Pure Summer.

What a great past couple days this has been. I'm looking forward to yet another - the end of the stint - tomorrow.

We started out this morning by deciding to get out of the house early. Before noon is early for us, on a Sunday. I had told Jason about this bistro set for sale at Art Van for $67. I've been kind of hankerin' for a bistro set for the front porch. Somewhere to sit and have my morning coffee... enjoy the sunsets... or maybe have at-home date nights with the hubby for dinner. Other than my lounger, we really have nowhere to sit and relax outside.

So, as a little bit of a surprise (we often hop in the car for fun and let Jason decide the route), he headed to Art Van to check it out. We sat in it, kinda liked it, and decided to buy it.

We were told that we could come back and pick it up in about a half hour, as the store wasn't even fully open yet. So we did some other shopping and came back. Upon our return, we were told they made a mistake and didn't have any in stock. We'd have to wait until Wednesday. The whole reason we decided to buy this set on a whim was because we thought it'd be nice to have for the long weekend. Today and tomorrow were going to be gorgeous and we wanted it now. If we were going to have to wait anyway, we may have saved up for something a little nicer.

So, we said OK and left. Frustrated. We had cake & ice cream at my parents' house for my birthday, which was yesterday. Mom made a 4 (or 5?) layer black & white cake which was awesome, and they had a couple really nice gifts for me. After our visit there, we decided to go shopping around to see if we could find any other bistro sets we liked elsewhere. If we did, we'd get a refund from Art Van. After unsuccessful trips to Big Lots and Lowe's, I seemed to recall some outdoor chairs being 50% off at JoAnn. So we took a trip there, and look what we found:



The table and chairs don't match perfectly, but altogether they cost the same as the bistro set from Art Van and the chairs are WAY more comfortable & sturdy. And YES - everything was 50% off!

We just *had* to pick up one of these, to complete the perfect weekend:


Grilling out and having dinner outside was the best. Jason made amazing kabobs, grilled corn & I put together a mean salad. ;)

Tomorrow, we're having my parents over, Jason's grilling ranch burgers, and I'm baking potatoes in a way which I bet you've never seen before - I promise to share photos & results.

Lots of boats have gone by today. I can't describe the smell that wafts through my living room every time one does. It is pure summer - gasoline, lake water and fresh air. I love it.