Over Memorial Day Weekend my cousins, Tanya and Bird, walked me through a woman's rite of passage. My first pilgrimage to IKEA. It started at Bird's house with an IKEA catalogue. I dog-eared pages and and tried not to rush through, but it was hard because I was so excited! My love for catalogues goes back to childhood when our Sears Wishbook would arrive. I would spend days circling toys and dog-earing the pages while picking out Christmas presents to request from Santa. BTW, a 1979 Sears Wishbook is going for $38.99 on ebay! My hands practically trembled when Bird placed the IKEA catalogue in them. I got dizzy when I saw how low the prices were. Tanya fanned me and got me a glass of ice water. When I recovered, they asked me if I would like to go to the real IKEA store in Stoughton. YES PLEASE!

IKEA has an entire floor of showrooms! I thought that that was the store, but there's so much more! There wasn't just one kitchen set up, there were several!

IKEA kitchen
WBLM.com
loading...

These "Ghost Chairs" are only $79.00! They clearly make a statement. Get it?..

clear chairs
WBLM.com
loading...

I am not apologizing for the quality of this picture. Have you ever tried to photograph heaven? This is what it would look like. A dining room in IKEA.

dining room
WBLM.com
loading...

This summer Sabelle will be getting her own bedroom. This kid doesn't love to shop, but she was swept away with inspiration. She loved this desk and guess what? It's affordable!!!

kids desk
WBLM.com
loading...

After adrenaline shopping for two hours we were all crashing a bit and needed some nourishment to work up a second wind. IKEA has a super-cool cafeteria. The cousins had been raving about the Swedish Meatballs and I wanted to try the mashed potatoes with Lingonberry Jam. Delish. I bought a couple of jars of the jam.

cafeteria
WBLM.com
loading...

Can somebody bring an IKEA to town? Pretty please? Next trip to Massachusetts I'm visiting Costco for the first time. I'll let you know how it goes. What store or restaurant do you wish was in your neighborhood? Comment on our Fan Page or tweet #builditandtheywillcome

There should be a bus tour from Portland to IKEA.

Celeste

More From 102.9 WBLM