Shopping Fun

I wasn't exaggerating when I said that our trip to Ft. Lauderdale is one of our favorite weekends of the year. And on top of the conversation and the relaxation and the gluttony is the shopping.

Oh, Ft. Lauderdale shopping, how I love thee!

Sawgrass Mills plus IKEA = a Mandy who smiles from ear to ear.

I was trying to be on good behavior with spending money, and I found some great deals. My favorite purchase was these curtains from IKEA, the Stockholm Blad. (IKEA names always make me chuckle.) I was ogling them in the store when I realized that they were $60, more money than I was willing to pay for curtains that are wildly fun, but possibly obnoxious. So I pulled out some sour grapes coping strategy and decided that they were ugly.

But later, when I found them in the as-is bin for $10/panel, I retracted my insults. I was back to true love. And at a third of the price, the curtains quickly jumped from the obnoxious column to the awesome and beautiful must have column. Score! They're awesome in our room, too. I'll get some before and after pictures for you soon.

But back to the shopping.

I didn't get too much else while we were there. The usual: v-neck shirts in a variety of colors from Gap, a great spoon/spatula thing, bigger s-hooks for hanging pots and pans in our kitchen, an umbrella (which got put to good use during today's monsoon), and some hilarious Billy Goats Gruff-looking fabric that I plan to turn into a kitchen curtain (I, too, will believe it when I see it).

BUT. . .

There was gambling. Texas Hold 'Em, $1/2 no limit. And there were douche bags, many of whom were from Yonkers (yawnkahs?), people who, while constantly reminding us of their New Yorkerness, also passed money our way. Oh, Yawnkahs. Thank you, Yawnkahs!

Matt and I save our change all year, and go turn it in right before our annual Florida trip. The money we get from the change becomes our gambling fund. This year we had decided that any winnings would then go to our new computer fund. So, $180 of our dimes and quarters plus $300 donated to us by the lovely citizens of New York put us that much closer to this:

. . .our new sassy laptop. After working on a clunky 5-year old desktop, it's like heaven. Heaven I tell you!

Now maybe I'll actually post more since I can sit here on the couch with the dog and not in our uncomfortable office chair in the coldest corner of our house. Hell, I could even blog from bed.