A Whole New Dining Room!

(click on the pics to see them bigger!)

Okay, so we were at the mall getting Frank his Father's Day gift and Sophie told us she had to go potty. We took her over to the nearest department store so she could use the rest room, which happened to be located just past the furniture department.

After taking Sophie to the potty, walking between lamps and tables and mattresses, suddenly I notice this beautiful Arts & Crafts/Mission Style dining room set. Most of you know that I'm a huge fan of this design style so it immediately caught my eye. I stopped to take a look at it and just out of curiosity I glanced at the price tag.

Turns out the store had decided to clearance it, and the set - a table with a leaf, 4 side chairs, 2 arm chairs, a server, and a china cabinet - was being sold all together, as a floor sample, "as is," for nearly 70% off the regular price! With that being said, it was still out of our price range (which was nothing because we weren't looking to get a new dining room table) but it was truly a can't-pass-this-up kind of deal. It was too perfect, too beautiful, too affordable to just keep on walking.

So I looked at Frank with "that look" and we talked about it for a bit. I was on the fence. My legs were dangling to one side, but I was definitely still on the fence. I loved it, I wanted it, I needed it, but I didn't need it. And, hello - we're trying to pay off the credit card, not add to it. I felt very sad leaving the store that night without it, but everytime I thought of buying it I still felt bad because of the cost and frankly I didn't know if we had enough room for it! While I was there, I had the sales lady take measurements for me so I could take them home and think about it. I even looked it up on the internet (and it was even cheaper in-store than on the website!)

I spent all night and all the next day thinking about what to do. Just forget about it? We'd surely be better off, right? But, it was all so... well, you know. I was in love. I thought I'm definitely not going to get it. The easy way out. But I knew it would be one of those regrets I would revisit over and over again forever. I still remember the Mission style sleigh bed for $400 we passed up nine years ago. Then I thought How can I pass this up? It's too good a deal; I'd be crazy!

Now I love the hutch/cabinet I got from the JCPenney catalog years ago but it's not the kind of piece that can withstand the test of time (or more than one or two moves) and really didn't reflect my own personal style. So I didn't feel too bad about replacing it, especially since it looked so awkward against the dining room wall all by itself.

And I love the set of dining room chairs we just invested in not too long ago (about a year?) but nothing went together style-wise. Sure it was all functional and practical and the chairs were lovely, really, but this set that I fell in love with was just utter perfection.

I discussed purchasing/paying off options with Frank and even though he wasn't fond of the whole idea - for completely valid and legitimate reasons - I still wanted it badly. I went back to the store the next day after having measured our dining room to find what the absolute maximum sizes would be for things to fit and to re-measure the furniture in the store.

Another dilemma was that the price tag said No Delivery was available for the set. This could very possibly have been a deal breaker. The furniture was solid wood (read: heavy) and the china cabinet was ENORMOUS. So minivan moving was out. I entertained the option of renting a U-Haul for the day for $20 or so, but there was still the task of loading, unloading, and moving it all into the house ourselves. Ehh, not so much into that.

When I mentioned the No Delivery issue, the sales lady said "Who told you that?" She immediately offered to arrange a reasonably priced delivery through some independent contractors, of sorts, who could have everything in the house the very next day were I to buy it.

Well, that sold me, right then and there. Of course, this was after some rearranging of the chairs and the re-measuring. At that point, I knew everything would fit into our small dining room well and that I still loved it all as much as I had the day before. So...

So long story even longer, this is how I stumbled upon my new dining room set. Everything is happily at home in the dining room as I type and it's even awesome-er (and fits even better) than I'd originally expected. It doesn't feel the least bit cramped and after delivery Frank and I discovered a neat feature on the china cabinet: 3-way lighting with an outside touch mechanism to turn the lights off and on! It's so cool.

...happy birthday to me, huh? ;)

Flowers from Frankie

Frank sent me flowers today for our anniversary...

8 yellow roses and 5 huge calla lilies. :D Aren't they beautiful?

Sophie the Ballerina

Today was Sophie's first ballet class. I wasn't able to go in and watch the kiddies dance but she was beaming when she came out of class and said she's had a good time. Here's the photos of the little ballerina as I promised previously.

(I wish I'd taken my camera with me to the park district; the gaggle of tutu-wearing 4 yr olds walking down the hallway behind their instructor was absolutely adorable.)

She looks so grown up, doesn't she?

Sophie Goes to Blackberry Farm

This blog entry is a little out of order but it's never too late to post pictures, right? These are from Sophie's preschool trip to Blackberry Farm. It was her on last day of school (even though she didn't actually have to go to school). At lunch time, we got to sit with her teacher, Miss Tina, and she played in the large picnic area with all the other preschoolers.

Needless to say, she had a ball.

Taking a hayride on a tractor-pulled wagon!

On the carousel!



Posing on the covered bridge. Very Madison County.

Having a chat with a little bronze kid

while Mommy waits in line for the train ride.

Learning to milk a cow.

A very handy skill to have if you're ever stranded on a dairy farm.

Why doesn't this cow moo?

Patiently waiting for another turn at the udder.

June is here

June is here, finally, although I feel as if it's only a short reprieve from the 6-9 months of winter weather that's either here or just around the corner. So I'm enjoying it while I can. The sunshine and non-freezing temps will be gone again before I know it. (What is this, freaking Alaska?)

I met with Sophie's preschool teacher on Monday for one last parent-teacher meeting. I was disappointed to find out that Sophie won't be attending the same preschool again next year. Instead, she'll be going to Allen, the elementary school that's a few blocks away. While the proximity is nice, I will surely miss the wonderful teachers and students at the Early Childhood Center and the general atmosphere of how things worked there. There weren't any cranky 60 year old retirees-in-waiting there hissing at the kids to stop that, and it was bright and cheery and un-cavelike (*cough*Allen*cough*).

Most of all we'll miss Miss Tina. She was always so understanding of Sophie's particular needs and just loved her to death. Even the teacher's assistant, Miss Ester, was wonderful. Sophie made a lot of friends there and enjoyed going every day, which certainly made it easier on me! I always had peace of mind dropping her off there, knowing she was in good hands. So this coming fall should be interesting.


Good news from the meeting though: Miss Tina thinks Sophie is gifted. There are a few areas that Sophie needs help with such as socialization, speech issues, listening and comprehension, etc, but academically Sophie is incredibly smart. Tina told me that she is the brightest student she's seen in the 5 yrs she's taught at the preschool. Sophie has been displaying writing, reading, and mathematical abilities. She even said that she's at a kindergarten/1st grade level in certain areas. I knew all that magna doodling would come in handy!