it all started . . .

. . . with this blog post

i need that wrapping paper

our ikea is not a friendly place

they were sold out

the employees there are not nice

& would not go look in the back

to see if there was more

& then they make you pay

five cents for each bag you need

to package up {yourself}

the stuff you just bought there

anyway . . . the only thing left to do

was go to the next closest ikea

. . . in newport beach

it takes a village

or at least seven people & two cars

first, you gotta have stuff

to go to california

here's one person's stuff . . .

. . . two people's stuff . . .

. . . three people's stuff . . .
car number one was ready set go
peg brought trip treats to entertain us

& make the time go faster

we love peg

treat #1 - sing along cd - love those

"hairspray" & michael jackson songs

treat #2 - fall-ish trail mix . . .

the one with m&ms, candy corn & peanuts

2 peanuts+1 candy corn=payday

2 peanuts+2 m&ms+1 candy corn=snickers

points awarded for creating a new candy bar wannabe

i got 10 points for this one:

1 peanut+1 m&m=peanut m&m

{but just like on "whose line is it anyway?"

. . . the points don't matter}

treat #3 - cherry carmex

great stuff

treat #4 - play doh - create an item

that you'll be shopping for

i guess we're on the hunt for

purses, silk plants . . .

. . . & cinnamon rolls . . .

{not sushi or tortilla wraps}

treat #5 - freshly homemade ginger snaps

. . . the best known to mankind

yum

treat #6 - people magazine style issue

points for guessing articles that might be inside

car number two artistically turned all

risque photos into modestly dressed celebrities

points

part of the trip was devoted to

"research/development" for our quilt group

first quilt shop - not worth the trip

the best thing we saw there were

these pumpkins in the parking lot

look at those cool lighter orange/brownish ones

they were awesome shapes

but looked like they'd be

impossible to carve

love the white ones too

second quilt shop - worth the trip

amazing/inspiring quilts to look at

great fabric/tools/equipment

& the most clever store name

apparently

in newport

there is no "i". . .

. . . in kea

but there is black/white

huge polka dot

wrapping paper

mission accomplished

we bought it all
don't bother

when car number two arrived

some of us treated ourselves

to pedicures

& some of us pouted

while we waited for them we had dinner at

the crab cooker

{some of us}

twice

same waitress both nights

& she remembered us

we took the balboa island ferry

which was piloted by an

actor/producer/director wannabe

who took our photo

& used at least four fake accents

on the five minute float

he was awesome

we went to take a look at

the newport temple

it was beautiful

but our real destination was

the orange county marketplace

{fancy name for swap meet}

we shopped . . .

. . . & shopped . . .
. . . & ate carnitas & churros . . .
. . . & got sunburned

& had a great time

we loaded up our haul

& were almost ready to head for home

but . . . inspired by this blog post

we had another stop to make

mission accomplished

this was my view from

newport to riverside

love those cali traffic jams

on saturday late afternoon

one more fuel stop

{for the car} . . .

. . . & one more fuel stop for us

i didn't realize until i got home

there was a definite theme

to my purchases

kinda halloween-ish

{without the orange}