Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Decisions, decisions

Today I went with the family to an Ikea store for the first time. Life Lesson #4876. Leave the visa at home when planning a trip to Ikea. Oh. My. Goodness. This place is humungous!! It can take a person hours to get thru. They have a child minding centre for the shoppers. That should have clued me in right there. I must have put 10 things into the shopping cart that eventually went back when I was trying to decide which I wanted more. Decisions, decisions. Oh the pressure. If you know me this kind of thing makes me sweat! I wish I was more like my teen girl who looks and something and instantly decides whether she wants it or not. And then does not change her mind 50 times over. So less stressful of a way to live! But not me. I take the hard road. I ended up with spice jars (which I specifically had in mind to get, so that's was good. 1 point for Susanne). Then I got steak knives (bonus find, another point for me). Two laundry hampers went in and out of the buggy, one twice(minus 3 points, darn). Jam and cookies (not planned, but nummm! 2 points for me). Cool cheese grater (I needed a new one), napkins that match my kitchen colors (bonus point). Duvet cover, in and out of buggy (minus one). Picture frame, in, big deliberation, and out (minus another). All in all, I'm one point ahead. Okay good for me! And I didn't use the visa. Whoo, praise God.

Onto to a mall. Okay first stop. Marble slab ice cream. Okay, I'm so now addicted. This place is awesome. Okay picture apple and spice ice cream with graham cracker stirred in, in a chocolate dippped waffle cone. Heaven, people, heaven. Only now I'm faced with decision dilemma. There is about a dozen ice cream flavors with about 2 dozen stir ins to pick from. Now what do I get next time? Lemon ice cream with blueberry stir-in or cream cheese ice cream with strawberries, or coffee ice cream with chocolate chips. It's mind boggling. Not good for someone like me. But I've heard the best way to face your stresses is to face them head on and just confront them. So I'm going again, maybe tomorrow. A gal's gotta do what a gals gotta do. I know, I know. I'm brave now, but I'm sure I'll be able to confront it with my head held high and with a strong voice to the employee make my decision known in a relatively short (gulp) period of time.

As if the above was not stressful enough for one day, I was on a mission to find a purse. Hello, 20 purses tried on my shoulder later, my hubby's eyes were glazed over, and my children looked like they were melting. So I made a decision. No turning back. Oh, oh, no price tag. And no other purse like it anywhere, not even a purse with the same brand name. Sheesh. But I stuck to my guns, aren't you proud of me. And the store had to name a price, they thought was fair, I agreed, and now I have a cute grape colored purse that I think was really worth more than what I paid.

So great day with my family. I love being with them. We're now ready to crash. I might be sporadic with commenting and posting this week. Please hang in there with me. I'm in family mode time with them for this week.

19 comments:

Girl Raised in the South said...

Marble slab - all you really need to know is sweet cream and strawberries, doesnt matter one bit what else they offer. And when I purse shop I cannot take a soul with me. I seriously am not only cheap but so picky, I have to have a very organized purse, not too deep,not too little, not too big, compartments, but not too many, and when I think theres any chance at all Ive found the right one I have to pull all the stuffing out of it and cram it on the shelf of purses somewhere. When I find it wasnt the right one after all I move on and do the same thing to about umpteen more before I finally choose. I would never ever subject anyone to purse shopping with me. I carry a purse for at least 6 months, sometimes a whole year (no I never carry white, good grief!) because it takes me so long to find something that will work. And once I do find it, my wallet absolutely has to match, so its a little like If YOu Give a Mouse a Cookie kind of thing.... (yes I know, OCD)

LaughterThoughts said...

props to your husband and kids for hanging out for all the shopping! i would've had to gone for the ice cream LAST as a put-up-with-the-purse-search incentive!:) or more likely, dear husband would say "you go, and i'll watch the kids."

Anonymous said...

BTW- that is brave on the purse incident. I am never brave enough to "haggle" a price for something unmarked in a store...

Heather Smith said...

You sound like my mom. She's a bad influence because she puts tons of stuff in her buggy, but then she takes over half of it out before she gets to the register. All the while I didn't feel so bad picking stuff up because she had a TON of stuff. But I end up spending more everytime! It's not right!

Heather Smith said...

Oh, and here we have a Cold Stone Creamery. Just like Marble Slab I've heard. You're totally right, delicious! But my favorite flavor is Cheesecake icecream with blackberries and graham crackers stirred in!

Islandsparrow said...

I can't believe you took your kids AND your husband shopping with you!! My husband's eyes glaze over at the mention of shopping. I can't decide whether to regret that we don't have an IKEA here or be thankful...I think I would be earning frequent shopping points if we had one! And as for that ice-cream description...

*sigh*

*grin*

I am trying to lose 8 more lbs for this wedding!!!

Barb said...

Family mode is a great place to be! And my sister's description of her purse shopping OCD thing is so true. Even I would never go with her to find a new purse!

Beck said...

Ah, Ikea. I don't have one anywhere near me, so I just get the mailorder catalog. It's surprising how much that reduces the temptation!
What's marble slab ice cream?

Anonymous said...

Ikea is fabulous! I go there for all my organizing needs! So glad you finally got to experience it.

Real Women Scrap

Dianne said...

You are brave indeed - Ikea, and a mall with the family in tow! Good for you on the purse bargain and enjoy your time with your famly this week!

Shawna said...

Sounds like you made it pretty well. Shopping tomorrow, shopping next week. Oh boy, wish me luck!

Kari said...

IKEA is the only place my children beg to go to with me. As a matter of fact... my youngest who will be graduating this year has asked for IKEA gift cards for graducation. He said he is going to have the BEST looking dorm on campus! Hah! I raised him right, huh? We have both a Marble Slab and a Cold Stone and I try to stay away from BOTH. They are so good! And purse shopping? What's a purse? I have this huge BAG I carry but a purse? Oh, I think I remember... it's that adorable little accessorie that is supposed to match your shoes, right? Yeah, I haven't had one of those in years... I bet my shopping experience for one would be a nightmare!!!

Enjoy your precious time with the family... there is NOTHING more important.

Kari said...

IKEA is the only place my children beg to go to with me. As a matter of fact... my youngest who will be graduating this year has asked for IKEA gift cards for graducation. He said he is going to have the BEST looking dorm on campus! Hah! I raised him right, huh? We have both a Marble Slab and a Cold Stone and I try to stay away from BOTH. They are so good! And purse shopping? What's a purse? I have this huge BAG I carry but a purse? Oh, I think I remember... it's that adorable little accessorie that is supposed to match your shoes, right? Yeah, I haven't had one of those in years... I bet my shopping experience for one would be a nightmare!!!

Enjoy your precious time with the family... there is NOTHING more important.

Shalee said...

I'm with Bev - sweet cream and strawberries... nuf said.

And the one thing I am proud of you for not being wishy-washy is spending time with your family. That will always add to a zillion points for you (and them).

Blessings,

Shalee

rena said...

I'm exhausted just reading about it! We shop the same! I do that in and out of buggy thing...or the walk back and forth in front of it thing if I don't have a buggy...waiting for it to jump out at me I guess.
And yes, Ikea is overwhelming! I rarely go there for that reason alone.

Donnetta said...

You had the IKEA experience? Isn't that the most overwhelming, greatest store?! I was in my first one almost a year ago. The closest one is 5 hours away. We were there on a vacation and it was listed as a tourist attraction so we went...enough said. :-)

Anonymous said...

It been three days since you posted this and I'm wondering how many times and how many different flavors you've scarfed up since then?

I don't like shopping but I could sure use a trip to Ikea for a few of the things you mentioned.

Melanie @ This Ain't New York said...

ice cream and a new purse. Doesn't get any better than that!

Glass Half Full said...

I have yet to visit an Ikea store. I go to many friends' homes with organizing items from that place.

Then again, maybe I am safer at home!!! :)