Dining Room Chairs

It's blogger show and tell time.   With yelling.

We have new dining chairs! 

Nate and I had been looking for dining room chairs for a couple of months now.  We were looking for 8 chairs to go with our new farmhouse table that Nate is building.   That will hopefully be finished next week.  Or Christmas.  Whatever.

We browsed Craigslist.  We had one guy list the perfect set for $75.  I was in love but I was trying not to get my hopes up.  It is Craigslist after all.  Turns out his son listed them at the wrong price.  They should have been $475.  YOU CAN'T DO THAT!!!  I e-mailed on like 1000 others.  We spent 100 Saturday mornings at thrift stores trying to find our precious chairs.

The only chairs we could find were the 1990's Windsor style (which I don't hate but Nate does).  We were both iffy on having a mismatched set.  I've seen it look good. Nate wasn't buying it.  The mismatched didn't seem like a great fit for our style. 

I showed Nate the Crate and Barrel's Willa Side Chair.   He liked them and gave me permission (without nagging) to buy them.  Weird.  I'm still trying to figure out what the catch is.

I was headed to Naperville a few days later to pick them up.  The website said I wouldn't be able to pick them up for a few weeks.  Womp, womp.  I ended up using the customer chat thingy on their website and their lovely employee got me a pick up for the day I was headed to Naperville.  Thanks lovely employee whose name I don't remember.  Because I'm horrible with names. 

We loaded them up in my sister-in-law's van.  I am no longer allowed to make fun of mini-vans again.  But I will.  I mean, I can't. 

Anywho, long story short. Pretty chairs in my dining room.  Ike approves.  Well, sort of.  He wasn't into modeling this day. 

We only bought six chairs.  We did find two chairs at our local Restore (WHY COULDN'T THERE BE SIX???) and we think they will go nicely on the ends of the table.  Well, they will go nicely once they are cleaned and painted.   

Off to pester Nate about working on the dining table.  He has some sanding left to do and I have some finishing to do.  We're so close! 

DIY Suitcase Dog Bed

It's pretty clear that Ike is a deprived dog.  So deprived that he just now, at almost 7 years of age, got a dog bed.   

Of course, Ike couldn't have just any dog bed.  He needed a re-purposed suitcase dog bed.  Key word: needed

I've been spending a lot of time in my craft room lately.  Ike follows me wherever I go. (Bathroom and shower included.)  Ike likes to be comfortable.  The only spot for the dog to lay in the craft room is on the floor.  This puts him out.  He does this thing where he sighs when he doesn't get what he wants.  There was lots of sighing in the craft room.  It's funny and pathetic all at the same time.

I told Nate that we needed to get him a dog bed.  We decided that a suitcase one would be the most appropriate for a hipster dog like Ike.  We began our suitcase hunt.  Vintage suitcases are kind of expensive.  We found this one for ~$15.00.  Ike approved.

Nate unscrewed the top.  I shoved a pillow and some of Nate's old t-shirts into the bottom.  I then covered it with some material from my stash.  Hipster dog bed complete. 

Nate and I both assumed that we'd make this for him and then he wouldn't use it.  That would totally be an Ike thing to do.  But he loves it.  He crawls right on in.  

There is still some sighing over constantly wanting bones and not being able to go on walks 24/7.  At least we have the craft room covered. 

Mona

If you've been reading awhile, you may have gathered that I'm obsessive compulsive.   

If you're new here, hi!  I'm obsessive compulsive. 

Nate and I went antiquing with my parents about a month ago. In one of the shops, I saw the coolest Mona Lisa replica.  Nate thought it was dumb. I was trying to be a good wife and compromise or something stupid. 

I kept thinking about Mona.  I couldn't get her out of my head. She needed to live in my house.  So I asked my dad if he would stop by and purchase her if she was still there.  He's all about supporting my crazy endeavors, as a good dad should. 

I received this text from him. 

This is why my dad is one of my favorite humans.  Besides the whole contributing to my life thing. 

So, I kept Mona a secret and Nate unwrapped her for his birthday.  My dad and I thought it was hilarious.  Nate didn't get it.  You know, the usual. 

She's quite stunning. 

I'm not exactly sure where she is going to permanently live.  I'm thinking the office or the dining room.  Only time will tell.   Or maybe above Nate's side of the bed.

There are a bunch of scribbles on the back.  I think someone thought it was an original.  Which it totally is. 

Moral of this story: I'm a crazy person with a cool dad who likes to do things that annoy her husband.

Happy weekend!