Friday I took a friend to the airport. It was an early flight so it was only 9:30 am when I dropped him off. I had a couple of choices:
1. Bum around airport town looking for something to do.
2. Drive home and hang out on the couch – did I mention I took the day off?
3. Drive to IKEA and Trader Joe’s.
I chose #3. I should mention from where I was at, it was a 3 hour drive. I am still not quite sure why I picked number three but it was definitely a good choice.
I had a nice day! It was fun to be on my own small adventure. Since I’m not the most confident driver on the road, driving on the freeway freaks me out a bit. And for good reason – I got run off of the road once this trip. I didn’t realize there was only one lane for an exit (you could either go left for the exit I wanted or right for the one I didn’t). I hate merging on the left! Well, I saw to close to the actual exit that I needed to get in the other lane and no one would let me in. So, I had to stop in the (sort of) lane that divides both of exits and then wait for a pause in traffic and gun it.
For the record, VW bugs have a very different definition of “gunning it” than other cars but thankfully I was able to pull in front of a semi with some time to spare. I legitimately thought I would be sitting there for ages rather than minutes and panic was setting in. But all was well and I only had to deal with a few other jackass drivers.
IKEA was a success! I kind of knew what I wanted going into it as I recently checked out the website. Of course, going through all of the rooms, I found some really cool spacing saving ideas and my list grew somewhat by the time it came to the self pick up area. At this point, I was *fairly* confident I could fit what I wanted in my car. I had moderately cleaned it out for my friend’s trip to the airport. This meant, taking out some crap but leaving most of it so in reality, I was a wee bit concerned. I headed to pick up this shelf first:
Haha, I couldn’t lift it off of the shelf. T-rex arms! It worked in my favor though because it would NEVER have fit in my car. Kismet.
Next, I picked up this bad boy:
I plan on using it for a combo nightstand and additional shelving in my bedroom. I found this wire rack, a total steal at $24.99. I have kitchen appliances I don’t want to get rid of but they need a new home – my kitchen floor just isn’t conducive! These are fairly expensive at Target or other ones were too flimsy for what I need it to hold so I was pleased with this find.
I found quite a few other shelving options I really liked. There was one bathroom set up with a great shelf that had hooks. It would be perfect for my bedroom but they were out of stock. When I got home, I realized it might not have been the best purchase right now so again, kismet.
On pinterest I saw how someone had hung a shoe rack on the back of their door so I picked up one of those as well. Again, very handy and it even came with hooks. A couple of other little odds and ends jumped into my cart but for the most part, I did a fantastic job of asking myself, “do you NEED this?” whenever I was tempted. Get this: I only spent $111.00. Win.
Next up was Trader Joe’s. There is something about this grocery store that calms me. I have no idea why. I think I feel like I’ve found “my people” when I shop there. It sounds silly and I can’t explain it any other way. Thankfully, they weren’t out of stock on these bad boys like last time, and I hooked myself up with three bags.
I am decent at adhering to portion sizes with out and only eating a serving size at a time. It’s a hefty calorie count and I have to run 2.5 miles to burn it off however, it is so.freakin’.worth.it.
The two hour drive home was exhausting. The two pieces of furniture are still in my car as they are heavy sonsofbeehives. Oh and I’m lazy. My quest to organize and decrease my hoard is an ongoing process. One step closer this weekend though!
Amy's Recipe for Disaster 