48 vs. 27 and the Love/Hate for Ikea

I was blessed to have been brought up in a family that enjoyed to travel. Spring break we traveled south and summers we went Down East. By the time I was 21, I had traveled to 27 states. Compared to many people in my circles, I found that to be a pretty good amount of the USA.

However, it doesn't stand up to Aidan's 48. This American girl has been outdone -- WAY outdone-- by an Irishman. How the heck does THAT happen?!

For the first 12 or so years that Aidan was in the States, he worked for United Van Lines moving people to all ends of the country. He literally has traveled around all 48 states, only missing Hawaii and Alaska. And not only has he traveled through 48 states, Aidan and his mind-blowing photographic memory remembers roads and towns and counties all over the place. He could easily be a cartographer. One day he even asked me how far I was from a street in MY town. Turns out he's been here, too. Talk about a small world. On top of that, Aidan makes friends everywhere he goes. Everywhere. I can promise you there isn't a state in the union where Aidan doesn't know someone somewhere. A man that has that much traveling under his belt certainly has interesting stories to share. I love to hear him reminisce about his life on the road and the things he's seen and done. (Of course previous to that, he traveled around Europe. I mentioned the fact that my grandmother came from Romania, and what does he respond with? Something in Romanian. He knows a little of that language, too. And oh the stories.)

One day over Skype, the subject of Ikea came up -- I don't even remember how. Aidan instantly winces and spits out, "OH I HATE Ikea furniture!" quite dramatically.

He WHAT?? 

He went on to share a story about a particular move he did for a woman who had an Ikea dresser. He and his partner proceeded to pad and load the dresser, which, as soon as they attempted to put it on the dolly, immediately fell to a million pieces, with the woman's underwear and pajamas dumping out all over. The way Aidan told this story, you'd have thought it had just happened last week. As I'm listening, I'm glancing around my parlor...my living room ... my dining room...my bedroom...It's mostly Ikea. And hearing my true love hating Ikea at the same moment that I'm sitting in my house surrounded by it just began to crack me up.

The irony is hilarious. Only months before Aidan and I met,  I decided to completely overhaul my interior decor, which was ceiling to floor bursting with primitive antiques. Walking through my house was a time travel experience, it would have made you think you were on Little House on the Prairie. I became delighted by Ikea design mixed with vintage industrial pieces and since then, I've been on a slow journey to transform an 18th century interior into something light, airy, and slightly modern.

And here I find myself unable to stop giggling.

Through laughs, I managed to explain this all to Aidan. He did point out that he doesn't mind the textiles and rugs and such, it's just that in his opinion, the wooden furniture is very low quality (coming from someone experienced in furniture construction AND who lives in the furniture making capital of the US, North Carolina.) But I could barely finish my sentences. I could NOT stop laughing. Aidan was laughing, which made me laugh even more. We couldn't even successfully change the subject at this point. I had tears just rolling down my face, my glasses were fogging up, my stomach was hurting, and it was hysterical. I was just rolling.

I can only imagine someday if Aidan and I ever move my stuff out of this house, there will be adventure. Quite honestly though, I don't have many wooden pieces of Ikea, mostly upholstered pieces and textiles. Regardless, I fear I will be laughing the entire time.

That is one more thing I am so grateful for in Aidan -- his ability to make me laugh. It doesn't matter what kind of day I'm having or what I'm going through -- talking with him turns it all around and before long, my face hurts from smiling so much. I daydream continually of the idea of daily life with Aidan -- what a hoot it would finally be to face everyday together under the same roof! His outlook and the way he expresses his thoughts just blow me away. And as Yakov Smirnoff once said, "I believe there is a connection between love and laughter." Absolutely agree!!