The Greatest Table That Has Ever Tabled

Wandering through a Crate and Barrel last summer (there's one located next to one of my favorite stores on Earth, The Container Store), Steve and I came across a wonderful table. Its "origami" drop-leaf design allowed it to shrink to a mere 14 inches deep when fully collapsed, but could expand to seat a "holiday factor" of six. It seemed like the perfect table for the small dining area we had cleared in our kitchen redesign. We filed away knowledge of this great table possibility, wanting to be sure we considered all of our options, and went on our way. 

The first day of October, I spotted the table on one of the design blogs I frequent. My exact utterance at the time was "oh, no." It was on a list of (relatively) affordable tables well designed for small spaces. Which meant it was soon to become more difficult to acquire. 

Having found no more appealing options since we first happened upon this table, I clicked quickly over to Crate and Barrel's website to order it. I was able to... for delivery in mid-December. Luckily, there were no additional delays and the table arrived today, more than in time for Christmas.

And now, finally, I shall show my loyal readership why this table is the greatest. 

Fully collapsed:

How it'll be most of the time, one leaf up for me and Steve:

Fully extended (it's a bit impeded by un-assembled chair boxes at the moment, but it will fit nicely in our available space once we finish up the building process):

The chairs are Ikea. Steve and I sat in a dozen chairs that ranged wildly in price and style and this modest Ikea product was by far the most comfortable. I wanted to be sure long-term sitting would be comfy since this is the only table in the house and I want to be able to play games and lounge. It's hard to tell with the lighting weirdness in the pictures, but the seat covers are grey, not blue. I think it looks really great... we'll have to start hosting (small) dinner parties or something.

Postal Cookies

I have taken a break from blogging for the past month or so. This is mostly due to the fact that I have been extensively decorating our house for Christmas, and I want my family to be surprised when Steve and I host this year, so I'm refusing to post pictures. My mother protested, so I am relenting with one picture.

Steve was kind enough to help me (and by "help," I mean do everything while I watch) bake cookies for my friends at the post office.

That may sound a little odd, but I go to the post office a lot. Pretty much every week, sometimes more than once. The postal service introduced a rule many years ago requiring any piece of mail over 13 oz to be either processed through the automated postal center (or online) or taken up the counter. My boss being a bit of a luddite, he has me take things up to the counter.

So, for the past eight years, I have gone into the same small post office nearly every week. Though all of the clerks know me, I have struck up an especially friendly rapport with one in particular, who (in an "it's a small world" twist) is originally from Long Beach. He greets me with an enthusiastic grin and usually "yo, girl!" and we chat about various things while he processes my mail.

Today I delivered a plate of cookies (regular chocolate chip and double chocolate) with a tag reading "To: My friends at the post office." I was thanked repeatedly, told how wonderful I am, etc. I left feeling somewhat embarrassed in a really wonderful way. And I really can't think of anything that more perfectly encapsulates what the Christmas season is all about than the warm (slightly self-conscious) feeling that results when a kind gesture one makes is very much appreciated.