Little Brother to the Rescue!

Can I just start off by saying there are not enough hours in the day?

I left my apartment at 11:00 am this morning and am just now able to sit down, relax, and blog at 10:00 pm. Sure, I was able to get a lot accomplished, but what a day!

It all started at Ikea where I was on the hunt for a desk replacement.

I took my time surveying my options and concluded that a desk really wasn’t what I needed for that space. That ‘desk’ had not been used as an actual desk since I moved in two years ago. It had become a disorganized storage space and after a couple of hours of exploring I decided a bookcase would be a better alternative.

I found this gem of a bookcase and fell in love.

Plus, the price was right up my ally.

Major upsides to shopping by yourself – you get to take your time, you don’t have to worry about the other person being bored, and all decisions are 100% yours.

Major downside to shopping by yourself – no one is there to left the heavy boxes for you.

As soon as I found the box for the bookcase I knew there was no way it was fitting in my car. Luckily, my little brother just happened to be in the Orlando area and agreed to help me get the bookcase home. Sweet!

I wasn’t hungry when I had left my apartment earlier that morning, but knew I would become hungry while shopping. Instead of wasting money at a food court, I packed a lunch for the day.

Ikea’s food court came in handy. Once I reached the food court I was more than ready to eat. It was nice to be able to sit, eat, and mentally recap all my furniture options. Sitting down and taking a breather really gave me the perfect time to make and stick with my final bookcase decision.

For lunch I had packed a wrap filled with hummus, tabouli, cucumber, and arugula.

On the side, a serving of TJ’s Peanut Butter Pretzels.

La Beverage

And a Carrot Cake Scuffin to end the meal on.

Nest stop: the outlets!

Where some damage was done.

Since my brother was helping me with the book case, I offered to meet him at Menchis for frozen yogurt – my treat.

I’ve been trying to cut back on self serve fro – yo. I realized I had been eating it at least twice a week the other month. This was not good for my bank account or my waist line. Self serve frozen yogurt is suppose to be a treat, not an everyday occurance. And let me tell you, after not having it for 3 week, the frozen yogurt actually tasted better than before.

My brother ended up being a life saver! He was able to lift the box with little to no effort and his truck was the perfect box transporter.

Ben and Ashley also made the perfect bookcase assemblers. I believe they had the bookcase assembled in 20 minutes tops!

Out with the old…

In with the new..

I still need to put everything in the shelves, but so far so good! I really like the bookcase and believe it fits the space perfectly.

For dinner, Ben, Ashley, and I invited ourselves to Anthony and Kelly’s to grill out.

Kelly is in Miami for the weekend, so it was really only Anthony’s place for the night.

We came bearing meat.

I’ve been craving steak lately and what better time to enjoy steak than an evening with friends?

I don’t cook steak often – or ever really – so Anthony told me to poke them with a fork and marinade them with the A1and Soy Sauce.

While the steaks grilled I had a couple pita chips with hummus that Ben had brought with him.

I also quenched my thirst with a beer.

The table’s set and ready to go.

Steak, steamed green beans, and roasted sweet potatoes. Yum!

My plate

Everything was delicious. Sometimes a girl just craves a good steak and I was very happy to have that craving satisfied.

Thanks for letting us invite ourselves over Anthony! Kelly – you missed out!

I have an early 14 miler planned for the morning. Let’s home for cloudy skies and an unexpected cold front. A girl can dream, right?

Good night!