chapter is officially over. And like my friend Chris said,
"Just turn the page, only one person knows how it our story ends.
So sit back and enjoy since every chapter is as good as we make it."

I'm going to make this chapter incredible.

I'm in my new place!

My parents stopped in Cincinnati this weekend on their way back from Nantucket
to help me move into my new place. We busted butt to get everything in and set
up. Saturday was a crazy long day but everything came together perfectly. Ikea
had all the stuff I picked out in stock, got all my stuff moved, assembled all the
furniture and started organizing everything. And now my place looks ama-zing.
And it's all come together better than I ever could have imagined in my wildest dreams...
Photos to come soon. And I'll back post a few photos from the big move.

Mom and dad, thank you so much for helping me with all of this. This situation, the move,
putting all the furniture together, getting everything arranged so nice, for everything.
I wouldn't have been able to pull this off without your help. Thank you so very much!

Dingle House.

After every trip to Ikea, we always stop at Dingle House in West Chester for a bite to eat.

Genifer had this delicious Shamrock Salad...

And on Sundays, all Irish fare is just $9.99. I almost felt obligated to order the fish & chips...


Delicious and huge order of fish & chips! And they had Mad tree beers on tap! Great stuff! :)

Today's the day!

Today is the big day. I get the keys to my new apartment today. I really thought
that today would feel different. I thought it be a happier day. Less sad than it is.

And I really didn't anticipate the anxiety that I am feeling about the move tomorrow.
But it's still a big day. HUGE! I can't wait to see the inside of my place again.
Even with the mixed emotions, it's still pretty exciting.

ps. I finally tracked down a moving truck that I could pickup tomorrow morning.
Who knew it would be so hard to find a truck at the last minute? Geez.
I'm feeling a little less anxious now.

UPDATE: Apparently, there is a truck shortage in Cincinnati or something. Now I have to
pick up my truck in Mt. Healthy, which nowhere near Loveland. But in the vicinity of Ikea.
So maybe this will all work out fine after all. At least I have a truck.

Sonic.

Sonic the Swedish strawberry-loving hedgehog. :)

Our new dressers.

And after putting together a couple of dressers, here's the final result...

I think these will work great for us. :)

Dingle House.

After Ikea, we stopped for a bite to eat at Dingle House in West Chester.


And they had Founder's Breakfast Stout on tap! SuperYum FTW! Incredible beer!