We received a package at 30 Rock that was full of some bottles of a mystery drink I'd never heard of called "VIB" or "Vacation In A Bottle". I decided to take this one for a We Get Stuff review because I'm generally curious, and like any red blooded American, I love vacations - whether on a beach or in bottles. Sue me.
Now in the interest of full disclosure, I love energy drinks. While working at LNWJF I have on several occasions consumed two in a day. But most energy drinks boast how they will keep you up and make you run head first into brick walls, and have names like "Cocaine" or "Howling Monkey" (real names of real drinks - I've consumed both). Vacation In A Bottle or "VIB" (pronounced "vibe") claims the opposite - it says it will relax you, make you put your worries aside, and make you feel like you're on vacation (without causing drowsiness, naturally). The press kit also warns "consumers should take caution when drinking VIB because extreme happiness may occur." Look out everyone. Here come my teeth. In a smile.
We're on hiatus this week and not in the office, so I decided to test out VIB in a place where know I would need a vacation (but would only have time for one in a bottle). I made a shopping list and boarded the subway for a place that drives you to madness once you're inside: IKEA.
By the way, if you've never been to IKEA, it is great. The prices are cheap, they have very well designed products, and you could furnish your entire apartment for $37. But if you don't plan ahead, you will be lost there and it will feel like The Blair Witch Project, you wondering around aimlessly in circles until you suddenly put your face a corner and somehow die (at least internally).
I had four things in mind but of course being at IKEA, I saw other things I "needed" and had no clue about measurements, how I'd get things home, or if these things would go with my current decorating scheme (the grown-up college mess scheme). Stress was building. Right on schedule.
I was in need of a major pick me up (and tired of searching for the perfect Fjørln shelving unit) so I made my way to the IKEA cafeteria to eat some of their famous Swedish meatballs with lingonberries. This comfort food is supposed to fill you up so you can power through the rest of your nesting mission, but I had a feeling it was going to weigh me down and make me more sluggish. Plus I was dining, and shopping, alone. I was getting pushed to the edge people. In need of a major vacay in a bottle.
So I decided to take the plunge. I bought my ticket, opened the bottle, and got ready to dive into a beach of refreshment. I twisted the top off the bottle and it bubbled over. Not a good sign, VIB. I'm losing it here. But when it hit my lips, something changed:
I was transported! At least for a few seconds, I was on a relaxing beach! Did you see that!!?? And the taste was actually pretty refreshing. It didn't have the over-carbonated taste of most energy drinks, and it didn't have caffeine or taurine (whatever the heck that is..does anyone even know what that is?), just vitamins. It was like a bellini, only I wasn't embarrassed to drink it. And remember what it said about "Warning: Extreme happiness may occur"? Well...I continued shopping:
Pure joy. At least for another half hour. Then I had to make it back home. But for that time until the effects wore off, VIB did the trick. Thanks, VIB. Now I have to go "read" a bunch of diagrams to put together a laptop desk with a tiny, tiny allen wrench.
