Since my mom was in town this weekend (with my dad’s truck), Chris and I made the trek out to IKEA today, where I spent less than I was expecting to, for once. The crowning glory was without doubt the new dresser Chris bought for me (and is putting together for me right now), but other highlights include this 18-piece dinnerware set which I picked up not for the site price of $30, but for only $24. And despite the fact that Chris thinks we already had plenty of dishes, I got six wine glasses for $4 and four little tumblers for $2. I also replaced all my abandoned wire clothes hangers with wooden ones - $3.49 for a set of 8.

The only real problem I have with IKEA is that by the time I make it downstairs and am going through the marketplace, I just feel sort of stunned from the enormity of the place and the sheer quantity of stuff demanding my attention. I never make it past the dishes without wanting to drop everything and run, and after that you still have to deal with finding any of the real furniture you want. We tried to alleviate the IKEA syndrome with by stopping for Swedish meatballs and almond torte, but there’s only so much lingonberry sauce can really prevent.

Of course that doesn’t mean I’m not planning to hop the shuttle bus from the Port Authority some weekend soon so I can go back and look at rugs.