Why White

So.  I realize that I left off the best part of my Breakdown in a Big Box Retailer story.  That's the part where I show up at the register with an armful of white linens and a big grin.  Why?  Because those white linens are my blank canvas and I have every intention of adding to it.  I intend to add, furthermore, things that I truly, deeply love or practical items, preferably both.

 

You see, when I moved to Spain about two and a half years ago, fresh out of college, I sold all my stuff out on my front yard.  I made about $370.  It was heady and exciting, slightly depressing when I realized that all my worldly possessions amounted to about what I would spend on coffee in a semester.  In hindsight I'm so thankful that I'm not deciding whether to live with a certain beer koozie or my gaudy costume jewelry collection.  (I'm also grateful to, and intrigued by, the mysterious man in fatigues that showed up on my front porch and bought both.)  Now that Spain is behind me, I'm ready to feel less liberated and have more.  Starting out with not much has been exciting, but there is a certain amount of pressure, and budget juggling, that goes along with it.  Here are some wonderful blog entries that are inspiring my new take on possessions:

1.  Simple Lovely's "Honor Your Stuff:" "I believe when you buy only the things that you really love, things that are made with integrity, things that are high-quality, beautiful and meaningful...you will have them for a very, very long time. I believe these types of things are worthy of display"

2. Holley and Gil's "Commmitment issues:"  A collection of spaces and styles that inspires me to stay true to my style.

3. Two Ellie's "An Organized Life: Being Transparent:"  This roundup of ideas about how to live simply is so inspiring to me.  For example, she highlights Emerson Made's statement: "keep only what you need, and keep it in plain sight. No hidden junk". 

Paralysis in the Aisles of Bed Bath and Freaking Beyond

We took approximately an hour (an HOUR) to pick out the following: a sheet set and some towels.  They were all a seafoam color that, after much deliberation, I thought was my favorite.  Then when we were approaching the register something got to me.  I don't know if it was the artificial lighting, or the music, or the sheer amount of stuff, or the effort of maneuvering a shopping cart through the very narrow aisles (to be fair, Jack did most of that), but I LOST IT.  Completely.  "Do I even like seafoam?"  I asked Jack as real, grown-woman-tears, welled up in my eyes.  Jack tried not to show excessive irritation or make a scene, but there was no hiding that I was a blubbering mess.  Over the color of a fitted sheet.  A fitted sheet that we had taken approximately forty-five minutes to pick out.  After some deep breaths and some "No, I can't wipe my eyes with that because we're absolutely not buying it,"  I ran back to the respective sections and switched out seafoam for some plain, old, bleach-able white.  (To be fair, I say switched out, but this was another half-hour of complex comparison).

Do you know what the most ridiculous part of all this was?  We weren't even paying for it, technically.  We had several generous BB&B gift certificates from Grandma.  Moreover, we had a dozen BB&B 20% off certificates from my mother.  Basically we couldn't go wrong, or so I thought.

Then crippling indecision struck.  I have been waiting, plotting and dreaming of putting together a nest with Jack for so long that it's making this pretty impossible.  I am naive enough to think there is a perfect "x" (in this case substitute "fitted sheet") out there for us and that, with some careful shopping it can be ours.  At the same time I am practical enough to know that if we do not get perfect "x" if we settle, then we won't go back and replace it, bar a major disaster befalling imperfect "x."  You see we are make-do types, and possibly cheap-os to boot.  So.  Here we are.  I want to fall in love with every single thing we bring into our new home and Jack wants to get through this process quickly and sanely.  I don't blame him and he gets an extra badge for yesterday, especially after promising to go back with me.

In conclusion:  Jack is a lovely man, BB&B is an experience, and, yes, I still love seafoam.  I just have commitment issues and ran off with bland white.  Also I am eternally grateful to my family for all their help with this. (Above: Seafoam used artfully, via Domino)

Meet Our Furniture

We now have our first pieces of together, real-life furniture.  We spent *several* days scouring the vintage emporiums for upholstered furniture.  No luck in our budget/DIY skill sets.  So we drove an hour up the road and we'll be bringing these home to our new place in February:

The Louisa and Mona, both from the Mitchell Gold & Bob Williams outlet, both an additional 20% off.  The actual fabrics/legs are slightly different, and match better.  We also got a couple pillows, in the same fabric as the chair, to put on the sofa and tie it all together.  You know.  As we wandered around the showroom Jack exclaimed, "I've fallen in love!" about the sofa.  I had a similar feeling about the chair.  Anyway, we're feeling pretty pleased with ourselves and happy to find a compromise between retro/modern/traditional that will hopefully go well with other styles and pieces.  Now we just have to wait to bring them home and stretch out our thigh muscles, which are still aching from the excessive amount of sitting down and standing up that we did yesterday.