A Short Trip to See Sissie

 So back in July, after I had a collagen shot in my knee after Kim and Sissie tried to break me on the "Shopping Death March" back in May/June, I went for a quick visit to Sissie's house outside DC.

Sissie promised not to break me this time so it was a low key visit.  We did NO outlet shopping!  Amazing, right? lol

I called from my car in her parking space and Sissie came flying out of the house looking a might confused.  She thought I was coming on Wednesday when I had said Tuesday(or something like that).  Oh well.  I was here so it was time for hugs and laughs.

We did think of ways to torment Kim the whole visit, that was part of our fun.  We'd send her photos by text to make her jealous and you wouldn't believe what she said in reply...oy!  What a potty mouth!!

So here's the first one, taken the afternoon shortly after I arrived.

Sticking our tongues out at Kim.  Neener, neener!

My buddy, Bud the cat, guided me upstairs to my room and showed me candy and lots of change on my bed.  Good old Bud!

I screwed up Sissies dinner plan since I don't eat egg salad. 8-(  But she went into action and make wienerschnitzel, spaetzle, gravy and veggies instead.

The next day we headed out for our BIG adventure-a trip to Ikea.

I had never been to an Ikea before though there is one 2 hours away outside of Philly.  If I had thought of it, I would have brought my Viking helmet with horns and worn it in the store. lol

That place was a labyrinth!  Just a maze of areas funneling you along until you were asking how the heck do I escape from this Swedish hell?!

I bet it didn't help that I was probably embarrassing Sissie by trying to pronounce all the signage which was both in English and Swedish.  Luckily it wasn't very crowded in there during the weekday.

This says Welcome in Swedish.  Anne, you need one of these! lol

A cute owl night light.

They had two areas where they had set up a full  on tiny house using all Ikea goods.  We both said we couldn't probably live in these if we didn't have spouses(and Sissie would need a spare one for a closet lol).

This one even had a pair of slippers by the door(they were attached to the floor so you couldn't take them...ask how I know that). lol

A room of Turkish goods.....lamps and rugs mostly but some lovely things.

I refer to this display as the "dead cat room". A blue rug hanging on the wall and on the floor, a blue chair and footstool with small white pelts draped over everything, like a bunch of dead skinned cats(or bunnies if you prefer).

Sissie contemplating the Mona Lisa.

Oh no!  Sissie's glass is empty.  I guess it's time to head into the Ikea cafeteria.......

So we got lunch.  I had a Greek Salad and we split a bottle of water.

But Sissie opted for the traditional Swedish meatball plate only she got the children's sized portion with four meatballs and didn't even finish all of them.

I took a photo of these buns and texted it to Kim and told her it was too bad she wasn't here to taste some with us. *snort*

As we wound our way through the rest of the Ikea maze after lunch we came upon a room were they used 12 inch wooden articulated artist models to accentuate the decor of some displays.

One display had about 10 of them posed identically along a fireplace mantel.  I told Sissie nobody with kids would be able to have that in their home because the kids(at least MY kids!)would think it jolly good fun to pose those mannequins in lewd positions when I wasn't looking. ;-)

Then Sissie spied "the hand".........

Ikea also had an articulated life sized hand and Sissie couldn't resist posing it thusly.  We both had a few laughs over that hand and suspected the security guards had a camera trained on that part of the room and also had some laughs every day when someone would see that hand and pose it with the middle finger extended up.

Sissie wanted to buy one but we couldn't find another(this was the store sample/model)in that room.  I told her to take it to the register and see if she could buy it but she decided not to.

When we got home from that excursion Sissie kept saying she wished she had asked to buy that sample hand.  So I looked on Amazon and found multiple sellers on there selling the same articulated hand!

A couple of days later these happened..........

Sissie ordered 4 hands, one for herself, each of her sisters and me(her sister from another mother).

Mine holds a place of honor on the half wall by my desk in the den.

I call it my mood barometer.........it you see it at full mast it's better to leave me alone. lolz

We made a couple of trips during this stay to Sissie's hangout spot.

Contrary to popular belief, the geraniums out front were still not an ashtray! ;-)

We tormented Kim a few times on this trip, besides showing her the Ikea cinnamon buns she didn't get to have as mentioned above......

I texted her that I got her something from Ikea and then sent this photo........

The free little pencils to write down stuff while in Ikea.

I also sent her photos of any change we found at Mickey D's and other places.

And the big one was this photo..........

This photo of me smiling and holding a DD's bag and a chocolate covered donut and a large Diet Coke(Kim's 2 kryptonites).

You should have seen the awful language she texted me every time we texted her a torture photo!  Maybe I should send those messages to her Bishop if I ever get that mad at her. hehehe

On the Saturday during my visit we headed up to a town in the area that had an Ollie's(Good Stuff Cheap!)and introduced Sissie's hubby to the wonders of Ollie's.  Afterwards we headed across the road to a nice restaurant for Sissie and her Hubby's anniversary dinner.

Some yummy food followed.

Sissie's Hub's steak dinner.........

Sissie's fish dinner.....

my crab cake dinner..........

Afterwards we saw Kim outside the restaurant........

Sissie's Hubs got a better photo of all three of us with Kim's best side..........*snort*

Another day I was putting stuff in my car and found something(not money)on the ground and sent Kim a text that I was thinking of her...........

More horrible language was texted back to me! 8-)

A rare photo of Elliot(above) and Lucy(below)eating dinner.  Lucy hid the entire time I was there except at dinner.  These two aren't as social as Bud.

I hung out at Sissie's home during the week.  I slept late, went to a store or two nearby, then blogged until they got home from work.  Sissie fed me well(too well some days!).

Sissie needed a new mouse pad and brought this home one day......

It fits her to a tee...hehehe

A partial view out the back of Sissie's yard..........

And someday maybe y'all will hear the story behind this mangy bear rug in the den.  Though Sissie's best efforts she has yet to manage to destroy it.  She needs a jar of NAIR......

One day I ventured out by myself during the day to Home Goods and found this Kim wall art too........

Sissie's Hubs found out I do genealogy and before I left to go home I was able to answer a couple of family mysteries for him about his paternal grandfather's side.  I love helping folks that way if I can.

The day before I left Sissie got busy baking in the kitchen.....

Awhile later she had made all this........

She sent me home with a loaf of sweet bread for my Hubs(and he didn't even share with me!)and a bag of peanut butter Rice Krispy treats. 8-)))

It was a very nice visit with Sissie but before I knew it, it was time to head home.  I loved it and I miss Sissie, her Hubs and of course Bud.

And torturing Kim was just an added bonus! lol

Sluggy

Procuring Furniture on the Cheap

In an effort to keep costs down I've been looking on eBay for used furniture.
Craigslist locally has turned up nothing in my budget and in my style sense.

I have very specific ideas about what my dining room table set needs to look like and how much it needs to cost(not much).
And I don't want something "cookie cutter" I see in every furniture store.

I found this used set for $350, but it's in Southern CA and local pick-up only.

Gosh, I LOVE this!

By the time I pay someone to haul it to PA, I could have ordered something similar new from Italy!lol
Fat chance I'm going to find something as awesome as this around here.....

I found a few sets that would work but they seem to be in Illinois or someplace to far to rent a truck and go get it.  sigh.

I am tempted to buy these chairs, aren't they cool?!........

And then find a metal chromed leg birch or glass topped modernistic table to go with them and use it all for a dining room set.
It's a small room so many of the sets I see are just too massive and big.
I want something fun that will be able to go with us to the next house.

Oh decisions, decisions.

I may have to break down and go on an excursion to Ikea down Philly to window shop some furniture and kitchen cabinets.
Can you believe I have never set foot in an Ikea before?  8-0
I've got my eye on a leather loveseat there.....

I hear both good and bad things about Ikea furniture.  What's your opinion and/or experience with them?

What kind of furniture do you have in your dining room?


Sluggy