...And Now for Something Completely Different!

Fourteen hours and nine minutes from start to finish.
Seven hundred forty-eight miles.
One hundred ninety-nine dollars and forty cents.
Fifty-three ounces of water.
Twenty-two ounces of Vault.
Three CDs.
Three cookies.
Two sticks of gum.

Proving I can still do crazy road trips: priceless.

Wow, that was pretty fun! What does it all mean, you ask? Friends, these are the numbers from my trip to IKEA in Woodbridge, VA, to purchase a loft for my, ahem, cozy room. To illustrate, my trash can is still sitting atop my bookcase because there's nowhere else to put it. Now I can finally settle in and add a few personal touches like my Thinker poster and chalkboard.

The trip itself went pretty smoothly, considering I wasn't sure I'd even take it until I woke up completely unprompted at 8am. When I saw the time, I said to myself, "I guess today's the day," and off I went! I enjoyed myself so thoroughly that when I walked in the great fortress that is IKEA, I had to keep myself from grinning like an idiot. I tell ya (and it's weird for me to say this), sometimes there's nothing like a good ol' spontaneous adventure. My aunt Kate would be proud... in fact, I should call her! This daytrip was particularly special in that I'd never been to IKEA, plus I ended up driving US 29 and Interstate 64 on the way home and was delighted to see the Blue Ridge panorama draped with fog... if only I'd had a camera! Oh, and I almost forgot: I nearly had to leave the loft in Woodbridge because it was an amazingly tight fit in my Camry. I knew it was a risk going in, but thankfully all those trips with Mom, Jennie and Granddaddy paid off with the combined experience of packing/cramming/come-on-just-a-little-bit-more-there-we-go.

That's all for now - just wanted to share my lovely excursion with you. Hope to write soon!