I key uh....

Well I may just offend a few wannabe neutrals today.

After a trip to Ikea (get the blog post title now?) with my mom this week I am here to say - I'm over it.  Here are my reasons:

1.  Nothing good comes from do it yourself furniture building.

Look, if I want good furniture I'm going to purchase it already assembled.  When I say already assembled I mean no Allen wrenches.  When I say no Allen wrenches I mean good stuff - real stuff - true furniture.  If I want some piece it together crap I need to re-evaluate my investment.

I have seen some beautiful storage pieces in friends homes from Ikea and I like those but the majority I did not care for.

2.  I do not live in an apartment in a bustling metropolis that fits the Ikea style.

All the set ups were reminiscent of hmmm....a NYC based Bravo show.  I do not live in upper Manhattan. I have five acres in rural North Carolina.  The svelt modern rectangular lines of Ikea's designs are not conducive to my environment - however I can say that some of it would make a good conversation piece or break up of repetitive of style.

3.  Cheap!

Some of the items reminded me of another store....it called Walmart...Kmart....Target.  The interesting storage was nonexistent this trip.  The collapsible box is not a new and bright invention and I can purchase them anywhere for the same price.  The pricing was off a bit for a company that is trying to be very forward focused and consumer friendly.  This comes from the queen mother of cheap skates.  I know my pricing on many of the objects found at Ikea and I know the comparable pricing at other stores.  You didn't get me!

4.  Large & Limited.

I was taken aback at how limited the store was for this trip. Yes, its the size of North Atlanta but seriously is that ALL they had to offer up.  I can demo fifty-five of the same plate and take up 50 yards at my home.  The home décor section was an armpit - only taking up a minimal amount of space and being quite foul.  This is totally an American sales tactic - put the stuff in an semi finished store, pile it to the ceiling and Americans will go crazy (a la Costco, Sam's Club, BJ's) Ikea knows how the old red, white, and blue shopper falls for these things....kudos for catching on!

5.  Inability to purchase a display.

I found a metal pitcher I wanted.  It was $5.99 and sitting in a spot where it had obviously been placed by another shopper.  I saw no others.  I took it to the register and was told I couldn't purchase a display.  I explained there weren't any others --- we had looked.  I was then told I couldn't purchase a display (yet again).  I wasn't given a reason.  So I said okie dokie ring up the rest.  I seriously did not understand the point in this - it wasn't furniture or equipment or an electronic.  It was a freaking metal pitcher. 

6.  Horse meat.

Um yeah - so they were busted for serving horse meat in meatballs.  I don't mind my European friends but this American girl prefers her horsey friends in a pasture grazing and looking majestic.  She prefers them to gain love and care from her daughter's dance teacher or get good TLC from a great Veterinarian name Michelle.  I do not want them on my or even near my plate....unless I am bringing a plate of carrots and apples to them.

After saying all this I did leave with three items that were needed and priced fantastically -

1.  Plates (6 pack)  $1.99
2.  Cups   $1.99
3.  Reusable shopping bag big enough for my weekly grocery trip .57



I was also impressed with a few rugs I saw there....so yes, I bet I go back in the fall.  :-)  As all things are in retail no matter American, Swedish, or French there are times when the stores fall short of what they promise - its called transition periods.  So maybe next time I'll be writing a post that starts off:  OMG totally racked up at the old Tennessee Walking Palomino Ikea today!

If you are wondering what we ate....Chic-Fil-A.  To which brings my mom wondering which one in Charlotte that Lysa Terkeurst's hubby runs.

Probably the one with gold plated forks.....not bought at Ikea.

xx
Brownie

Inauguration Day '13

1.21.13 - No school today.

I hope you had a great weekend.  Brownieworld was a happy place to be this weekend.  The weather was phenomenal - sunshine and short sleeves!  The kidlets were happy.  The hubby had Saturday off.  We squeezed in a date night that included a margarita (and for mere moments I was in a tropical locale contemplating a walk on the beach).  On Sunday my mom and I went to dinner and to see Lysa TerKeurst in Kernersville, NC.  The weekend wrapped up beautifully with me coming home to a house that my husband had nicely cleaned and two sleeping babies.

It is ok to be jealous.

Well, really its not ok to be jealous.

Ok here's the stuff I left out.  I have two teeth on my right side that are aching due to a cavity.  I had to take a leftover pain pill on Friday so I could sleep and ease my panic attack that the tooth was near abscess.  That one pill left me a zombie the entire twenty-four hour period that we called Saturday.  I cannot do any pain pill other than an Ibuprofen, one day I will realize that.  A cat showed up in the arms of my husband on Saturday.  This was an answer to a question posed to God - should I get a cat?  The clouds didn't part, the sky didn't open up, and thunderous voice did not say YES or NO!  But my husband showed up on my porch with a calico kitty in his arms and said "Look what we found" - that was a stressor.  Cats are freaking disease machines....I have two small children.  Oh my gah we are going to die of cat in our home disease! 

So now you may breathe.

Pefection is the story minus the details!!!!

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I was not ready to wake up this morning.  I seriously needed one more hour of sleep. 

I have written this blog three times already and deleted it three times already.

I am armed with coffee and an almost five month old......let 'er roll.

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Today is a day of tradition here in America.  As I type this Barack Obama is giving his first speech for his second term as president.  Tomorrow all will go back to normal.

I do not care for politics.  I personally see politics as not for the majority of people but for a select few people.  I get the "by the people part"....they do allow us to vote.  I view the House and Senate as overpaid and under examined, overrated and under informed by the people who matter....you and I.

If anyone in those two areas truly gave a damn about you and I....the little people....things may just be a bit different.  If they subjected themselves to the mandates and programs they force upon us they may get more respect from me. 

A government who cared about it's people would slash those salaries of theirs in half.  The half they were shed of would go towards their original premis - taking care of the nation's people.  The soldiers who put their life on the line for mere pennies.  The children whose parents have lost their jobs, homes, and food security.  The farmer whose crop - livelihood - failed to thrive in a drought. 

An American government that wasn't smeared would still be listening to its constituents.  There would be a respect for the regular man, woman, and child. 

A government for the greatest country in the world would not be bickering like children but would be working side by side using only the best ideas from both sides of the aisle to make this country truly the greatest country in the world for its children.  They would see the children who are catered to for every want and need.  And they would see the child who sustains his metabolic cycle on the items found in a bookbag from a humanitarian effort from a community group.

A government who would not just pull out a Bible for someone to swear upon for a testimony or promise for a job.  But they would pull out the Bible, Torah or Quran to find guidance in the hard decisions they face both on the scale of work and personal issue.

If our government, today, cared for this country - they would see the value in the basic dimension of family.  The importance of children having two parents that care for them and love them without end.  Family would be respected and protected.

No, I am not "proud" of my country.  But I do support my country.  I do not drip with patriotism but I drip with hope that my two children will not live in a dissolving stronghold of country their entire lives.  I also pray that this country never faces the hardships so many other nations' children face each and every day. 

Lastly, I may or may not have voted for Barack Hussein Obama.  In the end that just doesn't matter.  I subscribe to being a real Christian - not just a Sunday Christian but a Monday through Sunday Christian.  My faith tells me I am not the judge and I will never ever be the judge of any other person on this earth.  My faith teaches me that Barack Obama and myself were both created by the same Great Creator who transforms this Universe.  Therefore, as a Christian, I have a duty - to support our president and to pray for him as he takes on another four years of guiding our country and making the decisions that no one in their right mind would want to be accountable for.

This country needs no more di-vision than it already has.  I just hope I am not alone in this thought.

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And to leave you with a smile - the most powerful man in DC today - Jay-Z - HOLLA!

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Until we meet again -


Brownie