What Ana Does

I have been casually looking at dining room chairs for months. And months. But not getting serious -- just gathering ideas of what is available and to my taste. And prices. I knew I wanted more stylish, less used-by-children, and more comfortable chairs so diners didn't feel like they were sitting on a block of granite for the meal.  I was DONE putting it off, once I decided to repaint the walls, I added new chairs to the plan. So I sat myself down (on the hard dining room chairs, ugh) and made some hard decisions.  First,  I decided to stop worrying about the chairs matching the dining room table. It's an 8 ft warm/greyish wood tone table -- as was the popular style 10ish years ago -- we bought at Restoration Outlet for a steal. To try to match the wood stain, even new Restoration chairs, would never work. It's aged. It's seen lots of sunlight on it. I'm sure it's a different color.  And who cares?! I looked through Pinterest and thought the matchy-matchy set...

I'm on the hunt for a cozy reading chair for our bedroom. While I have plenty of cozy reading spots around the house, I'd really like one up in our bedroom where I can hide away with a book in late afternoons.  While I was sick, I really missed having that second place to curl up, too. So, I'm hunting around for the best option.  My criteria is comfy, a little higher on the back so I can rest my head, large enough I can curl up my legs, and maybe blue to match the blue room. My budget is around $500. Here are my current favorite contenders ...  This is the Albany Park Swivel Chair in a blue or green velvet. It's $900, so out of my price limit but I'm waiting on some good sales. The sofa in our basement is from this company and I really like their mission and quality. I like finding pictures of people in the chairs.  This one is a more modern version in a heather blue color ...  It's the Mod Chair from Article , a store a few of my Insta-people really like. I li...

In Copenhagen I didn't want to buy clothes or hats or t-shirts or posters. Nope. All I wanted was kitchen supplies! I found a few really beautiful kitchen shops that blew me away. I love a beautiful shop, right?!  Here are a few shops that I snapped photos of while in Copenhagen:  I would have bought this entire table of pottery, just recreate this sight in my own dining room. Danish pottery is simple, pastel and lovely. I wanted it all. 

I love shopping but I really love shopping for solutions, don't you? I like finding the best deals for things that fit a specific purpose in my life. That answer a need. And there are a few things I'm still searching for ...  A "Shopping" Winter Coat - I have winter coats but they're huge and super-warm, great for neighborhood walks but I sweat walking around Target. I don't need the layers when I'm just going from home to car to store. Here's the JCrew Factory coat I'm looking at.  A Smaller Handsfree Purse -  I own a bunch of purses, most by the same designers: Orla Keily, Kate Spade and FEED, which I switch-out through the year based on: what my daily life looks like, what I need to haul, and what season it is. Mostly, my purses are on the large size, because I used to commute and needed extra supplies and I used to have small kids that I always needed snacks, etc. for. No more! I don't need all that room if, again, all I do is go from hom...

2020 was certainly a shopping year at our house, mostly thanks to being home and having nowhere to go since March. I had way more time than usual to notice the things around me that were in need of replacement and new things I've long thought about but haven't done much about. Here's my list of favorite purchases of the year: Match PJ Sets!  I've been buying these Dreamy Cotton Pajama Sets from JCrew whenever I got a good coupon code -- I think I now have four, the fifth is a short-set. They are super comfortable, fit great, wash well and make me feel a little more put together at night. A huge glow-up from the mismatched flannel pants and old t-shirts I used to wear to bed.  New Family Room Sofa.  We finally replaced our poop brown sectional (I swear it was a lighter color in the showroom) with a light grey u-shaped couch in the family room we can all sit on. It's done wonders to lighten the room and the fabric has proven to be kid and dog-friendly, too. This is t...

So, the saga continues. I didn't like how the Pottery Barn table was holding up. It was already full of glass rings and the veneer top was pulling up in a corner. So I sent it back. After another exhaustive search, I found a second Pottery Barn table that's solid wood and looks like it will hold up a bit better. And was a better size. And I could exchange for the one I returned. The downside: it's on back-ordered until August! And I can't live without a kitchen table until August. Especially with all of us home ALL THE TIME. The solution: I bought a very inexpensive table from Target that I could get delivered in just a few days. It's actually really nice for a $250 table. And it's heavier than I thought it would be, so it will do until August. (Though, at 60" it's a foot too small for all of us to fit.) Yeah ... the kitchen table story continues ... Related lists: - The last post about the kitchen table when I THOUGHT I was do...

I'm always happier when I can buy something that fulfills a want or need in my house and does some good. Lately, I've been finding a bunch of items that fit that description, so I thought I'd round them up in a handy list. 4Oceans - a few times a year I donate $100 to help pull plastic out of the oceans. It's the very least I can do considering all the plastic I PUT in the oceans (it's impossible to avoid plastic, y'all). It's awful. So yup, buying four bracelets and making that donate is a drop in the bucket, but it's something. And the kids enjoy the bracelets and sharing them with friends. ( Shop here. ) Who Gives a Crap  - imaging cutting down trees in a lush forest so I can wipe my butt (sorry for the visual) is so distasteful to me, in many different ways. 100% "tree free" toilet paper, paper towels and tissues are just becoming a thing and I'm all over it. And this company takes its profits and builds bathrooms in third-world ...

We've got a wedding in Florida at the end of February and none of my formal dresses currently fit. So instead of the frustrating, lonely and depressing experience of spending a few hours in the dressing room at Nordstrom or Lord & Taylor, I've been experimenting with online dress shopping. I've been using mainly Amazon and Zappos, because of quick and free shipping. And I found quite a lot of dress options. In fact, I spent WAY TO MUCH time browsing through dresses and imaging how they'd translate from the model's size 1 body to my, er, larger one. In the end, I found there were some advantages and disadvantages to doing this kind of very-targeted shopping .... Pluses:  - Try on is at my house, in my bathroom, with my own shoes and undergarments, etc. I had ALL the space to move around and take each for a test drive. - My house has better, natural lighting and several mirror options. - I could take pictures of myself in the dress to send to my sisters w...

Yes, it's the middle of winter ... really just the beginning if you consider the three months we still have yet to go!... and I'm daydreaming of patio furniture. I made a proclamation: This spring we will sell off our current smallish patio sets (we have a few) and replace it with exactly what we want and will use. "It Shall Be Done!" Years ago we built a deck (read that post) off our patio door and we love it. It's so useful, especially with the puppy. But I don't think we get a lot of great use out of it the 3-4 months each year we comfortably get to use it. And the main issue is ... it doesn't have the right furniture on it. Let's consider: my favorite thing to do is read outside in the sun; smoothie and dog by my side. However, my seating choices were limited to an iron chair with cushions, legs up on another chair, and propped-up rather uncomfortably. My reading session don't last long. Also consider that metal dining set (which is tw...

We've owned our Crate and Barrel kitchen table since the year Leah was born ... that's 13 years. It's a white pedestal table and we've moved it from New Jersey to Illinois and Illinois to France and back. We've had infants learn to eat at this table, big family dinners, I've created all kinds of crafts, colored a million pictures. And scrubbed it a million times. I even successfully removed hot pink nail polish from it. It's been all things to us and it will always have a special place in our hearts. But ... the time has come to replace it. It's stained and chipped and doesn't ever look clean anymore. It wobbles when the leaf is in. Wayfair Valerie table has long been a favorite. It's got this rustic, slightly modern with a little traditional in the legs. And the driftwood color is a gorgeous neutral. But I really like this Pier 1 table, as well . I like the idea of legs under the table, so it's easier to push in chairs and no...

I bought this dress for my birthday in April and haven't had the right occasion to wear it until last weekend. I love it so much ... and it was comfortable and flattering. I got it from J.Crew on a very good sale ... here's the link . For me, they do denim so so so well. In fact, this is the third J.Crew denim dress in my closet. ;) Plus, you can see a little more of my master bathroom  of which I can report we still very much love since our winter remodel! Related links: Have you thought about doing a capsule wardrobe? I did.

In our master bathroom, I went from this long, crazy counter that was never organized to a small one that's all mine. So, I really spent time selecting and curating the most important things that I use and want displayed in my own little space. The Top of the Vanity I love having everything I need RIGHT THERE and it looks pretty and organized. A personal goal of mine for this remodel. And all the other bottles and things I don't want to see everyday has been tucked away in labeled bins inside the cabinet. (Yup ... I got out the label maker.) Starting from the top, going clockwise: Tom's of Maine toothpaste | bamboo toothbrush | Kiehl's Rare Earth Deep Pore Cleanser (use it almost every night) | Burt's Bees Night Cream (super moisturizing) | little wood clock | Beautycounter Overnight Resurfacing Peel (also almost every night) | WM Apothecary Hand Soap | jade roller (every morning to de-puff) | yellow hand towel | Marc Jacobs Daisy perfume | handmade...

This is the type of post I really appreciate when I look at all my favorite DIY blogs. Because, you see these great renovations and wonder: "Cool! I wonder where they got that {fill in the blank}?" It's so much easier to shop what other people actually bought and installed, instead of scrolling through lists and lists of lamps and reading comments, etc. Happy shopping! Shower and Tub View The Shopping List:   Grey Floor Tile | Shower Faucet and Dial | Subway Tile | Hex Tile  |  Freestanding Bathtub | Bathtub Faucet The Vanities Wall The Shopping List:   Dove Grey Vanities | Gooseneck Vanity Lights | Round Mirrors | Black Matte Faucets | Small Clock | Toilet  (in water closet) In The Closet The Shopping List: Wall-Mounted Shoe Storage   Paint Colors: Walls are Halation from Behr , water closet is Forever Denim from Behr , and pop-of-color yellow in the linen closet is Behr's Hawaiian Pineapple  (all purchased at Home...

Summer is just about over and I'm starting to think about back-to-school. I'm a sucker for getting all geared up for school in September. It's in my DNA. Leah is going into 7th grade, so her look is transitional girl-to-tween wear. Luckily, she's not into "trendy" or belly-bearing fashions. And just wants to "not look like a baby." Alice is going into 4th and is similarly modest, but loves fashionable looks. So, here are a few of my favorite picks from the stores I'm shopping ... Boden From my favorite shop for the girls (the clothes are cute and high-quality) I found this adorable rainbow patchwork tee ( see it here ) And these roller skate leggings ( see them here ), for the win!  I'm also really into these tunic-dress-sweaters in jersey and fun prints. They're great for the girls to throw-on with leggings (short or long) or tights. ( See it here. ) Old Navy My other staple is Old Navy. They do great basics and ...

There's been a lot of headlines about what " Millennials are Killing!!!!!! " But, when I look at some things on the different lists, I think some have just reached their appropriate end. Like fabric softener -- what even is that?! Does anyone still use it? I went through a bunch of lists (links below) and pulled out a few items I thought were awesome (yes!) or just interesting. What industries/items are millennials killing ... Chewing gum - I'm totally behind this. If you know me, you know I hate gum. (And chewed-up gum makes me nauseous. Blargh!) 👍 Bars of soap - Millennials think they're "gross." I have always agreed, but now as I am looking for no-plastic products, soap bars are a much better environmental choice. 👎 Banks  - they distrust them. But I think this trend is really more about tech killing the bank teller -- I can do just about anything on my banking app. 👍 Department Stores  - Again, this just seems like the appropriate end-of...

I finished the Bea Johnson book and have found a bunch of neat blogs about going zero-waste. I even started mining through Pinterest for ideas. Now, how can I get started? The key is to start slow and tackle the low-hanging fruit. I already bring reusable bags everywhere I go, and have been for years, so ...  Check! And we avoid buying plastic water bottles, instead using the assortment of reusable bottles we already own.  Check! So, I ask myself, what makes sense NEXT for my current household? The answer, I think, is reducing single-use plastic (including packaging) in the kitchen. Here's my game plan: Bulk Nuts and Chickpeas in  My Reusable Bags Buy Bulk!  I discovered two (maybe three) of my neighborhood markets have a bulk section, so I've been bringing home the granola, chickpeas, couscous, nuts, dried fruit to test on the family. Bonus, they happen to be healthy snacks and meal-building items! The prices? So far, they are the same or better ...