Straight Out Of A Catalog

The past couple of days - who am I kidding, the whole past week - has been consumed by preparing for a housewarming BBQ where we would introduce our friends to the house for the first time. While family and a few select friends were able to see the house from the beginning (in really rough shape), we decided we were ready to show off the house to the world and were using it as motivation to finally unpack some of the last boxes that were lingering around.

So while my camera was fully charged and ready to take pictures, I completely forgot to take any in the craziness of the day while fulfilling my hostess duties.  However, I did manage to snap this photo in the calm before guests descended. Andrew had been consumed with getting our three season porch ready for the party, which included moving boxes out of it (since we had been using it for storage space), building our patio furniture and locating lights for it. I'll take credit for finding new pillows to replace the dreary pillows that came with the set. The end result was something that looked picture perfect, like something out of a Pottery Barn catalog:

It's the perfect place to sit and enjoy the summer weather, catch breezes from outside and the overhead fan while enjoying a cold beverage.

Andrew's parents were the first to enjoy the room the night before our BBQ for a quick drink and then I had a group of friends spend most of the day in it on Saturday. As one of them put it, "I could spend all day in here - in fact, I think I just did!"

I know this is a bit of a no-brainer statement but it was incredibly exciting to show off the house to everyone and hear how much people liked it. Four months after buying the house, Andrew and I still have no regrets about our decision and we take a lot of pride in finding new things (at bargain prices) to turn the house into our home.