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This weekend is proving to be quite the expensive one. I'm making good on my promise to make our new apartment a comfortable, inviting home rather than just another transitional, temporary place. My wallet is begging for mercy. :) It doesn't help that Thursday (Friday for Mike and I) was Valentine's Day. I took Mike out for dinner at a charming New Orleans-style restaurant. I spent about what I expected to for dinner, drinks, appetizers, and dessert, but I still have guilt over forking over so much money for food I could have made at home if I would just put the time in. In fact, I've made jambalaya several times at home so it's a tad pointless to go out and order it somewhere else. ;) Whatever. Mike got to have his oysters. Gross.

For my Valentines gift, Mike bought me a new pair of running shoes and insoles. He was going to buy me a Nintendo DS - something I've been considering buying myself for months now - but in a rare moment of maturity and responsibility, I vetoed the decision in favor or shoes instead. Seriously, the fact that I've gone 22 years without proper insoles for my hob-goblin feet and can still walk is a modern miracle. Actually, I like my feet, but my arches are ridiculously high. I have the feet a sexy stilleto dreams of. Unfortunately I've always been too cheap to buy myself the proper shoes, or better yet, get orthotics so I've been know to have serious foot cramps on occasion. So while Mike's gift might not seem overly romantic for the occasion, it's actually very sweet. :) It still feels really weird to walk with my entire foot supported though. I've been walking on the outside of my feet for my entire life...

And those insoles came in handy yesterday for walking through IKEA for hours. With my new determination to love my surroundings, frugality has been abandoned. I spent nearly 700 dollars in a few short hours... heh. Fortunately, when shopping at IKEA, $700 goes a long way and our apartment will basically be fully furnished once the delivery arrives next week. Our loot from yesterday includes:

• a coffee table and two matching end tables
• a bookcase cabinet with doors
• four kitchen chairs
• four thick cushions
• one large area rug
• two hand-blown frosted glass lamps with beautiful pattern (LOVE THEM)
• one orb lamp (funky as can be)
• three CD storage boxes
• one giant glass vase with 6' willow branches
• one magnetic backsplash for the kitchen with three magnetic spice containers. (So fun)
• various necessities such as screws, hooks, etc.

So I think we did alright for the amount of money we spent. So far we've spent less than a grand on our place and we're already loving it. Our next big purchases are going to be a bedframe with hidden shelves in the headboard, (we already have it picked out and love it) a new duvet and sheet set since our current duvet just got ruined a few days ago, and possibly a new computer table on wheels designed for laptop use while in bed. After that, we'll be done and will have only spent a modest amount. I'm still on the lookout for frames for the prints I've picked out and we're still debating whether we're going to paint the bedroom or not. I finally have Mike on board for the gorgeous blue-gray I have in mind. I've never been the materialistic type and I consider myself to be anything but snotty when it comes to having 'things' but I've got to admit that actually putting effort into my surroundings has had a huge impact on my happiness. I'm starting to feel like the old me again. :)

And now, I have to go spend even more money because I split yet another pair of jeans yesterday. That's five pairs of pants in the last year that I've ripped the crotch out of. I cannot explain it because it really makes no sense. If I was splitting the ass out than I'd assume that my butt was just too big and it was time to give up the chocolate (NEVER!) but it's just the crotch. Maybe I should stop buying cheap pants.

Oh, and I'm very thankful that today is a holiday in Alberta. I've never heard of Family Day, but I'll gladly celebrate it.

Love yah. ;)