New Experiences

Last Thursday my sister and I took a trip to Atlanta. The main purpose was to attend the Young House Love book signing event at Flor. I'll post about the specifics on that later. We both arrived in Atlanta just before 4pm. Our first stop was Ikea. I know I've been to Ikea many, many times, and blogged about it, but I've never eaten there. Michanne and I decided to split a plate of their famous meatballs with mashed potatoes and lingonberry jam.

It was surprisingly good. I think we walked around Ikea for about an hour and then headed over to the book signing location. The book signing started at 6:30pm and we planned on getting in line at 6pm and would grab dinner afterwords. The line was very long and it just got longer and longer as time passed. It was very cold and windy and it sprinkled off and on. 

This line wrapped around to the front of the store and employees opened up an unused space in the building to snake the line further in the back. We caught a glimpse of John and Sherry just before 6:30pm. I wasn't fast enough with my iPhone to take a proper picture so I'll share what I did get. 

Can you see them? They had already made it around the corner by the time I took this award winning photo. My next post will highlight our magical five minutes with John and Sherry. This was my very first book signing. The next morning Michanne and I got in the elevator to go to breakfast in the hotel. When the elevator got to the first floor it would not open. It jumped back up to the second floor, then back down to the first and still wouldn't open. So, we were stuck in an elevator. With a pregnant woman. She was freaking out slightly which freaked me out. I tried to use the elevator phone but no one answered on the other end. The elevator jumped back to the second floor and finally opened. We quickly exited and took the stairs.

The one on the far right is the 'elevator of death'. We alerted the hotel staff about the incident. I think the whole thing lasted about 5 minutes. That was my first time being stuck in an elevator. After breakfast we went to Trader Joe's.  It's an interesting place and I swear I could smell pot in the produce section. It made my eyes sting. I bought some soups and dog treats. This is an interesting name for ale.

Can you see the name? Arrogant Bastard Ale. Michanne was on a mission to find a small dresser/chest for her house. The first stop on this mission was The Dump. 

I've never been but Barbara has mentioned it a few times. It's a showroom of surplus furniture but it was all still pretty expensive. Apparently the new style is to have the top drawers empty for baskets or books. 

I don't like it at all and we must have seen at least 5 different dressers in this style. Our last stop of the day was Atlanta Expo South. This place was crazy. They had a little bit of everything: furniture, rugs, antiques, keepsakes, clothing, artwork, pottery, and even a food court. It was just gigantic. We didn't find anything to purchase but I did snap a photo of this beauty.

Wouldn't you love to have giant mummy in your living room? I was on the lookout for a card catalog but no luck. I didn't have any cash to purchase anything but I still searched. All in all, I tried some Ikea meatballs, went to a book signing, got stuck in an elevator, visited Trader Joe's, The Dump, and Atlanta Expo South. All new things. None of which are on my bucket list because I don't have a bucket list but I did have fun.