World, Meet Dining Room. Dining Room, World.

It goes without saying that I am a fan of all things eating. And having a new house only gets me even more excited to have dinner parties. Just a few weeks after moving in, we had six people over for dinner. After bumping elbows and accidentally sharing water glasses all night, It was blatantly obvious how necessary a larger dining table would be in the near future. For months I have had this table picked out from Pier 1 Imports. Not that I've been a little excited or even slightly anticipating moving or anything. I like the deep, dark color. I love the length at 84 inches. But the best thing is how wide the table is at 42 inches...the standard width is only 38. I feel like I cheated the system out of four more inches, and I certainly need it considering how much I usually make for parties! I have always wanted room to actually place food in the middle of the table, and this beautiful baby provides just such an opportunity! John weather-proofed our old table to put on the patio until the dining set we want becomes available again. It was a complete shock to me that patio sets are seasonal in Arizona!

We got the table about a month ago and continued to use our old chairs with it. Have I mentioned how much patience I am learning through this whole home-ownership thing? I waited a whole month to get six garwgeous chairs to go with. I carefully searched until I found these at World Market, one of my favorite stores. They are wide, comfortable, easy to keep clean, and very solid. I have been in love with them for about four months, but I had to convince John they were right for us. Being such the no-nonsense creature that he is, all I had to do what get his butt on the chair for a few moments. He was in!

We bought two chairs two weeks ago because that's all they had in stock. On sale (not an accident)! We were able to get a rain check for the remaining four, and I got a call today that they had finally arrived. Sweet, sweet bliss to have these beauties in my new home. It is all starting to come together nicely, one room at a time! I love how low they are that I can still enjoy the fireplace. Most importantly, they don't block any sunlight from the windows, which was a big deal for me. It's not like I lived in a basement for two years with no sunlight or anything.

In the interim between getting a table and chairs, I accidentally went to Crate and Barrel, my favorite store in the world, to get some fun accessories for the tabletop. I would have purchased everything in the store but kept it under control until I got a safe distance of ten miles away. I got so many ideas and loved everything I saw. Things always look differently in the store, but I am pleased with how it all ended up in our house. It helps that I love blue and green so much...those seem to be the colors in style this season! Lucky me.

So now we have the perfect setting for having dinner parties. Wouldn't you know I am on the road the next month at least?! Having people enjoy the new furniture with us will have to wait. But, as I have only been discovering now, most things are worth the wait!