Don't take life so seriously. No one gets out alive anyway.

This is from a church sign Beth and I saw. A church sign. How awesome is that?

Today is day 1 of NaBloPoMo. Mainly what this means is that I am insane and decided to post every day this month. Every single day. Yes, I gave into peer pressure. Okay, no one actually pressured me but there were shiny banners and I succumbed to temptation.

Anyway, my weekend was awesome. I use the word awesome a lot. You may notice this. Do you know why that is? Because I grew up during the eighties and adore Barney on How I Met Your Mother. He uses the word awesome often. He also refers to things as being legendary but I'm trying to resist that one. Beth picks up mannerisms from our friends. I quote television. Sometimes I quote television shows that haven't been on for years. Such as Star Trek: TNG. It's very sad.

Beth picked me up Friday and we went to Minneapolis to the Best! Restaurant! Ever! I did have the Bludgeon of Beef. I also stole from the restaurant. I am so ashamed. For some reason I decided that I absolutely had to have the mini Coke and Diet Coke bottle that Beth and my refreshing beverages were served in. I am using them as small vases for my fake Gerbera daisies. They are quite cute, actually.

Beth (and Liz at one point (as I am sneaking the empty bottle into my purse)): Dana, I'm pretty sure you don't have to steal them. I'm sure they just recycle them.
DM: It's more fun this way.

I may not have actually said that but I was thinking it. And yes, I am a dork.

After Manny's, we went over to Beth's mom's house for a little while. Neither Beth or I are quite sure why but we did get to pet the dogs and cats and chat with her mom. Then it was off to Beth's for the begin of the exciting weekend o'scrapbooking.

Some notes about scrapbooking, for those of you not in the know. What you do is you take pictures and then apply them to albums. But not photo albums because those will ruin your pictures. No, you apply them to special albums which are archival safe. And you also can use stickers and embellishments and lots of other cool stuff to make your pictures look awesome and tell a story.

Do you know what the most important part of scrapbooking is? The pictures. And yet, I do not have any developed. I'm working on my Portugal album (note that I went to Portugal in 2005 and it is now 2007. Almost 2008). Not having pictures makes this a little difficult. But I did make some pages. They're pretty cool looking. They would probably look better with pictures.

Saturday Beth and I decided that we needed to go through a rite of passage that every one must experience at least once in their life. We went to IKEA. Beth needed frames (because she develops her pictures) and I had heard of the wonders of IKEA from Keem so we journeyed to Bloomington or wherever the Mall of America is located.

IKEA is roughly the same size of a small air terminal. And it is filled with stuff. Glorious stuff. Inexpensive stuff. Stuff as far as the eyes can see. This was probably the most fun I have ever had in a store in a long time (I worked 10 years in retail. In a mall. At Christmas time. I don't really like shopping that much. It stems with that whole not really liking people. Shopping is great but unfortunately you have to share the store with other people. That's annoying). We're not really sure how long we were there. It was sunny when we went in and dark when we left. They have these really cool shopping carts that have wheels that spin in all directions so the cart smoothly turns the way you want it to go, instead of locking its wheels and laughing as you try to push it along. It almost felt like I was dancing.

Later on, of course, when Beth and I were in IKEA overload and laughing at the silliest things, we began to feel that we were drunk. The cart helped to encourage that thought. When you find yourself spinning around in circles in the middle of a store, there is probably some sort of drug involved. Maybe they put something in the Swedish meatballs.

Eventually we found the sign for the checkout and headed that way, only to be confronted by a gigantic warehouse. And, fortunately, a bench.

Beth: How long are we going to sit here?
DM: Until my feet stop hurting. So maybe next year.

I bought several frames and a lamp and some other stuff. Beth also bought stuff. Stuff is good.

More on my exciting weekend tomorrow! I know you can hardly wait!