Ikea Experience!

For years friends have raved about the great, Swedish Ikea (home furnishings mega store), but I had never been inside an Ikea until last Saturday, when Sandy and I planned a date to Conshohoken, PA outside of Philadelphia. Sandy wanted to introduce me to Ikea, and we both wanted to stop by a Trader Joe's as well. What a fun day!

I have now experienced Ikea.

If I were still in business and management classes at SVSU, I could probably get some extra credit for writing some sort of analysis on Ikea's business style. There are many clever parts of the Ikea experience, but I think the most brilliant business strategy is their in-store cafeteria conveniently located in the center of each massive store, between hundreds of square feet of showrooms and an extensive marketplace and warehouse.

Ikea is not one of those "bop in and bop out" stores. Rather it's one of those "meander through this way and that" (for a few hours!) stores.

Meandering shoppers get hungry... And hungry shoppers get grumpy... And grumpy shoppers do not have a positive shopping experience. :(

Enter: Ikea's cafeteria-- where normal-sized portions of food are served on normal-sized plates for $5 to $7. (Of course the Swedish meatball meal is a popular choice.)

Ikea's in-store cafeterias are a fabulous business move!

99 cent mug I bought at Ikea

Sandy and I wandered the showrooms oohing and ahhing at so many fun and wonderful products and inventions. By the time we rolled our cart out of the bedroom furnishings area and started whiffing Swedish meatballs at the cafeteria, we were ready for lunch and a nice place to sit down and relax.

After we finished our meals, we browsed the Marketplace and made our final product selections.

I left the store quite pleased with my bag of household purchases.

four

Last Monday morning, Amy and I picked eight quarts of strawberries, and on Monday evening I spent an hour making four pints of fresh strawberry jam. It was a simple task that left me feeling more accomplished than necessary :). 

Thanks to Mom for teaching me so many practical skills in the kitchen.

from Sandy

Sandy brought me a lovely little bouquet of wildflowers.

down by the riverside

It was a privilege to join my Spanish church and a sister church for outdoor 

baptisms on a recent Sunday afternoon.

Glory!

from the files: Letter to Lindsay

~I was rummaging through old blog drafts from my time in Zambia, and rediscovered this un-posted gem. Before leaving Nahumba, I intended to photograph my embroidered white bath towel, but I ran out of time. Since I never snapped a photo of my well-loved Lindsay towel, I never shared this post.~

PS- Lindsay was embroidered with lilac colored thread.

Dear Lindsay-

I don’t know who you are or where you’re from or why you came to Nahumba (or if you even came to Nahumba… plenty of items arrive in Zambia via bales of second-hand clothes etc.)…

But I just want to say:

Thank you.

Thanks for my favorite bath towel here at Nahumba.

~Julie

Happiness

Sam and Sara

Sara and Sam

&

Susanna and John

are happily planning their weddings!

charm

I love, love, love cute cafes, like the Terra Cottage.

Poconos

Hawks Falls

Last week, Heather invited me to join her for a trip up north to her grandparents' cabin in the Poconos.

We had a fun time relaxing and hanging out. 

After hearing about the family lake house since 2012, it was fun to finally "meet" one of 

Heather's favorite happy places.

On Saturday we hiked over to Hawks Falls (beautiful! and quick jaunt). After stopping to eat our sandwiches, we headed to Boulder Field. A few minutes before we reached the boulder field-- over 1.5 hours from the car-- it started raining! And.then. It POURED.

haha.

Although it stopped raining sometime during our return hike, 

we were still pretty damp when we got back to the cabin.

boulder field at the start of the rain storm (note the gal under the blanket!)

Boulder Field was remarkable-- this vast "field" of rocks is just plopped in the middle of a mini forest. We hiked over over 3 miles through the woods, and then suddenly came to this clearing of rocks!

While we were at the lake, Heather also introduced me to a couple local treat shops:

Piggy's-- her favorite childhood breakfast spot

Terra Cottage (so cute and wonderful!)

Hog Heaven (local stop for Hershey's ice cream)- we finished our ice cream cones while sitting by the lake as the sun set.

Btw- Hershey's ice cream-though popular in this State- is fine, but nothing to write home about. Definitely NOTHING at all compared to Ashby's of Michigan!

Strawberry Love

photos compliments of Vicky

After work Friday evening, Vicky, Heather, Malinda, and I went strawberry picking at the Lloyds' farm. Twenty quarts later, we headed home for tikka chicken, strawberry spinach salad, and...

fresh strawberry pie! (of.course.)

it was a Jolly Holiday

not a great pic, as I only had my phone, but the scenery was gorgeous on our hike

I definitely wasn't ready to head back to work Tuesday morning after an extra long weekend. It's hard to believe how much can be packed into four days away from the office: a visit to farmers' market, a funeral, an afternoon with the nieces and nephew (and brother and sister-in-law) at the park, two church services, a few hours on the phone with family, two (yes TWO!) wedding engagements (one roomie, one former roomie), breakfast together with friends, the local Memorial Day parade passing in front of our house, a four-hour hike on the Appalachian Trail, a cook-out, and... um... too many little bowls of Turkey Hill ice cream (I think I may have mentioned the recent ridiculous sale on ice cream. Good thing that was a once-in-forever sale! ha.). I thoroughly enjoyed my holiday weekend.