adventures in coffee tables

this happened last week.... i can't believe i forgot to post my blog on this. i have some serious updating to do... anyone know of a way to insert blog posts in the correct order? i don't know how to change the date to get this one where it belongs....hmmm...

ok, now the story... as to courtney's question: yes, i am still decorating, but i am pretty much done. i needed a coffee table and have been putting it off as i have no money for discretionary things these days. in its place, i was using an extra side table that i have. however, i went to my friend heather's house last weekend and they had the most perfect coffee table. it was a great size, shape, color and even has storage! i asked her where in the world she got it and she said crate and barrel. i asked her if she was sure and she said that of course she was. she had actually asked for it on their registry when they got married last august. see, i've been looking everywhere and since i've also furnished this house with all kinds of new items that would never have all fit in the nyc apartment, i knew i had not seen this coffee table at crate and barrel otherwise i would have bought it immediately. so the search is on.

thinking that maybe somehow i had missed it on their website, i decided to check online. it wasn't there. just like i knew it wouldn't be. so i asked heather if she had a product number anywhere on hers and she told me that i could actually still pull up her old registry and that the product number was there. so i did and found it... there it was... a crate and barrel coffee table just like she said. i wrote down the sku number and immediately called them. they told me that it was a discontinued item (oh no!) but that they had 2 of them left in the country at two different outlet stores and did i want to know where they were? um, YES! so she tells me the first one is in kittery, maine. um, a little far. and the second one was in naperville, il. really?! yes!!! so, i called the naperville store and they confirmed that they did indeed have one and it was 249 (originally 299), but they were unable to put it on hold. i freaked! so i hurried up and got ready to go. i HAD to have this coffee table. i jumped in the car and drove to naperville, il - my first trek out there. it wasn't a bad drive, but it did take about an hour. as soon as i got there, i walked in and was all i called about the coffee table and i want it!! so we went and found it. it had originally been a floor sample and as i looked it over, i saw that it was pretty much in perfect shape and the price said it was 149, not the 249 they told me on the phone! i was so excited... and decided that it was meant to be. but the story isn't over yet.

i bought my coffee table and the nice guys tried to load it up fully assembled. however, my volvo just didn't want to hold the fully assembled table and so they had to take the legs off of it. i watched so i would know what they were doing and so that i could know how to put it back together. luckily, it was not hard at all. but the body of the coffee table and the collapsed legs fit snugly in the trunk and i drove back home. then it was time to haul it out of the car and up 3 flights of stairs thru the back door and the house to the living room. oh boy, that was a work out let me tell you! while not very big, the thing is rather heavy. thankfully they had wrapped it in protective moving type plastic stuff and i was able to set it down and pick it up without harming the wood. finally i got it to the living room and i must say, it fits perfectly in the space and looks amazing. i couldn't be happier with my new coffee table! i'm kind of in love with it...


my new pride


opened up so you can see the great storage!