Trip to Utah

Oh man, I had the best time in Utah last week!  I got to enjoy Temple Square, visit with friends, see my brother and sis in-law and their new home, hang out with my husband's brother in Provo, re-visit all my old college memories at BYU and do lots of shopping.  The only downer about the whole trip was that I missed my three sweet kiddos sooo much.  {But even that was okay.  I think it's good for me to miss them every now and again because it helps me be a better and more patient mom when I am with them.}

Anyway, like I said here, I was really looking forward to shopping at Ikea and Tai Pan while in UT.  It worked out perfect too because I got to shop, while my husband got to attend his conferences.  Total win-win situation!  I got to shop and he didn't have to get dragged along with me!

One of the things I was most excited to buy was this light at Ikea.  I originally bought it with plans to hang it right above my kitchen sink.  That plan didn't work out so well.  It was waaay to big for my postage stamp sized kitchen/low ceilings.  Boo.  So instead I asked my husband to take down the original-to-our-house-white-spray-painted chandelier in our dining room and try this pendant light in it's place instead.  I like it okay, but it's not quite what I had in mind for this room.  It will do for now though while I save for the kind of dining room light I do have in mind.  {And fyi, I copycatted what Layla did with this light and frosted the glass and wrapped twine around the black wire to cover it and make it more purdy.}

Here it is in the dining room.  Kind of small for the space but, whatever, it's better than what used to be there.

Another thing I bought at Ikea was this round woven placemat for 3.99.  I love the texture it provides under my fruit bowl.  BTW, the bowl is from Tai Pan.  I bought it in UT last December for, I think, four dollars.  Love Tai Pan! {And I am not being paid to say that, it's just true!}

Another Ikea find...several of these storage boxes.  At 4.99 for a pack of two, I thought these were a steller deal.  My three year old and eight year old helped me put them together the day after I got back and then I stuffed them on the top shelf of my craft/game closet.  Nice, huh.  Kind of defeats the purpose of storage boxes, I know.  But I'm hoping to completely de-clutter and organize that closet once the kiddos are back in school and I have more time.

Next up, this apothecary jar from Tai Pan.  Priced at 16.99, it couldn't have found it's way into my shopping cart fast enough.  I love it!  I can't wait to fill it with candy around the holidays or bright green limes in the spring.  It's really a fun way to add color to my kitchen.

This door mat/rug is from Ikea and I bought two of them for my kitchen for $10.00 each.  I originally had my eye on this rug.  But like I said before, with a postage stamp sized kitchen, I knew it was going to be way too big.  This rug works out waaay better and I really like the design on it so I'm a happy camper.

This little guy, the green/white timer, was both inexpensive and super practical.  Love that combo!  It was a whole whopping $1.00 at Ikea.  I've already been getting some good use out of it, mostly to time my kiddos summer reading minutes.

This little mossy bird is just adorable.  I don't typically like to collect little nick nacks for decorating my home, but I let this little guy be the exception.  Besides, this bookshelf really needed something green on it to liven it up a bit.  The bird was 3.99 at Tai Pan.

As much fun as I had shopping while in Utah, after five days, it was really nice to be back home.  I'm so grateful that I have such sweet parents that were willing to come watch my three kiddos and I'm grateful that I got to spend some time away from home with my husband.  It was a real treat.  

Speaking of treats...look what a treat I found out in our garden when we got home.  Can you believe the size of that zucchini!   

 

Hmmm, I wonder how many loaves of zucchini bread I could make out of that thing...

Totally kidding.  I do plan on making a lot of zucchini bread with the much smaller zucchini's from my garden.  But heck, just looking at the size of that thing makes me feel exhausted.  That's way too much baking for this girl.