Craigslist Find (One Down, One to Go!)

After a few negative experiences, I had sworn it off for a while. But in the past few months we have found a couple of good things at good prices, sold by good people.
I now have a somewhat renewed faith in Craigslist.

Just last night, we picked up this vintage butterfly chair from a couple in the Italian Market section of Philly. The wife said it was her favorite chair, but the husband didn’t like it. With space in their loft at a minimum, it had to go. And we were glad to take it off their hands!

The frame is in great shape, and the seat is a newer canvas one from Circa50. The only requirement was to give the cover a washing and a good once over with a lint roller (it was coated with black cat hair) – no biggie.

All for less than the cost of a new cover alone! Yay Craigslist!

So, thanks Lillian and Ed! Don’t worry, we promise to take good care of it!

Summer Wind, Shifting Sails

It’s funny how once the weather warms up, my focus so quickly gets diverted from all of our unfinished indoor projects, to all of our unfinished outdoor projects.

One of our recent indoor priorities was to get the kitchen ceiling finished, so we can finally, after almost three years, put in a proper light fixture (we still have a trash-picked floor lamp in the corner of the room). The ceiling is now 80% done… But more on that later! Now, I’d rather think about the back yard!

Lately, I’ve been window-shopping fire pits. I love the feel and smell of a wood-burning fireplace. But since I don’t have one inside the house, gosh darn it, I’ll have one outside the house!

I love the look of a simple concrete bowl…

Solus Hemi natural gas-burning fire bowl

…but these are priced waaaaaay out of our range (at $3500-$4200, whose range is it within?!). I’ve thought about purchasing a bowl-shaped concrete planter or even making our own concrete bowl, but the concrete bowl planters I’ve found online are at least 500 lbs (and are still way too expensive anyway). And I don’t think anything we’d make ourselves would be safely fireproof. Not to mention the mess we’d make.

So, here are the few examples of fire pits on the lower end of the price spectrum…that I actually like…(listed from most to least expensive):

CB2 Sparky

Fire Sense Square

Fire Sense Grilltech Terrace

Fire Sense Urban 650

Landmann Halo

I like the idea of a round shape, since we have so many straight lines going on in the space…but with the exception of the CB2 Sparky (which is actually a tad more than I’d like to spend), the round ones are a bit flying saucer-esque with their tripod legs…and Tim just cringed when I showed him the Grilltech Terrace, so I guess that one’s out. :) I am drawn to the square one, though, with its clearly modern design which distinguishes it from the masses. I am taking suggestions…

And of course, after we decide on a fire pit, we’ll just have to flank it with a couple of butterfly chairs that I’ve been eyeing for so long…right???

Dining Alfresco

All of a sudden it’s summer (or so the weather is telling leading us to believe)! So, this weekend we took the grill out of storage and have been eating our meals outside.

Our first outdoor meal of the season:

Veggie burgers with shoestring sweet potato fries and freshly picked dandelion salad – yum!

Here’s to many more alfresco meals to come!

Eat Your Asparagus-Picking Heart Out

Today, I, like Martha Stewart, braved the rains to harvest asparagus before the tops had a chance to loosen… But let’s be serious folks, the similarities pretty much end there. I didn’t wear cute little wellies, carry a pastel umbrella, or collect the spears in a woven basket. Also unlike Martha, who planted several hundred plants at her Bedford home, we have only three. Therefore, we never get much asparagus at a time. However, it is usually enough for the two of us. Tonight, it served to top off a sweet potato and egg frittata. And it was good, dagnabit! Martha, eat your heart out.

Yes, it is True…

I actually made the bed TWO DAYS IN A ROW!
Believe me, folks, this is quite a feat. It usually looks more like this:

I’m curious whether people make their beds on a regular basis (once they are “grown  up” and don’t have their parents nagging them to do it)…

Mother’s Day Sale and New Magnet Set!

Two shop announcements…

I just added a new magnet set to the shop. These hex signs are based on those found painted on barns near Tim’s beloved hometown in rural Berks County, PA. But we decided to update the color palette a bit.

Also, Mother’s Day is just around the corner, so we have decided to run a sale on our two “Mommy” magnet sets. I’ll keep them at the sale price until Mother’s Day, but just to be safe, I will only guarantee on-time shipment on orders received by April 27th (That’s one week from now).

So, please stop by the shop and have a look see!

The Shadow of Things to Come

Yesterday’s weather was pretty much perfect…a nice break after several days of rain and gray. It makes me look forward to the many meals we will eat outside in the coming months.We were beginning to think that perhaps our asparagus plants had given up the ghost. But alas, we finally noticed a few stalks popping up. Spring has finally sprung!

Here Goes Nothin’…

So, here I am, after going back and forth in my mind about whether or not I should try my hand at blogging again. Last time I tried, I ran out of steam within months. I blame that partially on my personality, and partially on the narrow scope of the blog. That is why I’m not going to start off with specific limitations for this one…and hopefully, it will work itself out organically. Hey, a girl can dream, can’t she?