"Better than Disney World!"

You better believe those were the words that came out of my mouth during my recent trip to IKEA with pals Michelle and Joy from the newspaper.

We three ladies had been looking forward to this trip since we first heard last spring that an IKEA was being built in West Chester, Ohio.

And WE. WERE. NOT. DISAPPOINTED.

Seriously, shopping at the store was better than a vacation spent with a giant mouse and his goofy pals ... and get this - we spent EIGHT HOURS in IKEA.

I know, you are thinking, "How is that possible?" (my husband asked the same question) but I assure you, it is ... especially if you've never been in the store before! We had to explore every inch of its 21,000-square foot (!) interior (and hellooo...Nick should know better. This is the same woman who, despite thousands of prior trips, can spend eight hours in the Glenbrook Mall with her mother on any given weekend - haha!)

Enough of my giddy babbling about how much fun we had .... on with the IKEA show.


Yes, I had to take a photo with the trusty Rebel of the outside of the store. It was just so good to see those 12-foot tall letters in person.

Some of IKEA's cute home furnishings. That pillow was $12! Why wasn't it in my cart, you ask? One has to pick their shopping battles in this store, that's all I can say...

These shoe organizers were in every pimped-out closet we peered in to inside the store. And I had to take a photo of them. Because we women know that the sight of something like this for our beloved shoes is on par with a delicious piece of cake.

Speaking of cake, here's a shot of the ginormous piece of apple crumb cake I devoured as we ate lunch in IKEA's funky cafeteria. Just like the rest of the store, the prices on their amazing food (seriously, THEY SERVE SALMON) was insane - this tasty treat cost less than $3.

Michelle and I being silly on this funky little teeter-totter we found in the kids' department. Yup, we got some strange looks as we tested out its not-so-ergonomic design.

Chair races. Need I say more?

Joy and Michelle testing out one of IKEA's amazing kitchens. We were debating whether we could give Mark a run for his money on living inside the store ...

And finally, us leaving the store -- tired, weary, but feeling oh so good about our purchases. One thing that should be said about IKEA furniture -- it's a do-it-yourself kind of job. And if you're not careful, there may be some cursing involved - ha!

Want to know what I bought? It's coming in the next post ...