The weekend after our engagement we hopped on a plane for one of many trips back to the Sunshine state this year. Our friends Dustin and Amber got married at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens. It was a beautiful wedding and a wonderful time seeing Fernandina friends. Since the wedding was in Palm Beach we were able to squeeze in a visit with Ilan & Stephanie, go to the beach and enjoy the warm sunshine.
(We also decided to take a trip to Macy's with some of our free time to visit our couch that we ordered several weeks ago for some reassurance that it was the most comfortable couch ever. It was, but suddenly we started to question the configuration of the modular sofa we ordered. Oh no! Begin: Sofa Dilemma 2011! More later...)
(I think the boys were having some fun!)
One of the perks of living in California is that we are a short (6.5 hour) drive away from my mom's house in Southern California. We had been planning on Yosemite for Easter weekend, but changed our minds last minute and made the drive down kitties and all. The weekend was very fun and full of activities including Chris' first trip to L.A./Hollywood and a lovely Easter celebration with the family at my mom's. We have pictures that I will have to add later because per usual we did not bring our camera and had to use my mom's.
Finally, this past weekend we took advantage of our surroundings and took a trip to Big Basin Park, California's oldest state park. We went on a 7 mile loop around the park that included waterfalls, creeks, ocean views, a picnic in the forest and banana slugs (called banana slugs because they are neon yellow, not because they are as big as a banana like I thought). A little warm-up for Half Dome this summer.
Chris & a Sempervirens Redwood (a midget compared to it's cousin the Giant Redwood)
Waterfall shot
Our picnic location
So since I know you all are dying to know about the Sofa Dilemma 2011, I will elaborate. When Chris and I made the big move out to California we could only bring what could fit in a U-Haul trailer. Meaning that we needed to sell a lot of our furniture. We decided that the couches should go because they were pretty uncomfortable and of course they would take up half of the trailer.
Selling the couches was the easy part. The hard part was finding a new couch. We went to every furniture store in the East Bay area and couldn't find a single couch that was good looking and comfortable. That was until we went to Macy's and found the most comfortable couch in the world. It felt like it was made of memory foam and it was microfiber. We looked at the price tag and immediately jumped off the couch knowing it was not in the price range that we wanted. After days of talking ourselves in and out of buying the couch, what shape we wanted, what color we wanted, etc. we decided to go for it. After all, this couch better last the next 10 years (maybe 20, haha) and you get what you pay for. We ordered the couch based off of what we could remember the dimensions of our living room being and started the 12-16 week wait (order placed March 9; earliest estimated delivery date June 9).
A few weeks later after measuring the living room, living in it for a while and of course that visit to Macy's, we started to question the size of the couch we bought. Maybe we should have gone bigger? Maybe we need two arm rests instead of 1? I wonder if they will let us change the order. We called customer service and "Peggy" said of course you can change your order, no you won't loose your deposit, it will be a piece of cake as long as you go to Macy's right now to change the order because your couch is scheduled to be ready in a week and a half. (Aye-yi-yi, why did you have to tell me it was going to be ready so soon??)
One visit to Macy's later we changed the configuration of the sofa, supposedly for only $100 more. (Order date April 23, estimated delivery date June 9). April 28, phone call from Macy's, "Your sofa is ready to be delivered today!" Me, "Ut-oh. We changed our order, it isn't supposed to be ready until June." Customer service, "Wrong, you get 2 couches now! :) The last order wasn't canceled. Too late to get your deposit back for either of them. Have fun!"
So, I will spare you all the phone calls to customer service that have followed, but we are now in a battle to get our deposit back for whichever sofa we don't actually receive. We aren't sure if we will have a sofa in a week or in two months and whether it will have two arm rests or one.
What ever it is it will have to better than the current set up:
Yes, those are camping chairs for a sofa. Yes, we are using bar stools as end tables. Yes, that is a microwave covered with a curtain serving as a coffee table.
I can't wait to post the after picture with our beautiful couch. When ever that may be :)
