maybe I should stop reading the "Shopaholic" series

I'm on the hunt for a used car. Specifically, a Honda or Toyota under $5k that's still got some life left in it and hasn't been flooded, neglected, or so poorly maintained that the battery has corroded. I've been zealously watching craigslist in hopes of finding my dream car, but nothing has come up yet. (There was a beautiful blue 1970 Mustang listed...yeah...I don't even have a driveway.)

Moving is over - thank god - but the unpacking continues. The living room floor was unearthed yesterday, we may be able to hook up the tv soon. Colette and I rented a mini-van last weekend and went to Ikea - it's probably a good thing that there isn't one in Madison. We had a good time pronouncing the Swedish-esque names of the goods (Lack, Grundatl, Flarke, Bekvam, Aneboda, etc.), eating meatballs with lingonberry sauce, sitting on Nick, Jeff and Herman, and lounging in beds of model apartments. Herman came home with us.

In other shopping news (oddly, it actually was news), Madison finally got an H&M! There are 4 H&M's in Utrecht, which I went to at least once a week when I lived there. Since then, every time I go to a big city (Boston, Chicago, or New York) I've "stocked up" at H&M, that is to say, bought way more than I needed to. I don't know if this means I'll buy fewer things at H&M because it's just a short bus ride away, or that I'll go more often and buy more than I would have on semi-annual trips to Chicago. Whatever the case, I'm glad we finally have one in Madison.

Oh yeah. And the gerbils had babies last night. Seven of 'em.