Ikea OVERLOAD!!

Ikea should come with a warning sign....either that or it should give every person (of age) who walks through their doors a Zantax. The last time I visited this superstore I was in college and must've been feeding off the energy of the several girflriends that I went with OR I was still slightly inebriated from the night before and therfore didn't really care where I was as long as I had a greesy piece of pizza in hand (which ironically, Ikea sells) to soak up whatever was still in the tums.

....I digress.

I got a "wild hair" yesterday afternoon and decided that I wanted to re-organize our pantry NOW! Ikea was our first choice. I had never been to the one here in Tampa (it opened up last May) but had heard that in the area of organization, THIS was the place to go. So off we went....happily entering the doors like two little kids. For those who are unfamiliar with the layout and proceedings of an IKEA, here is the jist.

-You first walk through their "showroom" with a little brochure looking thing and a pencil that is about an inch long in hand.

-Any room that you could possibly fathom is demonstrated and decorated. If you see something that you like or wish to purchase, you whip out your Barbie pencil and write the quantity, make #, color, size, bin #, aisle #, birthdate, social security #, etc. (okay, so the last two are false, but with all the information that you have to write down it seems a little excessive!).

-After the five years that it takes you to "shop" the showrooms, you go down to the warehouse where they have all the products.

-You are then responsible for going through yet ANOTHER 10 football fields-worth of crap that you picked out upstairs.

-Proceed to HELL....oops, I mean, checkout. This is where all idiots of the world unite! How is it that we have come so far in technology, however people STILL cannot seem to figure out how to scan their own items in "self-checkout" lanes. COME ONE PEOPLE!!

Anywho, to say the least, I left there glazed over and with heart palpatations. Too much. In the midst of a meltdown, luckily I had DZ to somewhat steer me in the direction of baskets and organizational jars for the pantry.

Here's what some of the finished product looks like!

I love how clean it looks! The cute little white trash can

is where I keep all the puppy stuff. It's perfect. And the two little white baskets have all of our herbs alphabetically (aren't you proud, Mom Z??). I LOVE organizing....it makes me happy! :)

We went to church this morning. What a great way to start the day. We haven't been in a little bit so it was nice to get our booties back in the pews. There was a guest speaker today and althoug he was good, he wasn't our Greg. Either way, I always leave there inspired and ready for the week to come.....

Tropical Storm Bonnie has been toying with our emotions this week and although nothing major has hit us, she's still making it so that going to the beach is out of the question. Boo on you, Bonnie!!

Dinner was D-E-L-I-S-H! I had a tofu wrap that included: avocado, Annie's Goddess Dressing, my sun-dried (or dehydrator-dried) tomatoes, edamame, spinach, tofu all in an Ezekial wrap. Mmmmm. Alongside I had a mexican "rice". It was a new recipe that came from my Raw cookbook. It was acorn squash that I pulsed into small pieces and mixed with avocado, cilantro, tomatoe and onion. Surprisingly delisious as well! DZ had leftover pizza. haha. To each his own!!

Mexican "Rice"

My Ezekial-Tofu Wrap

Off to hang with the hubs. Happy Sunday to all. Be back on tomorrow! Carpe Diem!! xo

Things that make you go "hmmm"....

1. What inspires you?

2. When do you feel your happiest and healthiest?