ikea date

greg took two days off this week. yesterday he drove morgana to sturbridge village for a winter costume fitting, and today, after cleaning up a little more around the apartment, we visited ikea in red hook to purchase shelves for the living room. i wasn't even sure first if they would be open. red hook flooded badly during hurricane sandy. many buildings still don't have their power back, and many businesses haven't reopened yet. fairway is still closed, as are several mom and pops that i read about in our local paper.

first we strolled the showroom to decide on the shelves we wanted . . then we visited the cafeteria for coffee and cinnamon buns! a cheap date, i said. greg disagreed. just think of all the money they'll be getting from us for the shelves we plan to buy!

ikea is situated right on the river, but greg thinks they planned for possible flooding as the building is built up off the ground. they've also turned part of the cafeteria into a FEMA recovery center so people in the neighborhood affected by sandy can come in to fill out their paperwork and get counseling.

no matter how many times you go, the marketplace is always spectacular!

these carts aren't easy to push . . i sometimes end up going around in circles trying to control it.

after unloading the car and carrying the boxes up four flights of stairs, i took chanda to rehearsal. i went for a walk to the corner bookstore to get a gift certificate for a friend's birthday, and on the way back i passed a familiar looking building. it was the old maternity center where korrina was born at 92nd street, just east of madison avenue. it's someone's private home now, but i have many memories of visiting for check-ups and entering through the bottom right door the night i was in labor.