happy birthday to me!

Shoe shopping is just about the greatest aphrodisiac known to woman :)

Found these little cuties today. They make my heart go pitter pat.

Enjoying my second (!) free iced coffee from Starbux today

Knitting up one last baby gift in the coziest yarn ever

Evan made me breakfast

Got the car washed

It's sunny and 82 degrees. A gorgeous spring day.

First outdoor soccer game of the season in 2 hours

Go Rush boys!

and lots of birthday wishes on Facebook

make it almost painless to grow one year older.

Thanks, friends!

annual shopping rant v.09

Hello, friends! I hope you are all having a terrific holiday season. And if you're not, there is still plenty of time to turn it around. I spent the majority of the day today shopping, and all I have to say is THANK GOD Christmas isn't tomorrow, or the day after, or even the day after that, because I think I have used up all my accumulated good cheer.

It's that time where I rant and rave about shopping, driving, and whatever else about the holidays that bugs me. It'll be fun for all! Let's begin...

• Mall operators of America: Thank you for the hard work you put in every year to get us to spend our hard earned money. I have rarely seen my local mall looking more festive, or cleaner than I have this year. I have just one tiny favor to ask of you:

TURN DOWN THE FRICKIN' HEAT!!!

It is not necessary to heat the mall above 70 degrees, ever. When the outside temperatures are around 30 degrees, you can rest assured knowing that the general population will plan ahead and wear the properly called for outdoor wear. Therefore, heating the mall to 85 degrees is ludicrous, unnecessary, and unhealthy. Are you trying to breed the flu? Is there a secret hothouse full of poinsettias in there that I don't know about? It's hot, and uncomfortable, and I don't like to be in a full on flop sweat while I shop. Not only did I NOT take time to window shop, I nearly took off my furry winter Uggs and walked barefoot back to my car.

• ToysRus: I come to your store because you have a better selection of some toys than Target or Meijer's. Kudos to you for opening early! But I feel I must point out that you occasionally need to have more than 2 registers open. During peak business time and anytime in the two weeks preceeding Christmas, it is not acceptable to have lines snaking thru the store because you don't want to hire enough associates. NOT ACCEPTABLE!
• Michael's/JoAnn's: You know I can't quit you, even though I would love to. You do a good job of getting those flyers with 40% off coupons to my door, and make me want to buy a little something extra. Why then do you feel the need to put every item in the store on sale so that I can't use any of the coupons?? No lie, I walked around the store for 20 minutes trying to find something that was worth buying that wasn't on sale. Literally everything was 10%, 20%, or 30% off, rendering the coupons useless and just aggrivating me. I like sales as much as the next person. I love finding out something is on sale when I didn't expect it to be. But I hate having that 40% off coupon in my hand and being unable to find one item worthy of using it on. And you can stand to open up some more lanes too. Seriously.
• Apple store: I adore you. I find little fault with you. Just one tee-tiny request: If you are so kind as to allow me to schedule a genius bar appointment before the mall actually opens (thank you!), then can you just let me buy the stupid $30 item I need so that I don't have to wander around the scorching hot mall for 20 minutes, and wait until 'business hours'. You don't do business like other stores; making me wait is just poor customer service.
• Person who parks next to my car every time no matter how far away I park in the lot: TAKE AN EXTRA 30 FLIPPIN' SECONDS AND STRAIGHTEN OUT YOUR GODDAMN CAR! Everyone else will be eternally grateful!
• random charities: I know you are having a rough go of it this year, with the economy and all. Times are tough and money is tight. But I feel like I have to point out that everywhere I turn, there is someone who wants me to hand over some cash. We donate frequently throughout the year, not just during the holidays. We donate regularly through programs at our kids' schools. I don't need you to ask me if I want to donate every time I swipe my credit card or pass through a check out line. It makes me feel guilty to say no. I am much more likely to give to someone who doesn't approach me than the sales clerk who askes every person in line if they want to donate money in a deadpan voice.

Okay, that's it for 2009. I feel much better having gotten these greivances off my chest. I may live to shop another day! (just not for the next few days...y'all are killing me)

Love!

FLARG!

Guess where we went this weekend? Does this give you a hint?

Yes, we went to the mecca of home decor, IKEA.

I love IKEA. I could spend all

 day there.

Wait, we pretty much did.

It had been awhile since we browsed the showroom (and Bart had a secret plan in mind), so Saturday we trekked to Canton. I could tell it was going to be packed by the parking lot. Wowza there are a lot of cars in Southeast Michigan.

And guess what? We saw Carmen Harlan, of WDIV channel 4 fame. Shopping. Cool.

The plan was to get Emma the loft bed we promised her for her birthday (in September). To make a long story short, she doesn't take care of anything in her room, much to our great annoyance. We rearranged her closet to make it more user friendly. There are still clothes on the floor. So, she was told she gets the bed when she proves to us that she actually cares about her belongings. Still not great, but she has made an improvement.

We came across the home office stuff before the bedroom stuff, and Evan asked if he could have a desk. Sounds reasonable. He is better at taking care of his room, and he will need a place (without TV) to do homework. Or whatever. So we said yeah, let's pick one out.

At this point Emma turned green with Envy and declined to speak the rest of the shopping trip.We came to the part where the bedrooms were, and she wouldn't offer an opinion on any of them. We gave her like 10 chances to pull herself together but she chose to be miserable. We stopped for meatballs & beverages and she sat there miserably not eating or speaking. I cornered her and tried to talk her out of her funk, but she wasn't budging. She said "Dad won't let me have a loft bed so there is no point in even looking. I never get what I want". Even told point blank we came to buy one, she still was being a stubborn ox.

About an hour later (still in IKEA) she whispered to me that she knew she was wrong but couldn't admit it to her dad.

Dang, 10 year old girls are a pain in the butt.

I had my share of moments just like this as a young girl, but I was forced to go with my dad on the weekends, and there was a lot of animosity between my parents. I needed to rebel. What does she have to rebel against?

We also helped my Mom de-Christmas her house, so that was pretty much our entire weekend. I have packed up all of our things until next year. Just the tree is left, and I'm not about to take apart that sucker by myself. No way.

Tomorrow!