Let's Go Shopping! HomeGoods

I mentioned that a couple weekends ago we had the chance to be in the Chicago area for a day. And no trip to the Chicago area is complete without a trip to HomeGoods. I really don't understand why we don't have one in our area. We have two T.J. Maxx and a Marshall's. Clearly, we need a HomeGoods.

Whenever we go to HomeGoods or T.J. Maxx or Marshall's, we are on the lookout for two things: a matching lamp for our living room and the perfect Lane recliner for our living room.

You see, we got our living room lamp a couple years ago at a local T.J. Maxx. At the time, we only needed one. So when we found another one at a Chicago area HomeGoods, we skipped it. But then we rearranged our living room and decided that we really needed another one. So we're constantly on the lookout, even though by now it's probably a lost cause.

We also discovered on our first trip to HomeGoods, that they carry Lane recliners for $300. I really want one for our living room, but we've never found one that goes with our colors. They also carry them at T.J. Maxx and Marshall's, but the selection at HomeGoods is usually better.

On our recent trip to HomeGoods, I was hoping to score some good baby deals since it was a HomeGoods and T.J. Maxx in one store. I didn't end up buying anything, but here's a look at a few things I liked.

We didn't find our lamp, but I did spot this one. It would go with our green living room and our loose theme of flowers/birds/owls.

This loveseat was interesting. It doesn't really go with anything in my house, but I liked it. I liked the mixed media of cloth cushions, woven base, and wooden frame.

And then I spotted this Lane recliner. And I nearly cried. It was perfect! But money is tight right now, so we don't have $300 for a chair we don't actually need. And we really didn't have room in the van since there were 5 of us traveling together. I really wanted to take it home with me though.

Oh HomeGoods, why must you torment me? And when are you coming to my area?

Doctor Who's Day - Favorite Couple

**Warning: Potential Spoilers ahead if you are not caught up with Doctor Who** (And come on, you've had nearly a year since the last season ended!)

Today's Doctor Who's Day topic is Favorite Couple. I bet you think I'm going to pick this couple...

Source: img832.imageshack.us via Jenn on Pinterest

And I do love Amy & Rory, but I thought about and decided my favorite couple is a different couple...

Source: guerrillageek.com via Alexandria on Pinterest

I love The Doctor and River Song together. I love that their relationship is so complicated because they keep meeting out of order. I'm very interested to see how that will work now that they are married.

Source: textsfromthetardis.tumblr.com via Jenn on Pinterest

And their flirting is just too cute...




Who is your favorite couple on Doctor Who?

Sunday Social

Once again, I'm linking up with Neely and Ashley and getting social.

What is your favorite Fall activity?

When I was in high school, it was spending my Friday nights at football games and my Saturdays cheering for my friends and brother at marching band competitions.

Now, I like going to some local festivals and enjoying the cooler weather.

Do you follow a football team? if so which one and why?

You may have noticed a shirt I wore while on our trip to DC...



I've been a pretty big Colts fan ever since college. It's not unusual to find me yelling at my TV on Sundays during the fall. Why the Colts? Well, I live in Indiana, so they're the home team. Plus, we had an amazing team when I started following them and ended up going to two Super Bowls. This upcoming season should be interesting, to say the least. I may also have to cheer for the Broncos since they've got Payton now.

What is something fun about Fall in your area?

You may have heard the saying, "There's more than corn in Indiana." Well, there is, but there's also a lot of corn. And you can do some pretty fun things with a field of corn...like, turn it into a corn maze!

Thanks to the abundance of corn fields in my area, there are several corn mazes. I'd always wanted to try it, so last year, M & I did one with our friends T & R.

It turns out, I really don't like being lost without a map, so I probably won't be doing a corn maze again for awhile.

Favorite Fall outfit staples?

Hoodies! Notice, I am wearing one in the corn maze. You could probably say that I collect hoodies, my collection is so big. They are my favorite thing to throw on in the fall because then I don't have to wear a coat.

This would be a perfect fall outfit for me...


And since hoodies aren't exactly work appropriate, I also love to wear cardigans in the fall, especially argyle ones.

See? I even wore one in our fall engagement pictures.

Thing you are looking forward to most about this coming Fall season?

School being back in session so I can work and actually get paid!

The (hopefully) cooler weather, for one. I'm really tired of temperatures over 90 degrees every day.

Also, my best friend is due on Halloween, so I'm looking forward to throwing her a baby shower and also meeting her little guy!

I'm also really looking forward to not working on Black Friday for the first time in 7 years.

Edy's makes an Apple Pie ice cream only in the fall and I love to enjoy that with some carmel sauce on top. Yummy!

Favorite Fall holiday? Traditions?

I like both Halloween and Thanksgiving.

First of all, Halloween is all about candy, what's not to love? And I love to decorate for Halloween. We don't do trick or treating, but I can't wait to have kids and take them.

I like Thanksgiving because I like all the food. My brother deep fried the turkey last year and it was so delicious! I think that needs to be a tradition, right there.

Let's Go Shopping! Ikea

Over the weekend, we took a trip to the Chicago suburbs to see some family members from Arizona that were in town visiting. And of course, no trip to the Chicago area is complete without a trip to Ikea and Homegoods. I'm envious of people that live in a town that has either an Ikea or a Homegoods. Our closest stores are two hours away, so we love an excuse to head that way.

While at Ikea, I was on a strict budget, so I wasn't able to just throw everything I wanted into the cart. However, I kept seeing things that I liked, so instead of buying them, I snapped pictures with my phone to share with you. Let's go shopping at Ikea!

Welcome to the Bolingbrook Ikea! I haven't been here since April 2011 according to Foursquare. That's way too long to go without an Ikea fix.

I absolutely loved this closet display! It was so pretty and feminine. If I ever win the lottery, I am so buying a house where I can have a closet like this!

Down in the Marketplace, I found lots of items that I wished I could take home with me.

I loved all these dining and serving pieces. The pink and green combination with the floral patterns made them feel vintage. Sadly, they don't go with our retro red and green cherry themed kitchen, so they stayed at Ikea.

 I love the artwork at Ikea. These two pieces definitely caught my eye. I think the Tvilling posters of cherry blossoms might work in my bathroom, but the walls are getting a little full in there for such a small space. I'm not sure where I'd put that Olunda butterfly piece, but was really cute.

So what did I buy? Just a couple of things, actually.

If you follow me on Pinterest, you know I love the idea of using the Bekvam spice racks for bookshelves in kids' rooms. I'm so afraid that Ikea will stop making them before we have a kid, that I've been trying to stock up on them for awhile now. The past two times we've been to Ikea, they've been sold out. This time, they actually had a few on the shelf, so I grabbed two.

And I bought something I just couldn't resist.

I fell in love with this and couldn't stop looking at it, so I knew it had to come home with me. It's going in my bathroom where I can admire it every day. You can't tell in the picture, but the color under the butterflies is actually purple. There's purple in my shower curtain, so that should tie it in nicely.

I think I did a pretty good job of getting out of Ikea without blowing the budget. Of course, today I got the new 2013 Ikea catalog and I'm already dreaming of another trip.