Today's Purchases

How often are you supposed to replenish things? I've often wondered that. I remember visiting at other family's homes growing up and seeing the mom use pea green plastic spatulas. Pea green? Isn't that a 70's color? So she has used the same spatula for 20 years? Is that normal? I love new, fresh items. At the same time, I want enough "original" stuff around to build memories upon. I feel like I've come to a bit of a cross-roads in my decorating style. My house screams traditional. Heavy. Old. Then I walk through Ikea and fall. Head over heals. There is no possible way to empty my entire house and start over. But I still thirst for modern inspiration in my own little world that is decorated until I find out what "my" style is. :) Enough with the chit chat. My mom came over to watch the kids for a few hours so I could go out. I headed straight to Ikea for 30 minutes of shopping bliss!

I bought this 3-piece set for $4.99. The large basket holds my necklaces, the middle one holds my bracelets, and the small one holds SOME of my earrings. :)
I have quite an obsession with dishes. We were given a beautiful Mikasa set as a wedding gift from my grandparents. These will be the pieces I hand down to my daughter some day. In the mean time, a girl likes to have a change of scenery while she's chowing down on the same 5 recipes, week after week. Have I mentioned I'm not all that in love with cooking? :) ANYWAY, I've had the same glass salad plates for almost 6 years now. They are the same ones my mom uses. Come to think of it, my grandmother also owns some that look fiercely familiar. I never even had to take a second to think about it when I saw some new ones today for $.99 each! I couldn't find a picture online, so you'll have to use your imagination. They are very minimalist and sleek. Nothing like what I used to have. I LOVE them!
We spent the better part of last week in a hotel in Greenville, South Carolina. It.was.heavenly. King size bed, cable tv, and the freedom to leave my wet towels on the bathroom floor for some other woman to clean up. :) Life was so simple and enjoyable. There weren't as many choices to make. The blinds were some kind of 12-way ply or something that enabled the kids to think that it was as dark as midnight at 2 in the afternoon. Like I said. Heavenly. :) I've spent quite a bit of time trying to determine why, in fact, a hotel-stay can be so enjoyable. Lots of conclusions later, I want to share one of them with you. Newer, nicer hotels don't have throw pillows. This may not seem like much, but think about it. I currently have 2 "regular" pillows on my bed and 6, yes, 6 throw pillows. I have to make sure they get put back in the correct order, on the right side, and aligned perfectly every single day. At the hotel we had 6 "regular", white-pillowcased pillows. Oh the simplicity! And comfort! They were all so efficient. And versatile. And plush! So I was on a mission for more "regular" pillows at Ikea! I bought two today. I think they were $5 or $6 each. I chose the cheapest that they had. I wasn't really impressed with their white pillowcases, so I have high hopes of hitting Target sometime this week.
I think that was about it for my purchases. Unless of course you wanted me to include the bag of swedish fish I devoured on the way home. Thankfully I "saved" 3 for my kids to enjoy when I walked in the door. So there you have it! My highly enjoyable Ikea trip was a success! And fairly inexpensive! The hubby will be proud. :)