Tales of IKEA

Happy Ides of March! When I learned about this day in history in high school, my knowledge transformed into a toga dance called the Ides of March. “Really, Julius Caesar was murdered on March 15? Then let’s party like we’re in Animal House!” Yes, I have pictures. No, I’m not sharing.

I’m taking a trip to IKEA today to get some pieces for my s-t-u-d-i-o that I mentioned here. It’s about 45-minutes away from my house and I’m traveling there with my brother and his wife. That may seem like a long way to travel for furniture, but our little group of three has been obsessed with IKEA for years!

This is how I remember IKEA… from the window of a vehicle on the Jersey Turnpike. In the 80s and 90s, my brother, Dave, and his wife, Jayne, would always be up for traveling hundreds of miles to our furniture mecca. They live in Massachusetts and I live in Connecticut, but New Jersey didn’t seem that far away when you could get a sideboard for $99 and have the fun of putting it together yourself!

We’ve gone there in many different ways: in my tiny Honda CRX; a rented van; and in the epitome of obsession and efficiency, a U-Haul. I think one of us may have curled up in the back of the hatchback because we bought so many pieces. Or maybe it was just to snuggle up to the flat boxes of decorating potential? You can stroll around both our houses and see pieces of Sweden in almost every room.

So, we’re feeding our need for Allen Wrenches and Swedish Meatballs (they actually sell them there) today. And we are way more excited than grown people should be…

Enjoy your Monday whatever it may bring!