Happy Halloween!

For a few months now Evie's nickname of the moment has been "B," so when I came across this fantastic costume I knew what she had to be this year. We went to three houses trick or treating this year--four including our own. Evie can say a version of "boo," although she would only say it to me as we walked between houses, and not to the neighbors. That's probably for the best, as that much cuteness might have been overwhelming for someone caught unprepared.



We drove three and a half hours down to Frisco, near Lake Dallas today, specifically to go to IKEA. I've been craving a desk they have, and it had begun to be kind of unhealthy how much I longed for it. After a failed attempt earlier this week to get down there, we finally made it and got the desk, although we came close to leaving without it.

If you've been to IKEA, you know how they have the warehouse section where you pick up furniture. Well, for whatever reason, this desk has to be picked up from a seperate area, after check out, in the "furniture pick up" area. NO clue why. I had to request a slip for it from the information guy in the regular warehouse section. I very clearly said that I wanted the Besta Burs desk in high gloss white. He confirmed the color and printed out my paper. I glanced at it fleetingly--the price matched, yada yada yada, okay off to the check out. We made our way over to the special furniture pick up area, turned in the paper and waited about 10 minutes for them to wheel out the boxes. We signed for them and rolled all our goodies out to the car.

Now this sounds like a fairly easy process, but let me tell you, after a 3.5 hr drive with a one year old, your stress level simply stays at an elevated level. We got out to the car to pack the boxes in--I'd measured from the dimensions given online to see if they'd fit in the Tiguan with the car seat there--supposedly they would. It was at this time that I looked more closely at the boxes that held my beloved desk. Oddly, the boxes had pictures of a tv stand on them--not a desk at all. Huh...that's weird I thought I wonder why they would put pictures of a tv stand on the box of a desk. When I pointed this out to Justin he looked at me blankly and suggested, "It's probably not the desk. It's probably a tv stand."

I guess I was in denial about this possibility because in my mind "DESK" and "TV STAND" do not sound very similar at all, and I wondered how the clerk in the warehouse could have misunderstood--we are afterall back in America, where I can speak English and get things I want. Sure enough, however, after carting the heavy thing back inside with my receipt, it was confirmed that the boxes marked "tv stand" were in fact, a tv stand and not a desk. I am sooooooooooo glad that we caught this in the parking lot and not back at home, after a 7 hour roundtrip journey, nay, quest to get this desk.

The house is still a mess--slightly more put together than an explosion, but I'm making small progress daily. I hope to have pictures to share soon.

Tables!!!

Okay, I could use your opinion. Sometimes I am capable of making quick, decisive decisions, even major decisions. Other times...not so much...

I was looking at DWR and found this table, part of the Cross Collection. It is included in a special sale they're offering for a limited time only (of course) and this more than anything else has prompted me to feel I MUST HAVE A DINING TABLE NOW!!! --Even though if I were to buy a table, I couldn't actually see it until after moving back to the states. The sale is a good one--one worth acting on now rather that later, but I can't help worry that I'm being pressured into making a rash decision. Since I have your attention, I wonder if I could ask your opinion. Here is my DWR table in all its glory. I would order it in the darker finish:

But here it is with the two leaf extensions in:

Here it is from the side. (Just in case that wasn't totally obvious...)

And a detail:

The DWR table has a solid oak base with oak veneer top. I really like its modern yet classic design, the unique legs, and the fact I feel it could serve casually or formally.

But then I began comparing to all the other tables I've come across lately. Here's the Benchwright Dining Table from Pottery Barn that I'm also really diggin'. I like the farm house look and the heavy weight of it. It's made of solid birch and poplar and has an unfininshed look to it.

Here it is with its leaf extensions in...

Here are details of the finish, etc. I think the wood is maybe even more in keeping with what we already have, but I'm not totally sold on the "worn in" look. Great for casual, tablecloth required for formal I think. Still, it looks super sturdy, and it wouldn't show wear and tear as much because it would just continue to add character...

Then here's one that gives the farm house look, but is a bit more refined...

And finally, the Manchester Dining Table from ZGallerie. It's made of cherry veneer over "engineered wood" and the base is of "select solid woods." Hmmmm....

So what do you think? The sale ends at DWR on March 18.

Odds and ends

Just a few pictures I've been meaning to post. The first three are my finds from our trip to Trier last week. Was that last week?? I can't believe Christmas is tomorrow. The magnet, very roughly translates to "I've been on a diet for two weeks and have lost 14 days." The coasters are also from Trier. I LOVE the one with "wine stains."

Then there's my infamous Pottery Barn modular linen tiles. I have two hung together to the left of my desk and the other four above a bookself. Now I just need to find things to pin on them...

Julia time!

On Saturday Evie and I had a Julia day! For living a little more than a block away, we can sometimes go for weeks without seeing eachother. We went to Kaiserslautern to visit the H&M there and because Julia had found a review for a Thai food restaurant in the area as well. Any place that doesn't have 37 different kinds of schnitzel on the menu is worth trying!

We found the H&M without incident, although the parking way atrocious. The store is located in an outdoor pedestrian shopping area and the nearest parking lot, while conveniently only about a block away, is less conveniently packed to the brim, and European sized--meaning cars 1/2 the size of our Corolla fitting into spots 1/3 the size of the Corolla. We finally snagged a spot and after feeding Evie in the car, were on our way.

At H&M I found some mittens for Evie. The pink pair above will be for this winter, and the other (what kind of animal is that? Kangaroo? Rabbit? Long-eared Bear?) was just too cute to pass up, so I bought a pair that should fit her next winter. I also found a pair of chunky knit mittens for myself and a scarf in the most beautiful peacock blue.

After H&M we returned to the car and put the address for the restaurant into the GPS (YAY for GPS!) We drove to a closer spot, the street now being more deserted as the stores had begun to close. We'd gone less than a mile and by the looks of it, the restaurant was located right where we'd just been. As we meandered back through the streets on foot with no restaurant in sight, I sheepishly realized that the address had been reset for H&M (BOO for human error with GPS!). Once we figured this out, we recalculated and found the restaurant with little trouble. You can see above, our highly sofisticated baby navigating system. I can see it now, the day when strollers actually have built in GPS. Oh boy.

Evie "sat" in my lap once we were seated; she was getting tired of being in the car seat and wanted to be closer to the action. It was at this point, while Julia and I were perusing the menu, that Evelyn decided to provide some...ahem..."music" to accompany dinner. Also at this point, I realized that I'd forgotten the Tooty-Pooter's diaper bag in the car. Oops. Rookie Mom Mistake No. #12: You think that just because you've recently changed the diaper, there won't be need of another diaper in the immediate future. Lesson learned. We made it through dinner, but we were hurried and took half of the meal to go. Despite being rushed, I really enjoyed eating out--I had the Pad Thai Moo, and it was delicious. I'm so grateful to have a friend like Julia who is willing to hang out with someone who poops during dinner (Evelyn not me!!) and lives life in cycles of 2-3 hours (Me, because of Evelyn).