Picking hydrangeas for the kitchen table.

Wishing dessert never had to end.  Fresh, homemade orange sherbet.

Becoming slightly obsessed with vintage napkins…

Enjoying the silence…except for the gentle hum of the fan.

Oh sofa…I’ve searched & dreamed of you for years.   And now that I’ve found you, why must you be so expensive?

If  I had $5000 to spend on a sofa (which I do NOT), this wool Oscar sofa from Matthew Hilton would be the perfect one.  Thanks to Mrs.  French for posting about it.

While watching 20/20 on Friday night, we saw a piece about a small town east of Detroit that’s in the center of the housing crisis.  Houses here are totally abandoned and going for cheap.  It’s exciting to me though that there are some pioneers that are willing to move in and rehabilitate it.  And they’re able to buy a piece of property for only $100 – $500 bucks.  Here’s a LINK to the original story on the ABC News site.

It also takes me back to my Abandoned Houses post about the Detroit area housing situation.  I’m glad to see that there are some people trying to change this.

So I’m extremely happy to say that I ventured out early this morning to my local Target store “just to see” if they happen to have any of the Orla Kiely stuff in stock.  Even though the date they’re technically supposed to be set up is Feb 15th, it turned out to be my lucky day!  They had a small selection of table linens, kitchen mats, coasters, aprons, dishtowels…and the organizational items.    (See picture at left.)   Unfortunately, what they did NOT have was all of the cute tabletop items.  (Boooo!)  But hopefully those items will be coming in soon.

Meanwhile, the biggest thing to note is that even though they had these items in stock…they didn’t have much left.  I spoke to the sales associate working in the area, and she chuckled as she referred to the Orla Kiely items as “a limited supply.”   So keep that in mind if you’re thinking about waiting.  (I got the last two coaster sets at the store.)

Lastly, here are the two pics of my score!  Yay!!  This definitely made my day!!

Here are two of the coasters I got.  Only $3.99 for two.  (It’s funny that my last post was about coasters!  Before I even had a chance to purchase the felt ones, I found these.  And I couldn’t resist.)

I’ve been looking for a tablecloth for ages…and this one at only $19.99 fits perfectly!

…but there’s a first time for everything.  I’ve never been so proud to be an American as I am right now.  Thanks for bringing back hope to a country that needs it, Mr President.

I’ve been staying at Nick’s apt in Jersey City this past week while I had to work in NYC, and let me tell you that I’ve never been so excited to see Philadelphia tomorrow morning.  I’ll also be excited to wash clothes.  It’s funny the things that make you appreciate (and long for) home.

Checks Cashed, originally uploaded by Paul Lowry.

Hey guys…sorry I haven’t been able to post anything lately.  I’ve literally NOT been at home for the last 2.5 weeks.  Two weddings and now a photo shoot in NYC (hence the white box).  But I promise to try and download some pics from my trip to GA and post something soon.

Okay, so as I mentioned the other day…I spent awhile wandering around the Macys housewares department enjoying Martha’s new line of gadgets & cookware.  It’s the first time I’d seen them in person, and it was all I could do not to buy a ton of cookware that I had no use for.  (I mean…I’m not the cook in the house anyways.  I just decorate things.)

At any rate, I kind of think Martha Stewart may be a product genius.  I honestly think the biggest reason I love her line of housewares is because of the COLOR!  I love that she understands the power of picking the right color.  She directly appeals to that sense of nostalgia of perfect postcard America – robin’s egg blue vintage stoves, cars that look like they were designed to go fast, a tiffany’s gift box.  That woman is a marketing maven.

Meanwhile, I’m jealous of all the bloggers that got to go to a taping the other day.  Martha, if you’re reading this…don’t forget about ME next time.  Philly isn’t that far away for a little day trip.

Thanks to Leah at More Ways to Waste Time and Holly at Decor8 for featuring my kitchen remodel on their blogs today!!   I’m so glad that everyone likes the way the kitchen turned out!!  It was a lot of hard work, but definitely worth it.

It stands to reason that a Home Depot in NYC would have more selection than a Home Depot in Philly, but this morning it was wonderful to be able to experience it in person.  I loved getting to see their wide[r] selection of lighting, faucets, sinks, and kitchen displays.  The sales staff also seemed more knowledgeable.   The store was clean and everything was well lit.  If my local Home Depot were like this one, I’d shop there more often rather than going to Lowes.