Yesterday, the hubby and I went to Surfas to check out the canning demonstration put on by Saving the Season. We got there just as it started and it was standing room only. The demonstration was scheduled for three hours. Unfortunately the audio was terrible and the speaker wasn't very charismatic in her presentation to hold us in the standing position for said three hours. Instead, we shopped for flour, a new pizza stone (the old one broke in half) and other kitchen doodads, like a 2 in 1 lemon/lime squeezer.
After shopping at Surfas we decided to go to Father's Office for lunch. It didn't open until noon, so we wandered through H.D. Buttercup, sitting on different sofas and imagining what would be the next couch when the time came. The former Helms Bakery houses the giant space where different vendors showcase their furniture. It is a fantastic place to get decorating ideas and to dream about your future estates, each one with a different theme...a castle (France), an art deco palace (Miami), the log cabin/ski lodge (Colorado). We love our little house, but sometimes we have big house (really walk-in closet) envy. Plus, some of the furnishings at H.D. Buttercup are rather extravagant and extreme in size, so you have to dream big.
As we wandered around, plopping our bottoms from couch to couch, we turned a corner smack dab into Copenhagen and our preferred aesthetic...mid-century modern. We loved every piece they had, but it was the dining room tables (and the sale that started that day) that caught our attention. They had the most simply beautiful teak and rosewood tables, but our eyes fell to one particular table, which also had the best price. Due to the ingenuity of Danish design, the table has the leaves within it and at full extension sits ten people, which is good for big family dinners. It was love at first sight for me.
It really is not advisable to make big purchases on an empty stomach so off we went to the Father's Office to split a hamburger and talk tables. The Father's Office makes a very good hamburger with crisp little shoes string fries that comes with garlic mayo. Leaning more towards ketchup, as is the American way, I found their garlic mayo to be a delightful alternative and didn't miss the red stuff at all...not that they offered any. They also have loads of beer on tap. The hubs ordered a beer with his meal. Secretly I was hoping they had Sparky's Root Beer on tap. On our recent trip to Big Sur we tasted Sparky's Root Beer at the Big Sur River Inn and it is the best root beer I have ever tasted and I have been craving it ever since. Sparky's is a family run root beer business from Pacific Grove and they brew it right. But I digress (and yes it's that good). Needless to say, the Father's Office did not have Sparky's or any other root beer on tap. Bah! I had water.
Time to talk tables. The hubs is a man who like numbers. He is my personal Rain Man, who can magically tell you the number of matches that has accidentally fallen on the floor by looking at them. It's like a super power. So his hamster (which I affectionately call his brain) was wildly calculating every possible permutation in accounts known and unknown. I do the actual accounting and I already knew my answer. After his hamster went through fantastic mental arithmetic adventures, the hubs said he thought we should get the table. I agreed.
After lunch, we went back in and talked to Linnea (beautiful name) at Floor-Model. We sat at the table. We tried different chairs. We checked out other chairs online. We met Linnea's 9-week old min-pin puppy Penny. It was truly Penny that cinched the deal and we bought the table. The chairs will have to wait for another day and a trip to the warehouse. We didn't fall in love with any on the floor. Plus we only want 4 as opposed to 6 chairs. They wrapped the table up and we took it home.
It fits perfectly in our dining room. It is smaller than our former dining room table and more appropriate for our space. The former table was an acquisition with the purchase of our house in North Carolina and it is very nice but it was never what we would have bought for ourselves. We recently reupholstered the chairs, as you may recall. They work with the new table for now. Really and truly I LOVE my new dining room table. It seems silly that the table brings me so much happiness, but I am absolutely smitten by the table. It makes me smile when I look at it and when I think about it. I am competely happy and silly about it.
Our inaugural dining table dinner:
Balsamic-Glazed Pork Chops
& a duo of Brussel Sprouts
(Roasted with garlic and pancetta & with chestnuts and cream)
Flourless Chocolate Cake
Four Vines Zinfindel Port (directions on bottle: Serve with Chocolate, candlelight and a willing companion)
and the rest they say, is history.
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