Experience #24- Go to Ikea

(I am totally confused by the face I am making as well. Just ignore it and keep reading...)

Nope, I really never have been inside an IKEA Furniture Store. I have seen their catalogs and seen what kinds of things they make; there are even 2 within an hour of me (one in Orlando and one in Tampa) but I just have never made the pilgrimage. My brother Dave and his wife Misty are huge IKEA fans, so when they happened to be here this past weekend for my niece’s baptism and my nephew’s blessing, we all headed out to IKEA. "Go team" on 3: 1, 2, 3- Go Team!

I had heard this place was big and that you need a whole day to spend in there, but this place was literally like visiting a small country. I felt like I needed a passport to get in. We started by going up the elevator to the second floor and when we stepped out we immediately had to get into the flow of traffic by following the arrows on the floor. Kind of like when Dori and Marlin get into the EAC on Finding Nemo. On our tour we saw tons of kitchens, offices, living rooms, play rooms, laundry rooms, apartments, kitchenware, cookware, artwork, chairs, sofas, baskets, shelves, hangers, clocks- it was like Grover and his "Everything in the Whole Wide World Museum." It was massive! And it just never ended! I almost kind of panicked near the end as I was trying to find the actual place where you pay for your items and get back out of the store. There was so much to see there. In fact, IKEA’s insane selection and ability to personally customize everything you see-from the cabinet doors to the cabinet handles, from the tabletop to the table legs- might just be their downfall. I was totally overwhelmed. I couldn’t imagine being able to actually make a choice on what to buy. Too many options! This is not to say I didn’t have a good time. I really did! It is a good way to kill a couple of hours and see the quirky, interesting way that Swedes look at the world. It was fun to see the food court I hear so much about. Not real jazzed about the "Open-faced Shrimp and Egg Sandwich" they offer on the breakfast menu- but the prices are very reasonable and the food section on the bottom floor was GREAT for weird international items. It was also interesting to see Smalworld, IKEA’s drop off for little kids. Not sure I would ever utilize that place; I am not a big fan of public babysitting venues but anyway, here was my day at IKEA in pictures:



Cindy was totally feeling this chair. And about 18 others...



Chris made an amazing discovery in the 570 sq. ft. house library....a "fisk"!


Every piece of furniture in there has a ridiculous Swedish code name (like Trollsta, Ivar, Lerberg, Leksvik, etc.) but this small computer desk had the best Swedish name ever. Dave.


This was some sort of ceramic lid to a dish, and when I asked Dave what he could hear when he put it to his ear he said, "Stockholm!"



This small ribbon tunnel was right outside the kids furniture section and I literally had to physically remove Luke from this after about 15 minutes. We would still be there at this moment if I hadn't. Consquently, I know what to make Luke for his birthday.


I had only seen about half of one floor of this place and I already needed a nap.



Here is Mom becoming overwhelmed.



Chris and Dave feeling "klok" in this Swedish living room. Klok is Swedish for "related." Okay, just kidding, it means wise.



And nothing will recharge your batteries and give you that second IKEA wind faster than heading downstairs and eating some jelly rats. Mmmmm, mmmmm!

As you see in the first picture, I did buy something there and that was a supercool new whisk, or "vispa", as the Swedes say. A great souvenir of my trip to IKEA. I also bought some sparkling pear and peach soda, both of which were delicious. I tried the Lingonberry soda they have- lingonberries are "tart red berries similar to American cranberries but smaller" and I am hoping the soda machine was broken because it was terrible. (The lingonberry must be the national fruit of Sweden because they sell just about everything lingonberry in the food section. Jam, jelly, juice concentrate. The lingonberry cat food was a little over the top, however...)

One day I will definitey head back to IKEA. Only next time I will have a game plan, some trail mix and a compass, just in case :)