Monday, January 10, 2011

Our custom mantel & the epic find

Lately the progress of our home improvement projects has been at at standstill.  We moved in 6 months ago and I thought we would have checked off more boxes from our gigantismo to-do-list.  But many of our rooms are still unfurnished, the landscaping is non-existent, and the major guest bath remodel keeps being pushed further and further down the do-to-list. With the New Year we've found a renewed focus.  This weekend we checked off two major items: the mantel and dining room table. 

I designed the mantel and we found a carpenter that was able to build it from my sketches. Big shout out to my mom and her boyfriend who graciously transported the behemoth to our house - it wasn't about to fit in the CR-V. The mantel still needs to be painted and installed, but I'm already in love with it. Thanks mom!
Our custom mantel
Then, while tagging along on a shopping trip, we happened upon an epic find. You know the type- a find so perfectly impossible that walking away from it is not option. Thinking we were just going to engage in some harmless window shopping we quickly popped into a Restoration Hardware Outlet and found this beauty: The Turner Extension Dining Table. Originally $2,695, it was on sale for $139. Needless to say it came home with mama that same day. The table was so heavy that the labor to transport it probably cost more than what we paid for the table itself.  Epic. Find.
Our RH Turner Extension Dining Table

Monday, January 3, 2011

Holiday ReWind

Our Christmas and New Year holidays were wonderfully jam-packed. We spent the Christmas holiday at home with friends, in the kitchen baking Happy Holiday Honey Scones, and on the road visiting family scattered across California. For New Years Eve we headed back home to host a low-key weekend with family consisting of ice skating and the obligatory trip to the beach to dine at Malibu Seafood Fish Market. We topped off the fun with spicy bloody mary cocktails and homemade chicken empanadas to ring in the New Year.  Delicious!