Sutherlands Go to Sweden

Well, we got as close as we could get to Sweden without actually leaving the Salt Lake Valley. Utah recently got its first Ikea. It was the top news story for like two weeks straight. (I heart local news. It's the best!)

We figured we best go see what the fuss was all about. Traci had never been to an Ikea; my only visit was the time a crazy inactive Dutch church member invited my companion Wix and I to ride our bikes 25 kilometers to the next city over so we could eat the meatballs at the deli located on the top floor. We were so excited to see our first freestanding soda fountain in Holland that we spent the whole night getting free refills. (We came to find out later that refills weren't free. Whoops. Silly Americans.) I digress.

Even several weeks after the grand opening, the store is still amazingly busy. Here's what I noticed:

• You can only walk in one direction and because you are walking in a wave of people, it feels like you are on a walk-a-lator and you should just wave at the furniture as you pass by
• No matter where you are in the store, you're still 20 minutes away from the check out register
  
• The majority of the living room furniture looks like stuff that the Deseret Industries didn't want
• A store is too big when you are given a map and pencil
• The furniture was cheap-ish, but not cheap enough to justify its crappiness
• It looked as though several families from Utah Valley had come up to the Ikea as part of a Family Home Evening activitiy
• It had really sweet European shopping carts - meaning all four wheels turn (not just the back two like here in American). That meant I could spin Paige around in circles, which she absolutely loved