IKEA Kitchen Cabinet Order - Update

I am SO glad hubs reluctantly agreed to make the trip with me BACK to IKEA this passed Sunday. Much less busy, less stressful and a TON less time sorting out the 400 pages of receipts, delivery slips and what-have-you that I came home confused with, last Sunday. 

Within 2 hours #5 (T) helped sort out my order, helped me log into my account (which I was locked out of) and walked me through what I had ordered, what I was getting and what was being delivered in 3 weeks! Yeah!!

Hubs and I even took a run through all the goodies we ordered and got to play with the accessories, sink I chose and innards for the draws. Relieved and no longer stressed, I can now have a peaceful sleep.... Oh, wait!

I still have to:

-Close off my tiny pantry and walkway to the dining room

-Re-Open the old tiny pantry on the other side (hallway) and make it into a small coat closet. 

Side note: Despite what people think, Florida has cold weather too. No, we don't have all the winter boots and gear that accompany the frigid Northern temperatures but,  at least this Florida family has a large amount of coats and jackets, as well as camping gear. Friends that know me know the CAMPING GEAR is NOT mine!!!

- Build our new, 12 foot long walk-in pantry, complete with a sliding barn door. DIY for sure.

Here are a few pics of my ugly, small pantry (I couldn't wait to demo it). And, a few pre-kitchen reno pics too.

Again, I ask you - Who LIVES 10 years with only 3 upper cabinets? This gal. 

PS. How sad is it that all my unsightly kitchen pantry items are being stored underneath the metal table? This looked like this before I moved all the pantry items to another area completely! 

Consolation is that, in less than 3 weeks my NEW pantry will be completed!

IKEA Kitchen Cabinet Order Process

Wow. After almost 10 years of dreaming and planning for a kitchen renovation and I am more confused then when I first began this journey.
Let me back track just a bit and explain the story from A to Z. My husband and I purchased an amazing home just shy of 10 years ago. We love the layout and open concept design. It was a spec home that someone else chose all the materials for so, we did not have a say in cabinets, flooring, countertops, etc. The home was new construction so, even though we didn't love what was chosen, we knew that these things would last until we could budget for replacements. Shortly after moving in we had the cheap laminate and carpet replaced with beautiful, large porcelain tiles.

That being said, our kitchen lacked cabinets. We have a total of 3, yes! T-H-R-E-E kitchen upper cabinets and 4 lower base cabinets with a sink cabinet too. Shortly after moving in we realized that this was not enough storage space... Even though we barely had any kitchen gadgets and do-dads. Fast forward to 10 years later, 2 large metal open shelves added plus a large, old, stainless steel pizza restaurant island and I am done. Over it. Tired of looking at my kitchen gadgets and what-have-you on display for guests (and myself) to constantly look at.

We are also handy, DIY types and are pretty confident in our construction skills. What we cannot do, (major plumbing, major electrical work) we have hired out for. We have also redone a major kitchen remodel several years ago and more recently, 2 bathroom renovations (in a rental property). We are skilled and able.

My husband isn't really a natural DIYer however, he has become quite an excellent learner (thanks to YouTube). I am a dreamer. I am a planner. I am organized. I know what goes into building things and do not shy away from hard labor. Yes, any new project can be intimidating but, with the right design and planning, anything is possible. I have been an IKEA fan for many years. I have probably purchased well over 20 large pieces of furniture from them before. And yes, I put them together myself. I have become quite skilled with an Allen key. ;)

Back to IKEA and my 10 year dream of a new kitchen.

After several quotes from local cabinet companies, reading countless blogs from other DIY IKEA kitchen renovations and a much debated but carefully planned out online rendering of my ideal IKEA kitchen, I headed to IKEA to order my cabinets. On the LAST day of their 20% off sale. It was a mistake to wait until the last day. However, in my defense, our local IKEA is over 90 minutes away from where we live so, I needed to be sure I had my plans correct before I headed there.

Arriving an hour early was a smart move on my part. Even though the store didn't open until 10am, customers with kitchen orders were escorted by an employee to the kitchen department. I was added to the wait list, sat down at a computer and waited my turn with a kitchen expert.

About 45 minutes later, I was helped by employee #1. We'll call her, "K".  After my rendering kept on freezing up, K hopped on another computer to recreate my design that wasn't saved and lost after freezing up and disappearing. This took about an hour. The computer froze up and died again. After pulling up what was saved this time, we added a few extra things needed and discussed my options to bring up the order to $4500 needed to receive the 20% off discount. We did have to tweak the order a bit, adding 2 additional cabinets to a future pantry I had plans to build.

At this point, K explained that several items would need to be pulled from the store and warehouse, as these items were not available in the distribution center. I gladly grabbed what I needed (mostly the handles, cabinet drawer dividers, shelf liners and waste bins). Done. K printed out 2 forms - 1 was what I needed to pull from the store and the 2nd was a delivery list.

Step 2 was me paying for said lists and then setting up a delivery date. That is when all the issues occurred. The smaller order (what I needed to pull from store) went through fine. The second list of delivery items froze up and a delivery date (an explanation was never give) could not happen w/o an employee speaking directly with the delivery department. At this point, it was now 12:45pm -over 3 hours. I could easily spend 5 hours at an IKEA store but, NOT in the same department and, w/o eating or drinking anything. The manager, #2 -we'll call her, "G" told me to go get something to eat and walk around for a bit. Come back in 10 minutes and she should hear back from the delivery center. Now, mind you, I did not pay for the delivery order at that point. I could not because of the "delivery issue". Nothing can be accomplished at IKEA in 10 minutes - bathroom lines were long, lunch was out of the question - it would have taken me an hour to get food and eat. The store was SLAMMED with people. It was pure insanity and mayhem. I drank a bottled water I had stashed in my car, took a 5 minute break and reentered the store, heading directly for the kitchen department. I found manager, G who advised me that she would have to key in my delivery order again. No explanation given. At this point, I was just glad that this whole order process would soon be over... Or, so I thought.

After keying in my order, G handed me my delivery order and said I'd have to wait in the line to pay. The line went quite fast and, I had a quack moment to double check my order. It looked correct, from what I could tell and decifer from the IKEA Nordic language. I paid, happy to (almost) be able to leave my favorite store to shop at.

Almost. Because, I still needed to pick up 3 larger cabinet items that were located deep in the IKEA warehouse dungeon. I made it to the warehouse, dodging and weaving my way through scores of customers. I helped myself to the 3 items I needed and loaded them onto my cart. I still had to visit the pick up department (not sure why but I was told I would have to pick up 2 items from pick up and roll them to the delivery area. Even though this area was slammed with customers too, I had been working on this since 9am so, my pick up items were quickly ushered to me. Thankful that something was finally going more smoothly, I headed to the delivery department.

After speaking with #3 (I don't remember his name so he is just #3), I was advised that I hadn't paid for 3 cabinets. There wasn't a payment and, for some reason, they had stapled the sales receipt to a paper that was not correct for the order I had placed. Apparently, in my haste to quickly pull my warehouse items, I had also grabbed 2 cabinets that were not on the correct shelf. People must have dumped and moved items onto the incorrect shelf/aisle#. Uggg.
I was then told I had an additional $400+ amount I owed. At this point, I lost it. From what I could tell from my prior knowledge of IKEA Nordic speak, I HAD paid for everything in the kitchen department. After all, the MANAGER herself, G had keyed in my order! Why would she leave off 3 cabinets?!? After hearing my cry of frustration, #4 came swooping in. She ushered me into a room where SHE looked over my order and proudly stated that I was incorrect and had not paid for everything. In fact, I had paid for the wrong item and needed to switch that for another item -due to the warehouse mess and items not being in their correct place. I paid the additional amount, annoyed and confused. I set up and confirmed delivery for my new kitchen. I was tired, hungry and in shock. It was now 3:15pm. Over 6 hours in my favorite place. No food only water. #4 saw my exhaustion and gave me a water and some dry cookies that i didn't look at until I got home an hour and 3/4 later. I didn't even get an opportunity to shop for goodies! My desire to flee was greater than my desire to shop.

Once home, I spread out ALL 5 receipts on my countertop, vowing to give myself 24 hours before revisiting and decoding this Nordic nightmare. It's been over 48 hours and I attempted to decode the order. I cannot. WAY to confusing. I will be heading back to IKEA (probably this Saturday) to, once again, sit down with a kitchen "expert" to go through my order. If you are one of the many friends that have asked me, "How did it go at IKEA?" I have been too exhausted to explain and, I hope this blog entry serves as a sorry-for-not-replying to your text, emails or phone calls.

PS - I will eventually add Before photos of my too-little-kitchen and each step in the process of my DIY IKEA kitchen renovation. And, once I square away my receipts with someone at IKEA, I can give you all the lowdown on what I paid. At this point, I have no clue.

D.I.Y. Squirrel Pelt Patch for Wooden Blinds

Dear Squirrel (or anything that enjoys torturing my dog while I am out),

You have succeeded in getting my otherwise, obedient dog into hot water. Oh.... You know what you did (and, so do I)! You and your squirrel friends must have come into my patio while my family and I ran a few errands today and, while Jakey (my loving coonhound) was holed up in the house guarding my home. You probably did some sort of dance in front of my back patio window taunting him since he can't get to you. "Which window?," you ask in that oh-so-cute chipmunk voice of yours... The window facing my backyard that I just recently hung new, wooden blinds from. That one. Does that jog your memory or, do you dance in front of other windows taunting dogs often?

In Jakey's frenzy of madness to tear you into pieces (and, annoyance to my neighbours with the probable baying coming from inside my home), he chomped with, what I can only assume was a rabid, foaming assault to my new wooden blinds. I would have never noticed this destruction to my beautiful, new wooden blinds had it not been for Jakey. When we arrived home from our short trip out, he wore a, 'who, me?!' expression on his sweet face that melted my heart and made me bend down to pick up his favourite 'baby' aka stuffed dog toy he lovingly flaunts to anyone that shows him the slightest affection. Upon bending down, I noticed wooden pieces scattered everywhere.

Now, I know squirrels like to point fingers (do you even have fingers)? But, I am a wonderful pet owner. My Jakey boy is an otherwise loving and sweet family dog. He only foams at the mouth and becomes the coonhound he should be when he hears the word for your kind...squirrel... or, that is, when he sees you or, one of your family members on my fence.

My only regret is not installing a shorter fence so that, before said blind incident occurred, I could have prevented this from happening. Jakey would have gotten you a long time ago had the fence been a bit shorter. You can thank my son for the fence height that saved your life. I didn't want my boy finding pieces of squirrel fur around my yard.

Now, I know that squirrels don't read blogs however, if you happen to visit my patio again I'll have a special treat waiting just for you.

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot....We can both thank my brother, Mike for the b.b. gun last Christmas. At first, I was a bit surprised that he found that to be an appropriate gift for the holidays but, I see now how fitting and thoughtful it was.
That gift will come in handy soon, I hope. Maybe I can use your squirrel pelt to mask the gaping hole in my blinds? I'll search Pinterest for that DIY project. I am sure Pinterest will have a pin for that type of project.
Yours truly,
-ProjectDonna

How to Join a Twitter Chat

If you are new to Twitter, you may not know HOW to join a Twitter Chat or Party.

Below, are a few easy steps, that I have found, which make joining any Twitter chat helpful and easy to manage. These steps will help you ease into the fun of Twitter chats and tweeting, in general.

Step 1: Sign up for Twitter. Get a Free Twitter account. Follow Friends, Family and Businesses you want to get the latest news from. Follow @cpalmscharter (or, any Twitter Party or Twitter Chat hosts).

Step 2: Just before the chat time (give yourself a good 20 minutes to set this all up), use Tweetgrid to join the party at: http://tweetgrid.com/party

Step 3: You should see this Page on Tweetgrid:

Step 4:  You want to add the Party Chat Details.

Party Hashtag: #cpcharter
Party Host(s): @cpalmscharter
Twitter Handle – Your Twitter username: @____________

Click on: Join The Party!

Step 5: What you see is the party on the left, hosts in the middle, your tweets on the right. You are not finished yet... 2 more simple steps to go!

Step 6: On the top, middle of the page (just above the Party Host(s), click Login. You will be asked to Login into your Twitter account and Connect the Tweetgrid App to your account. It’s secure. Click on Authorize App.

Step 7: Start tweeting!

For more details about the Twitter Chat, see below:

CPALMS Charter (@cpalmscharter) is calling all teachers and administrators to join us this summer for 8 informative twitter chats that will cover topics ranging from classroom management to common core to technology and everything in between.

Twitter chats will be held every Tuesday and Thursday from 3:00 – 4:00 pm EST beginning Tuesday, July 9 at 3:00. This first twitter chat will focus on classroom management concerns and best practices. Come ask your questions for advice on maintaining better classroom management and provide some insight for best practices that have worked in your classroom. This is a great chance to interact with other teachers, learn some new tools and tricks, and build your professional network on Twitter.

To join, simply log in to your twitter account at www.twitter.com and search for #cpcharter and begin chatting. Please remember that you must put #cpcharter in the body of your post (e.g., “I am tweeting to #cpcharter”) so that everyone can see them. Also, be sure to follow the moderator, @cpalmscharter.

The schedule for the first four sessions is as follows:

Tuesday, July 9 – Classroom Management

Thursday, July 11 – Common Core Reading

Tuesday, July 16 – Response to Intervention and Student Accommodations

Thursday, July 18 – Common Core Mathematics

Hope to tweet you there!

If you found this blog post useful and helpful, please follow me on Twitter @ProjectDonna

A Positive Local Business Story

It's not often that I blog on my personal blog site. In fact, I don't believe I've written a blog (as myself) on this blog, for several years. My time and work typically revolve around writing for other businesses, writing AS the Owner of a client's business or, writing AS if I am part of the Marketing staff for a specific client, otherwise known as, ghost blogging. However, today I feel compelled to write a blog post, about an amazing gymnastics facility and local business that deserves the spotlight and many kudos. 

Why, all of a sudden do I feel the need to write a new blog post? Passion. I feel passionate about this story and believe that 360 Gymnastics, LLC deserves to have their amazing story in the spotlight. For several years, when my son was a toddler, we frequented another gymnastics facility. The staff and gym trainers made that gym experience unbeatable. So, when that gymnastics center closed, we stopped attending gymnastics altogether... Fast forward almost 4 years later and I came across (while doing research for places to have my son's birthday party indoors), 360gymnast.com and 360 Gymnastics, LLC.

The former head coach and gymnastics trainer, Valerie Mas, now owns 360 Gymnastics and the best part about 360 Gymnastics? Many of the staff and coaches have come to work at 360 Gymnastics too! I was so happy to know that my son's favorite athletic instructor, Katelyn Collins was also at 360 Gymnastics. Katelyn is awesome! She has the perfect approach and demeanor with even the most timid little ones and has a truly special ability to make everyone smile. I booked my son's 7th birthday party at 360 Gymnastics without hesitation, once I knew Katelyn was a part of 360 Gymnastics.

Once I spoke with Owner of 360 Gymnastics, Valerie Mas, I felt compelled to help promote and market her one year Anniversary celebration and move to a massive 15,000 square foot facility. I am disappointed that I did not find this Gymnastics Center sooner!
 
"I am overjoyed that 360 Gymnastics is expanding to a larger facility. Parents like that the owner is on the (gym) floor coaching, that we know all of our customers, and above all that we care if the children are really learning gymnastics! I want to promote a larger more beautiful facility, but I also want families and members to know the feel and culture of our gym will remain the same. I hope to continue to grow 360 Gymnastics with exciting, new classes, as well as an ability to serve a larger audience" said Valerie Mas, in a recent interview.

Valerie Mas is a Mompreneur with local ties to Stuart, Florida's Martin County. 360 Gymnastics is thriving in an economy that is faltering. Excellent customer service and membership rapport, being hands on, supporting and creating classes that are Mom friendly AND kid friendly, including home school programs...  all of these elements go together to create a positive, local, success story for 360 Gymnastics, LLC. I really thought more local newspapers and print media would rally around to celebrate in a small, local business' expansion. I know that a local writer is out there somewhere wanting to cover this story and feature 360 Gymnastics.

Please SHARE, this blog post with your friends and help rally around Valerie & the 360 Gymnastics Crew! Tell all your friends about this amazing woman and her fun gymnastics facility. To read more about Valerie Mas and a positive local business creating buzz, go to the full story, here: 360 Gymnastics' Press Release.
PRESS/MEDIA:If you would like to inquire about an interview or private gym tour, please call 772.600.5087 or email; Val360gym@gmail.com.

I wish Valerie much success in the future with 360 Gymnastics,
-Donna Wallerstein
PS- My son's 7th birthday party was wonderful -everything I had hoped for and more!


   

The City of Port Saint Lucie

In the wake of BP’s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, one question’s what they can do to better their local environment. As a citizen of Port Saint Lucie, Florida, I ask myself –How can I do my part to save local wildlife and better my community? Port St. Lucie, Florida has a sign when you enter the city, “A City for All Ages”, but what if we, as a community decided that the slogan was outdated? What about a more fitting slogan to our city should aspire to live up to, such as, “A City Proud” or, “Port Saint Lucie –A Green City for All”!

By asking ourselves how we can entice growth and development in our community, ultimately, we make it a better place for all ages. Many factors go into making a city “green”. One such factor is recycling. Many citizens in Port Saint Lucie do not recycle. Why not, you might ask? The bottom line is there are no incentives for citizens to do so. RecycleBank.com offers incentives such as points earned to be redeemed at hundreds of partner companies with gift cards, flowers and other products for everyday use. In light of the unfortunate economy, these incentives for our citizens can be just the right spark to get everyone to recycle and motivated about doing so.

Another factor that goes into making a city, “green” is water conservation. The city has done an excellent job of making residents cut back on water usage, encouraging homeowners to use water on certain days depending upon what their home’s address number is, alternating day usage. But, what if Port Saint Lucie took this a step further, involving local universities and schools as well as, local environmental groups to form an educational awareness campaign? What if local children helped secure this community’s waterways and wildlife, creating rain barrels for all residents and this was encouraged and supported by local government? Our local wildlife and the Saint Lucie River is in dire straits. If you don’t believe me, turn on the local news and watch a few clips of BP’s oil spill. Don’t think this will concern us? You are kidding yourself if you think the effects of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will not eventually destroy or damage our waterways, wildlife and community as well as affect local businesses that depend upon oceans and our local river as their livelihood, a means for employment and income for many residents. This harmful BP oil spill will not only effect fishing industries but our valuable tourist industry too.

The third and probably most changeable factor in getting our community noticed as spearheading the green movement is home builders. Home builders, for many years now in Saint Lucie County have been afforded special treatment and kudos for their fast building methods and ability to quickly and safely manufacture homes and commercial buildings in our community. But, what if the city of Port Saint Lucie applied more stringent “green” methods to building new construction, offering builders extra incentives to not only get the job done quickly, but in a green way –utilizing green building materials in conjunction with solar power and water cisterns to lessen the carbon footprint for families. Port Saint Lucie, Florida has the potential to be the most desirable place to reside in the State! Who wouldn’t want a generation of forward thinking people who care about their environment populating their town?! And, Port Saint Lucie and Saint Lucie County can take this a step further offering green companies special incentives for moving their businesses to our town. -This would create new jobs, new industries and even further propel our city into the special place it can be.

As a homeowner, with vested interest in seeing Port Saint Lucie, FL succeed, I wish government and city officials would display faint interest in creating a community for the future. We are a society of 'now' and instant gratification, so future planning (beyond one or two years from now), unfortunately, is not top priority for the city at this time. It's surprising that communities everywhere can't see the positives in making a green change. Or, perhaps they can see the possibility of change, but their bottom line ($$$) would be too greatly affected to take the leap into a greener world. I love my city but wish it was more proactive and progressive. With the housing market tanking in Port St. Lucie, FL -you would think change is inevitable and change would be welcome.

Harold Wilson said it best, “He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery”.

Win a $50 Safeway Gift Card

Check out this link: FrugalFLoridian
and enter to win a $50 gift card to Safeway and their affiliate stores.

There are several ways to enter to win, all of which are easy and fast!

I know if you have a Safeway Savings card, this gift certificate will help you out when shopping for dog food as well as human food ;)


I entered to win and if I do, I will donate the card to ABTCR or, American Black and Tan Coonhound Rescue since Safeway is nowhere near where I live and I made it my New Year's resolution to help them raise money!
Good Luck! -D0nna