Furniture Mess

So now that you've seen my beautiful new furniture, there's a not so beautiful story to go with it! My mom happened to come visit me on the perfect weekend--the weekend I got keys to my new place. She got the lucky task of furniture shopping with me! For some reason, I had Ikea on a pedestal in my mind and was adamant about getting furniture from there. My mom tried to warn me....

Stop #1: Ikea~We started at Ikea and I found a few cute kitchen pieces, but once we got to the couches and beds, the prices were just way more than I wanted to pay for even what the pieces looked like, and what I'm guessing the quality is. On the way to Ikea, we drove past Ashley Furniture, so my mom had the idea to go there to look and that we could always come back to Ikea. So we tried to leave Ikea. 3 miles and 2 hours later {pretty close} we FINALLY made it out of Ikea. That place is seriously a death trap!! I vowed to never go back.

Stop #2: Ashley Furniture~We get to Ashley furniture and hadn't even made it two feet in the door and we were swarmed by Edith, the OVER-eager sales associate. We simply told her that we were just looking and walked away to figure out our plan. Edith followed us. Again, we tell her we were just looking. We walk at least five laps around the entire store and look at pretty much every piece of furniture in that place--all the while Edith is literally stalking us! It got so annoying!! I ended up getting  living room and bedroom sets and am very happy with both.

Stop #3: Ikea~Back to Ikea we go, much against my will. Only this time I knew exactly what I wanted--a kitchen table and chairs and a TV stand. We found those items and walked the 3 miles out of the store again. Of course, they were out of the chair legs that I needed. Just my luck! So we got the other items and left. Note: we drove Old Blue to Ikea. I have packed that car full so many times that I had faith we could fit everything in {shipping was $99. No way!}, but my mom didn't share the same faith. So we kind of stood there looking at everything and these two older gentlemen in the parking spot next to us offered to help. It took them a good half hour, but somehow they miraculously got everything loaded in. We would have been in big trouble if it weren't for them! Thank you old foreign men!

Furniture Delivery Story~What.A.Mess!!! I scheduled the delivery for Friday afternoon when my dad was supposed to be in LA and could receive my furniture. They told me they would call 30-45 minutes before they would be at my place. My dad go into town later than expected and I got off work earlier than expected, so we met for a late lunch. Before we even got our food, the delivery guy called and wondered if he could be to my place in 5 minutes. I said no way and that I would need the 30 minutes promised {we were eating in downtown LA--an 18-30 minute drive depending on traffic}. He literally laughed and said sorry, I can't do that and that he would have his manager call to reschedule. The manger called and we set up delivery for Sunday, but not without her telling me that I will be charged a second delivery fee. I immediately called Ashely Furniture customer service and explained everything and that lady basically said "sorry honey." Keep in mind that this all would have worked out had I had the 30-45 minute warning as promised. So I drag my Dad into the furniture store the next day because no way was I paying a second delivery fee! That lady told me that I shouldn't have even been told that and that my account didn't show a second fee. Again, What.A.Mess! So I sit at home on Sunday waiting for my furniture instead of running the million errands I needed to. I get a call a little before 3:30 saying they'd be there in 45-90 minutes. I sit and wait..and wait....and wait. I call the number a few different times and of course nobody answers. 6:30 they finally show up!!....without the footboard to my bed. Awesome. So I slept on my mattress on the floor for a week until the following weekend when I could be home to receive the footboard. Every single person I worked with at Ashley Furniture was extremely rude--down to the jerk delivery guys I got! I sincerely hope I don't need any more furniture anytime soon!

New apartment!

I'm officially all settled into my new apartment in Burbank! It's been wonderful to get out of the hustle and bustle {aka NOISE} of the city. It's not water, but water is coming :-)

The guy who set up my cable said my bedroom looks like it's out of a princess catalog

 {Photos of my bathroom coming soon--it got a facelift this weekend and needs to get put back together}

Wartburg wall!

Fun chalkboard wall!

I'm still working on adding decor and a few small furniture items, but here is the skeleton of my new home!

4th of July in Iowa!

I was lucky enough to get a long weekend off of work for the 4th of July. Last minute, I decided to spend the weekend in one of my favorite places, Okoboji with my family! Although I had recently seen my parents, I hadn't seen Eric or any other family members since Christmas. Plus, it was great just being home.

I had a whirlwind trip, but managed to squeeze in a lot of favorites.

• I had coffee with my Grandma Endorf and her friends. What a hoot! They are some awesome ladies!! It was so nice seeing my grandma and catching up with her!
• I saw my favorite little kiddos and spent some time playing with them. I absolutely love Andrew, Avery, Alex, Riley, and Jacey and wish I could see them more!
• We ate at Duke's Burgers and The Lighthouse--my only two requests being home. My mom made me a strawberry pie {my favorite} and had all kinds of other delicious sweets. Definitely need to get back into the workout routine.
• I spent a day with my cousins on the boat. We had so much fun and had lots of laughs!! Grandma Z joined us for supper that night, so I got to chat and catch up with her.
• Poor Eric got to ride on the back of the jet ski while I drove...I can't imagine how he felt because I was sore for a solid two days!
• I went out for a few drinks with a good friend from college. So great to catch up!
• Some time was squeezed in just to relax on the boat, too. Heaven!

I took the red-eye flight home and missed that night of sleep. I didn't get back to LA until 5 am on Monday morning and had to work that same day. I was tired for a few days, but the trip was definitely worth it! So blessed!

Baby Jacey. What a sweetie! 

Heaven

Fireworks from the boat!

No way could anyone but this kid get away with eating breakfast out of the pan. Backstory: I woke up and was slaving away helping Mom in the kitchen. This kid wakes up, gets a hug {I did NOT receive a hug}, sits down and eats, and goes to watch TV. Seems about right.... 

Tourist status 

I call this kid my friend...not sure why!

My One Year Anniversary in LA was Spent.....in IOWA!!

July 5th marked one year of me being in L.A. I can't believe how fast {and slow at the same time} a year seemed to pass!

Some of my accomplishments:

• Earned a degree from FIDM in Merchandise Marketing
• Landed a retail job at a very up-and-coming designer, Michael Kors
• Started my career as a Merchandise Assistant at APAC Sale Group {see New Job}
• Moved to my very own apartment in Burbank
• Last but not least, became a big kid.

I have definitely learned a lot in my year in LA and am still continuing to learn and grow, and more importantly weigh pros and cons of everything.

Ironically enough, my one-year anniversary was spent in Iowa ;-)