A Tale of Three Walmarts

Our new apartment has a nice, large patio.  It was part of the reason why I fell in love with the place.  I could envision dinners eaten outside on warm summer evenings, or drinking a cup of coffee and reading a book on a crisp fall morning. 

Unfortunately, the furniture budget was pretty tight.  And with the need for pretty much everything (sofa, coffee table, dresser, lamps, etc.)  there wasn't much wiggle room for patio furniture.  No matter how much I insisted, Josh was not going to believe that patio furniture was a necessity. 

But, prior to moving, I had seen a GREAT deal at Walmart for a patio set.  I'm not at all too high and mighty to shop at Walmart, but let's just say I also don't spend a great deal of time there.  Too many people, not enough parking, long lines, and well, you get the picture.  Anyway,  Mom and I had seen this amazing deal online for a patio set that looked pretty snazzy.  She then saw it on display at one of Bakersfield's many Walmarts.  She came home, told me about it, said I should get it because she thought it was the only one left, but of course I said no because we hadn't even moved yet and how could I explain buying patio furniture when I didn't even have a sofa yet. 

So, two weeks later Josh and I moved and we spent the first week outfitting our new apartment with all the necessities. Okay, maybe the rug wasn't exactly a necessity but I really wanted it. :)  And as the place started to really come together, I realized I REALLY wanted a patio set.  I started looking around.  Target, World Market, Pier 1, Big Lots, they all had patio sets that were either far too expensive, or so cheaply made they weren't even worth buying.  In the back of my head, I still remembered the sale one from Walmart.  I got online and typed in my new zip code to see if there were any in the area.  And my answer:  OUT OF STOCK.  In big, bold, capital letters at every Walmart within 60 miles of Redlands.  Darn.

So what does a girl do when she can't get what she wants?  She calls Mom.

The Bakersfield area code told me that they had LIMITED STOCK at one of the Walmart stores so my wonderful Mom and Dad went over that weekend to see if they had it.  After lots of "help" from a not very helpful Walmart employee, it was realized that no, Walmart #1 did not have it either.  BUT, the employee called to see if a different store in town had it and told my parents that that store had SIX.  Mom thought this especially questionable considering no store in the Southern California Area seemed to have any, but they went anyway.  Sure enough, not the same one.  Fail at Walmart #2. 

At this point, I think that most people would give up, especially when it wasn't even for them! But Mom decided they would go back to the third Walmart where she had seen it on display weeks prior.  And sure enough!  Walmart #3 still had it on display.  This was the ONLY set they had.  After some arguing over the price (it wasn't listed the same as the discounted price online) my parents got the patio set for us.  Mom had the cushions cleaned for me and they drove the set down in their suburban on Saturday.  What great parents I have!

We are thrilled with our new patio set.  Since we only have a one bedroom apartment, it really adds to our living space.  We've already had some nice dinners out there.

Mom is even making me some throw pillows that will match the dining chairs she reupholstered for me earlier this summer.

While they were here, Mom and I bought some plants for my newly furnished patio.

And while Dad slept....

Mom and I put together our new dresser.

We're so handy!  Notice the pink tool kit.

My parents were such a help this weekend and I was so glad to have them here, especially since Josh was on call.  Our apartment is really coming together and I'll get around to doing an apartment tour blog post soon.  I promise!

London Bridge is falling down

Well okay, not really anymore.  But it was falling down some 50 or so years ago.  The previous London Bridge is currently standing in Lake Havasu, Arizona, which I've been to a couple of times.  It was sold to a man in the United States in 1968 for a little over 2 million dollars and rebuilt in Havasu by 1971.  The current London Bridge opened in 1973.  So to clarify, there is a London Bridge in London and a London Bridge in Havasu, and I've now been to both.  If you're confused...Wikipedia it!

Now that we're all up to date on our London Bridge history, I'll get to the really fun stuff that the Fairman siblings did in London on day number two.  We got up fairly early on Monday morning and enjoyed a large buffet style breakfast at the hotel.  We discussed our game plan for the day and decided our first stop would be Tower Bridge. 

To me, Tower Bridge looks like a toy bridge.  Don't get me wrong, the bridge is huge, massive in fact.  You can't really miss it.  But it's painted light blue, white, and red and to me it looks a little out of place in the very historic and old city of London.  Plus, the London Bridge, which everyone has heard of, can be seen from Tower Bridge and it is a little underwhelming in comparison. 

After looking at the bridge from a distance, we decided to do the Tower Bridge Experience and go up in the two towers for a tour.  The tour was surprisingly interesting.  None of us are at all like our Dad in that we don't spend hour upon hour looking and reading all of the different signs and boards in a museum.  For example, he spent 7 HOURS at the British National Museum when my Mom and him were here in November.  7 HOURS!!!  Poor Mama.

It takes a lot to hold our attention, but they had a display of all of the world's most famous bridges which included both the Brooklyn Bridge and San Francisco Bridge among many others.  There were about 20-25 bridges in total.  Wouldn't it be cool to visit them all?!?  The bridge lifts about 1000 times a year for boats to go under.  I wish we could have seen that, but unfortunately there was no lifting happening last Monday.  Maybe when I go again with the hubby (hint hint) we can watch the bridge lift. :)  The tour also took you down under one of the towers to the steam room to show you the mechanics of how it lifts.  Pretty cool.

At the top of Tower Bridge

Anna has this issue with keeping her eyes open during pictures.

By the time we got to the top of the Tower Bridge, the sun was beginning to come out and it turned into the most beautiful London day.  The views were spectacular.

Views from the Tower Bridge

The Gherkin.  One of London's skyscrapers.

Anna gets left out of this because she can't keep her eyes open.

  Next we headed down to the steam room under one of the towers to check out all the equipment used to lift the bridge.  There was also a display of different stunts that have been done on the bridge.  For instance, one man has jumped it on his motorcycle while another jumped a bus.  Pretty crazy stuff.

And as if we hadn't taken enough pictures of the Tower Bridge, when we finally got down to the other side of the River Thames, we took a few more.

There was also a great view of the Tower of London which is Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress built in 1078 by William the Conqueror.  It has been used as both a prison and a place of residence and in earlier years, controlling it meant controlling the country.  We didn't pay to go in, but if I get to go back with Josh, going there will be on my list of things to do.

Tower of London

We then walked down the river to the London Bridge.  As I said earlier, it really isn't nearly as impressive as the Tower Bridge, but at one point, it was the only bridge crossing over the River Thames until 1750.  It is still cool to say we've been there none the less.

Our second day in London had started out strong with two awesome bridges before lunch time.  Next up is the second half of our day with some other famous sites.  Check back soon for more London fun!

 

Scotland Bound

During the second week of Mom and Dad's visit to the UK, we headed up to Scotland via car!  We rented a car in Newcastle and Dad drove it around Scotland for five days.  How he drove on the opposite side of the road using a stickshift without getting into any accidents is beyond me.  He drove so well, and we only entered a roundabout going the wrong direction once!  Josh was unable to accompany us because we were gone during the weekdays.  He was definitely missed.  Here are some of the highlights of the trip.

Made it to Scotland!



Jedburgh Abbey



Melrose Abbey

Edinburgh Castle

Overlooking Edinburgh

Loch Ness....We didn't see Nessie though :(



Isle of Skye





I definitely slipped in Skye mudd




Long haired cattle on the side of the road



Traditional Scottish Breakfast complete with Haggis
(sheep heart liver and lungs)

Mom & Dad Fairman Come to Visit!!!

In early November, Mom and Dad Fairman headed over the pond to the UK to visit us.  This was their first trip to Europe and even though they were excited, I don't think anyone was more excited than me!!!!  They arrived on a Friday and of course Josh was in school, so I met them at Central Station in the afternoon.  Central Station is the train station.  They flew into London and then took the train into Newcastle.  I cried the moment I saw them.  Being in Europe for 3 months had taken it's toll on me, and I was so very happy to see them. 

The first few days of their time here, were spent enjoying all that Newcastle has to offer.  Josh was even able to participate some since it was the weekend.  First, we took them on a stroll through Jesmond Dene.  It's an absolutely beautiful park that Josh and I run in fairly regularly.

This is Jesmond Dene, a park behind our flat.

Dad, Me, and Josh entering the park.

Aren't the fall leaves gorgeous?

 We also went down to the Quayside to see the River Tyne and all the bridges that cross it.  It really is a beautiful sight.  We ate dinner at "The Slug and Lettuce."  It has a very strange name, but the food was actually good, well, as good as English food gets.


View from the Gateshead Millineum Bridge



Mom and Dad



Josh and I

 Lastly, Mom, Dad, and I went to Newcastle's Castle Keep to look around.  It is right down by the River Tyne and we had seen it the day before at the Quayside.  Dad spent lots of time reading most of the history on the castle, while Mom and I enjoyed taking in the views from the top of the castle.


Newcastle's Castle Keep

Overlooking the River Tyne

St. Nicholas' Cathedral