A Party on the River and a Red Desk Can Save A Life

It's been a wild few weeks. I was one of two lucky women to be in W's sister's wedding (the bridal party was me, and his brother's wife, K). The weeks leading up to the wedding had us in a swirl of bridal flurry. The day after was a party with the family who was visiting from out of town. God, we had a blast. The kids even decorated the Mr. + Mrs. car with Just Married ribbons and signs. That following weekend was Father's Day, when I experienced a severe bout of tinnitus that left me making deals with God, and trying every supplement and drug I could get my hands on to make the insane noise stop. Two things, though, brought me back to this blog.

First, I visited my friends' (KT and M's) house for drinks. We first started getting close back in September, and as the seasons changed, our friendship grew. Being that it is our first summer together, I hadn't seen their backyard until this night. I was in awe. It sits on the river, and has various seating areas throughout the yard. There is the deck, a dining area, and then another seating area with a firepit as a centerpiece. M had just finished putting in beautiful stone steps (with his own hands) that will be lit up. They have a wrought iron chandelier hanging from a tree branch, that is lit with candles. Everywhere, there were candles and firesticks. Cool iron pieces held candles in different forms and sizes. I begged them to allow me to steal their ideas, and use them in my backyard.

And while I did find the perfect chandelier, none of my tree branches are anywhere near low enough to hang one. I did, however, find a cool tiered candle holder for the table, at a Cedar Lake garage sale this weekend for $2. Hey, it's a start.

Now, the second thing was this beautiful red desk.

the red desk, now mine, in the entryway of my home

My friend Andrea has just finished recreating an old desk, and put it for sale at her store, Savannah Hope Vintage. Her shop is full of beautiful things, but frankly, my house is nearly full (and all from Savannah Hope Vintage). When I saw this desk, though, I fell in love. My house is mostly shades of yellow and blue, but the red in this desk was just too perfect to pass up. My front entry hall has been home to an unused bench for six years now, and I knew the desk would replace it perfectly. (The bench is primed and will be painted to sit on my deck outside.) I got a matching-ish rack with hooks, and all together, I am thrilled.

the hooks

I feel that I am renewed and ready to return to blogging about home, life, and my beautiful family. Please stay tuned. (Follow me on my facebook page, too!)

Spoiler for upcoming blog: Granite is being installed in my kitchen Tuesday. I built benches and they were the wrong size. Wait 'til you hear this one...