My husband gets me. He really, truly gets me. And he loves me. He so completely loves me.
IKEA is turning 40 in the US. To commemorate this milestone, they did something new for IKEA. They had “street gear” with the IKEA logo on it.
If you know me even a little bit, you know I’m crazy about IKEA. For so many reasons.
I really wanted to go to IKEA to check out this street gear. I mean, let’s face it: if there was something out there to wear that said, “I love and support IKEA,” then I needed to own it!
It was for a limited time only – like less than three weeks. And the closest IKEA to us is in Charlotte, North Carolina, which is about 3.5 hours away, without stops and no traffic tie-ups.
I threw hints to my sister-in-law, who lives near an IKEA to go check it out for me, but no offers were made. Every time I saw an IKEA commercial online or on TV, I wistfully wished aloud about how badly I wanted to go look at the street gear. Four days before it was scheduled to end (September 23), my husband said to me, “I’m off Monday and Tuesday, so we can go to Charlotte on Tuesday.” (He works night shift, so it takes the first day off for him to rest up.) I squee’d with delight! Then I stopped and thought about it for a minute. What if we drove all the way down there and there were no t-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts – I didn’t even know what was included in street gear – left? I had no idea how popular it might have been. What if they were sold out by the time we got there on Tuesday? Or, what if they didn’t even have my size? That would be such a long drive to come home empty-handed and broken-hearted. “When have you ever been disappointed by a trip to IKEA?” Russ asked me.
It was true. If nothing else, I’d have Swedish meatballs and lingonberries. It would not be a trip for naught!
We arrived and I felt empowered as soon as we pulled into the parking lot. In a world where diversity is being erased at an alarming rate, they had a rainbow crosswalk in the parking lot. I was moved to tears. Yes. There are sooooo many reasons I love IKEA. It’s not just about the Swedish meatballs and lingonberries. Seeing that crosswalk made me feel hopeful in a way I hadn’t felt hopeful outside of writing spaces in a long time.
We went in, walked around the whole store, and ate lunch in the cafeteria. They had started putting out Christmas merchandise, so we grabbed some of those items that looked like they needed to be in our home. We got to the checkout and had never even seen a display for the street gear. I asked one of the employees at the checkout. She said, “It’s right as you get off the escalators on the second floor.” We parked our buggies and went back up. It was right where she said it was. Behind a wall, practically, no signage. The tees and sweatshirts were bundled and taped, so I couldn’t get a good look at them. The sizes marked were M/L. Let me say, I’ve lost 100 pounds, but I’m not a M/L! Russ pulled one from the wall display and said, “Here, try it on.” So, I tried it on over my Cyndi Lauper t-shirt. And the sweatshirt fit! I assumed the t-shirt would, too. So, I grabbed one of each and we headed back downstairs. I looked at that rainbow crosswalk when we got back outside, and I was even prouder I would be wearing IKEA street gear.
Many thanks to my amazing husband for an all-day trip just to buy me a t-shirt and sweatshirt with a logo on them for the store I adore most in the world. I can’t ask for more than that!
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