Ooo La La….Look What I Found!

For the past several months I have been {and remain} on a very strict budget

You see I have made a commitment to pay off debt and become debt free by the end of the year {except for the mortgage of course-that will take a little longer ;-)

I have done very well on my strict budget and my willpower has been amazing 

{really I am not jiving}

UNTIL

I saw this on craigslist….

http://roomseventeenstyle.blogspot.com/

Not really…this exact table... 

{this is a table that I fell in love with when I saw it on one of my absolute favorite 

drool inducing blogs Room Seventeen Style}

More like this table…

my spectacular craigslist find 

Can you see it?

Or I should say can you picture it with a zinc metal top instead of tile?

Pretty darn close wouldn't you say?

and I betcha the table up top did not cost $400

That's right folks~this solid iron base outdoor table whose original price tag was $2000

is going to be mine for a mere few hundred dollars.  Now I ask you~who could say no to that? Oh did I forget to mention~please don't tell my darling husband~he just doesn't seem to understand how life altering and exciting this once in a lifetime, mind boggling basement bargain bonus find really is ;-)  

Of course it will be kind of difficult to hide a 77" x 40" solid iron base and tile table sitting on the patio in our front yard  for an extended period of time~I think we'll just have to go out for some cocktails prior to the unveiling ;-)

The second conundrum involves getting it home~I don't suppose that my daily exercise of walking the dog and lifting the dishes to the cabinet actually qualify me to lift a 200 lb table top….hmmmmm….I wonder what my brothers are doing this weekend.

Now after snagging this fabulous find…I figured I wouldn't find anything spectacular for at least a few months….but wouldn't you know it.

I spotted these….

Another spectacular craigslist find-no way! 

And guess what they reminded me of?

http://roomseventeenstyle.blogspot.com

Yep another one of those drool worthy photographs from 

Room Seventeen Style

and get this~the craigslist price tag is $300 for 4 chairs

{holy moley}

I can furnish my entire new front veranda 

{it is really a small area bordered by landscape timbers and filled in with pea gravel

but veranda just sounds so much better}

for a whopping $700 

Dear Visa Card~it doesn't look like I will be paying you off this month as I had hoped.

Check back next month~after my darling husband takes my computer away so that I don't have access to craigslist ;-)

Hope you find treasure too.

Cristine 

From Manic to Marvelous

How nice it is to start Monday off with some beautiful images 

Better Homes & Gardens April 2010

~

Yellow just brightens the spirit 

and 

flowers always make me smile

~

Traditional Home May 2010

~

The decorator in me with always look toward interiors when the mere term of 

beautiful images is mentioned

I find this room's eclectic and light hearted fabrics calming and perfect

The slightly modern mix of the subtle yet telling light gray lampshade fabric 

against the brightly colored floral chintz draperies 

and the soft green damask love seat

{did you notice the lampshade fabric on the side of the love seat}

Heaven

~

I hope these images make your Manic Monday 

Marvelous :-)

"For hath God not given us the spirit of fear: but of power, and of love, and of sound mind"

Retro Ramblings

With so much going in on my head these days…

Instead of trying to sort it all out~

I thought that I would just pick a few of these random thoughts and post about it

These are the Clematis vines that I planted last weekend

I will be so excited to see the iron trellis dripping white blossoms

{news update: a pair of magpie chicks have nested behind my clematis bushes-they seem to like it there

-hope the Clematis feel the same}

The other day C-and I had some time on our hands...

We just so happened to come across this nifty little shop called RETRO

Now I am not a mid-century modern type of gal…

{my style is better suited toward a Saturday afternoon stroll at a vintage market in Paris}

But I can appreciate a modern sensibility and the"thinking outside of the square" approach

and I might have to admit that I do find these white curvy chairs 

to be a bit groovy :-)  

Boy… if retro mod was my style this would be the place ~

a one stop shop for everything "cool"

You can even take the "cool" outside

They even had a few outdoor throw pillows that this vintage loving citizen of the historic district and avid francophile might want to take home

These are the ultimate of "cool" and I would venture to say that I could see this little 

aluminum number gracing a street side cafe in Paris tu ne peux pas?

And this…can't you just picture the lunch menu and list of lavish latte's

chalked out here?  

It just goes to show you that sometimes….

you have to venture out of your own proverbial square

 to find your inner "cool"

C- showing off his sorbet tongue while uttering
"Mom are we done shopping yet?"

Happy Weekend Mes Amies!

Cristine