Sunday Happenings

We have decided that we'll get our new patio furniture from Restoration Hardware. It's the Antibes collection, though we're only getting a coffee table, sofa (pictured below), chair, and ottoman. We will move our existing table and chair over on the deck to complete the picture. Later this summer, we'll get one of those gas fire stands to keep us warm out there when it's cooler. We have also asked our landscaper to put flowers in some garden pots we bought and do some additional (small) landscaping in the backyard and put flowers in the beds out front. Hopefully once this is all done we'll use our back deck more often.

We cashed in our Diners Club points and got a lot of gift certificates for those. For the remaining balance, we purchased gift certificates off of eBay at a 15% savings. Then we'll save another 2% by ordering from Restoration Hardware online by navigating to their site via ebates.com (if anyone is interested in signing up for ebates, let me know - I'll send you an email and then we'll each get $5 in our initial account as a result). While we're not in the frugal category on budgeting, it does feel good to do a tad bit more research to get things for as little as possible vs just doing it the easiest way.

We tried to go to Restoration Hardware today to pick out swatches for the fabric for the patio furniture, however, they were closed due to Easter. Then, after D miraculously agreed to go to Costco with me, it also turned out to be closed. Why does D feel like going shopping with me on the only day that everything is closed? So frustrating.

This afternoon, before discovering RH was closed, we went to eat lunch at this bar nearby the store. I don't like bar food, but D wanted a cheeseburger, so there we were. However, I really liked this bar because they had a huge pit in the middle of this table and a real fire going. I was so warm the entire time I ate. Perfect! All restaurants should be a huge fire in the middle of the table - screw those little dainty candles!