the quest for a dining room table

Toddling right along with the design of our house - we come to the dining room! Our front door opens into this big, empty room that currently contains my daughter's cardboard playhouse and a random mess of toys. It needs a lot of work.

I've had my eye out for dining tables for a while now, and I have something pretty specific in mind I guess. I've always wanted something rustic looking and giant. A place where we can spread out and do crafts or homework and also host a big dinner party. I don't want to worry about getting sparkles on the table or wine stains. Bring on the mess and bring on the fun!

A few years ago I mentioned this table from Restoration Hardware and it's still one of my faves. It has always remained in my mind as my ideal. That paper airplane never did fly through my window carrying a large cheque, so this still one may be a bit out of budget. Wahhh. 

But on the Restoration Hardware website it looks like there are now a bunch of additional rustic, reclaimed wood table options. This Farmhouse Salvaged Wood Rectangle Extension Table is quite beautiful too - much more rough and chunky than the Trestle table. I lurve.

There is a store called Woodcraft in Toronto that makes custom tables. It's pretty cool actually - you choose the style, wood, finish and stain, and then it's ready for you to take home within a few weeks. Their website photos aren't the greatest, I have to admit, but I do like a lot of their styles and when I visited their showroom I really loved the simplicity of their Long Loft Table. They had some cool stains in Driftwood and Antique and you could choose a 'rough-sawn' look too for a more rustic effect. This is an option.

In a recent West Elm email I also saw this beautiful Boerum Dining Table. It's not as unique as the top two, or as 'chunky', but I do like the rustic-meets-modern effect of the table, as well as the cool colour. And the price...definitely it's the best price! I haven't seen it in person so that could be a whole other story. 

So the hunt for a cool, chunky, rustic, humongous dining room table continues! I'll keep you in the loop.

Jerusalem Sage

My sister mentioned to me a while back that there is a plant called 'Jerusalem Sage'. Why is that interesting to me? My first daughter's name is Sage. We gave her that name because it sounded strong, wise, natural and beautiful. And a little bit rock star! It's actually traditionally a boy's name but we loved it.

I'm not sure if I mentioned, but we had trouble conceiving the first time around. I had a pretty severe case of endometriosis and we tried to get pregnant for two very difficult years, visiting many doctors and trying pretty much every therapy - medical and alternative - to get there. 

In August 2009, we travelled to Israel for my sister's wedding, and during that trip we stopped in Jerusalem for a tour and visited the Wailing Wall. My hubby and I hoped, wished, and prayed on that wall for a little bundle. Less than two months later {with the help of modern medicine} we were pregnant with Sage. 

And that is why Jerusalem Sage is pretty cool to me. I wonder if I can try growing it in my garden this summer.


{PHOTO FROM HERE}

some more news...

living room makeover

In the summer we moved into a new house, and I hate to say that we've barely done any decorating! Mainly we've unpacked, organized, and have continued to organize. I have so many ideas and am itching to get going on the decor. 

This is a view of our living room right now. It is a bright, beautiful room with fairly high ceilings and in terms of decor, it is a blank slate. So much potential! You can see our paint options on the wall. I think we are going with the middle one, a soft bluey gray. We are also thinking of a salvaged mantle, built-in shelving and cabinets on either side of the fireplace, hardwood floors, a cool lamp, more seating, blinds for the bay window on the left and possibly a window seat with drawers for storage for the bay window. The TV will go above the fireplace {I know, I hate that too, but it creates more space and there is less risk the kiddies will topple it}. We have big plans. Now only if we had the extra time and money.

Here are some images for inspiration as we inch our way through our living room makeover.

{unfortunately I've lost the source info for most of these pics but many of them can be found right here}.

here we grow again: 5 months

Here is my latest pregnancy photo. Looks like this baby might be on the bigger side again, since my tum is larger than I was at 5 months during my first pregnancy. What can I say, I grow them big and healthy! My first baby was 9 lbs. 11 oz.

Click below to see months 2 to 4.

ohdeedoh feature!

How wonderful to find out that my daughter's first birthday, a Picnic Party, was featured on Apartment Therapy's OhDeeDoh today. As if Fridays weren't cheery enough!

Last year they also featured Sage's nursery so I feel quite lucky to be recognized by them, especially because I check out their website quite often as a resource for children's room inspiration and product info. You can peek at the 'Best Kids Parties' post here. Thanks so much OhDeeDoh!

happy new year!

Apologies for the late new years greetings however we have been very sick in this house the past few weeks. Between a couple of colds, ear infections, a terrible reaction to Amoxicillin {poor Sage had the most horrifying rash} and then strep throat, it really has been one thing after another. 

So happy belated holidays and happy 2012 too. With baby no. 2 cooking away, it looks like this will be a fruitful year!