At Home on the Fourth of July

Jul 04, 2016 21:12

(Note: I first tried to post this about 8:15 PM. We've had intermittent internet issues.)

We've spent a lovely weekend not doing much of anything, just piddling around the house. I didn't even shower between Friday and today. However, dad got a hankering to go to At Home, formerly known as Garden Ridge, which is out on Route 59 in Naperville. Mom didn't feel like doing anything yesterday, so we stuck to laundry and whatever we felt like, but today, we left the house.

We've had this plant from Papa's wake for over seven months now--actually, two of them, but the smaller one fits on this old stool I inherited after the bookstore closed. The other one is huge and has been sitting on a rug on the floor all this time. When we first went to Garden Ridge in probably 2012, we'd looked at tables to put in our entry foyer and came away empty-handed, at least in that respect. Dad has been pining for one ever since, and especially since we've had a plant--he hates that it's on the floor. Well, we scoured the place and didn't find a table for the entry there, but we found other things--a rug for the deck, so dad can wipe his shoes off before coming inside; a garment rack for mom (to check off her personal bucket list); a lunch bag for mom; underbed shoe storage for mom; small clear bins for dad and me; two new water bottles for me (one has these freeze-y beads in them, and was more expensive than the other one, but the gal charged me twice for the less-expensive one); possibly other stuff I can't remember; and this cute elephant-shaped watering can. We've joked about getting an elephant so it can hose down the annoying little dog behind us (because us shooting the hose at it is too blatant), so dad couldn't help himself when we saw that.

We were there for a long enough time that it was lunchtime by the time we left. Route 59 has lots of food choices, but we opted for IHOP, which was busy and service was kind of slow, but the food was good and we ate it all. My lemonade ended up being free somehow, likely because our server was not the one who took our drink order (the greeter who sat us was), and mom scored free pancakes because the kitchen ran out of mushrooms for her omelet and would she like to substitute something instead? I don't think that's what they meant but it worked. I went with the New York cheesecake pancake combo, so I got eggs, hash browns, and sausage. It took a few bites to hit the cheesecake but YUM. Worth it, and with the strawberries and strawberry syrup already on top, I really didn't need additional syrup.

Across the parking lot from IHOP is Bob's Discount Furniture, so we stopped in there for a while, not just to look for an entry table, but also because we're considering getting a sectional for the family room. Did you know they have a complementary cafe in there? Coffee, candy, cookies, and ice cream. We should have stopped there before IHOP. :P We did find a couch we all liked, so dad took some pictures so we could remember it, and the same with a potential dining room table. We'll have to take some measurements to see if they'll fit.

Our final stop was Target, because our living room was redone in Shabby Chic back 10 years ago, and mom wanted to see if they had anything in that style that might work for the foyer. Part of why she'd gotten the garment rack is because she has too many clothes and they're hanging all over the doorknobs upstairs, and she wants to try to get organized. During lunch I was talking about Marie Kondo, so I got her to buy the KonMari book (now if she could just read it and take it to heart); that was our first stop. Then we found ourselves back in housewares, where dad found this nice unit that he thought was on sale; turns out the sign was in the wrong place, but that's okay; we bought it anyway--in an entirely different color. We saw one on display that was teal, but that wouldn't necessarily go with the rest of the house. Where the boxes were stacked, though, we found a gray one and went with that. Since we're putting a plant on it, dad thought we should get a rug or placemat for underneath. We ended up getting a table runner plus a plastic placemat to help protect the new unit.

We didn't get home until four, having left at ten, and dad and I set about putting the garment rack and end table together, which took a little time. Also, they smelled like shipping containers from China, so we turned on our air freshener to help clear the air. We were pretty full from lunch, but dad still made watermelon salad, which was refreshing. However, during that, the paper towel holder got knocked over and landed on my foot, which was no fun; it stings a little and there's been some bruising. It landed on my toes. Luckily it's not that heavy, but it has a thick edge and that's what hit me. That's put a damper on any plans to walk anywhere tonight, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do. Well, I have over an hour to decide. We'll see how I feel--do I just go in the driveway, walk down the block, go to the main street outside the subdivision? We'll see.

dad, shopping, mom, family, target, fourth of july, holiday, ihop

Previous post Next post
Up