Tag: ikea

fun

Not a fan!

Shannon

There are certain things that the masses adore but I just don’t.

  • Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks (or anywhere)  I’ll probably be labeled a communist for saying this but it’s true.starbucks-pumpkin-spice-latte Meh.  They just don’t do it for me.  And I’ve had one recently so I can say this.  It’s just like pumpkin scented coffee for me.  Now, whip me up a Peppermint White Mocha and we’ll talk!
  • Jennifer Aniston.  I know she’s like America’s sweetheart or something.  And she’s super cute, I’ll give her that.  But to me she just plays the same character over and over in her movies.  And she never seems happy or especially smiley.  OMG if I were her (mega rich, beautiful, engaged, employed in a fun job like acting) I’d be grinning from ear to ear all the time.
  • Birthday Cake.  I like angel food cake and pound cake but birthday cake’s texture I just don’t like.  Especially those from the grocery store or a mix.  For my 40th birthday I had a giant fruit pizza instead of a cake and I was thrilled!  I love to look at gorgeous cakes but I don’t want to eat them.
  • Milk chocolate.  I love dark chocolate and even white chocolate.  But milk chocolate just isn’t my thing.
  • Shopping.  I would MUCH prefer to shop online than just mill about in a mall or a string of stores.  If I have to go to Target or another store I’m in and out with a list.  I hate waiting in line and I really hate being on one side of the store and realizing what I need is on the other side.   If I HAVE to shop brick and mortar then please take me to Target or IKEA.  Otherwise I’m online!

What popular thing just doesn’t do it for you???

csp, food

Farmer’s Wife

Shannon

CSP fancies himself a farmer.  He bought a few tomato plants from the clearance section for 75 cents a piece.  They started out looking like this: The beginnings of our tomato empire.  He had 3 in that planter.  They grew quickly so he transplanted them to big pots we picked up at IKEA for just $6 each. DSC_5059 They are doing so well. Look! Is that a little tomato I see there? We've got a mater!  CSP is so proud!  He visits his plants every night and gives them a good water.  He keeps telling me “I’m a farmer!  I’m making tomatoes!”

csp, ikea, married life, shopping

Why you should never shop on your phone in the middle of the night

Shannon

Our 10th anniversary is in just a couple weeks.  The other night I was trying to get to sleep and was unsuccessful.  So I thought I’d go online via my iPhone and see if IKEA had any new products in stock.  My eyes were finally starting to droop when I spotted the coolest gift for CSP!  A work bench for the garage. It had everything!  One of those peg board things as the back wall, nice sized work area, storage space underneath.  Plus it had some blue accents so it would match CSP’s tool box.  And the best part?  It’s only $80!  Woot! I made a mental note to get myself to IKEA asap to buy this work bench.  I clicked the option to read the details about the work bench.  I was so happy with myself.  CSP would be so pleased!  I’m the best wife EVER.  The details came up on my screen and my heart dropped as I saw these words:  Encourages role play; children develop social skills by imitating grown-ups and inventing their own roles.  IT’S A TOY.  Daggummit!!!

fun, holidays, ikea

Pugs & Kisses!

Shannon

Happy Valentine’s Day!  Tell everyone you love that you love them!  These are the Valentines I made on See Here for 18 cents each that came with 2 day shipping!  I used our red hearts blanket from IKEA as a backdrop on the sofa.  CSP gave treats while I snapped a bunch of pics.  I’m really pleased with how they turned out!  Happy hearts day to you all! xoxo

house, ikea, shopping

The sofa search is over!

Shannon

For the last 8 years (up until our yard sale in November) we sat every day on a bright red Ektorp sofa from IKEA.  We rented a giant moving truck and drove it up to the College Park, Maryland IKEA to buy it (before there was an IKEA anywhere closer).  We bought the matching chair and ottoman as well.  It all served us very well for a long time.  But the pugs took their toll on the back cushions.  Pugs are a wee bit catlike.  They (at least ours) like to sit up on the back of the sofa or chair.  This smushed down the back cushions and eventually they didn’t bounce back.  Zoe and her razor sharp puppy teeth took her toll on the slipcover.  We loved that we could remove the slip covers from each cushion to wash them.  We also loved that it was affordable.   As our move drew closer we realized that the Ektorp was not going to be taking up space on the moving truck.   The search for a new sofa was on!

We knew we wanted no loose cushions on the back so the pugs wouldn’t have any to ruin.  CSP decided he wanted a chaise instead of a chair and ottoman.  I wanted sofas on legs with space underneath.  That helps your room look bigger and I was tired of moving the sofa or chair and finding all the pugs’ toys and chewies shoved under there.  We also wanted wide arms.  Unfortunately I couldn’t find anything like that at IKEA or any of the local stores.  One day I was flipping through the West Elm catalog and saw the perfect sofa.  The heavens parted and angels sang!  No loose cushions!  Wide arms!  Up on stylish legs!  In our budget!  Fun colors to choose from!  No removable slipcovers but the fabric is treated to repel stains.  Loved the styling!  I showed CSP and sighed, dreaming of finding a sofa like that in a local shop.  In the meantime we’d just sit on our hand me down bonus room sofa since we were losing the bonus room anyway.  Then I closed the catalog and could not believe my eyes!  Charlotte has a West Elm store!  I thought the closest one was in Atlanta!  Woot!

We moved, got settled and went to the West Elm store to see my beloved Lorimer sofa in person.   I had a moment of panic on the way: what if it isn’t comfy?  What if the arms are too low?  But no, it’s fabulous! It was even more comfy than I had hoped!  CSP picked out his chaise in espresso, a dark brown.  I picked lichen for my sofa. SO pretty!  They’ll be here in 8-10 weeks.  Well, from the time we ordered them a few weeks ago.  And when we moved we received a coupon in the mail from West Elm so we saved a bunch of money!  Plus when you use their store credit card you earn Design Dollars (10% of your purchase price) to use as a gift card of sorts in the store.  Woot!  They won’t charge us until they ship so I can’t go spend my design dollars yet, but I’m sure making a wish list. I’m currently obsessed with throw pillows to go with the new colors.  Pale green and dark brown are a big departure from red!  I can’t wait for the sofas to arrive!  They’ll get here just in time for the Mustachio baby shower I’m throwing in March!

birthday, family, food, fun

Wild goose chase

Shannon

January 23 is CSP’s dad’s birthday.  Yesterday we decided to meet up for coffee.  CSP & I had some errands to run first.  I had lunch with Holly (one of my oldest & dearest friends who lives in Arizona now).  We had the always fab soup & salad & breadsticks deal at Olive Garden.  We talked for 2 hours and could have talked even more if she hadn’t had to catch a flight.  Plus we were getting the stink eye from our waitress for hogging a table for 2 hours on a very busy day.  Holly is one of my very favorite people in the world.  The kind of friend where when you get together it’s as if no time has passed at all.  But man, has time passed.  Her daughter was just 3 years old when we met and now she’s going to be 15 shortly.  Wow- we’re old!  But we still feel like kids.  I could go on….but on to the goose chase… *Disclaimer- normally I wouldn’t give you a play by play like this (you can see that on Foursquare), but it’s essential to the story.

So I went home from lunch and picked up CSP.  We headed to IKEA first to buy a tray for under the pugs’ water dish.  Their old tray broke when CSP knocked the giant spoon off the wall.  The pugs get water everywhere if there isn’t a tray under their bowl so this was a must.  I was proud we got out of IKEA with only spending $6. It’s easy to do when you’re poor!  Isn’t the new tray cute?  Love the birds & colors.

After IKEA we stopped at Trader Joe’s for a few things.  We hadn’t been in a long time and we both just love that store.  From there we hurried to Starbucks to meet up with CSP’s parents.  We arrived at 4:45, a full 15 minutes early.  Please, hold your applause.  I know you’re all shocked that I managed to get anywhere early.  We waited until just after 5 then CSP put in a call to see where they were.  They were just then leaving their house which was 30 minutes away.  So we said we’ll meet you in the middle.  They said IKEA.  Back in the truck we went. Continue reading “Wild goose chase” →

house, ikea

Red Star Spike

Shannon

Cool plant from IKEA Nanny bought me this cool plant and pot at IKEA while she was in town. I just love the way it looks on the half wall between the dining room and the living room. I hope I can keep it alive! I have a bit of a black thumb! *Ok, so just learned while finding the links for this plant that it is ideally an outdoor plant.  Sigh.

family, ikea

Florida Fam Fest Day 3

Shannon

Yesterday Nanny & I woke up and met up with Sara, Jacob, Joey & BF (bio father) at IKEA for breakfast.  They have an IKEA in Tampa & Orlando but Nanny & BF haven’t been to either.  Nanny was so excited!  I thought she’d pick up a thing or two, but she dropped close to $100! She was cracking me up.  Didn’t matter how far away I would be standing, Nanny would pick up an item and yell to me “What’s the price on this??”  She wanted one of everything that was an IKEA item in my house.  My Nanny is 86 years old and she still has style!  We spent over 2 hours shopping at IKEA and we didn’t even browse the upstairs!

After IKEA Sara & the boys went back to her house while Nanny & I stopped by Walmart.  She wanted to pick up some dog food.  There’s a Walmart 2 miles from her house in Florida but I indulged her.  I was just glad she was up here visiting.  On the way to Walmart we swung through Sonic for cherry limeades.  When I spent 2 weeks with Nanny at her house in Florida I introduced her to Sonic’s cherry limeades.  She loves them. Continue reading “Florida Fam Fest Day 3” →

family, food, fun, ikea, shopping

Going to the lodge, the Great Wolf Lodge

Shannon

A couple of weeks ago Gigi took a day off and we had a girls’ day.  We started the day by meeting up at IKEA.  We shopped and had lunch and shopped some more.  By the time we made it to the warehouse, so close to the registers and the car, our knees had had it.  So we picked a sofa, sat down and planned our next move.  Luckily I pack my ActivOn.  We applied liberally, I to my knees and Gigi for some reason to her forehead.  Does she not remember the last time we made that mistake?  Eventually we made our way to the registers.  Gigi paid for her purchases (I was good and didn’t buy A THING.  MIRACLE!)  Then we piled into Q-Tip (CSP’s truck) and headed North. Continue reading “Going to the lodge, the Great Wolf Lodge” →

family, friends, fun, ikea

Bow to the Swedes!

Shannon

Yesterday morning I woke up early (it can be done) and picked up Sara at her house.  We drove to IKEA to drop off our sweepstakes entries in the hopes to be one ( or two) of the 10 who will win a $1000 gift card.  There were a ton of flag people directing us to our parking space.  The line was already wrapped around the right side of the building at 9:30 am.  I was not looking forward to standing in that line.  Luckily when we walked up they let us skip the line and go right in.  We started up the escalator and were almost at the top when we heard squeals.  Susan was standing at the top of the escalator with Will & Miss. O.  “I can’t believe I beat you hear!!!” she yelled.  There were hugs all around then we started into the crowds, following the arrows on the floor.  It was Sara’s first time and she was, of course, amazed.  She instantly fell in love and her wish list started to grow.  We made it through the top floor in less than an hour then stopped for breakfast in the cafe.  After our super inexpensive breakfast ($5.70 for both of us!), we made our way downstairs and through the marketplace.  By now it was seriously crowded.  People bumping into each other.  I don’t like crowds.  It was almost a mob scene in textiles.  Sara and I got seperated a couple of times by the crowd but we finally made it into the warehouse and to the check out.  We used the self check out and were out in no time.  I’ve never spent so little at IKEA.  All I bought were 2 toilet brushes, 1 pack of coffee, 1 pack of cinnamon rolls, a candle, and a bottle of peach drink.  The rolls and coffee were for CSP.  He was bummed he couldn’t go with us since he had to work.

We dropped off our entry forms and found our car.  It took longer to get out of the parking lot than it did to get in!  It was SO crazy out there by this time (almost noon), but IKEA had it all under control.  Police officers were stationed everywhere directing traffic.  It was like the Pope was in town or something.

I’m so excited to have IKEA so close to home!  I can’t wait for the seasonal things to get stocked.  I’ve already got 2 more trips planned for this week!