Five Loves on Friday // Road Trip & Haul Edition!

Happy Friday, friends!  This time last week my parents, Jason, the girls, and I were Kansas City bound!  We enjoyed such a fun lit'l road trip, a full day of shopping after Christmas sales, then ended our day with the main event, driving through our favorite light display at Christmas in the Park!  I've been wanting to put together a haul post of the goodies we picked up during our bargain shopping excursion there, so I thought this Friday I'd share favorites from five fab shops we hit!  

One // Disney Store

The only Disney Store in our area closed over a decade ago, so this is our nearest Disney Store at around three hours from home!  That being said, shopping there always feels like a little taste of Disney World to me!  

Walking around looking at the magic that was marked down in their Twice Upon a Year Sale, I spotted a few cute things I couldn't resist picking up.  First, Lilo and Stitch cookie cutters!  Lilo & Stitch is Little One's all-time favorite so I had to get those!  Then I saw a Minnie proclaimed "Perfect!" foldable bag and women's Minnie socks with such sweet detailing, so into my arms they all went!  But then, that familiar delight of the next handbag I couldn't live without came over me as this sunny, smile-evoking, bow-tiful Minnie Mouse Signature bag caught my eye!  I told Jason, "I'll put everything else (I was going to buy myself) back!  I love this bag!"  My dad had me hand him the things I planned to put back while I investigated the bags to find the most blemish-free beauty.  (I'm super picky about flaw finding before purchasing an item!  Anyone else look through every last one to find the best of the best before buying what they're eyeing?)  When I found just the right one I told my dad thanks for holding the other items, now I was ready to put them back where I'd found them.  He said he would ....but being the awesome dad he is, he headed straight to the checkout with them.  He said, "You must have liked them if you were going to buy them!" and off he went to purchase them for me!  He's so sweet! I'm forever a daddy's girl and his kindness is about reason #1057 for that! ;)  Right along side him was my other favorite man on the planet, my husband, walking up to the register with my new handbag and some cookie cutters for his littlest cutie pie!  *happy sigh!*

A closer look at these fab finds, because I can't resist sharing the sweet deets!...

I hadn't even unzipped and peeked into the purse to spot all those cheery polka dots when I was "wow"ing over the bag in the beginning.  Then my mom mentioned, "Have you seen the inside?"  There I found the sunniest of details, dots galore surrounding two perfect pouches, one for just right for a phone, the other for keeping random baubles from bouncing around in the bag, and a deep zippered pocket.  This large purse was ready to happily hold all my thingamabobs.  How could I possibly resist all that?

This "perfect" foldable bag zips up so compactly and just happens to match my new purse!  When unzipped it makes out into a handy tote with a pocket inside and a zipped pocket on the front.  This would come in very handy later that day.  After forgetting that IKEA doesn't offer bags for your purchases, I was tickled pink to remember I had this in my new purse and we didn't have to juggle our buys out to the car!

Pink is my favorite color, I'm bow and polka dot obsessed, and Minnie is my girl.  All this cutesy fun was destined to be on my feet!  I love that they each have a bit of sheer at the top, just a fun detail making them extra cute.  When I grabbed them I told my parents with a smile, "I'm just a big Disney kid!", but these are in women's sizes so surely I'm not the only gal who thinks they're super cute!

Two // Hallmark

Oh, you guys!  I totally scored at Hallmark!  These magical, musical Disney characters in train cars were originally priced at $29.95 each, with a discounted price of $15.95 with any purchase.  I then got them on clearance for only $7.98 each!  I first considered getting just Mickey and Minnie.  Then thought, okay I'll add Goofy too.  Once I saw that they all connect together and play music, moving in unison when attached, I knew I'd regret it every Christmas if I didn't get them all!  I saw in store that they play two songs.  It wasn't until we got home that Jason said, "They don't just play two songs, each character plays two songs!"  So, pressing the button on each, they can play 10 songs total while all characters move to the music in unison!  This is sure to be one of my favorite Christmas decorations for life!  I couldn't adore it any more!

Three // Bath & Body Works

Bath & Body Works was having their semi-annual sale which meant 4 body washes for the price of one!  Yes, please and thank you!  I actually haven't used either Sweet Cranberry Rose or Pink Confetti before, but they each smelled lovely and were so pretty too! (Sometimes it's the lit'l things in life, like using a body wash that's your favorite color and has the prettiest detailing on its packaging! :))  

Funny story about the hand soap, when I spotted it on the clearance table there wasn't even a tester to check out the scent, but I saw "California" and "Citrus & Sunshine" and immediately scooped it up!  Ever since our two weeks in Cali I'm all about anything that takes me back there!  It was scent happiness at first pump!

Four // Hickory Farms

75% off meant meat and cheese for Jason and sweets for me!  The best of both worlds!  If you happen upon a Hickory Farms that still has some of this pepperminty chocolate goodness left, I recommend picking up a box!  It's scrumptious!  The fancy bow laden box makes pulling a piece out each day feel like even more of a treat too! (I would've shown you a peek in Jason's box, but it may've been nothing more than an empty prop by the time I took these snaps! ;))

Five // IKEA

Just like Disney Store, this is our closest IKEA!  My parents had never been to one, so it was such fun seeing them enjoy it as much as we do on our rare visits!

Here Jason picked up a new bag and a few more of his favorite IKEA glasses. I grabbed some fun straws.  Princess scored a tabletop wooden paper roll holder and drawing paper to use with it.  So much arty fun to come!  Last, but certainly not least (although it's completely missing from the pic - oops, blogger fail!) Little One got the cutest pillow ever!

Since I forgot to include the meow-velous pillow my littlest love brought home, I'll include a pic of her with it and a few other fun snapshots taken in the store...

Much cuter anyway, right?! ;)  Also, as you can see, we take dental hygiene very seriously in our family! ;) *I think that's my favorite pic from the entire trip! Ha!

Bonus Love // Christmas in the Park

Christmas in the Park is the main attraction each time we visit KC at Christmastime!  The drive thru display boasts over 300,000 lights with 175 animated displays!  Lights of animated skiers "jump" over your car, snowmen tip their hands as you pass, toy soldiers tumble when hit by an "exploding canon", and more!  It's truly a sight to see!  For those of you following me on Instagram it was so much fun to share a video with you that night via an IG story!  

Neon palm trees, hot pink flamingos, and a hammock, I think this guy has the right post-Christmas idea!

Thanks so much for visiting today!  Wishing you a fabulous first weekend of the year!

In case you missed it...

Earlier This Week at Chatting Over Chocolate:

Direct link to this blog post:  Chatting Over Chocolate's 4th Blogiversary!

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Linking up with:

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I'd love to come check out your Friday favorites too! ;)