SHOPPING TRIP

It took a while for my daughter, Kerri, and I to get going Friday morning... first I locked my keys, purse & suitcase in my car as I was transfering them to hers & then there was a little light shining at us on her dash telling us that we better have the tires checked. Once we got that taken care of and fortified ourselves with Starbucks lattes we were on our way to Minneapolis for some serious shopping!

First order of business was to eat, and Kerri had her heart set on Fried Mac & Cheese (sounds disgusting, but quite wonderful in a 'horrible for you' sort of way), so it was The Cheesecake Factory for lunch. And then we went in search of "Home Goods" - a store I've only heard about from bloggers. It turned out to be a great store & we spent a lot of time checking everything out. Home Goods is owned by the same company as TJ Max, so it is similar, but only has decor and anything else you might need/want for your home.

I was most taken with their Christmas tableware and found some dishes that I really liked - but they only had 3 dinner plates. So, I settled for a set of 6 luncheon plates that are a black transferware with touches of red and green decorating the winter scene on the center of the plate. They will look very pretty with a red charger or placemat or napkin, or whatever else I can come up with. But I couldn't get the first set of dishes out of my mind, so we headed to a second "Home Goods" in the midst of Friday afternoon traffic.

We found it in Plymouth and they had the dishes - Yippee! But here's the problem: after putting them in my cart, I found another set of Christmas/Winter dishes that were very different, but beautiful. I really needed to get them too! So, now after years of wanting Christmas dishes, I have two sets of six and another set of six luncheon plates. I really don't know where I will store them, but will find a place. AND I had better have company over the holidays so I can use all these dishes!!!

Shopping time for Friday was up - we had tickets for "Bye Bye Birdie" at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre where we had a great meal and enjoyed the show. Time for a good nights sleep so we would be ready to face shopping in Mpls on a Saturday.

I could hardly 'contain' my excitement as we parked in front of the Container Store! In my mind I was running across the parking lot and bursting through the doors shouting "Hallelujah"! That's how much I love organizing and all the products to organize with. We left a few $$$'s there, but could have spent lots more - maybe next time. The best part is that we came out of there with our granddaughter, Sheridan, who joined us for a day of shopping.

Time for lunch at P.F. Chang where we met my brother, sister-in-law, niece & her family. A Minneapolis visit has to include lettuce wraps at P.F. Chang - delicious!. It was also a good chance to catch up with a family visit.

IKEA was next on out list - overwhelming! I think we now understand the basic layout of things, so next time perhaps it will be possible to just head to the area of interest. Way too many people!

Mall of America - mainly Nordstrom's shoe department for Kerri! And her hunt was successful - she walked out with a couple of bags/boxes. Sheridan and I found chairs and did a lot of visiting.

We decided to head home on 35W to I-90 because Kerri thought we would be less likely to hit a deer. Well, we didn't hit one but came within inches on I-90. The look on the deer's face mirrored the look on Kerri's - that gets your heart racing! Anyway, I had a wonderful time and made it home by midnight. Thanks for hauling your mother around, Kerri!

                              Wherever You Live - Whatever Your Views
                                           BE SURE TO VOTE!




Till next time...
Blessings,
Gail