coffee tables

what is it called when you are really looking for something you can never find it...but when you aren't looking you see it everywhere?

i guess it's not really true that i haven't always been looking for a coffee table, i suppose i have.

it seems the majority of the furniture in my house is a stand-in until something better comes a long or i can afford what i really want. 

lately i have felt like i live in the smallest house in the world.

this is largely due to the fact that i work from home and rarely leave the house for anything other than supplies and food and to mail my packages. 

it is also a pretty small house to begin with, so there's that. 

but my dining room is in fact my studio and we just don't eat there anymore.  a decision i made when i grew tired of turning it into a studio every morning and turning it back into a dining room every night. 

so rather than moving to a bigger house (something i do dream of mind you) i have decided to tim gunn-it. (make it work) 

right now we 3 settle into the family room every night to eat in front of the tv.  we watch american ninja warrior and have a pretty good time of it. 

however...

 

we sit on the floor on pillows not designed for sitting on, and we don't have a rug on the floor bc cats pee on rugs so they are being stored until all our cats die (half kidding), so we sort of slide around a lot.

fiona and i are squeezed together, knees clacking, in front of a WAY too small coffee table, elbows banging into each other. 

mike is practically on the other side of the room hunched over a stool.

it's not ideal. 

but it's not the end of the world and could be considered white people problems and i get that but at the same time life is short and you should be comfortable. 

so i figure it's time for a new coffee table and maybe some leather poufs or something.

leather because duh, it's leather and leather is awesome and pretty impervious to spills and farting. (mike!)

but that's the easy part.

the hard part is finding a coffee table that doesn't eat the room but will fit us all comfortably around it.

that doesn't cost a fortune. 

and i have looked around in the stores...the online ones..

west elm, cb2, crate and barrel, wisteria, serena and lily, blah blah blah.

HATE! 

 

when i went to my inspiration files (aka pinterest) i noticed that all the tables i seemed to like best had an organic feel to them, were relatively low to the ground, simply designed and a lot of them were round...

 


don't get me wrong, i like all sorts of coffee tables...

but i know i don't want glass or sharp edges, even though i have plenty of those in my inspiration files. 

and a large ottoman is sort of not practical for eating on top of even though i DO love the look of them and for a long time thought that's the way i would go.

well, before we made this room our dining room. 

 

and it's important to point out that i know that the decor in these rooms has a lot to do with why i am drawn to the coffee table. 

which is telling. 

because it would appear that i like the simpler coffee tables in the more fabulous rooms..

case in point:

 

so i search.

i troll craigslist.

i check new arrivals at west elm and sales at anthro. 

i pop into the thrift stores and antique shops.

nothing. 

 

so i wait. 

patiently bumping elbows with fiona and sliding across the floor while cheering on the 52 year old guy kicking ass on american ninja warrior.

 



turnt up

i have watched this at least 40 times. 

i find i enjoy it even more with the volume turned off completely. 

then it's as if she's having a grand mal seizure.

i've decided to be her for halloween.  

 

no, really...

 


currently..

august is here. let the s l o w transition into fall begin. 

 

pics: flower instagrammers here. 

interiors: alex papachristidis, veere grenney, miranda brooks, don't know, kristin hein and philip cozzi, don't know and don't know. 

 

 

recent and future acquisitions

1. this caftan is a future acquisition. but the price is right and it is so damn versatile. 

 

2. i recently sauntered into nordstrom and saw that they now have a topshop area.

i did not know this previously and i blame everyone. 

this cute little palm print dress spoke to me.

it was soft, inexpensive and comfy. 

that is all the criteria i need. 

 

3. i don't own a lot of lady clothes.  mostly i dress in t-shirts and cut off sweat shorts and all are covered in paint.

but i am a sucker for boden's ladylike blouses and this year i broke down and bought a few.

i reasoned that every girl needs a few ladylike blouses. 

for those business-type days when you want to look like you know a thing or two about a thing or seven.

bonus is they are cute, versatile and inexpensive. 

 

4. years ago i had some black cigarette pants that i LOVED from club monaco.

i wore them to death.

i needed new. 

these from topshop are awesome.

and they are 44 bucks so i ordered 2.

i can only advise you to do the same.

come fall you will thank me.

 

5. and if you are really REALLY smart you will pair them with these lady shoes.

 

6. i saw this little outfit on pinterest..

and thought it were about as cute as cute gets.

so i went about recreating the look with this t-shirt...

and..

 

7. this skirt. 

 

8. the other ladylike blouse.

it has wiener dogs on it. 

and i plan on wearing it with..

 

9. this yellow skirt.

long live the a-line.

universally flattering i say. 

 

10. let me tell you a story.

i ordered these swedish hasbeens and when i put them on it was like stuffing a sausage into a very tight hole.  

they fit my foot fine from toe to heel, but the width!  

i sent them back immediately. 

i have since learned that these shoes are designed to stretch and grow with your foot so that eventually, one day, they will be SO comfortable that you'll never want to take them off. 

and they are meant to last you forever and be like, heirloom shoes or something that your daughter will want to wear one day.

apparently these people have never met me and my feet. 

anyway...i love them so much from a fashion standpoint.

so i ordered these in the stretchiest looking leather nature color. 

and yes, i plan on wearing them with pretty much everything i own.

 

11. these denim boy shorts are the best there are. 

great fit. 

they stretch to a perfect hang after a few hours.

 

12. this tank in every color.

such a great cut and fit. 

trust me.  flatters even the sausage-i-est of arms. 

 

that's it for now.

shopping heals the soul. 

don't let anyone tell you otherwise.