We Shopped Till We Dropped

Today my sister, my niece, my nephew, and his friend drove to a suburb west of Detroit and hit the Ikea store and boy are my feet are killing me.First off, let me say that Ikea generally does not have my style of home furnishing but that did not stop me from finding items to buy.

I love their kitchen gadgets and dishes. I also purchased two very large cotton bath towels and a new kitchen rug that were very reasonably priced. Oh and of course I cannot forget the cute pink broom.

But where I did the most damage to my wallet was in the food department. I could not leave without ligonberry preserves, gooseberry and cloudberry jam, mustard with dill for salmon, horseradish sauce, and a large can of sparkling pear juice. See a pattern? Food.

My nephew is furnishing a new apartment so he bought a little of everything. Black dishes, 2 black rugs, black TV entertainment center, pilsner glasses, and a very large framed black and white photo of the streets of Paris. Do you see a pattern there? Black, white, and Paris.

My niece purchased a tea cup with scenes of Paris on it. Paris? Do you see a pattern? Brother has Paris item, sister has Paris item.

My sister hit the food section like I did. Same items but add a bag of frozen pancakes that look like crepes to me. See a pattern? One sister buys food so the other sister buys food.

The nephew pooped out after a mere 4 hours of shopping (he can't hang with professional shoppers) so that left my sister, my niece, and I to hit Home Goods.

My niece did some serious wallet damage there. She purchased a new comforter set in a bold black and white pattern with a little yellow green piping, very Parisian. She also purchased numerous accent pillows for her bed. I think she even bought yet another tea cup and a night stand with drawers that looks a stack of huge books. See a pattern? Black, white, Paris, tea cup.

Her mother purchased a baking dish and I purchased food items like stuffed olives and soda bread mix. See a pattern? Food. Oh wait...I also bought a Christmas plate that was 50% off that matches my Christmas dishes.

By this time the Pontiac Vibe was filled to the gills.Don't leave without me!!!!!! The day is young.....we've only been shopping for 6 hours. So I hopped in and we were off to Twelve Oaks mall.

I purchased two attachments for my new Black 6 Qt Kitchen Aid stand mixer at Williams-Sonoma and some blush at Sephora. See a pattern? Food related. The blush was so I could try and make my cheeks look thinner after I eat all this food I bought today.

My niece bought loose leaf tea. See a pattern? More tea and tea related items than in China.

By this time it is 730PM and we are sick of people, sick of screaming kids in strollers, and sick of people talking on their cell phones while getting in your way. So what do we do? We go to a crowded restaurant in Fenton, Mi called the French Laundry. See a pattern? Food....Paris what can I say...we are predictable.

Once at the French Laundry we change our minds several times before we order. We all ordered the Freudian Slip, a chicken salad sandwich with cream cheese, red onions, and raspberry jam wrapped in whole wheat flat bread. For dessert my sister and niece had cinnamon ice cream covered with olive oil and sea salt. No really....that's what they had for dessert and they said it was delicious.

I snapped a quick photo, as we were leaving the restaurant, of the metal railing that encloses the outdoor dining area. Isn't it clever? Sorry that the photo is blurry but I shot it without flash in the dark.Please pardon any misspelled words etc. I am very tired and still need to watch the last three hours of season two of The Tudors so R can take it back tomorrow and rent me season three. I have a hunch that Anne Boleyn is going to lose her pretty little head.