I Went to Ikea and Left with Chips!

I always feel like Alice in an anti-Wonderland at Ikea in Stoughton. Do I want chrome or plated cabinet knobs? Birch veneer or matte white? Do the floor arrows ever end? How many uncomfortable but really cheap couches can one person really sit on?  Will any of this even look remotely decent in my new home? Shopping as a single woman means, yes, I get the pleasure of making all the decisions, but it can make Ikea-land even more overwhelming.  So, before I moved and actually had to buy Ikea furniture, I went to just do an Ikea-scan. I arrived as they opened at 10, armed with a camera, a notebook and my realtor's floor plan of my new house. 4 hours later (!!!) I felt that I had conquered the whole Swedish mega-store. I came home. I pinned my new finds on Pinterest.  Ultimately I did return to buy a towel rack and kitchen shelves and a living room lamp. On that day, though, I spent my money on the more important matters: food. First, despite bringing a fruit, I was starving by 11. So, for lunch I had a not-terrible bowl of pea soup with knackebrod, otherwise known as relatively tasteless crackers. By 12:30, I needed SUGAR and CAFFEINE.  For $1.75 I got a gooey, calorie- and sugar-laden and shockingly tasty cinnamon bun and an acceptable cup of coffee. But the best was at the end when I raided the Swedish food mart.

I love their Lingonberry saft (think sweet-tart sugar syrup) to mix with lime juice and seltzer (and gin!) for raspberry-lime rickies. Their $.99 chocolate bars can end my chocolate fixes immediately.  I don't even like potato chips but their Potatischips with Graddfil and Lok (sour cream and onion potato chips) are perfect with my boozy ricky. (Can we say "stress eating?") And I can never pass up on their gorgeous chartreuse cloudberry jam. Good thing I walked around the whole store a few times!