Once upon a time, we had a plain (boring), light-colored wood dining room table from Ikea, purchased second-hand while we were in college. We didn’t like it, exactly, but it was nice to have a place to sit down for a more formal dinner, when we wanted to light candles and use our nice silverware and not eat in front of the TV. As the years went by, it became deformed in soldering iron incidents and was less than perfectly stable, and we were quite eager for an upgrade. Thus, when we put our house on the market in spring 20o7, it was one of the first things to go. It took a while to sell our house, and then our studio apartment was far too small for a new table, and then we bought our new place and wanted to build up our savings a bit more before making (more) major furniture expenditures.
So in November, after over a year of coffee-table dinners, we finally ordered our new dining room table and chairs at the same factory-direct reseller that we ordered our bed and dressers from. We were quite happy with the set we picked out, until later in the week we learned that the chairs were no longer available. We headed back up to the store to pick out a new set of chairs, and then waited…and waited…and waited. I knew it had been optimistic to think that we’d receive the set before Christmas, but then the entire month of January came and went with only vague updates from the manufacturer, and so we still were eating at the coffee table when Mom and Dad visited the first weekend of February. Sadness. (Especially since this manufacturer, which we are now not very fond of, has by far the coolest furniture available. Good thing we don’t have any further immediate furniture needs!)
And then, finally! The second week of February, our furniture had arrived at the San Diego warehouse and was delivered the next day. There was much celebrating! And then, much cursing, as the kittens decided to jump on the furniture and scratch the table top and poke holes in the chair upholstery. And so now our stylish dining room furniture is covered in towels, tablecloths, and chair covers, only revealing its true character when we’re actually using it for dinner and feel like being fancy, as kitty-proofing trumps style.
On the plus side, the cats do like to hide under the chair covers…
Our dining room table & chairs in uncovered glory
close-up of our fun window-chair
Beef short ribs for Valentine's Day - our first meal at the new table!
Zephyr hides under the chair cover
Athena hides under another chair
Wild Horses:
Camels:
Giant Sloths:
mini-sloth:
Elephant:
Tortoises:
Saber Tooth Tiger:
