Prior to the craziness that was my December, my friends and i left the kiddos with their dads and set out on our annual pilgrimage {revisit previous trips here and here} to the iconic big blue and yellow store in Cincinnati. Allow me to take you on...
*caution...very lengthy, but fun post. This year we planned a few extra excursions into our agenda for the day. First stop was Starbucks, of course. This is where every fun girlfriend road trip begins.
Once we were all buckled in, we were on course for the granddaddy of all grocery stores...Jungle Jim's. You may have seen it on the Food Network or heard about it from other foodies in your life. Stacey, our resident foodie, was the driving force behind our stop here (and well, she was also the driver), so stop, we did. We truly had no clue what we were in for. AMAZING. It's like the Disney World of Grocery Stores. They even have a monorail! For reals!
Stacey was in 7th heaven here. I HAD to take her picture next to this flea market sign because she is a flea market junkie...but this was her first classy one! :)
This is the entrance...they're not kidding. It's enormous. We thought we would just make a quick stop...take a look around and be on our way to IKEA. HA!
Joy was overwhelmed already, so her first stop was for a quick brain treatment...
There are strange but funny things like that scattered all around the store. Like this...
oh, and this was the sign that greeted us when we walked in. I thought it was a joke, but no, they're serious...
HAAA-sterical! Here's the door to the bathroom. It feels like you're going into a port o potty, but really it's just the door to a regular bathroom.
I, of course had to have my pic taken sitting on the throne just outside the bathrooms. It was upholstered in crushed velvet. Quite comfy.
Next stop was the wine department, which was neverending. It totally tripped us up and knocked our time schedule off.
Excellent choice, Monica...clearly, you are a wine connoisseur...
Every department is massive...this picture's for my butter lovin' mom...
unfortunately, when you walk by the butter bar, you gain 5 pounds directly on your hips.
the produce department was just awesome. We all ooohed and aaaahed over the enormous avacados.
Alas, i bought some for my guacamole loving daughter. But, they were a bust. Very mushy and watery....no flavor. Live and learn. There were quite a few bizarre looking fruits. Ouch!...
Joy pondered how one would prepare and eat such a fruit...
You can buy everything here. How about some actual sugar cane? Although, you may need to pick up a larger sugar bowl for your kitchen table.
This is the section of hot sauces. Who knew there were so many out there? not me.
I certainly didn't know there was a whole cottage industry of naughty hot sauces!
We may have spent a few extra minutes gaining our composure after reading some of the labels...they were SO FUNNY!!!! This one was G rated compared to the ones behind the dark window...
and, in the next aisle over, German food can be found under Sherwood Forest...naturally!
Remember our brush with greatness last year? Well, much to our total surprise, he was shopping at Jungle Jim's!!!! I was inconspicuously focusing my camera on him when he turned and started walking right towards me. I jumped...thus, the blurry photo. We couldn't believe he was there! So funny.
We really were flying through this store...trying not to eat too much into our IKEA time. I think if i remember right, we spent almost 2 hours there. It was way cooler than i expected it to be. So glad we went and looking forward to a visit again next fall. Two thumbs up! Go if you can! Moving on...
we grabbed our carts and jumped on the big cart elevator and pushed together for a photo op. Right after this pic was snapped, we were strategizing what we were looking for, what's on our lists...and then we realized we weren't moving and a bit of a minor panic set in. Would we be trapped in the elevator all day? Would our IKEA day be ruined? Oh the horror! Then, the realization came that we just simply hadn't pressed any buttons yet. Doh!
The gingham was getting to Martha shortly after our arrival and we decided to hit the IKEA cafeteria for lunch.
The Sweedish meatballs, mashed taters and lingonberry jam lunch is super yummy. It may not look it, but trust me it is...Mmmmm.
The sign above the stacks of booster seats...
This was my fave purchase of the day...red stripey duvet cover and shams with fun red buttons. Love it even more on my bed!
This quirky, bold, fun dandelion light was my ONE THING.
You know... the ONE THING that you see at a store and you LOVE it but you're not sure exactly where you would put it or if it would work with anything at home but you still think about it 2 months later and then you get jealous when you see it on someone else's blog looking all cute and fun and wish you had just thrown caution to the wind and bought it anyway. Yup. My ONE THING.
just another reason to go back...right?
After IKEA, we made stops at Ballard Design and Front Gate outlet stores. And, finally the big outlet mall in Dayton, too.
just what you never knew you always wanted...i mean the chair...not the sexy ladies.
Yup, that was all one day. Phew! We've decided that next year we will be extending our road trip to an overnight adventure, so we can slow down the whirlwind just a bit. Can't wait, girls! Making my list already!
Love you all! xo
Looks like such an awesome, fun trip! Jungle Jim's = um, insane. Don't get me wrong--I totally want to go ;-).
Posted by: Jen B | January 12, 2011 at 12:01 AM
Looks awesome! I love your yearly Ikea posts :P
That weird spiky fruit is called RAMBUTAN, we have it here in the Philippines. It's similar to a lychee, but sweeter. I don't eat a lot of fruits but rambutans are among the few fruits I like! :)
Posted by: Reg | January 17, 2011 at 01:55 AM
That trip looked like SO much fun! I SO wish we had an Ikea close! Love the photos, Lori! Hugs!
Posted by: kristina | January 18, 2011 at 09:49 AM