We went over the border to the nearest Ikea, in Burlington, Ontario...yes, that's Canada. We have no Ikea where I live.
I KNOW, right? No Ikea. Tragic.
Also not located in Buffalo: Trader Joe's, Crate & Barrel, and Costco.
Until recently there was no Anthropologie or Urban Outfitters but now at least we have those. I actually got to go into Anthropologie for the first time ever on Saturday night, as Hubs and I dropped the kids off with Grandma and went on a little date. (Our date consisted of: getting our taxes prepared, getting the car washed, walking around the mall, going to Five Guys for a burger, and stopping by the grocery store. HOT.)
Anyway, I can see why everyone raves about Anthropologie so much. What a beautiful store. The clothes don't do that much for me, but the "doo-dads" knocked my socks off. I'm a sucker for beautiful and functional items and they did not disappoint...from the dishes to the lovely measuring cups/spoons, latte bowls, and wee butter dishes meant to hold a half-stick. Thank heavens Hubs was there to stop me or I'd surely have bought one of those. I can definitely see myself heading there for unique gifts for friends and family (and, maybe, occasionally something for me).
So that was that, and then on Sunday morning my friend picked me up bright and early, we hit the Starbucks drive-thru, and headed for the border with passports and shopping lists in hand. The American dollar is at par with the Canadian dollar right now so the prices were what they were, no exchange rate math necessary. We had so much fun combing the store top to bottom. Again, it was the "doo-dads" that got me the most. I just loooooooved browsing around all the kitchen wares and kid stuff.
You can bring back $200 worth of stuff duty-free but we were good and didn't spend nearly that much. I got a bunch of kitchen items and this duvet cover/sham set for AJ's new big-boy bed, which should be here in a few days:
So cute! I'm excited to change his room over from baby to little boy.
It was also really nice to have a grown-up lunch with my friend and talk with no interruptions from small children. I got Eggs Benedict. It was awesome.
Now my house is a hot mess, and I can't seem to gather my thoughts for the week ahead, but at least I had a really relaxing and fun day. I simply must do that more often. It's unhealthy to neglect myself, I get that now (finally, after nearly 7 years of parenting).
As for craftiness...I'm a hot mess there too. Jumping around from project to project, unable to focus. No one really needs anything made at the moment, so it's all self-indulgent knitting. Too cold to sit at the sewing machine. It's all curl-up-under-a-blanket crafting right now.
Rainbow socks!
And the shawl bug bit. This is an easy one, which I can work on while waiting for Daughter at swimming lessons. More to come.
2 comments:
I so totally feel your retail-pain. We got a Trader Joe's about a year ago, but have none of the other options you listed. Our nearest Ikea is 8 hours away. EIGHT. Why in world there isn't an Ikea at least in Kansas City (a mere three hours away) I will never understand. {sigh}
I'm so glad you got some "me-time". Really, it's crucial to an at-home mom.
That would a hot date for us, too. I'm glad you had such a fabulous escape! Boise has a few of those stores but they might as well be in Canada for as often as I ever get over to them. Which is never. Except for Costco. :) That's down the road. IKEA? Nearest is 6 hours away. Gr.
Drooling over that rainbow yarn.
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