Friday 4:30 PM Today is the day that I finally have enough money. I have been saving little bits of my money from my paychecks for months and today is finally the last paycheck that I need. I have enough money!
Friday 8:30 PM I am going to cash my check and then I am off! Wondering why I’m so hyped and what I am spending that saved money on?
Well I can assure you it’s definitely not what you would expect. Most girls would anticipate that I was off for a major shopping trip and most guys would think I was saving for a huge night out on the town or maybe a big football game. It is way cooler than both of those…at least to me it seemed like the best thing in the world.
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After moving out of the dorms sophomore year, I couldn’t afford to get a bed frame or a decent mattress so I have been sleeping on my crappy mattress on the ground for two years. Although I have become very use to this, I can’t wait to be off the floor. There really are no benefits I have gained from sleeping on my flimsy mattress on the floor other than being able to easy roll on and off the bed in case of some kind of natural disaster like an earthquake. And really that’s just me being positive, I have had backaches and every guest I have over almost eats it when they go to sit on my bed and drop about five feet.
I can’t wait to have a tall, white beautiful bed frame with a built in bookshelf attached to the headboard. Yepp, I’ve had my bed frame picked out for months. I didn’t even realize last night was my last night on the floor, but I am not going to miss it a bit.
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Friday 9:00 PM I am ready to head out. Car is packed with my usual backpack for when I go visit my boyfriend, Aaron in West Sacramento and I’m on the road.
Friday 11:00 PM I go pick up Aaron and we hit the town to grab a late bite to eat. I tell him all about my bed frame options even though I already know which one I want, and he talks strategy for his Fantasy Football team.
Saturday 11 AM We on our way to the largest furniture mecca in West Sacramento, Ikea. I have always loved Ikea, not just for their versatile and overall sophisticated and affordable furniture, but also for the atmosphere and of course those meatballs! We walk in and after weaving through the displays of different furniture we get to the bed frames. I see the one I want and I immediately got a little disappointed because it looked really…cheap. I kept thinking ‘this looked so much better online’. Aaron agrees. I’ve been waiting too long for a good bed frame and this one clearly isn’t the winner. So we browse and I eventually find another one I like, its $50 dollars over my price range but it was tall, white and beautiful with sliding drawers underneath and a built in bookshelf attached to the headboard. I was sold. I later found out it was even on sale!
Saturday 12 PM I’ve decided on this perfect white bed frame and we are now trying to locate all of the pieces in Ikea’s monstrously large warehouse. We grab the parts and then intricately try to fit it into my small Honda CRV.
Saturday 3PM I am heading back to Sonoma with my bed frame and I can’t wait to get started building it.
Saturday 5PM I arrive back in Sonoma and one of my roommates, Alexa helps me carry in the bed frame pieces. I treat her to some dinner to bribe her into helping me assemble the bed frame. She eventually agreed and we get started.
Saturday 1AM I really really really dislike Ikea furniture! There are so many parts. We are sweating and have been at this bedframe for four hours and are barely halfway done. The directions are vague and we keep screwing the wrong nails and having parts that fit awkwardly. We are determined to at least get to the part where we can put my mattress on so that I can at least sleep on my bed for the night.
Saturday 1:30 AM We really need a break. We decide to take a short break and make Pina Coladas.
Saturday 1:45 AM We are reenergized and ready to kick this bed frame's butt.
Saturday 3:00 AM We give up! There are screws that won’t fit into these metal rods. Of course this is the last step before we can put on my mattress, but we are both too tired to care. I fall asleep in my other roommate’s bed, since she was gone for the weekend.
Sunday 12 PM I realize that there is no way these screws are going to be able to fit into these metal rods so I call Ikea. They inform me that I am not the first person to call and that they can send me the correct screws in…14 days! I complain and explain that I live in a shoebox apartment and can’t even put my mattress back in my room and I can’t wait 14 days. They say there is nothing they can do…they have to ship the parts from Sweden and there is no way to expedite the shipping. Perfect.
Sunday 12AM I am studying for my midterm tomorrow morning on the living room couch since I can’t even sit in my room for fear of sitting on a screw or piece of board. I have to sleep on the couch since my other roommate was back. I am furious, I can’t believe I saved up all my money for a bed frame that won’t be ready for two weeks and that means two weeks on the couch. I have the worst luck.
Monday 11AM I just finished my midterm, I get a call from Ikea that it might be closer to three weeks. Fantastic.
Monday 11:30 I bring the metal rod into Home Depot hoping they might have the screws I need. They tell me that the type of screw I need is very unique and they unfortunately can’t help me. I decide to just ‘screw it ‘ (no pun intended) and drive back up the West Sacramento Ikea to get the screws myself.
Monday 1PM I arrive in Ikea grab the screws. I am pretty sure the Customer Service man thought I was a little crazy as I literally brought in the huge piece of metal rod to make sure the screws fit, but I wasn’t taking chances after that 2 hour drive.
Monday 4:30PM I arrive back in Sonoma after hitting three hours of bumper-to-bumper traffic.
Monday 10 PM After a total of 11 hours of labor, i am on my bed now writing this last excerpt from the comfort of my tall, beautiful white bedframe. Even though I literally wanted to scream at Ikea for making me drive a total of 10 hours in two days I still can’t contain my giant smile when I look at my bedframe. Even though this was quite the crazy ordeal for a bed frame, and some may say I was a little too crazy all I have to say to them is, I have never sleep so comfortably in my life and I will never go back to floor!
Goodnight…
