i am in love.

i had nothing going on today so i called up KT and she was game for going to the newest tourist attraction in MA, IKEA. from what i knew of IKEA, (very little) i kind of thought i would like it.. its a furniture store essentially, originally from sweden that has really modern furnishings for relatively inexpensive prices. the only catch is that you need to put together the furniture pieces on your own. (and what able bodied daughter of mike brown that grew up with only sisters can't do that? shiiiiit)

so we drove the 45 minutes or so down to stoughton. we missed a turn, but had we followed the directions, it would have been a piece of cake to get there, so easy in fact, i am confident i could get back.. we pulled down the street it's on and we start seeing traffic signs similar to those at the airport. they were huge and all over the place. it was great. when we got close enough to see the store, i felt like we were headed to foxwoods, or mohegan sun it was that big.. the store is so gigantic that there is a parking lot mall style underneath it. we find a parking spot and head to the store, while KT christened their toilets, i took a gander at the "playroom" where you can DROP OFF YOUR KIDS. leave them there attended by someone in the store. how ingenious is that? KT and i grab a yellow shopping bag and head up the stairs to the showroom. the layout and display of their products is ingenious. i have no idea why more stores don't do things this way.. there are something like 25-30 "rooms" in the upstairs, each area is set up like a real life living space. there are couches, with the entertainment centers, end tables, coffee tables, lamps, books, artwork, floors, rugs, everything you can think of that really belongs in these areas. and each different room is decorated differently with some of the same furniture, or different stuff. they make it so easy to imagine that stuff in your space. the prices are clearly marked on everything too. then each room has a banner of sorts that totals up the entire room. so essentially you could come in, pick a room you like, and walk out with the entire thing, for say $1,457. so fantastic. the kitchens and bedrooms were the most impressive in my opinion. it so makes me want to buy a house. at the end of every section or so there are elements that were in the previous section that you can pick up and buy, otherwise, you write down the sku number and then find it at the end in the "warehouse".

the layout of the store is ingenious too, you pretty much have to meander through their entire inventory to get out to the cash registers. i could have spent my next years salary so easily on the little things i saw here and there.

half way through the store there is a "restaurant". of course the priced are ridiculously cheap, so we stopped for a meal of swedish meatballs with gravy, two potatoes and some loganberries, (swedish food) for $4. it was totally cafeteria style, and the dishes and glasses were real. after all that perusing, you almost needed to stop for nourishment.

all of this is on the top floor, on the 2nd floor is a "marketplace" where they have all the smaller items and linens, and neat stuff. their stemware and dishes and cutlery is dirt cheap. they had champagne flutes for 25 cents each.

on the way out they have this escalator like the ones they have in airports "moving sidewalk style", but it goes from the 2nd floor back to the ground floor. then neatest thing is you push your cart onto it, and the floor somehow grips the cart so it won't go careening down into the customers ahead of you. so freaking amazing.

needless to say, this is where all my new out of town guests are going when they come to visit, and i will be registering at IKEA if i ever get married.

and if anyone wants to move with me to stoughton, let me know.