Bucket

So that morning, I picked up my grandmother and the two of us met Janicanne and my mom at my parents' house. The four of us excitedly piled into Mom's van and our journey to Stoughton began!

This is the back of my mother's van, pre-IKEA.

Despite Janicanne being exhausted from working like, three weeks straight without a day off and having participated in a very intense battle of wiffle ball the previous day, and I having worked out for the first time in like, three weeks the previous day, it was difficult to contain our enthusiasm on the drive there. This was the first time my mom and grandmother were venturing to the store and of course we couldn't wait to introduce them to the joy that is IKEA!

In another neck of the woods (read: Berwick), Brandie was having a childcare crisis, but managed to pick up Holly and Barbara on her way to our destination.

At about 11:45am, we arrived at the land of pink bunnies and happy butterflies. Mom and Grammy marvelled at the enormity of the store, the flags waving in the wind, the ginormous parking garage, the employees in their shiny new IKEA shirts and vests directing traffic. IKEA is fucking better than Disneyland!!!

We had some time before Brandie and Co. arrived, so we entered the store. Angels sang, the music soared, and the air was crisp with the scent of wonderful, new, and cheap furniture!

Actually, I believe they were playing Britney Spears when we arrived, but that's beside the point.

A nice man greeted us at the foot of the escalator and made sure we had the English version of the map of the store. Yes, a map. The store is that large.

Up the escalator we went, and eagerly grabbed our yellow bags, which we would fill with many wonderful goodies!

IKEA sells this stuffed red heart with arms outstretched, which I think is the perfect symbol of the store. Love, arms ready to embrace you with the warmth of wonderful home decor. As Janicanne has said before, "IKEA=love."

Soon, Brandie, Barbara, and Holly arrived. This was also Holly's first visit to The Greatest Store on Earth and she was just as excited as we were! Brandie and Barbara were also relieved to finally be able to thank Janicanne for introducing us to this wonderful, magical place.

Lunch was required, and of course we ate at the cafe at the store. Much Swedish edible goodness was had by all.

There's Barbara on the left, and Janicanne on the right.

And here's a closeup of the people in the middle, Holly had her head turned, but there's Brandie, Mom, and Grammy from left to right. And all of our food. It was a sumptuous feast!

I got Swedish meatballs, a salad, and chocolate mousse. Janicanne had the mousse as well. It was a tasty treat! Barbara was kind enough to take this photo of us to capture that special moment. :D

After eating, we were ready to get back to shopping. Janicanne was almost consumed by this beastly shark!

And then again by this shark! It was scary! We were scared. But we pressed on. Unfortunately, it was difficult for all of us to stay together, so Brandie, Barbara and Holly did their thing, Mom and Grammy did theirs, and Janicanne and I forged our own way.

Many treasures were acquired! I got an ottoman for Randy to sit on while gaming, some new fake flowers to brighten up the apartment, a set of funnels, some extension cords, another DVD holder, drawer organizers, more hangers, more wire cover, some trivets, a cutting board, candles, some tealight holders, and a birthday present for Janicanne: a wall hanging of Da Vinci's Portrait of Man. Her birthday isn't until June 14 but it was something she had to have and I was glad to purchase it for her! :) Plus, it was a nice way to repay her for the awesome OWL PIN she got me not too long ago. :)

Here's Mom's van on the way out of the IKEA parking lot. We intended to fill it, and fill it we did!

And then we filled it even more when we stopped at Trader Joe's on the way home! It was overwhelming, going to the two best stores in the world on the same day, but somehow we managed!

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