We had to wake up early (6:00 a.m. on a non-school morning is way TOOOO early) to pick daughter #1 up at camp. She had spent the week at Warren Willis United Methodist camp. The kids were singing songs they had learned and they had a little service before everyone went home that morning. After the service, we loaded up the car and headed back home. Along the way, daughter #1 had to stop to use the restroom. We were on a stretch of interstate where there are not a lot of exits and the rest stops were closed while being rebuilt (not nice!). So at the next exit, we saw the normal McDonalds, Burger King, signs and got off. They were about 3 miles down the road (groan!) but when nature calls. We started seeing signs of civilization and then my heart started racing!! I knew where we were - we were in my Mother Land! The Shops @ Wiregrass!! I had heard about it. I had read about it. But I had never made the 1.5 hour trip there to shop.
NOTE: I am a rookie blogger and yes, this shakes me to my core, but I will have to ask my mother how to get my photos bigger so please me patient with me!!
So, after breathing into a brown paper bag for a few minutes, we found this big, beautiful Barnes and Noble. All personal business was taken care of, Sunshine State Reading books and a travel book were purchased, and then we decided to walk around and then eat. Now, mind you, this is an outside mall and it is 90+ humidity. Something to know about me, I HATE the heat and have lived in Florida pretty much my entire life. I was hot but was determined to shop so we forged on. My girls are old enough to go into a shop or two on their own so we split while they went into their favorite clothing stores and my husband and I hit Pottery Barn to look. I HONESTLY did no go in with an agenda (and I am appalled you could have thought that!!). We have recently decided to not sell our house, make the most of what we have, and make the house work for us. Therefore, I have started a list (currently 12 pages long!!) of "things" that we need to do. Some huge, replace the dock and boat lift, and some minor, have the carpets clean. So I am "redoing" (air quotes) each room in the house one at a time. I am addicted to Pinterest and reading other blogs, so I have 1,000s of ideas and am excited to implement them, but I digress. Back to PB, that store can take my breath away. I love the displays. Now, please bear in mind. I have a fantastic husband. He is a fantastic husband and father, everyone loves him, and he likes to entertain however, he will protest my plans (until he screams uncle), will always roll his eyes, but always helps me clean up!! He is very patient with me and does in the end, appreciate a nice home. It just usually takes a lot of mulling and contemplation on his behalf before we can pull the trigger. Luckily, he usually climbs on board. As we are walking around, I am looking for comfy chairs to go with the PB couch we have (currently using Smith & Hawken outdoor chairs from Target for $25 each/regularly over $200, but the cushions are shot and are not nice to the butt!), he spies a coffee table.
So here's the miracle in actual time:
Hubby: I really like this.
Me: Me too. I would love to decorate it.
Hubby: Would it go in our family room?
Me: Sure, between the couch and the new TV stand we are getting, there is a lot of brown but you could add colorful pillows, throws and lots of fun stuff to all the cubbies.
Hubby: How much is it?
Me: (I look at the price tag) $500.
Hubby: Let's get it.
Me: (Takes a few minutes to respond since I am on the floor) Seriously?
Hubby: Yeah. I really like it. (And goes off to find the salesman).
(Even though I live on the water in Florida, I only like shells on the beach or in moderation in a jar in my bathroom!)We ended up getting the floor model (at a 10% discount) and we walked out the door with it (not literally though!). We also bought some new fry pans at Williams-Sonoma. We REALLY needed some new fry pans. We had received All-Clad for our wedding (over 15 years ago) and desperately needed new ones (I think we should be able to hold showers every 10 years to replace items!!). I went looking for more All-Clad but got talked into buying Calahalon Non-Stick. It was a great deal and they have worked great so far;
OOHHH! Itty-bitty photo but so was the price. An 8" and 10" pan for $59.95 - sweet!
So here's my pretty new table in my home.
NOTE: Don't look too hard in the background. We have moved some furniture around and have several temporary pieces in place until we get our new ones.
So, that is the end of this posting. I LOVE my new coffee table. I LOVE my husband's spontaneity! And I am off to figure out how to decorate it. I see many, many more posts featuring this table in the future!!
