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05.27.14

Teacher Gift Ideas

I hope everyone had a lovely Memorial Day weekend!  I love Memorial Day.  So grateful for such a special holiday to remember and honor everyone who has served and continues to serve our country.  We had a low key family weekend at home which was just what the doctor ordered around here.  :)  I know some of you are finishing up school this week (jealous!) but for those of you who have a few weeks left like we do I thought I’d share a few ideas for teacher gifts.  I received a lot of really sweet gifts over the six years I taught school, but I will promise you that the gifts I remember most and still have to this day are the kind letters my students and their parents wrote me.  Nothing beats a sincere heartfelt handwritten letter.  I love to go back and read them.  Some of them still bring tears to my eyes.  So we’ll be writing letters for all of my kids’ teachers for sure!  But it’s also fun to give a little something with our letters.  Here are a few things I’ve done in past years…

Last year we gave teachers a cup from Jamba Juice with a gift card inside of it.  I got the idea from Tatertots and Jello.  She also has the “creative juices” tag you can use.  Such a cute idea!  

The year before that I put together a fun gift for summer.  I always try to think of what I would like for a gift.  You can’t go wrong with sunscreen and a towel and the People Style Watch issue.  Perfect accessories for a day at the beach or pool!

I just rolled the towels up and wrapped the magazine around them and tied it all with a bow.  SO simple.   (I’ve also given a gift card to get a pedicure with a fun magazine and that gift is also always a hit!)
For years when we’ve had to give gifts to lots of teachers (we are in this camp this year with all of my little buddy’s pre-school teachers, aids, and therapists) I’ve always made a homemade treat with a personalized tag.  
(You all know I really just share this idea each year so that I have an excuse to post these old pics of my cookie making helpers)  :)
I highly recommend hiring a cookie watcher if you don’t already have one on hand. 

Buy some inexpensive plates and wrap up the treat with your personalized tag.  Done!  
Here are a few other ideas I found on-line that I thought would be fun…  

This is technically to give to teachers at the beginning of the year, but switch a few words around and you could give it to them at the end.  Another great idea if you are giving to a lot of teachers.
This might just be the smartest teacher gift idea I’ve seen yet.  
Can’t go wrong with a gift card to Tarjet!  And such a fun way to wrap it up.  

I thought this was a cute, simple idea too.  You could put any treat in a jar with a “you’re the sweetest” card.  Especially fun if you know your child’s teacher’s favorite treat.  My students always knew my favorite treats.  And my favorite hobbies and my favorite movies and my favorite quotes and my favorite subjects and my favorite future baby names….  Some of us are a bit more of an open book than others.  :)

Teachers can never have enough white erase markers (or any other school supply for that matter).  Fun way to present them.  

Creative way to wrap up some cookies.  

And how creative is this idea!?  You could do this with all sorts of pasta meals.  Possibilities are endless!  
Well.  Now I’m inspired to get our teacher gifts ready to give!
Hope you are too.
:)  

xoxo, Erin
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Uncategorized
05.22.14

Baskets with labels

Oh my word.  Is May the craziest month or what!?  Am I the only one floundering this month?  My friends and I always talk about how the end of the school year starts to feel like December/Christmas in terms of how insanely busy it is.  Non-stop right up until the last day of school.  My kids still have a few weeks to go so I’m hanging on!  By a very thin thread.  

But let’s not talk about May.  Or busyness.  Or thin threads.

Let’s talk about something fun.

Like baskets.

Wanna know what’s even more fun than talking about baskets?

Talking about baskets with labels on them.  :)

I received this sweet comment on my last post:

Looks great!! Did I miss the post about the baskets under the coffee table?? Please share!! They are exactly what I’ve been looking for for mine :) Adore your home and your blog!!

(Thank you for that!)  Since I aim to please (and because you don’t have to twist my arm to chat about organizing with baskets) here is a post on my coffee table baskets.

I actually bought these baskets to go in my office.  They are the Cameron Wire Baskets from Pottery Barn.  I wanted two of them and thought that was what I ordered on-line but didn’t realize that they come in sets of two (note to self: next time notice when it says “comes in sets of 2”).  So by ordering two I ended up with four.

That was a happy mistake.  :)

I felt it was meant to be.

 LOVE the baskets but they are really long.  They didn’t work in my office.  Or my pantry.  Or my laundry room. Or anywhere else I tried to put them.  So I decided to try them out under my coffee table holding my never ending magazine stash.  

Oh for the love of labels.  Aren’t they beautiful!?  I haven’t written on them yet because I’m not 100% sure this is their final resting place.  I’m having too much fun moving them around and organizing different things with them.

 But under the coffee table holding magazines is working for now.  

 Do you love organizing with baskets too?  

How could you not?  
 There now.  A few pics of my labeled baskets and I’ve forgotten all about crazy May.  
And everything else I was supposed to get done tonight.  
Imagine that.  
:)

xoxo, Erin
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Home Decor
05.20.14

Family Room drapes/pillows

I took some new pictures of our family room two weeks ago and just haven’t had time to share them.  Our drapes finally came!  And pillows!  Most of them anyway.

Ignore the shelves.  They are a hot mess in these pictures!  Still haven’t got around to styling them yet.  But so fun to have drapes in this room!  I’ve never had drapes before and I’ll admit I was really nervous about how these would look.

I chose a black rod to match the door hardware.  I was tempted to bring in some color with the drapes, but just couldn’t commit to anything!  I knew I wouldn’t be changing them out anytime soon so I decided to keep them more of a neutral.  

I love a good geometric print.  :)

We only close them at night but it makes the family room feel so nice and cozy!  Love that.  
They add a lot of warmth to the space.  
Here are the couch pillows I had made…

The pillows are all blue and grey (love the fabrics!) but I have two more coming in a different color (one more for the couch and one for the striped chair).  I have played around with a lot of different colors for this space and was having a hard time deciding what would compliment the blues the best.

I considered orange.  But I’ve never loved orange.  

 Then I thought maybe yellow.  But I used yellow in the dining room and want to mix it up.    

So I finally decided on coral!  Coral is such a fun, fresh color to decorate with and I think it will be exactly what I need to liven things up in these main rooms!  I’ll show you my coral additions to the room as soon as I get everything figured out.  
 For now I am really enjoying a calm color palate in this space.  

I’m so happy to be done with all the big decisions/purchases for this room.  Now I can just accessorize which is what I enjoy the most!  Tempted to take everything off those shelves and start this second!  But it’s almost midnight so maybe I’ll get some sleep first and tackle them tomorrow.

:)
xoxo, Erin
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Uncategorized
05.18.14

Popping in (fire update)

So grateful that things have calmed down in our neck of the woods.  Our mild weather is back and the fires are under control.  But so heartbreaking to see the damage done.  I spent some time today rounding up things to donate to a family who lost their home.  Can you imagine having your house burned to the ground?   Just completely gone.  Starting over with absolutely nothing.  So incredibly hard.  I really feel for everyone in that situation.  If you are interested in helping too you can google ‘ways to help with the San Diego fires’ and several fundraisers, etc. will pop up.  It’s always amazing to me how communities rally together to help in situations like this.  There are so many wonderful people in this world!

xx
Erin

xoxo, Erin
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Uncategorized
05.16.14

#Instagram

Hi friends!  Well.  I was hoping to have time to finish the post I’m working on but with kids home from school all day computer time never came.  We were busy after all.  As you can see…
A note from us this morning I shared on Instagram:  Almost 10:00 and we’re still in pj’s.  Ad taught us a rap to The Big Bad Wolf and we had chocolate chips for dessert after breakfast.  So far our “California snow day” is off to a good start.  :)  #wannaberockstars
We really did waste a good deal of the morning singing and dancing in our pajamas.  And eating chocolate.  It’s a good thing Kole had therapy at 1:00 because it forced us to get dressed and join the rest of the world.  
Thank you btw for all the sweet comments on my blog and Facebook.  Your thoughts and prayers for everyone in this area mean a lot to me.  They really do.  We still haven’t been evacuated in our neck of the woods and are just all nervous and glued to the news hoping they can get these fires under control soon.  Kole keeps saying “are you watching your fire show again mommy?” like it’s an episode of Dino Dan.  :)  By Saturday our crazy Santa Ana weather/wind is supposed to be gone and we will be back to our typical 70 degrees so we are all hoping that helps.  It really is scary and incredibly heartbreaking to see so much of our surrounding areas in flames.  School is closed again tomorrow so it looks like it’s another pajama day for us!  Speaking of pajamas…
This is another pic I shared last week of my girls.  “Nothing like pj’s and a blanket picnic on a random Wednesday afternoon.”  #adandel

I finally decided a couple of weeks ago to enter the year 2014 and join Instagram!  I held off as long as I could in a desperate attempt to avoid the temptation of spending more time on my iphone.  But our days are so hectic and I just don’t have the time I wish I had to share random life moments/tidbits on the blog.  So I’m going to give this a try.  :) 

 “My little boyfriend’s first swim lesson!  All smiles.  Quickly followed by all tears once he went under.  Baby steps.   #mylittleman   (So glad I’m not teaching him to swim.  He’d cry and I’d hug him and never make him go under again and we’d get nowhere.  This kid has me SO wrapped.)  :)

 “Me and my hot date at the ball game last night.”  #gopadres!

If you want to see what we’re up to you can follow me on Instagram at erin_sunnysideup.  I’ll also update Instagram photos to Facebook so you can follow me there if you aren’t already.  And at some point in the near future I’ll have a way for you to subscribe to get my blog posts through e-mail.  But whoa.  One thing at a time.  Baby steps for me too.  :)  Hoping to share lots of fun organizing and decorating projects that are in the works around the house on Instagram too!  Not just pics of us in our pajamas.  Although if you know us well it goes without saying that there will be a lot of those too.  :)

#idon’treallyknowwhatI’mdoingoninstagrambutI’mreallygoodatfakingit.  

Happy Friday everyone!
xoxo, Erin
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Uncategorized
05.15.14

San Diego Fires

Hi friends!  I’m working on a post but keep getting distracted watching our news.  With eight fires burning in our city the past few days have been eventful to say the least.  I always get nervous when these Santa Ana winds come our way.  They are never a good thing!  So many of our friends have been evacuated and schools are all closed tomorrow.  Praying they can get these fires contained soon.  I’m rounding up a few things just in case, but hopefully tomorrow will just be a pajama day for us.  So strange to have the kids home on a random Thursday!  Southern California’s  version of a snow day.  :)

If the fires have slowed down and I can get my girls to entertain Kole for a few minutes tomorrow I’ll be popping back in!  Keep San Diego in your thoughts today!  And hug your kids.  Because that’s what I always tend to do when slightly stressful situations pop up.

:)
xoxo, Erin
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Parenting
05.14.14

Ziti Lasagna

So I decided to make Ziti Lasagna last week one night for dinner.  It’s always a hit with my kids and I was in the mood for an easy dinner.  And by easy I mean something I can get my kids to eat without having to commit Guerrilla warfare.  That didn’t really make sense but I’m sure you can all assume what I’m talking about.  And since this is such an easy recipe (I haven’t ever messed it up which means it’s really easy – like beyond easy) I thought I’d share it with all of you.

 

 {INGREDIENTS}
1 box of pasta noodles.  (This is Ziti lasagna so in theory you should use Ziti.  I had Mostaccioli on hand so I used that instead.  Still tastes the same.  It’s that whole ‘you can’t mess this one up’ thing.  Which is why it’s a favorite of mine.)
1 bottle of Prego Sauce
15 oz. jar ricotta cheese
Mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese

I know – it’s a lot of cheese.  I told you this was an easy to make kid favorite.  Not an easy to make nutritionist’s favorite.  Weight watcher points not included.  You can assume what you want.  And then double that.

Sidenote:  Doesn’t my new scale make an excellent prop for this picture!?  I’ll have to let my husband know it has multiple uses aside from just weighing our food.  He’ll be thrilled I’m sure.
{INSTRUCTIONS}
Mostly cook a box of Ziti noodles
Stir in a separate bowl:
          Mostly cooked noodles
          15 oz. jar ricotta cheese
          2 cups mozzarella cheese
          2 handfuls parmesan cheese
In a 9×13 pan layer:
          1/2 jar Prego sauce
          cheese/noodle mixture
          rest of Prego sauce
          more mozzarella and parmesan cheese
Here it is right before I put tin foil over it to cook.
Cover loosely and cook at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
Uncover at the end and let the cheese bubble on top and in the middle
 And here it is 30 minutes later ready to eat!

I could have cooked it a bit longer to let the cheese melt and bubble more but we were reaching “the witching hour.”  Moms – you know what I mean.  That lovely hour at the end of the day when patience is wearing thin and everyone is getting hungry and tired.  And you just know that if you don’t feed and get those kids in bed STAT bad things are about to happen.

But Ziti lasagna makes everyone smile again.  Throw together a quick salad or vegetable or french bread to go with it.  Kids are fed and happy.  Mom is fed and happy.  All is well.

Until the next day when you step on the scale.

 

:)

**For more recipes that I would love to try if I had more time and actually knew how to cook check out my FOOD AND RECIPE Pinterest board here.

Bon Appetit!
xoxo, Erin
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Organization
05.12.14

Top three things to keep organized

You all know how much I love to feel organized.  Nothing makes me happier than perfectly lined up towels in a linen closet, toys in their properly labeled cubbies, and a smooth running schedule.  BUT.  Staying on top of everything all of the time is unrealistic.  Especially if you have little ones underfoot.  Or a husband who doesn’t quite share the joy of perfectly lined up towels in a linen closet.  (How could he not!?)  In my quest to stay organized (especially when I’m having an off week – or two or three) there are a few things I make sure to stay on top of.  I’ve found that for me, if I can keep these three things under control I feel like I’m organized and am better able to face the busy day.  
1}  CLEAN PURSE
The number one thing I have to keep organized is my purse.  It can become a dumping ground quickly if I’m not careful.  I clean out my purse at least once every other day.  There is always 5 minutes when I am waiting for an appointment to start, waiting in the carpool lane at pick up, etc.  That is when I take a minute to toss trash, write down receipts, and get my purse back in order.  

I always keep two things in my purse that especially help me keep it organized.  
One is my Martha Stewart accordion file. 

You can see I have a place for coupons, gift cards, stamp cards, reward cards, business cards, random pic/notes, and receipts I want to hang on to.  This system has worked well for me for years!
Folds up nice and slim to fit in my purse!  

Another Martha Stewart favorite I keep in my purse is this little zipper pouch.  Perfect for all of those loose ends that can get lost.  (I bought both of these items at Staples but obviously any file and small pouch would work!)

I always keep lots of lip gloss and chap stick with me.  Along with floss or toothpicks, mini scissors and nail clippers.  Can’t begin to tell you how handy these things have been!  With my kids I’m always needing to snip or clip something and I love having floss or toothpicks when I’m running from place to place after lunch.  The best part is that when I need one of these things it’s so easy to reach for the pouch vs. trying to hunt for my lip gloss in a big bottomless purse.

2} ORGANIZED INBOX

The other thing I strive to stay on top of is my inbox.  I start to feel overwhelmed quickly when my inbox is flooded with e-mails.  Then I forget to RSVP to a birthday party or to answer a question someone is waiting on or to put an important date on my calendar.  No good comes from a flooded inbox!  I finally came up with a folder system that has worked so well for me and I’m happy to say that I have been able to stay on top of my e-mails.  (You can read about my 3 steps for getting my inbox under control here.)   

3}  CLEAN KITCHEN COUNTERS
My house may be in complete disarray but as long as I keep my kitchen counters clear I feel like my home is organized.  If my counters are a mess my brain doesn’t function as well.  Every night (and several times throughout the day) I completely clean my kitchen counters. 
I try to keep dishes loaded in the dishwasher, food put away in the fridge/pantry, and everything that shouldn’t be on the counters OFF the counters!  This is no easy task!  We all know what a dumping ground kitchen counters can become.  Having a set place for the kids’ toys, backpacks, homework supplies, etc. helps so that I can keep the counters clean.  When my kitchen counters are clear so is my head!  I can think so much better and am able to focus on my daily to-do’s without feeling scattered.  (Side note  **Clean kitchen counters are essential for me because I’m a stay home mom.  When I taught school I worked hard to keep my desk clean.)  

So that’s it!  My top three things I strive daily to keep organized.  If I can keep my purse organized, my inbox under control, and my kitchen counters clean each day I feel like I’m on top of things.

Even when I most certainly am not. 
:)

xoxo, Erin
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Uncategorized
05.09.14

Happy Mother’s Day Weekend!

One of my favorite weekends is here!  Just wanted to wish all of you moms out there a wonderful mother’s day.  I hope you have a weekend full of love and pampering like you all deserve!  Bring on the homemade cards.  They are my all time favorite.  :)  So grateful to be a mom to my three peanuts.  They wear me out daily, but it’s the most gratifying exhaustion imaginable. 
Speaking of favorites, here are a few “mom” quotes I adore.  Some are sweet and some are funny – all are true.    

And here are a few past posts I’ve written on motherhood.  Because you know.  Tis the season.  :)

{The most important work}

{A favorite “mom moment”}

{Dear Erin – letter to read if you have a newborn}

{Must have a newborn}

Enjoy your weekend everyone!
xx

xoxo, Erin
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Home Decor
05.08.14

Kitchen shelf decor

Sharing my glass kitchen cabinet shelf decor today!  I’ve been sticking with an all blue/green theme until I figure out what other colors I want to bring into this space.  For now I’m kind of enjoying this look.  
So glad I decided to have the back of this cabinet painted grey!  Now all the dishes (especially the white ones) pop so much better. 
Here’s a shot with the cupboard open so you can see what I tossed in here for now.  All of the dishes I already had except the turquoise mason jars on the top shelf.  I found those at the craft store for 10 bucks.  Score!  I love mason jars.  
The clear mason jars with handles on the middle shelf are from my hot chocolate station last December and the kids love drinking out of them.  They look like glass but are really plastic so I love the kids drinking out of them too.  :)  We use all of the bowls but everything else is just for fun.  

Speaking of fun!  I also added this cool vintage looking scale to my kitchen decor.  I wish I could say I discovered it digging through an antique store or in my great great grandma’s attic.  But no.  It was on sale in the home department at Nordstroms.  :)  Kenny came home and saw it and said “what in the world do we need a scale in the kitchen for?”  I quickly tossed in some grapes and told him I needed to start weighing our food.  Duh. 
Wanna know why I really bought it?  Besides for food weighing of course.  
I can totally see red Christmas ornaments sitting in the top of it in December!  Won’t that be pretty!?  Next to the grapes.  ;)

My scale is a little lonely right now.  I need to add a colorful bowl of fruit or something next to it.  
But first I have to figure out chairs for that table.  The old black chairs are haunting me.  

They call out “we don’t belong here” all day long.  
But I’m getting distracted.  Back to the shelf.  :)
Fun to have some color in the kitchen!  Even if it is all the same color.  :)

I picked up this almost too bright aqua trey and a couple of glass bottles at Target.  I’m probably moving them at some point but this is their home for now.

Did I ever show you guys the little indent I had my cabinet guys put in my oven hood for salt and pepper shakers?  So fun, right?  I saw it in a magazine years ago and was so happy I remembered to tell my cabinet guys to do it.  Handy to have the salt and pepper so close when I’m cooking!  I have lots of fun little things like that around my kitchen that help me keep everything organized.

 At some point I’ll do a full kitchen post.  As soon as I come up with the hours it’s going to take me.

I’ll have to stop wasting so much time weighing our food.  

And styling and re-styling my kitchen shelf.
:)
xoxo, Erin
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Home Decor
05.06.14

Dining room decor update (bench, chairs, pillows)

Happy Tuesday everyone!  I’m back to posting after recovering from the weekend.  I spent it in Vegas with my mom and sister.  A quick girls’ weekend that was an early mother’s day gift this year.  We told our husbands we were living it up in sin city Saturday night when really we were in our hotel by 8:00 pm.  Not only were we in our room, but we were in our pj’s glued to a Judy Garland special on TV.  Ha!  We know how to party.  I’d tell you about the rest of our weekend but what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.  ;)  So nice to spend some uninterrupted time with my mom and sister.  And of course the best part of going away for a couple of days is always coming home.  Such a fun reunion at the airport.  Kids were really excited to see me.  Kenny was even more excited to see me.  Always a good thing to give him a peek into my every day.  :)
On to my post!  I’ve made some serious progress in the formal dining room that I’m excited to show you!
When I last shared this space I just had the table and rug.  
Now I have the bench, pillows and chairs.  It’s starting to look like a real room!  

I had a high back bench made to go along one side of the table.  I always pictured a fabric bench in this space and I’m so happy with how it turned out!  I would never do something like this in our main eating space, but for the formal dining room I think we’ll be ok.  The bench has scotch guard on it and this room is for mostly adult dining.  And just to be safe I don’t think I’ll ever sit on my bench to eat since I’m worse than the kids when it comes to spilling/breaking things!  True story.  I will just admire my bench from afar.  ;)

I also chose fabric for some fun pillows to go on the bench and chairs.  I lined them up and took some pictures so you can see the fabric better.  I decided to go with a grey/yellow/navy color scheme for this room.  

I adore all of these fabrics and couldn’t choose between them!  So I just ordered a pillow in each one. Best way to solve DMD (decision making disorder).  :)  I’m so happy with how the pillows turned out!  They are my favorite part of the room.  I love them in the dining room but also know that they will be fun to move around in other rooms over time.  

The chairs are from Restoration Hardware and my original plan was to order five of them – three to go across from the bench and two extras for when we extend the table.  Then I was going to put two different chairs on the ends of the table.  Here are a couple I was considering… 
OPTION 1 {via}

OPTION 2 {via}
But now that the bench is here I’m wondering if it will look too busy to switch up the end chairs?  The bench and pillows sort of steal the show which makes me think maybe I should just order two end chairs like this…
that go with the original set instead.  What do you think?  Keep all chairs cohesive and let the bench stand out?  Or go with different end chairs so it has more of an eclectic look?  Would love to hear your opinion if you have one!  
These shelves aren’t styled yet.  I just started putting a few things I have in them that go along with the rooms’ colors and might work in the space.  These shelves will be fun to play with!  
 So nice to finally see some color in my house.  I smile now every time I walk by this room.  
Which is about 100 times a day.  :)
Now I just need some delicious food to serve in my new dining room!
Let’s not hold our breath on that one.  
To quote one of my all time favorite movies What About Bob – “Baby steps.”  
:)

xoxo, Erin
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Uncategorized
05.01.14

Dining Nook Table

I have finally found a table for our dining nook!  And I say finally because making this decision has probably taken me longer than any decision ever should.  We have had our current table for years and we bought it used.  To say it is ready to retire would be an understatement!  There are crayon drawings on the bottom of it, scratches all over the chairs, and all sorts of interesting things carved into the table top from drawings and homework.  I was ready to replace the table a few years ago but decided to make it last until our next house.  I know the new table will be with us for the long haul enduring the same type of abuse so I wanted to find something I loved that was up for the challenge.  :)

When we were originally designing our dining nook I pictured a round table in the space.  In fact, I had this table from Restoration Hardware picked out and was all set to buy it as soon as we moved in.

 

 But then we moved in and put our old rectangle table in the space.

 

And while I didn’t like the actual table here, I liked the size!  It fit the space nicely…
and allowed plenty of room for people to get in and out of the french doors on the side (something I was a little worried about with a round table).

 

Plus we would be able to fit more chairs with a longer table which is always a good thing.
So the hunt for the perfect rectangle table for our space began!
I had already bought my all time favorite table for our formal dining room (Restoration Hardware farmhouse table) so I was really starting from scratch.  
 
Here are a few that I considered but didn’t make the cut:

 

 

 

 

I liked all of these tables and considered each one.  Measured for them, checked them out in the store when possible, and pictured them in the space.  But for one reason or another they didn’t work (too long, not the right finish, didn’t love the legs, etc…).
I have a small obsession with zinc right now (bought Kenny a zinc desk for his office that is SO cool) so my designer/friend sent me this picture of a table from Ballard Designs with a zinc table top as a suggestion.  I LOVED the idea of a zinc table top, but wasn’t crazy about the legs.  A little too weathered for my space and we already have so much white going on.  I thought about painting the legs, but then I read reviews about the table and realized I couldn’t fit two chairs on the ends because of the bar across the bottom.  It just wasn’t the one… even though I wanted that zinc table top!
Pottery Barn has an outdoor table with a zinc top that I have loved since it came out and I was always planning on buying it for our outdoor entertaining area.
It’s the Abbot Zinc top fixed dining table and I seriously can’t picture a more perfect table.  LOVE the thick zinc top.  Love the wood X legs.  Love the simplicity of it.  I was admiring it again one night and said to Kenny “Man – I wish this was an indoor table because it is EXACTLY what I want for our nook space.”  And Kenny said “why can’t it be an indoor table?”  Oh my word.  DUH!  I can be a bit clueless at times.  :)  WHY couldn’t I put it inside!!??  I can!  So I did.  I ordered it that night.

 

 And here it is in our space.  The size was perfect!  Yea!  I’m so excited about this table.  The fact that it is an outdoor table means it’s even more durable for the abuse my kids will inevitably dish out!
The wood legs are perfect with all of the wood we have going on in our family room.

 

And I knew that the zinc table top would work well with our light fixture and all of the chrome hardware we have in the kitchen.

 

One thing I was also looking for was a smooth table top.  I’ve found that tables that have a lot of grooves or planks work for a formal dining space you only use once in a while, but not for every day dining with kids.  I can’t handle fishing out all of the crumbs!  This zinc top is so smooth and easy to wipe clean.  My love affair with zinc lives on.

Now for chairs!  Our old chairs are killing the look.  I’ve found lots of options and just need to narrow them down.  I’m also searching for a rug to go under the table.  But for now I’m just happy to finally have a table figured out for this space.  I have thanked my husband multiple times for giving me a light bulb moment that I’m quite embarrassed didn’t come sooner.
:)
xoxo, Erin
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