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Ikea
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During our time in Germany, we made many trips to the local Ikea store. Ciri's little Mitsubishi Eclipse would get stuffed to the back seat with lights, shelves, furniture, and much more. That car could fit an uncanny amount of items!
We furnished our home with tons of Ikea products, and we built many of the Ikea products with Ikea tools! We used Ikea light bulbs, Ikea batteries, Ikea plants, Ikea picture frames, Ikea everything! Ikea is not only a great place to furnish a home on the cheap it's also a great place to have lunch (Ligonberry juice!!!)!
When we moved to NC, we knew we were going to need some furnishings and immediately looked up the nearest Ikea store. We were saddened to find out that the nearest store was about 4 hours away. Many of the items we needed were on their website, but were marked as an item that could not be purchased online (Ikea, what is the point in listing it, if you aren't going to sell it to me?!). The drive would be long and expensive, and in the end, not worth it. So we settled for other sub-par stores.
Out of frustration of the situation, I checked Ikea months ago for an explanation on how the furniture capital of the US did not have an Ikea location. Actually, I found out that Ikea had plans to build in Charlotte, NC. Charlotte is about 2 hours from us, making it a much easier drive for us. The only problem is that it won't be ready until Spring of next year.
I remembered today that they were supposed to start construction in the Spring. I Googled Ikea and Charlotte and found out that they started building the day before Izzy was born! That must be a sign. Anyway, we are on track to get an Ikea by next Spring and in all honesty, all I want are some Swedish meat balls covered in Lingonberry sauce and a glass of Lingonberry juice.