My First Trip to Ikea

I will admit, I never quite understood what all the fuss was about surrounding Ikea. I mean, I know it's supposed to be good inexpensive furniture and it's a big store. I have a friend who, when her son was three, he would rather spend a day there than the park or the zoo. I have looked at the website and while some of the stuff looks neat, most of it simply wasn't to my taste. Still, we have been on a home renovation kick lately and decided that since we'd be in the neighborhood it might be worth a little field trip.

I will admit that it probably wasn't the brightest decision to make our inaugural visit on a Saturday morning (along with everyone else in the world!) but it was what worked into our schedule. It was a bit overwhelming, especially since we weren't in search of something specific. I completely understand how people can spend all day there! I also understand why you would go when you don't need anything at all and how that can be insanely dangerous! Even though neither of us are really into "modern" design, we found tons of stuff we liked.

Once Jeff figured out "how it worked" he was in hog-heaven. He's all about DIY, speed, and efficiency when shopping, especially making larger purchases. It really did seem to be the best combination of lots of worlds to make both of us happy. Furniture (something we both enjoy), hardware and saving money(his things), with accessories and organization (my things) in one fabulously huge place with snacks. We will have to come back with a list, funding, and the big vehicle for sure! It was a serious blessing that we had none of those things this trip!

In spite of all that, we couldn't get out empty handed. I found a fabulous set of candle-holders I had seen at an altar design workshop and just had to have. I may need another set of them just to have more options. We also got two neat, low profile LED lights to be mounted on the top of our bookshelves in the den downstairs. Those were Jeff's "must have" and I agree they were perfect. I can't wait to get them installed. I found a mirror I really liked and a picture of Paris that both would have looked perfect in our guest room that we are in the process of renovating, but since we aren't to the "accessory" stage of the decorating I'll just have to wait a while longer and then make my case for going back!

Prayer Beads

I was first introduced "officially" to the idea of prayer beads when I was in high school, attending Camp Sumatanga. My bestie growing up was Catholic and she had a rosary, but I never knew what it meant or what it was or why it mattered. While at camp, my counselor made all of us in her cabin some prayer beads and she explained the ways there were to use them and what she liked to do with them. Being the crafty soul that I am, I took it upon myself to make a few sets. To this day I'm not exactly sure what happened to my first set, but I do have some others I have made.

I hadn't made them (or really even thought about them) in many years. But recently, on my religiously-inspired craft kick, I got the bright idea to make a set of prayer beads in which each bead represents a day on the liturgical calendar. I made a field trip to a local shop called The Bead Biz and spent more than I intended on getting the supplies for this little project. The good news is that I have lots of leftovers of most of my beads. Only a few were singles, most came on strands.

What do you think? Can you find the beginning? I'll give you a hint - it's not the cross!

Now, normally this is not something I do here, but I'm just going to throw it out there. Would you buy something like this? And if you would, how much would you pay for it? I'm going to make at least one more set to give as a gift, but that leaves a whole bunch of beads that I really don't have any other use for and would like to see go to a good home and also help me recover a little bit of the cost of these. All the beads are glass, stone, or metal - no plastic.

Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

A Personal Best

Working in retail for a few years (particularly during the holiday season) taught me some important lessons. One of those was to get your holiday shopping done ASAP! Don't wait until the last minute, and for the love of all that is holy, don't go to the mall after halloween if you can help it!

Halloween has usually been my goal for having most of my shopping done. I rarely meet that goal. A much more realistic goal is to have the majority of it done before the end of November or the first week in December. And I generally have pretty good luck at doing this! But this year I started extra early and have shattered my own record for holiday shopping.

I had all my gifts (or ideas for gifts) picked out even before my birthday (mid-August). And while I was at it I went ahead and found extras. A few people had birthdays between August and December, and a few have birthdays within about six weeks of Christmas. And before I knew it I had all the major gift shopping done that I would need to do for almost a year! Almost everything was purchased or ordered, received, and wrapped before the end of September. I can count on one hand the number of things I had to get after that time, and they were done very quickly.

The one disclaimer to this is time-sensitive gifts. I won't reveal too much, but I will use the example of candy for the stocking. Obviously this hasn't been stockpiled and will be purchased closer to Christmas day. However, this does not require any trip that is additional to the normal errands that can't be avoided like buying groceries!

How in the heck did I do it? And did I spend a fortune on this little "project"? Well, here are my helpful hints.

• Keep a running list of people you need to shop for and things they mention or that you see. (This is a good year-round habit to start)
• Pick a budget and stick with it. You won't have to pay more than you're comfortable spending simply because you're in a time crunch.
• Shop around. You can often find better deals, coupons, etc. for the same thing from different places.
• Take advantage of where you are. If you see something you want to get and you can, snatch it up then and there. It saves "special" trips later.
• Combine gift orders with "regular" stuff. It was very easy for me to slip a book that's a gift in with other books I was ordering for CPE. This also helps save on shipping!
• Do your homework and buy something that is meaningful to the recipient.
• Always ask for a box and take advantage of store gift-wrapping. If you're going to have to stack your gifts for a while, ask them to leave off the ribbon so you can add it later. That way it won't get smushed or yucky!
• Wrap and tag things as you get them. It makes them easier to hide/conceal and it's one less thing to do later. Put a little sticky note with the gift contents in case you have multiple gifts for the same person. And if you're buying for multiple holidays at once and aren't sure which gift will be for which holiday, use bags. They're easier to change!

I probably spent less than normal doing it this way, because I had time to reflect on making one or two purchases at a time and I wasn't doing lots of impulse buying. I could also consolidate orders for multiple people from the same place and save on shipping. And it wasn't quite as much money being spent at once, so it wasn't a huge shock to our bank account!

Stay tuned as I share some of my favorite gift ideas and places to shop over the next several weeks.

So, um...

I was all set to post a lovely entry tonight on the Southern Women's Show. I had a wonderful time last year and have been looking forward to it. I was actually pretty stoked when my hospital schedule worked out for me to be off Friday and I figured that would be the perfect chance. My mother-in-law wanted to go with me so we were all set to have some girl time, but sadly other things got in the way. Plus, I felt pretty awful Friday and really didn't get off the couch much.

Saturday I was on-call at the hospital. It was a really great, affirming experience that I absolutely needed at this point. I cam home after my 12 hour shift very tired, but the good kind of tired. Not the "oh I was miserable and now I'm exhausted" kind, but the "I worked hard and was very productive and now I need to rest and re-charge" kind. I like being that kind of tired.

Today I figured we'd re-schedule girl time after church. It would be a good way to keep me in town because tonight I had *dum dum dum* CHARGE CONFERENCE! Well, by the time we finished with choir practice (because I had to run the sound board) and were starving, Jeff wanted to grab lunch. We did, and at that point it was almost 2pm so I really didn't feel like fighting my way around the civic center and paying for a ticket to the show since I wasn't after anything in particular, didn't really have money to burn for myself, and knew all the good freebies would be gone anyway!

I decided to waste my afternoon at Books-A-Million instead. It's been a long time since I wandered into a bookstore and made myself at home on the floor in one of the aisles, but it felt really nice! I probably spent a lot more time than I should have with the children's books, but I didn't give a rip. I relived a lot of great memories. I've got to get a new copy of the Pokey Little Puppy! I also decided to be productive and get a few more Christmas gifts. I'm almost done!

Charge Conference went well. Still, I'm glad it's only once a year!

So that's been my weekend! Hope yours was a bit more exciting!

My Favorite Things - p.31

These are a few of my favorite things to buy when I have money to burn

Office Supplies - blame it on the OCD, the bottomless purse constantly eating my pens, or the abundance of bright colors. There is something about fresh notebooks and brand new pens and empty folders that make me much happier than they probably should. I would be absolutely thrilled with a gift certificate to most office supply stores. Back to school season makes me almost giddy, what with the giant displays of everything and an abundance of things to use for storing said supplies!

Bibles - I suppose there are worse addictions to have! But I am always on the hunt for the perfect Bible. Granted, I have lots of "perfect" bibles. At least they were perfect for what I needed (hardbacks with big margins for classes, travel sized for high school retreats, good notes for sermon prep, etc.) but as I grow and learn and take on new challenges I am constantly changing and my need for various bibles changes with it. I have my eye on two or three at Cokesbury now...

Purses - I'm seriously considering finding a support group for other women who can't get enough purses. And it isn't like I swap my purse up all the time to match my outfit either! I generally will use the same purse for at least six months until I can find something better or it tears up. Again, it's a never-ending quest for the "perfect" bag. My current purse with its matching "all-in-one" wallet is pretty stinking fantastic, but check back this time next year to see if I still feel that way!

Stuff I already have - I like what I like. And when I want something around that I like, I want it to be readily available to me. I like the idea of having extras - one to pack, one to keep out, one for home, one for the office, one for my car, one for Jeff's truck, and one extra just in case all the others get eaten by the same gremlin who keeps take sock mates and pulling the waistbands off my underwear.

Journals - I'm about to reveal a very deep, dark secret about myself. I love to write. I love to chronicle happening. I love to preserve memories. I love to reflect. Wait, that wasn't a secret? Oh well! I do a lot less "real" journaling now that I have taken up blogging. However, I do still do some, and being the organizational freak that I am, I like to keep things orderly. In keeping with this spirit, I like "themed" journals, particularly those that provide some guidance to your reflections. Whether it's baby care, writing your autobiography, keeping up with vacations, experimenting with recipes, reviewing wines, planning special events, or enjoying life in general there are great journals out there to fit your needs. And heaven help me, I want one of each and every one of them. Except for the travel journals, and I want those by the case!

Alabama Sales Tax Holiday

Just a friendly reminder for all my fellow Alabama residents - this weekend is our sales tax free weekend. I think other places are doing this too, but I'm not sure of the details!

What I do know is that not everyone is participating. In particular, Jefferson County is not! The towns/cities may be, so you won't have to pay the city tax, and the state tax has been waved everywhere, but the county tax would still have to be paid.

Shelby County (which is where I live) IS participating. So that means everything that qualifies that is purchased here will be tax-free. This also means that lots of folks from Jefferson County are down here shopping this weekend. It's a wee bit nuts.

But if you do need anything, now is a good time to get it, even if you do have to work on a little bit of patience. Just remember, parking in the back and walking is good for you. I doesn't hurt you to stand in line and wait. And just because someone is mean or rude to you, that does not mean you have to be mean or rude back!

Happy Shopping!

Packing

So we have already established that I'm a bit of a bag whore and can't have enough luggage. I'm also more than a little OCD and I love checklists and organization. So how do these two things interact? I usually start packing for any trip at least a week before I'm scheduled to leave. If it's a really big one that involves the purchase of new items, I will usually start even further out. I started packing for our honeymoon at least two months out. In my defense, I was purchasing new clothes and just wanted them to stay nice and neat in their packaging, plus with all the craziness of moving and what not I wanted to have that suitcase separate and set apart so it was one less thing to worry about. 

We are now less than 4 weeks away from our departure date for the Orlando vacation. All the reservations have been made or confirmed. I have all our important papers in one folder. I am very excited and need to be doing something for it. So I started packing! I have one more load of laundry to do now and I can get several important pieces packed. I have a very short shopping list for a few essential items that will hopefully be taken care of by the end of the week. There are only a few pieces that I will not be able to pack until right before we leave, and those will be on a note pinned to the suitcase so nothing gets forgotten. 

Yes, I am a nut. But I am, at times, a useful nut! And it really doesn't take much to amuse me!

The only thing I have left to tackle - Thanksgiving dinner!

Now, as for my trip to Chattanooga in a little under two weeks - I have not begun to pack for that. In part because I don't know what to pack! Do I dress casually or professionally? I know I'll take the computer but do I need the "grown up" computer bag? Maybe it's because Chattanooga doesn't seem quite so foreign to me or maybe because it's a shorter trip, but I'm not quite as worried about it. Then again, maybe I'm MORE worried about it so I'm putting it off. I have no idea. Like I said, I'm a nut!

Christmas shopping

In an attempt at keeping my life relatively stress free after my Thanksgiving vacation, I have decided to get a head start on my Christmas shopping. Technically I started Christmas shopping in about March (maybe even before) because Jeff and I decided that we would take his grandparents to Discovery Cove over Thanksgiving. We purchased everything in April and then I had to keep my big mouth shut until we gave them the details in July. That took care of Jeff's side of the family for the most part. 

The extended family is going to be pretty easy - copies of the family photos taken at the wedding in a nice frame (and any other photos we think they would enjoy). 

My immediate family is normally a challenge, but I already know what I want to get everyone, it's just a matter of making those purchases. 

I am rather proud of what I came up with for my brother. The challenge is that the original price I saw on it was a little more than I was planning to spend. So Jeff suggested I look on E-bay. I know I am very much behind the times, but I have never used e-bay before. I know Jeff has gotten me a few things from there so I know there is some good deals to be had, but it makes me nervous. I haven't decided what I'll do yet.

And that just leaves the dogs! They are probably getting new beds/pillows, collars, and of course some treats in their stockings!

Bags

If you know me, you know I have a thing for bags. It started out just as purses. But it has expanded to include tote bags, suitcases, backpacks, and almost any other kind of bag! 

When I was in high school, I was known for my "momma purse" because I was ready for just about anything and had almost anything anyone would need in it!

While I was in college and then in grad school, I rarely carried my purse, but I had my backpack/school bag ready for a variety of situations.

Now, I have several bags. The first is my "regular" purse. The second is a big tote bag full of "work" stuff that I call my portable office. I keep a notebook, a couple of folders of important papers, a bible, this year's preaching guide, a calendar, a church directory, and anything else I think I might need that I can take with me. 

Over the years, I have gotten very particular about the kinds of bags I like. For a purse, I want to be able to put it across my body. I want it to be big enough to keep a bunch of stuff in it, and I prefer it have a few pockets that I can organize things in. In backpacks, I want nice padded shoulder straps and lots of pockets also. For a suitcase, I want something lightweight, if it's big enough I want wheels. Even smaller bags, I want something to zip all the way. 

My number one requirement for everything is that it be durable. If I have something, I'm going to use it. And I want it to last. I don't want to have to worry about it getting thrown around being loaded onto a plane or a cruise ship or getting in and out of the car. And because I expect quality, I'm willing to pay for it. I don't like spending tons of money, but I'm willing to do it. But to make that sale, you have to be able to give me exactly what I want. Because if I can't get it from you, I will go somewhere else!

I recently found a bag that I absolutely love the style. It is a small (carry on size) duffel bag that has a hard bottom. The only ones  I have found are kind of cheap and are in funky patterns. While I love a little funky every now and then, it's just not what I'm looking for. The closest thing I have found in a similar style that is more durable is much larger, and part of the appeal of this one is the fact that it's so small! Alas, I shall keep searching!