Ikea is the Devil's Store

  After a serious amount of time fretting over which piece of furniture I wanted to rest my new (and still unpurchased) television upon, I finally made the decision to make one final trip to Ikea in Atlanta. I have seriously been mulling this purchase over in my head for over a year. In case you can't tell from personal experience with me or just reading this blog, I have a ridiculously hard time making decisions. It's almost a problem. But that's for another post on another day that I'll decide on later.

  Mom and I made the Atlanta voyage a few months back to look around at Ikea and get some ideas. This was not a trip made with the intent of coming home with anything. I finally found the stand that I thought fit best with my style, budget, and living room. Unfortunately, said tv-stand came in different colors, and so, the meltdown began. I was in love with one certain color, but I don't think it would look best in my living room. Mother was quick to point out that I'm renting my house and don't need to plan all my furniture purchases around it since I don't know how long I'll be living there. This is a very valid point, but I see it from the other side. If I don't know how long I'll be living there, it could be for another year or maybe five years. I don't want to have beautiful furniture that clashes with the house for five years.

  Flash forward a few months to March 30, 2012. My dearest friend, Jenna, came along with me. We had three goals to accomplish on this Spring Break Friday: (1) Purchase that dang furniture, (2) eat at the Cheesecake Factory, and (3) Buy some new clothing for ourselves. It saddens me to say that only one of those goals was accomplished.

  We started out with our trip to Ikea. I'm proud to say that I made swift decisions about which tv stand and coffee table I wanted. (Mom, if you're reading this, I would have made you so proud.) Since it was Jenna's first time at Ikea and she has just fairly recently entered the adult world, we spent about +/- 2 hours going through the store. Once we got ready to gather up the furniture boxes, I realized NONE of it would fit in my car. Before you roll your eyes and judge me for thinking it would, you should know that I have a pretty spacious car. So we left empty handed and feeling a wee bit defeated.



  After some high-stress Atlanta driving we made it to the Cheesecake Factory. Knowing that we are going to the beach in a month and going shopping directly after our meal, we decided to get the Lunch portions of our pastas. We'd already decided we were getting Cheesecake no matter what. I'm going to skip the details and just finish with  this: By the end of our meal, we were literally wailing out because our bellies were so full and we were so miserable.



  Next came the mall. We pretty much only cared about H&M and Forever21. After about an hour, we realized NOTHING in H&M would fit us. After about 30 minutes in Forever21, we realized NOTHING would fit us. So we left with the only thing that would fit us after an insanely decadent Cheesecake Factory meal--jewelry.

  I'm not going to sugar coat it, this trip was wildly disappointing. The only positive things we have to say about it is that although our meal induced misery, it was delicious. And me and the bestie finally got to spend some QT together that we'd been needing.

  I'm not even gonna talk about the 2 hour traffic stop that had us getting home at midnight and Jenna having to wake up at 5:30 to work a 12-hour shift at the hospital.....

Who Needs Nashville When You Have These Cakes

   Okay, for reals, I don't really mean that title. I need Nashville. It's calling my name for Spring Break. But let's get serious.

   One place I have to go when we go visit the Bugna's and the Eason in Music City is the Pancake Pantry. It's soooo good! I'll be honest, I'm not a huge pancake lover. I mean, they're nice and all, but that's not typically what I order when I go out to eat. (Even at my fave restaurant, Cracker Barrel.) But if you're going to a place that is known worldwide for their pancakes, you should probably go for those. And, so, I did. I got the sweet potato pancakes the first time I went, and I've never switched it up since. Sure, I dabble in my friends' plates to sample a bit, but I have only fully committed to these deciousnesses. (Yes, I made that word up; no, I don't care that it's not a real word.)

  I am definitely an over user of my sense of touch. Texture is big for me--especially with food. There are some foods that I don't care for the taste but I eat for the texture alone (i.e., bananas). Anyhoo, one reason these pancakes are so divine is their texture. It's so much better than a regular pancake. I can't really describe it, but just know that it's different. In a good way.

  Another reason these pancakes are menu-stealers is the rich cinnamon cream syrup that comes with them. If you forget about the sweet potato deliciousness and the texture fabulousness, this syrup is reason enough to get these pancakes.

   I ravaged the Internet for a copycat recipe, and found this little lovely. I urge you to try it!!

**Notice that after you mix the batter it needs to sit for an hour.
**I used canned sweet potatoes due to a time crunch.
**I changed the syrup recipe a tad by adding some regular syrup as well. That's how it's served at the Pancake Pantry. I tried it both ways, and I definitely like it mixed in with regular syrup.

Okay, here's the link. Go get 'em!
http://sweetpeaskitchen.com/2010/08/17/sweet-potato-pancakes/

Pancake Pantry in Nashville

Their's

Mine