I think this about "covers" it...

The other day my air conditioner froze up and while the repairman was fixing it I had some time to kill, so I decided to go to Daiso and kill some time.

Now, Daiso is dangerous. I say this because it's a cross between Target, The Dollar Store and Lillian Vernon. It's packed to the gills with crap you never in your wildest dreams could have thought there was a need for, or even worse realized you had to have. And the best part - most everything in the store is somewhere between 1,000 and 5,000 Korean Won (that's about .80 cents to $4.15).

I think at one time or another we've all walked out of Target thinking, "What the f#*%, what is all this crap?" You went in needing some dental floss and a bottle of PineSol and walked out with a 36 pack of tube socks, every new skin/hair/oral hygiene product on the market and a few DVDs of movies you vaguely remember watching in college -but hell, since their $2.99 there's no reason not to own them., right?

So a foreign store with most everything under $5 - heaven. I mean on my way there I'm already thinking, "I wonder if they'll have Christmas decorations?" Because who doesn't love a holiday potty?

When I actually get into Daiso I'm blown away. I'm seriously convinced my grandmother is going to come around the corner raving about the selection and prices. I think over the year's she's secretly come to Korean and purchased gifts for our entire family.

As I'm taking these pictures, I'm thinking to myself "What on EARTH do these people's homes look like?"

Then I remember that a certain class of Americans cover their living room furniture in plastic.

This would be nirvana for them.

My first sighting is this...."what is it you might ask." Well, this my friend would be contact wall paper in a variety of bold colored "wood" that you can apply to your walls instead of investing in actual wood paneling.

And just in case you're not really wanting to go for the whole subtle, natural looking yellow, brown, pink "wood tone" walls you can always opt for "tile."

There were many products that would take the average home from "drab to fab" in no time. Oh, Daiso has got it c-o-v-e-r-e-d. Literally.

To think, I've been living all these years without table leg covers...

Or door knob covers. (1,000 Won - why WOULDN'T you buy these!!!)

I knew it was time to go when I looked in my basket and this was my latest addition.

Because everyone needs a wooden thermometor.

In celsius. That they can't read.

Hey, just makin' sure all the bases are covered.

I'll definitely be going back to Daiso. And I'm hoping that next trip possibly they'll have knock-offs of this beauty.

In the meantime, enjoy Kathy Griffin's experience in "covering."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5s6Cx8g4EE