I Like Old Kitchen Crap

 I've always had this thing for antiques & vintage items. Looking at all the wonderful things in my grandmother's house, the amazing matching set of avocado kitchen appliances and my other grandma's. The way cool, if not a bit scary, retro microwave my great grandmother had owned.



Look at the dials!
Chocolate would melt on top of this thing!



At one point, my grandmother had given my mom her old hand mixer, a GE M24 in white. We made countless birthday cakes, mashed potatoes, icings, with that thing. Sadly, one day my NXMIL (now ex mother in law) borrowed it, and tucked it in her suitcase on her way to New Mexico :-(

Since then, I tried no less than three other mixers. A generic Target mixer that couldn't mix anything thicker than water. A Sunbeam that could do most things, but not potatoes. And a Hamilton Beach that would get way hot if I used it for more than a few minutes.

I'd occasionally go to garage sales, cruise ebay & etsy, looking for my beloved GE mixer. Two weeks ago I had the urge to look on Etsy, just one more time. The stars must have aligned that morning; because on the first page was.....My 1974 M24 GE Mixer!!!! BRAND NEW IN BOX!!!

Walls at Ikea Smalland. Barn or Bacon?

It's supposed to look like a cute barn in the country. Maybe I'm just hungry, but I see bacon.

   I love the Ikea playzone (Samlland) and I have fond memories of going when I was a kid. Oh, the ball pit. Good times.
 The real key is to get to Ikea early and never on a Sunday. Get in as they open the doors and you'll be rewarded with a $.99 breakfast by the giant windows. Kid finishes before you? No problem. They have a nifty kid area where the little ones can watch Wall-E on repeat for hours.

   Top off your coffee and head downstairs for the 10-15 minute wait to get your child into Smalland. BE NICE to the people at the desk. They are the gate keepers. After stickers, stamps, bracelets & buzzers, your kid is in the playzone and you are free! For one hour. But that's plenty of time to hit all the sections better visited sans-child (like the Mirror section or the Odd Cactus section)

   After your hour flies by, you check out your child. There's still so many options. You could browse the upstairs staged areas, continue shopping the Marketplace, grab lunch in the restaurant, or grab a super cheap hot dog after check out. Then spend the next six hours assembling your new furniture!