My husband left me.......

Friday morning started off with my meeting a good friend for coffee. Now don't get the wrong idea

and think that we met over these adorable latte mugs...

because these were a gift from a friend...

and it's hard to find a good place that serves a good latte when

one has her children tagging along.

Did i say children?

yup...that would be me...

i feel like i have ooooooodles and oooooodles of children

when in reality...

i only have three....

yet my friend Vana...she only has one...

a sweet little boy named Niko...

who fin called "his worst enemy ever".

Yes....you read that right.


my fin called her darling little boy....


his worst enemy ever.


It was then that we decided to take the children and drop them


off at the best place ever.


Smaland.


Have you ever dropped your children off at Smaland...


which really should be called...


Smileland....


because i am always smiling when i pick the children up...


but anyways...


Smaland is the enchanting place in one of my favorite store's...


the one..


the only..


ikea.


Now i know many of you have a love/hate with this place....but for me...


it's all


love.


love.love.love


What other shop in the country will watch your sticky fingered...


bored at home...


tired of reading...


frostbitten toe'd


children ....


for free...for an hour...


while you peruse the largest..


home store in the country?


{let me interject here that NO.... ikea has NOT contacted me about any sponsorship yet...


but my phone line is open..just in case}










So...


anyhoo....


Vana and i were able to chit chat for a good hour...all the while ..child free....


and figure out what the heck we are going to do with our lives.


It was at this point that the kids started arguing again and we just


nodded our heads and relinquished that fact that we are moms..


and as moms...we must deal with our children first..


and talk about our future at the next coffee date ...


minus the children.


Are you still here...still reading?


just checking...


okay...


so then cames saturday.


a very sad day indeed.

sniff

sniff













We dropped bryan off at the airport....


for a flight...


a really long flight.


He is headed for Hong Kong....


but not for business...


he's going for his brothers wedding.


Yes...you read that right.


A wedding.


A wedding in which bryan is the only family member attending..


a wedding in which their father cannot attend because he is on


dialysis twice a week and cannot attend because of this fact.


Nope.


I will not go into details...


it's not healthy to do so....


{but i will say that i think a his/hers snuggli would make a great wedding gift}

Just so you know...that was not the real plane....

and i highly advise you not to photograph planes

out your car window while driving.

Back to the story..

sorry....

i'm sitting here typing away..

and have no idea where my children are...

errrrrrr....

i'm back...and they are fine.

So.....

after we dropped bryan off at the airport...

we then headed back to my favorite place on earth...

yes...

ikea.

But...we were lucky this morning....

because we got there early and they were

offering a free breakfast.

free breakfast.....

do you know what that sounds like to a mother

of three children of a husband who just hopped

on a flight to another country?

Free rubbery eggs with floppy bacon and stale potatoes!

{sorry ikea..your eggs need help}

So....

while the eggs and bacon were free....

my kids wanted the french toast sticks.

{interjection right here}

i realize that my oldest looks like he might have

different colored eyes.

i also realize that he does not normally let me

take his photo...

so this is a rare opportunity...

and i might have added a bit of sunless tan to his face....

and i might have added it to one eye...

so it looks like his eye's are different colors....

alright...

i really screwed up the one and only picture he let me take..

and i really don't want to go back in and fix it...

so here we are....

but the swedish pancakes with lingonberry sauce was really good!

{see...you already have forgotten about the whole eye thing}

You cannot...

i repeat.....

you cannot go wrong with some white dishtowels.....

you cannot...

i repeat...

you cannot go wrong with some

$ .49 cent red striped flour sack towels.

I love anthropologie...

we all know that...

and i love a good latte bowl...

but i really love these mugs for $1.99.

These fabulous galvanized trays on wheels.....

found in the garden section....

and i wrote about {here}...

are the perfect lazy susan.

This is why i love this place...

alright..

other than the free childcare..

and i found out that now on the weekends..

my little ikea was testing an hour and a half...

hooo yaaa.

{don't really know if that's a word...but just take it}

Alright girls....i realize you might not even still be with me here...

as i ramble on and on...

but this is by far the best part of my saturday...

the best part i tell ya.....

because as i was going up and down the isles....

i came upon my coveted Ektorp slip covered sofa covers.

I screamed so loud that they actually called security.

I have been holding out on buying an extra slip cover because of the

price.....

but now i bought enough to last me many...

many years to come.

To tell you that i only walked out with what was in my cart would

be a lie.

A total fabrication indeed.

Nope...

I went back in and stocked up.....

now i think i have enough covers for

at least ten-twenty years.

xo