The Search for the White Lanterns

Last Tuesday, Brian and I went to IKEA for something.  I don’t even remember what it was but I’m sure it was important.

As we stepped off the escalator, we immediately saw several pallets full of these –

I stood and stared.

Brian saw my eyes glaze over and asked,
"Did you want to get one of those?”
“No, I might need 18 or 20.”
“Well, did you want to get one so that you will remember and when you decide, you can come back and get them?”
“No.  I will put it on Pinterest.”

And we went on our merry way.

But then, I mentioned it to Margaret,

and in the role of a good friend who is looking out for your best interests,
she sent me into a panic.

“You have to go right back and get them now!”

“Why?”
“Because if you don’t get them now, they will all be gone.”

She picked me up the next evening to go and buy the lanterns.

We arrived and when we got to the top of the escalator………

THERE WERE NO WHITE LANTERNS!!!!!

That's when I started whining like a three year old who had missed her nap.

To soothe me and prevent me from knocking over the lantern display in a temper tantrum, Margaret assured me that we would find them.

WE dug through the black and silver ones that were left

and found TWO.
I will leave you to guess what happens when you dig around those boxes and they are just resting on top of the lantern lids with nothing to stabilize them.

Then we we went on a "treasure hunt" and searched ALL the displays throughout the store and took them off tables

and book shelves.
We found FIVE more.

Then we came up with the brilliant idea to ask for help.
The first five teenagers we approached a) didn't know what lanterns were. b) didn't know how we would find out if there were any in the store and c) were stupid.

Then we ran into this man

who for some reason did not want his picture taken.  So we did not take his picture.
He is the "Closet Planner."  He has this computer that you can plug the dimensions of your closet into and he can help you plan out the racks and shelves and bins, etc.
BUT, we asked him if he could use his MAGIC computer to tell us if there were any WHITE lanterns left in the store.
That's the crazy thing about computers.
Not only could it calculate closet square footage, the MAGIC computer told us that there were 94 white lanterns somewhere in the store.
But it's not THAT smart, cuz it couldn't tell us where.

So, we went through the store a SECOND time.
And we asked every employee who we ran into.

It was like looking for a needle or needles in a haystack.
Come on people!
There are 94 lanterns all piled up together.
How hard can they be to find?
Pretty darn hard.

Finally, one really nice girl took us on an "employee shortcut" and told us to NEVER take the shortcut without an employee with us until we needed to five minutes later by ourselves.

She directed us to Homewares or Glassware or something and actually walked us to this guy -

 who showed us EXACTLY where the 94 white lanterns were.
We jumped up and down and cheered......as the employees backed away.

Then we bought 18, 20, 25.

Phew!!!!!
If you ever need to borrow white lanterns.
I know where you can get some!
But there are only 69 left!
Kidding!  You can borrow mine!
Gina