Monday, July 30, 2007

Random thoughts about visiting Portland’s new Ikea during opening week

• I don’t think i want the shrimp and egg toast for breakfast. However, their breakfasts are decent and very decently priced.
• Wow. I can get there without taking the freeway from our house.
• If you get there first thing in the AM it’s much less crowded than later on a weekend: oy vey, looking at that afternoon line to get in was painful. Just glad we weren't in it.
• The lighting selection is just as much fun as I remember: I must have this...

• They have fabric
• They have leather couches now: ooh la la
• There are pet items
• Pillow covers and pillow stuffers are ingenious
• Crowded shopping pisses people off. To the blonde mom and daughter blocking the way to the pillows: honey, don’t be snappy with strangers like that in front of your daughter. She’s going to grow up to be a bitch just like you. And yes, I really did smile back at you and say thanks. That’s how civilized people speak to each other. (My mother taught me that skill: thanks mom!)
• People with young children: there’s a childcare area for a reason.
• I lost count of the gay and lesbian couples: it was like Gay Days at Disneyland. Everywhere! Fabulous!
• Ikea really knows how to do color: bright, cheery and spot on.
• Side tables? Not so much.
• I wish you had catalogs for your opening, but alas, I’ll just have to return sooner than anticipated. No big. You’re just down the street now.
....
Returned home with lingonberry jam, a new fabulous red round rug for the living room...

various needed and not needed accoutrements, and lots of things to now measure for. That will require a return visit. Too bad so sad.

9 comments:

Kathryn said...

Oh I can't wait to go. Can't wait.

Ali and Evan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ali and Evan said...

I went to IKEA tonight to pick up some legs for our cafe tables and a guy kept staring at me while I was waiting in line to pay. "Are you opening a cafe in North Portland?" he said. "I saw you on Lelo's blog..."
You've gotta be kidding me. Thanks for making me famous. You continue to rock our world.

Cher said...

Hee. We had such fun (not) waiting in line to get in line for food in the cafe. On the plus side, the kids agree with me that the meatballs are the BOMB (I swear, they slip crack into those things!).

(Oh, and thanks for posting about LRB Cafe: it's one more reason to stay in NoPo.)

I had to laugh at the lady behind us as we tried to navigate the maze:
in the middle of it all, she quietly yells, "I want out!"
Sigh.

Unknown said...

I need to check it out but I hate the crowds. Sounds woth it though.

Shelly

CrackerLilo said...

I'm not an IKEA person (too modernistic and too much assembly for my taste), but I'm glad you had fun! Well, except for that mother, of course. I hope her daughter learned something. The lamp does look really interesting. And what *is* it with same-sex couples and IKEA, anyway?

CrackerLilo said...

PS--Love the logo! :-)

Monogram Queen said...

I always thought I couldn't afford IKEA and that they only had big ticket items. Hmmmm... although I doubt we'll ever get one here in the deep south!

John W. Key's 1st of 15 said...

I got that same rug recently. Have you had any problems with yours?? Mine has managed to kill my vacuum cleaner with all of the red pile balls. I have red all through my house. i don't know if I should take it back or wait a few months longer to see if it stops shedding!! How has yours fared?