If I Had A Million Dollars... Part 4

Years ago when I was in middle school I fell in love with a Lladró (pronounced yah-droh). Lladró is a Spanish porcelain sculpture company. Their pieces are the most beautiful figurines you'll ever see. Their look is distinctive and breathtaking. Later, when I got married, I decided I wanted a Lladró to celebrate each major event in my adult life. So below is the original Lladró I fell in love with and the subsequent ones I chose as life milestones happened.

Prima Ballerina - Retired


The Happiest Day


Happy Anniversary


One For You, One For Me


Total so far = $233,542.60

I'd also buy us new cars. We totally need them! Eli fell in love with the Mazda RX-8 a few years ago. It's an awesome car! It's a sports coupe, but when you sit inside it it feels like you're in a sedan. And it's got great get-up-and-go!



Total so far = $258,542.60

I want a Chevy Trailblazer. I really miss my Blazer. A lot.



Total so far = $293,542.60

If I Had A Million Dollars... Part 3

Tonight I've been shopping for Brayden. Specifically for toys. I've only made it through One Step Ahead and Toys 'R Us and I'm pooped! But I've racked up quite a bit of stuff! Here's what I bought.

One Step Ahead






(Okay, not exactly for Brayden, but doesn't it look so comfortable! I totally want this next time I'm preggo.)















(All pieces to a closet system!)
















(A nifty little glider)


Total so far = $207,783.87

Toys 'R Us















(Sensory Stepping Stones)














(Zig Zag Zog - check it out here)






Total so far = $210,917.60

The last thing I'm buying tonight is a custom-built tree house. Here's a great site for them. Look at their gallery. How cool! I totally want one for Brayden.

Total so far = $230,917.60

Well, in three days of shopping I've only managed to spend just under a quarter of my million. I'll have to try harder tomorrow!

If I Had A Million Dollars... Part 2

Tonight I'm being romantic in my thinking. I have always lamented that I never had the chance to have a wedding. I was very sad that things were such at the time I got married that I didn't feel that a wedding was a possibility for me. I have always thought that I'd one day renew my vows and have the wedding I've dreamed of (and still do). Every woman deserves to have a wedding!

So here's my dream wedding. I want to get married at Bellingrath gardens. It's just so beautiful! I want to have my dress custom made. I'd use this dress as a starting point.



Isn't the back positively beautiful! I love the way the train spreads from the split back and how the lace overlay is longer than the fabric. I'd have the bust made differently. Maybe a sweetheart neckline with tiny cap sleeves. And I'd wear a mantilla veil with it. I really like this one. Not too much embroidery and I'd wear it closer to my face and not just attached to my hair.



I wouldn't do a big reception. Instead I'd take the wedding party and close family and friends out to dinner at a five-star restaurant like the Pillars or Beinville Club. And my 'wedding cake' would be five tiers of these chocolate-covered strawberries! (Have I ever told you how I ADORE chocolate-covered strawberries? Well, I DO!)



That's it really. I don't want much. Well, except my engagement ring! My engagement ring will be a simple gold band with white gold Tiffany-style settings. It will hold a beautiful 2 ct round sapphire flanked by two 1 ct flawless round white diamonds. Similiar to this ring.



Total so far = $156,989.97 (about $15,000 on the wedding and $35,000 on the ring)

To continue my non-shopping shopping :), I want to go to Europe! I want to take six months and tour all over. I want to re-visit Ireland and actually get to see more of it than just from the inside of a bus. I want to see the Blarney Stone and the Dennis Tavern. I want to go to Italy! I want to see the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican and Pompeii and Venice! I want to go to France and visit the Louvre and the Eiffle Tower. I want to go to Spain and Germany and Switzerland and Israel and Jerusalem (okay, not exactly Europe) and so many other places! (I guess we'll go to Japan, too for Eli's sake :))

Total so far = $206,989.97 (I'm traveling in style!)

Well, that's all for tonight. There's actual shopping! to be done tomorrow. Clothes! Toys! Home decor! Come back and see.

If I Had A Million Dollars...

Erin tagged me and asked what I would do if I had a million dollars. I have decided to forgo all the traditional responses like pay off debt or help family or build savings. In this post, with this imaginary million dollars, I'm going SHOPPING! I'm going to shop slowly over the next few days and post each day with the new things I'm going to buy.

First order of business would be to build a house. Okay, I know it's not exactly shopping, but it falls in the same fantasy realm for me. So anyway, here's the house I want to build.


Eli hates it. Says it's too big and needs to be two floors. I don't care. If I could, I'd build it. Only thing I would do is extend the 'porch' on the back of the house and make it a big deck with French doors leading from the master bedroom. Isn't it great? I'll of course be using all the finest in materials - stainless steel appliances, induction stove, granite, expensive tile, beautiful hardwood floors - you name it.
Total so far = about $100,000 including cost of a nice big plot of land in Tennessee (we're building it ourselves)

Now that I have a house, I need things to go in it. So I'm going house shopping! I'm starting with our bed. We desperately need a new one. So I'm buying this - my dream bed. A Sleep Number 9000!

While I'm buying beds, Brayden needs a new big boy bed. I'm thinking this one.

How awesome is that?! It has three beds! I see sleepovers where no-one has to sleep on the floor.
Total so far = $106,989.97 (in my million-dollar-fantasy world, tax and shipping don't exist)

That's all for tonight. I'm sleepy. Check back tomorrow for installment two!