Pretty Day = Road Trip

Isn't it great to see such pretty blue sky and warm weather? So it was a good day for a ride. See where a little road trip took me today? It really isn't that far to the Cincinnati area. Not much different than the Saturday shopping trips we used to take when our kids were little and we lived 80 miles from the nearest Walmart. But IKEA is no Walmart!

B found the nursery bedding (at wonderful prices!) she's been looking for. Plus some closet storage units and lots of other goodies. Now we have lots of decorating ideas for the fabrics, curtains, rugs and crib bedding she brought home. She is getting so excited! One of these days I'll post some pics of the cute stuff as it develops.

I went on another little road trip this week too. This is what happened when new knitters are let loose in a cute yarn shop. It's almost like being let loose in a candy shop - or a quilt shop! I apologize for not getting any photos at Friends and Fiber but I was with a couple of new friends who I don't think are familiar with this blog. And I didn't want to freak them out and make them think I'm the paparazzi!

Of course, I really didn't need to add to any kind of yarn or fabric stash this week. There is plenty to keep me busy. However, I've been sort of stuck in a creative rut lately and keep looking to anything for a jump start. The free motion quilting is still an elusive talent and keeping me very frustrated every time I sit down to try it again. I'm beginning to think a trip to the Husqvarna dealership might be necessary to see if there's a problem with my machine. It's probably just operator error though!

In the meantime, D continues with kitchen cabinet construction. He's working on doors now with the help of his new drum sander.

Door parts, stacked neatly. I need this kind of organization in my sewing room!

Hundreds of dowels to hold the door parts together.

Just in case I don't get a post in tomorrow - here's my Loser Monday Report Sharon! I do believe I lost a grand total of 1/2 pound this week! I'll do an official weigh in tomorrow morning. Let's hope I can still claim it!

I hope to discard the valentine cookie header this week. But I'm in search of something new though I'm not sure what it will be yet! That creative rut has tripped me up again. We're looking forward to a visit from a little cupid guest (and his parents!) this coming weekend so I promise some cutie pie pics again! Thanks for checking in! Ya'll come back!

Shopping and the City Life

As promised, I'll share a little more of my road trip last weekend to Wisconsin and Chicago. Even though the trip was inspired by my desire to honor the memory of a relative, there were some pleasant moments along the way.

On the way back to daughter E's home on Saturday evening, K and I stopped in Delafield, Wisconsin for a little retail therapy. This quaint little town is home to the Lang Companies. Several years ago we lived just a few miles from here. There were several nice stores and restaurants then, but there's been a lot of renovations and new construction and it looked like there are a lot more now. We found a few after Christmas bargains at The Lang Store but since it was getting late we didn't stop at any of the other cute shops. One more stop at a local grocery store for cheese curds and beef sticks and we were back on the road.

Sunday was a fun day. E, K and I started the day with breakfast at Wildberry. Then E drove as we headed toward downtown Chicago. After three straight days of driving, I was glad to let her especially since she's much more familiar with "big city" driving! Our first stop was a certain Home Depot - E was in search of a new paint from USG called Michelangelo and very few of the stores carry it. It is a new single coat faux finish and the plan is to try it in her half bath. I'm anxious to see how it turns out. (Have you started yet?) I might try it in our dining room if it works out for her. Trouble is, we'd have to go to Chicago to pick it up! Another stop in the same area was The Land of Nod. (If you like Pottery Barn for Kids, you might check this store out) As a future grandma (nana?, mimi?, mamaa? need some other suggestions here!) I'm finding new places to shop !

Next stop was Michigan Ave. We had tickets for a musical at 2:00 so didn't have time for a lot of exploring. So we just stuck with a few places near the theater. Lush, H & M, and Lucy . E was able to find half price tickets for Altar Boyz at the Drury Lane Theatre in the Water Tower Place. Very fun show! It is a story of a fictional boys band of the praise team variety and their quest to save the souls of everyone in the audience. For a solid hour and a half, five very energetic and talented actors danced and sang (and perspired!) their way through this funny, entertaining show. It was sad that the theater was only about half full, but maybe that is typical for a Sunday matinee in January. Anyway, we enjoyed it.

It had been a long time since our big breakfast so we were ready for dinner at The Grand Lux Cafe. As with most restaurants anymore, our dinner portions were way bigger than we could eat. E has plenty of leftovers in her fridge for the rest of this week! I had the barbeque salmon with mashed potatoes and succotash. (Pretty potatoes !)

Then we shared this hot apple pie. Yum.....
And a glass of wine! Thanks E for a nice weekend!

After dropping K off at the airport on Monday morning, I was ready to head back to Southern Indiana. No problems with traffic, or bad roads on the way home. In fact, probably one of the fastest trips back from Chicago I've had. I really didn't mind the drive and I love my BMW. I listened to some of my playlists on the ipod/iphone and didn't even make it all the way through them. If it hadn't been that we wanted to attend Bill's memorial service, my sister and I probably wouldn't have made the effort to get to Chicago and spend some time with E, even though we've been talking about that for awhile. A little over a year ago, we spent some time in NYC with one of her girls. Now I guess we'll have to plan a trip to Dallas to see S!!

On the Road - to the Mall !!

Many of you know I love to shop. I'm not a power shopper but I do enjoy a good day at the mall. The best malls near here are about 30 minutes away over in Louisville so I don't go over there just on a whim. I don't go near as often as I used to. Moving to our new home a couple of years ago made me realize that we have too much stuff anyway. But I do enjoy having a shopping partner and usually my friend C or daughter B can be easily convinced to ride along and don't get me wrong, having a shopping companion is truly one of my favorite things. However, sometimes it is just as enjoyable to venture out on y0ur own, when you can set your own timetable, skip lunch or graze in the food court, spend as little or as much time making a decision as you wish, and just browse an interesting display. Plus, Dennis was out of town today, so I really had no itinerary or time frame !

So here are my purchases for today. A new pair of jeans (Nine West, on sale and best of all, one size down - I think they run big), a top to wear with the new jeans (on sale also), SHOES (yes honey, I need another pair), exercise pants, and Yankee Candles ( I had a coupon !)

After the mall, I stopped at Whole Foods . I wish we had one of these great grocery stores on the Indiana side of the river. I probably would buy more there if it were closer. Today, I made the mistake of not eating lunch, so I wanted to stuff my cart ( and my mouth at the sample tables !) They have great bulk foods there so I picked up some roasted mixed nuts for my absent husband. I also bought low fat Bear Naked granola, a Spinach-Tomato Amy's pizza for my supper (yummy - I almost ate it all !), other miscellaneous but boring stuff, and this beautiful mini fruit tart for my dessert. Their bakery is awesome, as is the deli, the meat department, the fresh fruits, vegetables and flowers and the selection of cheeses.

Tomorrow night is dinner with my book club. When we first began a few years ago, we read a book almost every month, but lately, everyone's schedules are so full that we decided to just meet and enjoy the companionship and conversation and maybe we'll read a book every season or so. Our current selection is Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen. I hope we aren't planning on discussing it until next month because I haven't started it yet. I'm still trying to finish The House of Spirits Isabel Allende. I might be able to do that tonight when I get done here. Has anyone else read either of these? You might have noticed the I-35 Book Club blog on my sidebar. This was just started by my neice and I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you check it out. So far, all I've done is purchase the book but haven't started that one either. I guess my blogging hobby is beginning to take away from my reading time.

Thanks for stopping by. Come shopping with me sometime!