Ding Dong - Your Furniture Is Here!

Friday was quite the exciting day for us! A couple weekends ago when we went to Olympia and found a really great furniture store there called Furniture Works. They carry a really interesting mix of used, consignment, and new furniture pieces. We really just popped in to see what kind of stuff they had, and while at first we weren't super impressed, I later heard Glenn calling my name asking me if I liked something. Now, when I hear Glenn ask if I like something, it means he really likes it and he RARELY ever mentions liking anything so I come running. Sure enough, he found this absolutely stunning MCM buffet table/credenza. It had beautiful, simple lines along with amazing wicker front doors, leather door pulls, shelves and drawers inside, and a black laminate countertop - so indicative of that era. I was in love instantly, and obviously so was Glenn. We asked if they delivered and upon confirmation that they did we pulled that price tag right off. It was ours. Plus, it was a great price.
We also picked up another piece. I have been looking for a desk to refurbish for my craft room for quite some time. Nothing has really been eye catching enough for me. My biggest problem is that all the desks I truly like are MCM pieces with beautiful wood like Teak or Walnut. There is no way I can cover that kind of wood up with paint. I don't want any wood tones in my craft room so if I was going to get an MCM desk, the wood had to either be really ugly or in such bad shape that it couldn't be refinished. Lucky for me, this desk that we found had hideous wood! Who knew I could get so excited about a particularly ugly wood on an otherwise beautiful piece?! Since it fit my criteria, the desk was going along for the delivery ride as well. It was also a great price, and what made the price even better was that we got the awesome matching chair thrown in for free.
Not only did we get those two (technically three) pieces delivered on Friday but we also got our new couch!!!! We have been absolutely DYING for more seating for the longest time! Unfortunately we are extremely picky when it comes to couches. For starters, it absolutely positively MUST be modular. After having a modular couch, there is no way you can go back to something static. There couldn't be any heavy tufting, although if it were just me it would be all over the place. It also needed to be very heavy. We didn't want the pieces to slide apart from each other. Another huge rule for us is no leather. Yuck. We prefer microfiber for a number of reasons. We wanted a great color, and I was particularly looking at dark gray, Glenn didn't really seem to care. Finally we just wanted it to be modern and contemporary without looking overtly so, timeless if you will. We found the perfect sofa at Macy's. I'm pretty sure I was in love with it well before we got the house, but I knew it had to be ours. It's crazy comfortable and was pretty much exactly what we wanted. We let the idea of it stew and simmer for quite a while before we were certain it was the couch for us. We even measured!!!! We never measure anything. We tend to be impulsive and just make things work anyway. Obviously it was the perfect fit for us and we had it delivered Friday.

YAY! So many new things, it was like Christmas morning! If I get some more time I will do a more detailed post of all our new furniture. It was absolutely amazing how our house went from minimally bare to warm and cozy in a matter of hours. Now the whole family can sit down on the couch and relax together in front of the TV once again.

A Month On the Job: A Review

It's been about a month since I first started my job at Next To Nature. You might be wondering how I like it and how it has been working out for us. Well, let me tell you!

The People: I work with some really great people. I feel totally comfortable around them and feel like I can be myself. The two managers have been with the company for a long time and are so knowledgeable about EVERYTHING that has to do with pet nutrition. They amaze me. Everyone I work with is kind, friendly, and fun to be around. Plus, we all seem to have a pretty good time together.

The Environment: Working at NtN is pretty low key. No one expects me to know everything about everything right away. It's also pretty low stress so learning things that seem complicated to me aren't overwhelming. I don't ever feel stressed on the job and I never have to worry about taking my work home with me, like I often have at other jobs.

The Schedule: I'll admit, scheduling hasn't been ideal. When I was given my initial schedule, I was less than thrilled. I was only working three days a week and I was working from either 11 or 12 until closing, which is 7. It kind of sucks to be home when Glenn is not and for him to be home when I am not. It was just a training schedule, so I was okay with that. Then I got what is considered our semi-permanent schedule. I was pretty much working the exact opposite of Glenn. I was really upset the day I got that and didn't really know what to do! They gave me a lot of hours, nearly full time, but that meant I would get to see Glenn for maybe 2-3 hours a day! Finally I just decided to be assertive and let my manager know that the schedule was not going to work for me and could we work anything out to make it better. Through the kindness of my coworkers, shifts were moved around and we came to a compromise that, I think, made everyone happy. Phew!

The Discount: Yeah, I get an employee discount and it is pretty awesome. Just another excuse to spoil the puppy!

Overall, you can tell I really like my job. I may not be full time, but that is okay. It gives me lots of time to work on the house and do errands/chores/etc. It is really nice to be doing something productive again and getting out of the house. I feel like I have it pretty nice. I'm a lucky girl!

Some More Curb Appeal

According to HGTV, it's all about the curb appeal. It's been a little over two months since we have lived in our wonderful home and we want it to look like people actually live here, you know?
Our first step was buying these adorable green Adirondack chairs from Lowe's. They're plastic and not wood because people ask like $100+ for wood ones! Crazy! Anyway, that wasn't going to fly and the chairs at Lowe's were not only very comfy but they are recyclable and cheap. If I remember correctly they are $17. After enjoying a couple lazy afternoons soaking up the sun in them we (well I) decided that there needed to be a cute little table in between them. You know, for setting drinks on and having potted plants on!
On one of our three trips to IKEA for our pantry we picked up a cute metal and wood table that fits perfectly in between them. I think that is also when I picked up all the pink pots that sit on top of it. It looked like we were pretty set.

Obviously we still have a long way to go because the entire other side of our deck/patio/porch/whatever you want to call it is barren. However I have really enjoyed container gardening lately and have had pretty decent success since moving in. The plant that I have faithfully carried with me that I received as a gift from the Sunnyslope Parent Club is absolutely flourishing in the house. It sits in the kitchen and doesn't really seem to get a lot of light, but I am pretty sure it has grown at least a few inches and sprouted a ton of new leaves. I get really excited when a new leaf pops out. Anyway, I wanted some more greenery out front, as if everything outside isn't green already.
When we went to the Olympia Farmer's Market a couple weekends ago I picked up a lovely hanging basket packed full of fuschia. I think there are like 3 or 4 different kinds of it on there. It really is a pretty little thing. We're still getting used to each other and I am still learning its wants and needs but it seems to be doing well in its happy little spot on the porch. Now I want more!

Love to all!

A Dining Table of Our Very Own

In our entire married life, Glenn and I have never owned a true blue dining table. At the condo in Phoenix we had the big giant island that functioned as one, but it was never a proper table. In the Seattle apartment, well that apartment was 450 square feet so our coffee table was our dining table. Now we have this big house in Tacoma that needs some furniture! There is actually a room dedicated to dining, also something we have never had before.

Almost immediately after we put the offer in on our house back in February I began nesting. Yeah, that's right, I was nesting without actually having a house to nest in. I started planning out room designs and decor in my head and bookmarking things online that I thought would be great for our house (that we didn't have yet). The dining room threw me for a bit of a loop though and I didn't quite know what to do.
Over time, Glenn and I have developed a bit of a fondness for antiquing, particularly in the midcentury modern category. Here in Tacoma we have an amazing group of antique shops, two of which specialize in MCM. On our first trip to Midcenturyville we saw a stunning table with 4 chairs and a leaf by Broyhill from the Brasilia collection. Let me share with you a brief history of that collection, because it is part of what endears me so much to the table:

The Brasilia line by Broyhill was created in 1962.

The signature lines and waves of Brasilia furniture were inspired by the distinct architecture of the city of Brasilia, the capital of Brazil.

The city of Brasilia was planned and developed between 1956 and 1960. When viewed from above, the city’s shape resembles a plane or bird, which is mimicked on much of Broyhill’s original fabric and tiles. Most of the city’s architecture was the vision of a man named Oscar Niemeyer. Some of his most notable works are the Palacio de Alvorada and the Cathedral of Brasilia (Pictured). These both feature clean lines and simple, modern design. What stands out most about the architecture is the use of hyperboloid structures, as in the cathedral and it’s parabolic columns, which are said to represent two hands moving upwards towards heaven. This particular building is one of Brasilia’s most recognizable attractions, due to it’s unique design and grand scale.

When viewing the architecture of Brasilia, it is clear to see the inspiration in the design of the Broyhill Brasilia line of furniture. This line was first featured at the Seattle World’s Fair in 1962 representing the city of Brasilia. These unique pieces were created throughout the 1960’s in various forms.

As you can see, that table has some great history. However, we weren't sure that the table was the right one for us, and at the time that we saw it, we still didn't have our house. Since we were still living in Seattle at the time we were also exploring some other vintage shops in the neighborhood. Nothing really stood out to me, but then we found an awesome store called The House in the Magnolia neighborhood. They too were dedicated to MCM furniture. They had some stunning pieces and I fell in love with a table they had there too! It was very similar to the table at Midcenturyville, but it was only the table. We were cool with that because it meant we got to play around with style and be creative with chairs. We weren't quite ready to make the purchase, but a couple weeks later when we were and we went back, the table was gone. I was actually pretty upset about it, and I will admit that I pouted. Embarrassing, I know, but I tend to do that.
Anyway, time went by, I got over it, we got the house, and we still didn't have a table. I search Craigslist every day to see what they have, but I have never really been smitten with anything. However, I did notice that every now and then that table from Midcenturyville would pop up. It was also getting cheaper too. Now, we weren't holding out for a cheaper price or anything, I think we just had a fear of commitment. Also, we were waiting until our living room was finished before purchasing a table since our living room furniture was currently residing in the dining room.

Finally this past weekend Glenn and I came to a consensus that this table was clearly meant to be for us. Somehow an amazing table had not sold in all this time. It was like it was patiently waiting for us to finish our construction so it could have a room of it's own in our house. Glenn emailed the owner of the store and asked her if we could pick it up Monday night and she agreed to meet us at the shop. We grabbed a UHaul van and picked up our table.
I think it looks so beautiful in our home and I cannot wait to decorate around it. It's such a stunning piece and it feels perfect. Now I just have to figure out a paint color that we both love. As you can see, we have a lot to choose from and it isn't easy. It's all good though, we're just excited to have seating indoors for now!

A Good Old Fashioned Milk Delivery

A short while ago Glenn noticed that our neighbors had an interesting little box sitting on their front porch. After a short investigation he discovered that the box was actually a cooler delivery box for Smith Brothers Dairy. I thought that it was just adorable and I had to have one of my own.

Since I stopped drinking soymilk (I just get tired of it after a while) I've been drinking regular milk again. I've tried a few different brands like Lucerne and Darigold but Smith Brothers is my absolute favorite. Call me crazy, but I can definitely taste flavor differences in 2% milk and I have my favorites. Anyway, Glenn set up an account for us so now every Tuesday we get a 1/2 Gallon of 2% milk and a Quart of chocolate milk delivered every Tuesday morning.

My only disappointment is that our milk does not come in glass bottles. How charming and adorable would that be? Oh well.

Rally wasn't quite sure what was going on with this and he could not figure out why this box was now sitting on our porch.

CSA Share Week 9

Ok, well I am a little more ahead of it this week than I was last week, so that is good I suppose. Glenn was kind and thoughtful enough to take the picture of all of our produce while I was gone at work. I love all the thoughtful things he does, even if he thinks they don't mean anything.

This week's haul looks pretty awesome to me. We have the usual unidentified "lettuce" and "greens", along with carrots, summer squash, green beans, broccoli, fennel, raspberries, blueberries, and eggs. Everything looks pretty yummy this week. I'm not really keen on the squash, but I will give it another try. After all, it is a slightly different color than the last squash I tried. The carrots are about 3 times the size of the first batch of carrots we got a few weeks ago. I am really excited for green beans and broccoli. Those are two veggies that I will never get tired of, especially when they are super fresh.

Because last week's share was a little on the small side and we have been super busy over the past week/weekend we haven't really been able to eat much of it. The delicious raspberries have served us well as a quick snack. The eggs have not had their usual hard boiled treatment yet. We had some salad the other night and the lettuce was very delicious and had a great texture but the "greens" I did not like. They tasted too bitter and dirty. I don't understand the fascination some people have with "greens" because I find that most of them just taste downright nasty. The fava beans, shelling peas, squash, and cauliflower have all remained untouched. I really like cauliflower but we are hesitant to cook it because of how gross it smells when you do! Maybe we can try roasting it in the oven and see if that works. I guess we will find out!

That's it for this week's CSA share post. I hope that everyone is doing well and enjoying their summer. We finally seem to be having one here. We've had practically a whole week of 70's to 80's temperature now! Love to all!

CSA Share Week 8

Well this is going to be short post because I don't feel like writing it. Also, I don't really have much to say.

This week's share contains lettuce, greens, eggs (even though I forgot to put them in the picture), raspberries, cauliflower, squash, fava beans, and shelling peas. The lettuce and greens look a little sad in the picture because I didn't get a chance to take a photo until tonight. We have been pretty busy.

Last week our share was pretty good. I actually ate a little bit of everything! Since I don't typically like squash, Glenn decided to try a different way of preparing it and he threw it on the grill. It tasted pretty good, but I really don't seem to like the texture of squash so I ate a few bites and gave the rest to Glenn. We haven't done anything yet with the cauliflower so maybe we will combine it with this week's and do something with them. The fava beans were interesting. Neither of us have had them before so I had no idea how to cook them. I did a quick Google search and decided to saute them with some olive oil and salt and pepper (after we removed the beans from the pods of course). They were very large beans similar in appearance to lima beans but they taste much better. I actually liked them very much so I am looking forward to cooking them again this week. The cherries and raspberries were very good. I ate a carton of raspberries and put the second two cartons in a batch of muffins. The eggs all got hard boiled as usual and were either eaten whole or in egg salad. The lettuce and chard were both good but the chard got a little wilty and bland.

Obviously I am very late on this post, as well as last week's so hopefully I can get on track again soon. We have had a lot going on around here and this Friday we will have even more going on! I will report back soon. Stay tuned for a few posts on some interesting changes around the house. Love to all!