A Good Start to The New Year

I've had a good couple days to start the new year. Which is a good thing! I had a great New Year's Eve party with my neighbors (despite the bitter bitter cold New England Temps). I slept in a bit the next morning, but still got up early to take part in an old New Year's Tradition.

When I lived in the Washington DC area, I used to have a New Year's eve/day routine. For some reason, my then boyfriend would take off to visit friends and family from after Boxing until the 2nd or 3rd of January. I'd be on my own. I'd make Hopping John on New Years Eve to eat on New Years Day. It's an old tradition in the American South that if you ate Hopping John (which is a blacked eyed peas and rice dish), you would have good luck in the upcoming year. New Years Day, I'd get up, watch some TV, clean my house and then make a drive to IKEA to pick up a couple items and have the Swedish Meatball lunch.

Shopping at IKEA on New Years Day is always interesting. Lots of slightly stressed parents, lots of cranky kids, lots of many things. I usually breeze in there with my list of items, check out some things that I saw in the catalog, grab my lunch and head home.

I went a bit over my $30 limit at IKEA, but I did not spend it on anything not needed. I got a nice glass shelf for my bathroom, 2 pillow covers for the pillows I'm using as couch cushions on my love seat (the pillows are an unusual size and I was having a hard time finding covers I liked that were not $40 each), a new hanging lamp for over my kitchen stove,a wicker basket in a size I really needed for an upcoming project and a couple miscellaneous items. I also checked out the new beds they have and drooled over a couple of the metal/iron framed ones. I'd like to get a new bed this year and the two styles I saw where less than $200 for the frames. Maybe not this month, but I will see how I can re-work my budget come March. It's given me an incentive to save additional funds. I can be sooo materialistic at times.

I did make it home in time to get the car unpacked, eat my Hopping John and take a nice nap while watching the Rose Bowl. It was a good way to start my New Year!