Turn Left at the Serpent

Yes, these were part of actual directions given to CCM to guide me from Jungle Jim's to IKEA in Cincy. They were, and are, my most favoritest directions EVER. Next time someone gets lost, just tell them to 'turn left at the serpent' and see what happens.

Yes, there was a serpent. Yes, I turned left.

Jungle Jim's. Holy Shit Batman. If you have not been there and are a foodie in the _least_ amount of the term, drop everything, get in your car and drive as fast as you can to JJ's. I described it to D9 as such: "just do yourself a favor and beat off before you go in there or you'll make a mess on the floor."

Acres and acres (no shit) of foodie paradise. Over 1200 kinds of beer. Many, many more kinds of wine. Whole sections of the store devoted to ethnic cuisine. A fruit and vegetable section that I was not sure of fully 2/3 of the stuff in it. Any type of anything one could possibly need for a party and then some. I am probably going to need another trip soon. I was/am in love love love with this store.

Approximately the size of two-three Super Walmart-type facilities, it is a foodie paradise. I wandered, gaping maw, pushing the cart silently as I took in each area. It was almost more than I could take. I did buy 12 bottles of wine (and a big honkin' thing of minced garlic ... mmm) for all of $48. Yes, you read that right, $48. And the wine is mighty fine.

As Angela and I were checking out, CCM approached a nearby group of cashiers and asked them where IKEA was from there. The directions included the aforementioned turn left at the serpent. On our way to IKEA there was a warehouse sale at the Frontgate/Ballard Designs/TravelSmith outlet stores. If you have not seen any of these catalogs before, check 'em out. Then know that most anything in them could have been had for approximately 80% off at this warehouse sale. It was out of control. I ended up buying a couple pairs of khakis (summer is coming) and stared dumbfounded at all the various goodies everywhere else. It was too cool.

At IKEA ... traffic cops, parking attendants, police ... it was a world class cluster but boy was it fun. It was busy in there, although I must say that it was no busier than the IKEA Schaumburg on the weekends so I was okay with it. The weird part of the trip was the *whole* families that came to shop. Literally, grandma, grandpa, kids, grandkids ... families of 6 or more people everywhere you looked.

I ended up buying some organizer stuff (pant hangers, hangers for guest closet, jar for flossers ... etc.) and a pillow for my bed. It is quite beautiful. By the end of the day, I was exhausted.

Got home at 5:30 and sat around for a bit. I was hungry for Bazbeaux and knew I wanted to pre-shop a goodwill or two (yesterday was 50% off day), so I called D9 to see what was up. He was game for Bazbeaux and pre-shopping, so off we went.

Did not find much of anything at the Westfield Goodwill, although I did find a few things at the Carmel Goodwill. Then we went to dinner at Bazbeaux and enjoyed the tasty BOT with pepperoni and pineapple on wheat. MMMM. I was able to say hi to Matt, my favorite Bazbeaux guy, so all was right in the world again.

Went home, did some cleaning, crashed around midnight.

On Saturday I was up early-ish, waiting on D9 to pick me up for our goodwill trip. At Goodwill I purchased some miracle gro potting soil, a Coach backpack ($15), a receiver for my DirecTV, and an iPod transmitter for my car.

Got back home around 11 and immediately ran to Sam's Club and Meijer for party food. I got back home just before noon and set up the party area (my garage for all the goodies) and got food prep going. I hopped in the shower at 1:10 and was ready for guests at 1:30.

About 10 women showed and it was a good group. We laughed and joked, it was a fun time. Lots of stuff came and went from my house, now I need to make a final drop at Thrifty Threads with the remainders. Last guests left at 7:30 (party officially ended at 5), so I was pleased with that. I always want to know if people had a good time and I think everyone did.

After all guests left I did the normal party clean-up and loaded/ran the dishwasher. Put the house back in order (left the garage for today) and practically crawled into bed, was asleep shortly after 9:30.

Woke up today around 8. Went downstairs, got the paper, ate breakfast, called Mom. Crawled back in bed around 11 and stayed there until 3. Now I've been doing laundry. I did get the garage stuff packed up and ready for Thrifty Threads. Lots of good stuff in there !!

I've got lots of paperwork to do this week but I am happy that the grant is turned in :) Yes!!