Monday, March 30, 2009

Dallas & stuff

This past weekend, Kendall and I went to Dallas overnight for 3 things:

- See Dave Ramsey's "Total Money Makeover Live"
- Ikea
- Sprinkles

Okay, so Dave Ramsey was the real reason we went. The other two stops took a little convincing to get to, but KJ's pretty easy so he was okay to check out these places. As long as we were able to fit in a good steak for dinner after Dave (and check basketball scores), KJ was good to go.

I've been a big Dave Ramsey fan for about 3 years now. I've read his books and listen to him almost daily on the radio. He has really inspired me. (In case you're not familiar with Dave, he's a Christian financial guru and teaches people to live debt-free and how to build wealth. He's on from 1-4p on 970 AM and is also on the Fox Business Network. He's been on Oprah, GMA, and lots of other talk shows.) KJ doesn't get as much Dave exposure as I do so we thought it would be a good thing to see him live and learn some more. It was really, really good. It lasted 5 hours, but was very informative. So glad we went. Kendall recently took a new job so this allowed us to have a weekend to do a quick road trip. We just felt this trip would be good to do as a couple since financial troubles are one of the #1 causes of divorce and we want to do everything we can to avoid financial problems. Plus, once you start living below your means, it just frees up money to be able to give/help others. It's not about becoming selfish. Anyway, it was great and that was the reason we went. Plus, I love to continually learn. I'm definitely the nerd in our family.
Then there was Ikea. For years now I've wanted to go to an Ikea. Then, when the one in Frisco opened, I was thrilled. However, it still took me a while to get time to visit. Let me just say this: It was AWESOME! Oh my word. I want to go back ASAP. It was better than I could have imagined. Even Kendall was a little impressed. He said it was basically a girl's version of Sam's. (Which is funny, bc I love Sam's too.) I bought all of us a down comforter. Some plastic plates and cups for Lola and "the little man" when he gets here. Some cute fabric that I have no idea how I'll get the nerve to ever cut to turn into a project. A fish-shaped ice cube tray for my juice cubes I referred to last summer. A cute bag for picnics. Some Swedish chocolate. A step stool for the kids. Some hooks to hang our bath towels from. I can't even remember what else. And it was all so inexpensive!!!! I really believe I could have furnished my entire house from nothing but Ikea products. I HAVE TO GO BACK.
Lastly, was Sprinkles. KJ doesn't quite understand the appeal of a cupcake bakery. He's not as into food as I am. He was amazed that people were standing in line outside the door to buy cupcakes. I was so pumped to actually be there! I love to see how these cool little places are designed and decorated, what their packaging is like, if the food is even good...(it was!) I take it all in. It did not fail. I bought half a dozen. Somehow though, I only made it home with 4. They were killer! Below are some pics of the last 3. (I sent one home with my parents last night for keeping Lola all weekend. A red velvet. Now that I am typing this, that's kinda cheap to send them home with 1 cupcake when I still had half a box. Now I feel bad.) Owning and running a neat little shop like this would be my dream job. For years I've imagined what my logo and packaging would look like whether it be on crafty things or food -- or both. Isn't that crazy?
Below: (Okay, so this was before I ate the first two yesterday. I got two red velvets, a lemon, a vanilla, vanilla milk chocolate, and a carrot. The color of dots indicate the flavor. They only bake certain flavors each day and the menu is huge. I love the modern dots! So cute.)
Below: The last 3. Actually, as I type this, it's 2 and a half.

Below: Look at the icing! I watched the owner/creator of Sprinkles last year on Martha and she said they take pride in having a neat, smooth appearance of their icing. FYI: You can buy Sprinkles' cake mixes at Williams-Sonoma. Their flavors are limited, though. I've never made one. I did make Sprinkles strawberry cupcakes from scratch for Valentine's Day last year. I got the recipe from Martha's website. The owner shared her recipe for the show. They were very good, but I have to admit: I think my mom's strawberry cake recipe is just as good....)

2 comments:

Cassy Russell said...

I'm glad you saw Dave Ramsey. If you'll remember, my Dave and I took Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace classes through our church, and a year and a half (or has it been 2 1/2?) years later, we are still following our budget and the envelope system.

Unknown said...

Hey!

My husband and I have gone to IKEA twice in the past six weeks getting ready to move into our new house. WE LOVE IT! We went a couple of years ago and have been talking about it ever since. We've got one more trip planned next month. I love all of their organizational stuff. And all the modern, cool, pretty stuff. I'm glad to know we're not the only IKEA crazies.