Vacation in Mexico

When I asked the boss to sign my vacation request for a trip to Mexico he laughed at me since traveling to Mexico for work isn't my favorite.  As I hoped the beach in Mexico is a lot more enjoyable than the area where I got for work.

We stayed at an all inclusive resort which was a first for me and very convenient.  I did get a little tired of the food toward the end of the trip, but that is my only complaint - otherwise it was a most relaxing vacation.

Our one trip off resort was to the Mayan ruins of Tulum.

Couch Hunting

I'm on the hunt for a sectional for the basement - I need something to sit on if I'm ever going put the TV to use. Ikea is usually my first try for furniture, but when I looked in January I didnt see/feel anything that was right.  I'm not sure if I tested the "KIVIK," or not, I might like it if it had full height arms.

image from  http://www.ikea.com

The second place I have luck finding furniture is West Elm.  Browsing their website I liked the "Blake"

and the "Henry"

 

I wanted to test these two sofas out and the nearest West Elm is on Columbus.  Unfortunately neither of these was comfortable, but luckily the mall also had a Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware and Crate and Barrel.  Of the 15 or 20 sofas I sat on far and away the most comfortable was from the Pottery Barn "Comfort Collection."

The bad news is this one starts around $3000.  The search will continue.

Columbus, OH

Last Saturday I talked M into driving with me to Columbus on a couch scouting (more on that later) trip.  I like road trips, but a little less so when gas is over $4/gallon.

For lunch we went to Northstar Cafe.  I had the Northstar Burger "Just made with organic brown rice, black beans and beets, topped with white cheddar, lettuce, tomato, pickle and onion + simple salad."  I like beets and they were a nice veggie burger addition, but the real highlight was the café vinaigrette.

*Notice how green the trees are just 3 hours south?

On our way out we noticed a sign for Jeni's Ice Cream which I recognized instantly from Lindsay's blog.  I sampled the Goat Cheese with Cognac Fig Sauce and Olive Oil with Sea-Salted Pepitas, but ended up going with the a scoop each of Honey Butter Cake and Brown Butter Almond Brittle.  I'm now craving more of the Goat Cheese Fig.

Flooring Day 2

Also known as the Monday I went to work and my Dad went to my house and nearly finished putting down the floor.

Flooring Day 1

My Dad is a slave driver. On Sunday he had me installing flooring from the time I got home from swim practice at 11:00 until 10:00 at night.  I got breaks to pick up extra materials at Lowe's, get a Frosty from Wendy's and cook dinner.  My Dad worked harder than me, he didn't take any breaks.

The day's results look like this:

 

To get there we used an additional 50lbs of floor leveler, laid down almost 400sqft of vapor barrier, watched a video about the floor installation and then started clicking together the cork planks (which is more difficult than the video indicates).

Pink Paint

I gave the pink to white ceiling paint a chance and the results were good.  No more streaks.  Thank goodness that job is done!  Just in time because the floor is going down soon...

Design Thoughts

The fabric in the background was intended for a shower curtain in my spare bathroom, but it clashed terribly with the tile. I like the geometrical pattern too much to not put it to use somewhere. Unexpectedly it looks ok with the cork and I like the way it looks with the curtain rods I got free with Kohl's Cash earned buying the Kitchenaid mixer.

It feels early to be thinking about curtains before any of the furniture is chosen, but I might be willing to make a commitment to this fabric.