Providence shown on me today. So much so that I decided to blog after my months long hiatus.

I had a dr appointment in the city early this morning, and found out everything is still going well with the development of our baby girl :). Then I took myself to a fancy breakfast at Norma’s in midtown, where I enjoyed sweet and savory dishes (I couldn’t decide…so I decided on both). Then I walked up and enjoyed a nice respite at the LDS Manhattan Temple. All while the sun shone down and warmed me up.

On my subway ride home I remembered seeing an interesting chair upside down on the sidewalk from last night’s great date with Kev. It had interesting lines, and so I decided to see if it was still there. To my amazement— it was! So I awkwardly picked it up and began hauling this well-built treasure. Then I really felt blessed when I saw about 40 feet in front of me an abandoned grocery cart. Minutes later the chair, cart, and I were happily home.

Here’s to babysitters, free stuff, good food, some time all to yourself, and having God’s hand in your life in small but oh-so-meaningful ways!

Here is the finished plexi/glass dining table. I needed something that didn’t take up a lot of visual or actual space in our tight dining area. So voila! I’m thinking of getting some industrial inspired stools from CB2, but I may make some. (I recently discovered a wood shop that has been giving me scraps).

Visiting suburbia no matter where (in this case northern VA) makes me want to go to the mall :). In my first two days I went to two different malls. It’s so easy. You get in your car (in your very own driveway), drive a short-ish distance, park in any number of spots, and shop around. It was great.

Today, I’m off to the Smithsonian with Henry, lunch with an old pal, and then to another suburban favorite—Target! But Target needs it’s own post.

Summer’s almost over, and we’re squeezing in as much travel as we can. We arrived home from our amazing Montana adventure and then hopped a train to DC to visit family.

Today I helped my Dad by clearing off his deck and reorienting his furniture. It looks so much better (sorry no before shots). Summer’s almost over, but it’s not too late to enjoy the outdoors!

Ok. That table top is one solid piece of wood!! I feel like that’s all I need to say.

Having built a solid wood table, I wanted to see how it was constructed so I’ve been climbing underneath to examine the structure. The support slabs are also solid pieces. The joints are fluid so the slabs can shrink and expand in the seasons without cracking. Overall it’s pretty simple, but I’m seriously impressed.

Isn’t nature stunning? I don’t know how you find something like this, but I’m going to investigate.

We’re in Big Sky Montana where our lovely friends let us use their beautiful home to camp out while we fish, hike, and explore Yellowstone.

As a novice wood worker and hardware enthusiast, I’m obsessing over all the glorious details as well as the bigger furniture pieces, the overall structure of the house, and the art!! Well done Lynn Morgan/Brooks and Falotico.

This weekend our lovely friend Anne from Kev’s work took photos of Henry baby (thanks Anne!!). I’ve been obsessing over them ever since. Visit Anne’s website: http://annekarp.blogspot.com. She is amazing, and a joy to work with.

Projects are progressing here in Brooklyn. Actually, I’ve been gathering supplies for three projects: an upholstered headboard, a dresser that I found on the street, and an acrylic/glass dining table (base pieces pictured)!

The headboard should come together very soon. The other two projects may take more time since I’m problem-solving how to address their issues.

The acrylic base needs the edges polished, and the easiest but most dangerous way is with a special torch. The dresser needs to be stripped, refinished, and mended. It takes time to strategize all of this, especially since I don’t have all the tools I need, and I might end up outsourcing some of it. Despite these complications I think the end products will be very gratifying. I’ll let you know :).

I built and upholstered this ottoman before Henry was born. It’s been well-loved since then (read: it needed a good scrubbing). So earlier this week I un-upholstered it, cleaned the fabric, added some new foam (leftover from the outdoor cushions), and added the inside trim to keep it in place better. I always planned on using hinges, but the safety hinges were too hard to install and the door hinges would have shown on the outside/made it higher on one length. Overall, I’m really pleased with the improvements. It looks/feels soo much better, and finally stays put when I put my feet up.