16 IHeart: Shopping with a fellow Blogger!

I have mentioned a couple of times already that I had the pleasure of pairing up with one of my favorite fellow bloggers to do a little shoppin' while she was in my hood.

Amanda from Our Humble A{Bowe}d actually has family somewhat close to where I reside, so when she came to town for a visit, we snagged up the opportunity to meet in person and do a little browsing shopping!

I thought I would share some of our finds for the day.  Because we were definitely inspired.  In fact, I forgot to take my camera out right away since we were so busy just chatting like long time bff's the first half of the IKEA display floor, but when I stopped and saw this, it took my breath away and I remembered I had a camera in hand...

What is not to love about the all white, frosted glass, concealed clothing storage?  Bliss!

While I was oogling this.... I caught Amanda in awe of this...

Her wheels were spinning trying to come up with an at home DIY project to reproduce the amazing light fixture!

We kept strolling and chatting and touching dreamy counter tops, when all of the sudden we were in the lower level of the store.  And that's where I spotted this knit blanket that I would compare to those being sold in the higher prices home stores:

The price is far below what I have seen for something similar, and if I didn't already have an abundance of cozy couch throws, this baby would have been coming home with me!

Moving on a little further is where I completely struck IKEA gold.  And that was in the bathroom section.  I was completely taken by all their new glass storage... it's beautiful I tell ya!

Did any of it make the cut?  Why yes, yes it did.  But more on that in a moment!

A couple other things that caught my organizing eye were these wall hooks, because they are actually pretty sleek and wouldn't take up much wall space at all!

And I had to stop and take in the organizing boxes, which typically force themselves into my cart each trip, but I managed to fight them off this time around.

And that was that!  There was so much more that we stopped to touch and stare at... it is IKEA after-all, and I think it was also our largest time sucker as we spent a couple of hours inside.  

So what made the Jen cut?  

I already mentioned I snagged up a trio of glass bottles, I look at them each time I go so I knew that this time I would be OK taking the plunge.  I put one to use as mouthwash storage:

And another got the decanter topper and is now holding my dish soap {still on a white tray of course!}

Sometimes the decanters work for dish soap.  Sometimes they don't.  I have a good feeling about this one because it has a larger opening, and I may just need to flush it with some hot water every once in awhile to keep a clear passage.  I will let you know how it fairs.

The last glass bottle hasn't been put to good use yet, but i see it as a vase in the near near future.

I also grabbed one of these wooden trays... so much potential and I have the perfect little DIY idea in mind!

And last but not least, one of those pretty glass dishes made it into my yellow bag and to my home.  It's just perfect for holding soaps in my main bathroom!

After IKEA we hopped in the car and cruised over the Home Goods.  Another happy place, where there was so much inspiration and eye candy to be found.  Along with some other "interesting" decor as well!

I love their office supplies, it was one of the first places I stopped to capture a pic:

And the color of this basket storage unit was amazing.  I likey!

Plus, the details on the side really got my heart racing.  So what made the cut from Home Goods?

As I couldn't wait to share, this desk caddy was the perfect find for me!

Next we popped over for a quick run through Marshalls.  I couldn't take my eye off of the crackled glass... So pretty!

And the price on this filing tote made my jaw drop, it was a real bargain.  And SO cute besides!  Too bad I already have enough of these organizing wonders...

I actually left empty handed, mostly because I have to stay frugal and it was right before Christmas.  However, it was chalk full of inspiration which is why I love to go browsing!

The last place we found, after getting completely lost and turned around, was a Goodwill.  Just for fun to see if there was any good finds.  I scored a pretty glass jar that was marked $2.99 for $1.60.  I couldn't wait to get it home and fill it with delish  treats and pop it on my desk.

But then I got home and decided that if I stared at a dish of treats all day while I worked, that I would probably gain weight, so I opted to fill it with pens instead {and stash it on the white tray on my favorite new work station!}.

It was so fun to partner up with another blogger buddy, which is really what the day was all about.  We had oodles of laughs, ideas were swarming and I actually can't wait to get together and do it again!  Wish we lived closer!

Anyone else been to any great shops lately and blogged to tell about it?  How about partnering up with a fellow blogging friend for the first time?  Do tell!