OK I'm Getting Desperate . . . Announcing the "Pics for Meatballs Contest!"

I'm currently spending the summer back home visiting with the family & staying only 30 minutes from the College Park IKEA (YEEEEE-HAH!!! . . . yeah, I've been there every week so far).

But I still haven't been able to swing by Charlotte to see the construction progress since November . . . there was nothing to see in November, just cleared land . . . but now I hear stuff is going up and not being able to see it is driving me INSANE!!!

Look I'm willing to make a deal with anyone in or going to the Charlotte soon that can score me a pic of the construction site . . . since I'm so close to an IKEA already . . .
area

I'm willing to pony up . . .


brace yourselves . . .



a whopping 5 dollar gift card (you can buy your 1st helping of Sweedish Meatballs with it) to the 1st person who can score me a really good shot . . . or 2 . . . or 20 even . . . of the Charlotte IKEA construction site!

I will happily post the pics here on the blog and give full credit to the contributor (or not, if that person wishes to remain anonymous).

. . . and I'd make the prize a little more exciting but I have to be honest . . . I'm broke!
But the least I can do is buy you a meal for your kindness.

Hit the View my Complete Profile thingy over here on the right side --->
& then click my email link on my profile thingy to enter . . .

remember . . . no cheating . . .

winner will be chosen by my discretion if there is any drama . . . & remember people it's for a lousy 5 dollar gift card, not the lottery!

If you don't win the gift card but still want to contribute pics I will be more than happy to post them AND give you credit as well.

Ground Breaking Pic

So I Gets an Email From Big Joe Roth . . .

Yeah . . . me and him are good buddies (I wish . . . if we were they would have been in MB today and not Charlotte!)

Anyways . . . ground was broken today (officially) . . . but I couldn't be there . . . I had the gas money but I needed to stay close to home in case my little one got sick again (she had a tummy bug on Monday & puked all over my Stjarna Quilt).

Here's a copy of the press release the big guy sent me . . . I didn't see any other names attached to my email . . . so either it's one of those encoded generic mass emailings . . . or I'm SPECIAL (Momma always said I was).

For Immediate Release Contact: Joseph Roth, Expansion Public Affairs
April 9, 2008 (610) 834-0180, x 6500

EXPANDING ITS PRESENCE IN U.S. AND SOUTHEAST,
SWEDISH RETAILER IKEA BREAKS GROUND FOR STORE IN CHARLOTTE, NC

As construction begins, IKEA Charlotte is on track to open Spring 2009 in University City

CHARLOTTE, NC – With company representatives, local officials and community leaders on-hand,
IKEA, the world’s leading home furnishings retailer, today officially broke ground for its future store
in Charlotte, North Carolina. Until IKEA Charlotte opens in Spring 2009 as the 5th IKEA store in the
Southeast and 36th IKEA store in the United States, customers can shop at stores in Atlanta, GA;
and Woodbridge, VA; or at www.IKEA-USA.com. Other stores in the Southeast are located in
Orlando, FL and Sunrise, FL, with a store opening Summer 2009 in Tampa, FL.
The 356,000 square-foot IKEA Charlotte, with 1,600 parking spaces, will be built on 25 acres in
the University City area, at the northeastern corner of I-85 and City Boulevard, and will reflect the
same unique architectural design for which IKEA stores are known worldwide. After the store
opens, Crescent Resources will develop the surrounding 175-acre mixed-use ‘Belgate’ development.
The future IKEA Charlotte will present nearly 10,000 exclusively designed items, three model
home interiors, approximately 50 room settings, a supervised children’s play area, a 300-seat
restaurant serving Swedish specialties such as meatballs with lingonberries and salmon plates, as
well as American dishes. Other family-friendly features will include a ‘Children’s IKEA’ area in the
showroom, baby care rooms, preferred parking and play areas throughout the store.
“We appreciate the reception given to us by officials and community leaders here. Now that
construction has begun, it is exciting to see physical progress toward the future IKEA Charlotte,”
said Michael Maier, IKEA real estate manager. “We will be bringing our unique family-friendly
shopping experience closer to more than 150,000 IKEA customers in the Carolinas who currently are
driving great distances to shop at our stores. This location also will attract new customers from
throughout the Carolinas and beyond who value good design, good function and affordable prices.”
When the store opens in Spring 2009, IKEA Charlotte will welcome 400 new coworkers into
the IKEA family. Candidates interested in working at this employer of choice should look for all
positions online at www.IKEA-USA.com, where they will be able to apply for diverse positions
available in: home furnishings sales, interior decoration, customer service, safety and security,
cashiers, maintenance, goods flow, receiving, warehouse and stock replenishment. Also, setting
itself apart from other retailers, IKEA Charlotte will offer approximately 60 food service
opportunities in its Restaurant, Swedish Foodmarket, Café Bistro and coworker cafeteria. IKEA has
been ranked in FORTUNE’s annual “100 Best Companies to Work For” list (three years in a row),
Working Mother magazine’s annual list of “100 Best Companies for Working Mothers” (four years in
a row) and Training magazine’s annual “Top 125” ranking of companies that excel at human capital
development (five years in a row). IKEA will create 500 construction jobs and generate significant
tax revenue for local governments and schools.
There currently are more than 270 IKEA stores in 36 countries, including 34 in the United States,
where other new stores are being planned in: Brooklyn, NY; Somerville, MA; and Tampa, FL. Since its
1943 founding in Sweden, IKEA has offered a wide range of home furnishings of good design and
function, at low prices so the majority of the people can afford them. As part of this commitment to
create a better everyday life for the many people, IKEA incorporates environmentally and socially
responsible efforts into day- to-day business, strives to be an employer of choice, and continually
supports initiatives that benefit causes such as children and the environment. For information about
IKEA, and about working at IKEA, please go to www.IKEA-USA.com.
# # #

The Next Generation

"I believe the children are our future"

Come on! You know the lyrics so sing along!

This is my oldest (on the right) trying out a sofa in the Marketplace at the College Park IKEA with my bff's daughter last month.

Gotta keep the tradition rolling!

Spring has Sprung

From what I gather land has been cleared at the Charlotte Construction site for some time . . . but now Spring, that glorious season of rebirth and warmer weather has begun, and the real nitty gritty of IKEA comming to the Carolinas will kick into full gear.

I recently found the official announcement of the ground breaking & selection of which construction firm will actually be building my Southern Sweedish Salvation . . .

April 9th is JUST around the corner!!! Too bad I don't know if I can get there for the ceremony or not . . . it's on a Wednesday & I don't work on Wednesdays but money is tight right now . . . I will elaborate further down.

http://charlotte.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stories/2008/03/24/daily9.html?jst=cn_cn_lk

Swedish retailer Ikea will break ground for its first store in Charlotte on
April 9.
The 356,000-square-foot store will be built on 25 acres in the
northeast quadrant of the Interstate 85 interchange at City Boulevard, in
the
University City area. It will employ approximately 400 workers and have
1,600
parking spaces.
The store, slated to open next spring, will be
Ikea's first
in North Carolina and its 36th in the United States.
In
addition to
marketing nearly 10,000 exclusively designed items, the store
will feature three
model-home interiors, 50 room settings, a supervised
children's play area and a
300-seat restaurant serving Swedish specialties.
Ikea has hired Charlotte's Bovis
Lend Lease Inc. as the construction-management firm for the structure
and
site work.
Crescent
Resources of Charlotte is the master land developer for the project.

This is WAY beyond EXCITING!

I was up north for spring break . . . & we DID actually get part of our tax refund back but instead of going IKEA crazy as I originally planned I went IkeaCrazy of another type . . .

Meet Ikea Fonzarelli

a Pomeranian puppy we just adopted 3 weeks ago

he cost me my IKEA fund for the spring & ladies can't resist him . . . hence his naming.

. . . we just call him Ike for short

I did manage to stop by the College Park & Woodbridge stores over Spring break last week & scored a HELLA deal on gift wrap . . . 6 roll packs of christmas gift wrap for TEN CENTS . . . I bought 3 packs . . . I won't need to buy gift wrap for a while.

I also picked up some coasters, a set of measuring cups and storage boxes from the As-Is Department.

My 11 year old is also showing her IKEA addiction . . . she bought a hamper for herself & her little sister, a block candle with tray and a dustpan. . . the apple don't fall far from the tree you know. I have a feeling that I will have to pull her out of school for the grand opening . . . at least I'll have a camping buddy!

Now I need to come up with gas money to get to Charlotte next week.

He Must Read My Blog . . .

My husband loves me, truly deeply loves me . . . Either that or he's just finally figured out after 12 years of marriage that when I don't get my way there is hell to pay.

He's giving any and all tax refund money to my Ikea fund!

I only hope we actually see a refund this year. Last year we didn't because we still owe some money to the Federal government for a big screw up a while back. We are in the process of still paying them back but I'm not sure if they let us get our refund if we are in good repayment status or not . . . I guess I should look that up before I get my hopes up too high.

Well in the meantime I still have a wish list & here it is

Master Bedroom
2 Vila square pillow covers (in white)
Tanja Brodyr quilt cover set in purple
2 Kilan bedspreads (large) 1 in dark red 1 in purple
2 Malm 6 drawer dressers in black/brown (1 in each style) for our master bedroom
a Michael desk in black/brown

My Daughters' Rooms
a Malm queen bedframe in birch for my older daughter
Quilts for each girl
Hanna Parla Quilt cover in red/white (Queen) for older child

Den
2 Billy bookcases in black/brown (large)
1 Benno CD tower in black/brown
3 Michael computer carts (pink for older child, blue/green for younger)
2 Snille work chairs (same colors as the Michael carts)

Dear God I'm not even in the kitchen or bathrooms & I think I filled my van already!
My head hurts now.

Well, I did some more cyber-hunting on anymore dirt regarding the Charlotte store & so far nothing new. I did however come to the conclussion that the official groundbreaking should be very soon . . . between May-June. I looked up ohikea.com, a site that is following the progress of the West Chester Ikea opening in a few months & I'm making an educated guess based on their timetable (it's similar to the one planned for Charlotte seperated only by 1 year). The West Chester, OH groundbreaking was May of last year with a Spring 08' opening date. Based on what I've read in forums the land in Charlotte is already cleared of trees. (I REALLY WISH THERE WAS A PIC ONLINE! NONE OF THE SATELITE MAPS ARE CURRENT). So it should be only a matter of time that there will be an announcement about the traditional groundbreaking ceremony. I might have to make a jaunt there when that time comes . . . at the very least be able to find my way around the area in advance.

It's an illness . . . it really is . . . Britney Spears has nothing on me.
(but I do take care of my kids)

What "Ikea Santa" Got Me for Christmas

. . . or "What I Bought Myself With My Christmas Money This Year"

Ikea - College Park, MD
Lack large coffee table in black/brown
Lack side table in black/brown
2 Signe rugs in red/beige/navy (for the kitchen)
a pair of Kavaklad frying pans
3 4-packs of Dragby glasses (which incedentally look JUST like glasses that we bought right after we got married 12 years ago, the surviving glasses match perfectly)
a Babord shoe rack for the foyer (perfect match with my now discontinued Babord hat rack)
a pack of 100 Glimma tealights
an extra "blue bag"
the Full/Queen Gosa Stjarna quilt for the master bedroom

Ikea - Batimore, MD (my 1st trip to that store & MAN is it smaller than I'm used to in CP or Woodbridge)
Ceder Quilt cover in white
2 Gosa Vila (the euro size) pillows
1 Slumra flat sheet
2 Slumra fitted sheets (I'm using 1 to cover my boxspring because they were out of the Queen sized Oxel bedbase covers in white)



I'm kicking myself now because I didn't get covers for the euro pillows. I didn't realize how far into the dark ages my local stores are in terms of not carrying shams & cases for 26"x 26" pillows. I also put back the Bomull curtains I had in the cart (due to budget restrictions) Well, I'll be back north in March, if not sooner depending on my Aunt's health. Unfortunately the Winter Sale doesn't run through March so it looks like I'm paying full price (which is still better than "on sale" anywhere else).

How bad is it that as soon as I make an Ikea trip the next thing I do is make a list for the next one?