I think I literally heard IKEA calling my name when I asked Rachael if she wanted to take a day trip there before school begins. I "needed" some things for my craft room and for my classroom. And when you "need" something cool and cheap, there's no where else to go but IKEA.
When we looked at the map and realized it was near Ann Arbor, we decided to go there and look around before hitting the store of all stores. I found out that it's the home of U of M and we got to drive around that big and really nice looking campus. The downtown area of AA is really fun! There are TONS of little shops and cafes all over a many block area...trust me, we saw most of them twice, some three times while driving around looking for a cafe (Ziegler's) that was recommended by our friend, Lisa. We literally drove all over downtown AA looking for it. Finally we stopped to ask a mail-lady. It was then that we realized we were looking for Zingerman's (whatever, close enough--how do we get there???) After finally finding it, I dropped Rachael off to go stand in line (which was out the door). I drove around a few blocks looking for parking and then called Rach to see if we were going to be eating there. She said it was cool, and while trying to describe it to me, with me telling her there was no open parking, one of the workers at Zingerman's told her to have me drive around to the front of the store and she would go out and direct me to parking. As I finally make it around to the front and roll down my window for the worker girl who is approaching my car, she opens the door, hops in, and introduces herself as she begins giving me directions. It was kind of bizarre! Well, anyway it worked. Lunch was an adventure, as this place was packed...obviously a local favorite. The whole staff there were very kind and helpful (not just car direction girl). They give free samples of any of their food. We had heard that they have large helpings, so we decided to share a reuben and a side of mac & cheese (half a pound!).
Here's our lunch...and let me tell you, it was great! That was the best mac & cheese I have ever had! It had two cheeses and some secret ingredient that gave it a little kick. YUM! And we ate outside, which I totally love to do!
Also this place is named one of the Top 25 Food Markets in the World by Food and Wine magazine. Wow!
Well, as if that weren't enough excitement for the day... we headed on to the real reason for gas money to the Great Lakes state...everyone's favorite Swedish four letter word...IKEA!
Now, to me, IKEA isn't just shopping. It's more like an amusement park. There's so much to do and see (and buy!). We spent several hours in that big blue and yellow box, and came out only slightly poorer. I've decided that I need to make this trip a semi-annual event. Maybe that way I can spread out the spending...or does that just mean I'll be spending twice as often, so twice as much?! Oh well. I got some fun stuff--organizational things for the craft room, and a fun rug for my reading corner at school. I used a gift card I had received and actually only went over by $1.75! Not bad, I'd say!
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