This little light of mine (In search of a table lamp)

A few days ago I ordered a new nightstand using gift certificates Neill and I received as wedding presents. And thanks to my husband, the beauty is already assembled and set up next to our bed. Yay! 

Now, it is time to find us a pair of lamps. Currently we have two plastic floor lamps that I've never been a fan of. They look something like this:

We've had them for about five years. We bought them for the first apartment we ever had together when we were buying the cheepest version of everything we needed. The lesson I'm learning is that just because something is cheap, it doesn't necessarily mean it is a good deal! It is worth spending a little bit more money if it means getting something you'll want to keep forever. [Of course, it would be even better if you could find something you love without spending the extra cash.]

I'm hoping we can sell the lamps on craigslist (or give them away on the free section) to make room for two new lovelies.
 
Here are the lamps I've been digging.

Chelsea Bedside Lamp

I'd get this lamp in the antique bronze finish. On the plus side, Pottery Barn is having a sale right now and I could purchase two of these lamps for 148 dollars. Plus, Pottery Barn takes William Sonoma gift cards, so we could probably buy these lamps without actually spending any cash. Also, this lamp is adjustable (22.5- 27.5 inches). Downside? We have to buy the shades separately, which could be an extra 60 dollars.

Hoopla Teal Table Lamp - $49.95

This little cutie is nice and cheap and I like the blue. But, I'm not sure if the color is too jewel-toned for our room. Plus, it might be a bit too modern. 

Kathryn Table Lamp - 179.00 

This is way our of budget, but oh gee I just love love love this lamp. One day.

Alexis Ceramic Table Lamp - $99.00

I'm in like with the blue lamp on the left. But is it too pastel? This one is from pottery barn, so again we could use gift cards for it. But, buying the shades would be mo money. 

Eva Colored Glass Table Lamp - $99.00

Oh gee here is another one I'm just in love love love with from pottery barn. I'd go with either the sea glass color or the clear. The reviews say the sea glass color is actually very green and I was hoping for something more blue, but damn I just love these. 

Blue and Chrome Table Lamp - $149.99

Lovely lamp in what appears to be the perfect shade of blue! I've really liked this one for a long time too. Target has some really cute lamps!

Genie Vase Lamp - $229.99

Now I'm just getting distracted with all the beautiful lamps from Target. This one is probably much to large for our nightstands. But now I'm thinking about how lovely this lamp would look on our console table in the entry way.

Ceramic Table Lamp - $129.99

Something about this lamp reminds me of a grandma. I'm not quite sure. I like the color though and it could be great in person. Maybe I like it because it reminds me of one of the lamps I registered for that has since been discontinued.

Stephen's Table Lamp - $229.00

Again, I'm getting distracted. But I love this lamp too! Why is it so expensive??? 

Whew. That was a lot of lamps. I think I'm largely stuck between the Eva Colored Glass Table Lamp, the Blue and Chrome Table Lamp, the Chelsea Table Lamp, or the Alexis Ceramic Table Lamp. What is a girl to do?

Night Stand - Purchased!

After examining all of our options, we decided to go ahead and purchase the Brighton Night Stand from Crate and Barrel.

Not only do we like the way it looked, but we were able to purchase it with  gift cards we recieved at our wedding. So, that's basically like FREE! Getting married is truly the gift that keeps on giving (haha).

Since I was buying something anyways, I snuck in another purchase. The Sedona Hamper. Check out this beauty.

Ooo baby.  I've wanted this hamper for YEARS. What can I say? Some girls want shoes. I want a laundry basket. I'm super excited to upgrade from my blue plastic hamper I've had since grade school  to this classy lady. (Yes! Neill and I are currently using a hamper I've had throughout high school and college! Is this tmi? I hope not)

After our 10% off for "registry completion" and using our gift-cards ($300), I only ended up spending 17 dollars to have these lovelies delivered to our front door. Yippeee! I love presents! 

White Night Stand Under 200 Dollars

Neill needs a night stand. Somewhere to put his glass of water. his glasses. his stuff. Really, I don't know how we've gone more than three years living here with just a big empty space where his bed side table should be. Oops!

But, now is the time! If only we can find one that just isn't so darn expensive! Who knew that night stands can cost hundreds and hundreds dollars? Maybe this is why we never got one for him . . .

Faux Bamboo Night Stand - $788.00

so lovely, but so out of our price range

Picking out furniture has always been difficult for me. Well, not the picking it out. Its easy for me to see things I like. It is the following through and buying that is difficult. Somewhere along the way I developed a "second hand is best" mentality. Most of the pieces of furniture in our bedroom are second hand - bed frame (craigslist), my side-table (craigslist), dresser (hand me down from grandma), mirror (hand me down from mom), and book-case (built by mom, painted by us). In fact we only have two items that we actually purchased from an actual store: a beautiful full length mirror from Crate and Barrel, which we bought as an anniversary present to each other one year, and an Ikea Hemnes Dresser, which we bought when we first moved in because we needed somewhere to put our clothes ASAP.

Anyways, now that I've shared entirely too much information with you regarding our furniture, here is the dilemma. What nightstand to choose???

 

Ikea Hemnes Nighs Stand - $59.99

Adelle Bed Side Table - $149.99

Brighton Night Stand - $199.00

South Hampton Night Stand - $129.99

Charlotte Bed Side Table - $199.99

Everyone Takes the Bus

image source: crate and barrel

Amazingly enough, I see this woman ALL THE TIME on the north avenue bus on my way to work. Her hair really is that fabulous (and why I noticed her in the first place). While doing some online browsing, I stumbled across her picture on the crate and barrel website. Crazy, huh? 

J. Wellington's

Like every god-fearing, flag worshiping American I love love love a good hamburger. And in the summer, it is easy to get my fill of hamburgers (and pretty much all other grilled meats). We grill. Friend's grill. Everyone wants to get together and grill.

But, then the cold weather comes and the grilling stops and so we stop eating hamburgers. Yes yes we could make them on the stove, but we've tried that and have never been fully satisfied with the results. And while I'm sure there are some wonderful burger places out there, we haven't found them*!

Well, that is until last night.

J. Wellington's opened up in our neighborhood maybe six months ago. I thought the sign was kind of cheesy and we've pretty much avoided the place (except one day when I had a serious craving for a root beer float. it was delicious). After our dinner plans last night fell through and Neill had a serious case of hunger induced crankiness, we decided to give J. Wellington's a try. We ordered at the counter and then grabbed a seat to wait for our burgers. About ten minutes later someone delivered the meaty goodness to our table.

I did the "build your own" and added lettuce, tomato, a fried egg (because why the fuck not), and siracha may on the side. ooo and a pretzel role, which pretty much makes everything better. All in all, the burger gets two thumbs up. Not over cooked (thank god) and I liked the variety of toppings to choose from. Plus, the fries are delicious.

Did I mention that its also BYOB? Yeah. That's pretty fantastic. (although, this isn't really the place I'd hang out all night. Its more like a Jimmy Johns than a restaurant)

So now we have a burger place to go to all year round. Thank god for that.


*I do like Kuma's corner, but I'm not always up for the wait. Bin Wine Cafe also has a good burger, but for some reason I never think of going there.