time for another vote

We recently gave away the big green couch, chair and ottoman so we're back to living in an empty room. While I'm glad that we were able to give the old furniture a new home (it never really fit properly in the house) we need to figure out what we want to put in the den.

I've ordered a new cover for the West Elm daybed (light blue) and I'll pick up some new pillows to complete the color scheme. We're also planning on getting two new chairs for the room. Which do you like better (there are many fabric options available so we're not necessarily going to get red or blue)?

I'm pretty sold on the second one in a cream or very light green...

love, love, love

Inspiration via Another Shade of Grey ( Cote Maison).

not "fake" exactly...

I'm really getting into the idea of paper flowers. These look so elegant. Martha can make all our lives better...

vodka never looked so good.

via dooce .

hideous tablecloth, beautiful cake

who eats the cake anyway?

get those stomachs ready...

I've been doing research on palomas , charoro negros and sangrita !

starry nights ahead

so ready for that next kitchen dance party

For those of you that may have been curious about what the strainer light looks like on...

whistle away

When Thom and I first started dating he purchased a horribly unrealistic teapot - the kind of teapot that is meant to sit there and look pretty but not be used. At least I assume that's its purpose because it certainly wasn't functional. (For the record - it was pretty.)

The old teapot had no protective covering to shield you from the scalding stainless steel handle so I was always hunting for the stupid oven mitt. It also managed to rust almost immediately (I have no idea why) and never whistled to alert me that the water was ready.

As Haverly knows well I have, on occasion, been known to forget a pot of boiling water on the stove. (Who knew the entire pot could turn bright red and the burner go kaput so easily?) So I'm looking forward to the musical whistle of our new flame-colored Le Creuset teapot - our very thoughtful engagement present from Ben.

ben cleans his plate (2x)

We've been enjoying our outdoor furniture (thanks, Helen) now that the weather has officially turned to suffocating. Dinners are much nicer on our deck at the new Room & Board table.

We're all big fans of the new lounges from West Elm - especially Jasper. So far the green is holding up pretty well but I have no doubt that they'll be plenty dirty by the end of the summer.

Now if we can only get some air conditioning in the house...

We purchases this strainer pendant light by Nicholas Furrow at Brooklyn Designs a few weeks ago. It now puts the rest of the kitchen to shame with its hipness.

summer roses

The rose bush came back to life a couple weeks ago and promptly sprouted some psychedelic colored flowers. Ben's new past time is arranging said roses in various poses in the pear vases.

here's to hoping virgin mobile stays out of our neighborhood

Brownstoner talks about Virgin's new ad campaign .

THIS is what we're going for... (without the watermark)

You know what's really weird? I don't even particularly like red or orange. But I didn't really think I could pull off something classy like chocolate and lavender.

Inspiration via real simple and the knot.

The Kiwi Collection has proven to be an interesting resource while researching locations for our celebration. Someday when we're rich beyond our wildest dreams we'll visit all of these places.

(We were thinking Dubai for the wedding but Haverly's already been there. What fun would that be? ;-)

definitely

as predicted...

Jennifer is a far better photographer than Thom and I.

maybe?