Goddess, I Am.

For the longest time, I’ve been using The Husband’s battered, old ‘Pixar’ lamp. I call it such because it’s exactly the same kind of lamp that hops in those Pixar movies. Unfortunately, the poor thing has traveled with him from London to Bangkok to Cebu, so it really is quite battered now.

Sometime after Christmas, I finally decided to pick up a new lamp. So off we went to CAMG in Parkmall (definitely one of my favorite shops EVER) to look around. The place carries stuff from IKEA, mostly lamps, so I was quite happy poking around the place all afternoon. Mind you, I wouldn’t know if they’re genuine IKEA or not, but I’m inclined to think so. (I’m also crushing on a plush, pink chair, but I refuse to think about it.)

Now, I originally had my eye on a white IKEA lamp, which was on sale (30% off!). But just as I was about to buy it, something pink and pretty caught my eye. It was one of those tactile lamps that would light up no matter where you touched it, and it was down from P2,500 to P1,500, so I bought it on the spot.

The uber helpful salespeople then rang it up through one of those barcode scanners – and promptly told me that I couldn’t have the lightbulbs! Well, I’m not one to make a fuss over something as trivial as lightbulbs, so I asked the guy to write down in detail the kind of bulbs that I needed for the lamp. And because there was no hardware shop to be found in Parkmall and it was quite late to go elsewhere, I figured my lamp could wait one night.

The next day, The Husband and I went to True Value in Ayala to get the E-14 bulbs that were required. We couldn’t find the round ones, but since the guy only specified E-14s, we figured any bulb of that sort would be okay. That night, we tried the bulbs on the lamp – and it exploded! And just like that, my pretty pink lamp was dead.

The next day found us back in CAMG. After all, I wasn’t about to write off a 1-day-old exploding lamp just like that. The staff was fantastic, though. They immediately offered to replace it. Unfortunately, the only colors they had left for the same kind of lamp were a tacky gold and a gloomy black, and I wasn’t about to settle for anything less than what I wanted.

And then my eyes settled on the white IKEA lamp that first caught my eye. I told them that I’d take it instead, and they let me – for P600 more. This time, I made sure that the guy talked to The Husband about the lightbulbs required, so there can be no more scary explosions. Thankfully, it works with the spare lightbulbs that The Husband normally has lying around, so I now have an awesome new lamp that is somehow making my bedtime reading 20 times more pleasurable.

On my desk chair: IKEA lamp, Antony and Cleopatra by Colleen McCullough, Moleskine planner, and Squirt (from Finding Nemo), the stuffed turtle that The Husband bought for me on our last trip to Hongkong Disneyland in 2007

Next project: a couple of proper bedside tables. Right now, the green chair is just so . . . WRONG.