IKEA

It's only because I love you guys that I'm not writing this in all caps, that's how fabulous our IKEA safari went yesterday.

It's tough to briefly describe an IKEA visit to someone who's never been, but I'll try. It's a self-directed stroll (i.e., a maze) through staged displays of room furniture and accessories, followed by a tour of the shopping section, and then the furniture big box warehouse section, and finally, the cafeteria and gourmet food shopping section. I know, us too. No idea.

But they offer astonishingly good quality stuff for an equally astonishingly low price. I was floored, more than once. And even better, we found our dream kitchen (photos below).

After picking up a new cutting board ($1.25) and a set of four glass spice jars with a lid that accommodates spoons and sprinkling ($3.99), we hit the gourmet food section for a bottle of elderflower syrup and rhubarb syrup (future fancy margaritas), three bars of Swedish chocolate, and a large tube each of crab and salmon paste (future flavored cream cheese for bagels). Finally, we hit the cafeteria for a Swedish meatball combo, a salmon lasagne plate, and a chocolate almond tart.

Most. Fun. Shopping. Ever.