{you may want to sit down}

i've been tossing and turning in my head how unsure i am about arriving to find a nearly empty apartment in two weeks -- one that i have to live and work in. yes, we have our mattresses, and other things that i've already told you about on this blog (vacuum, towels, light, etc.) but that's about it. we also have a television but it isn't the one we'll keep, it's just one we've 'inherited' from family. the mattresses are pretty much the only seating we'll have and this scares me. and not one work surface. and we don't even have a kitchen sink or cabinetry in there. am i insane? i wonder if we should rent a sofa and a dining room table and chairs for a few weeks, you know... but that freaks me out even more because i'm not sure if that will encourage us to be lazy and not work as quickly as we should. and i'm concerned about paying for furniture i won't keep. with rental furniture, at least i won't be running out and buying the first thing i see just to have a fast home. i'm not a drive-thru decorator, i'm one that loves to take time to sift through all of the possibilities until i find the absolute near-perfect find. but, then again... i have been sifting for a few months already and i do know the exact furniture that i want so it's just a matter of finding it and of course, staying within a budget. if i find a store with the things i have in mind already, then cha-ching! nothing will hold me back from purchasing it if it's within reach financially. so from that standpoint, i may be able to find a table, chairs, sofa, and a work surface for thorsten within say 2 weeks... think that is possible? it will have to be. so we shall see...

i love this whole look, i dream of having a huge kitchen like my dad's with industrial shelving and a big prep surface in the center. this looks just like our family restaurant growing up, i used to sit on that table! :)

i was so happy today when i sent an email to this list i belong to where people in hannover exchange tips and such, in english, and the email got a response back. usually most people ignore me on the list because i get the sense that they mostly care about going to church, kid's schools and playgroups, and how upset the moderator was over someone not paying for a soda at their last in-person group meet up. the list is a real yawn, it's so boring sometimes i wonder why i bother but today i bothered... and i'm so glad i sent out my email cry of help looking for a good sofa store in hannover. a lovely lady called caroline told me about a store in another district not too far from mine that sells furniture and stuff from design trade shows and close outs from large respectable companies. it's called sofaloft. it's one of those places i fear telling anyone about because it looks so good i almost don't want to share it with thousands of people on the web. but because caroline shared, so should i. you won't find the same piece twice in their showroom and once something is gone, it's gone... but the advantage is that you can find a very expensive designer sofa for between 500 and 1,200- Euro which is exactly my sofa budget. i have wine taste and a beer wallet i'll admit. i would love a ligne roset sofa but HA! that won't happen this trip that's for sure. i have so much money to spend on little necessary things (spatulas, forks, bowls, a broom, spices, teas, etc.) that i must be very strict with myself. if i did splurge on a roset sofa our friends would have to sit on the floor for dinner because i won't be able to budget in a proper table and chairs. then again, i could convince them that it's a hot new trend and dining room tables are so passe. but i doubt they'll fall for it. and i plan to do A LOT of entertaining because we have many, many friends and family to invite over. doesn't this softloft store look sweet? i was tickled to see that they carry kitchen stuff and accessories too. i already see four sofas that i want. two are gray and two are white. i'm going with either gray or white, did i tell you? i want white but gray seems so practical given all of the male friends my husband has there and how they love to get together for movie nights and 'jerk' weekends where i basically leave for the day and the 'boys' come hang with thorsten, they order pizza, eat a ton of sweets, i leave some homemade cookies out, and much alcohol is consumed while action films and video games are played ad nauseum. do you think said boys will give a damn that holly's pristine white linen blend sofa needs to be treated with care? uh, no. now you know why gray may win out. xo, Holly