That alienating thing where I don't post for a long time and then post WAY too much

So, Justin had the day off work today, and called a plumber I found on Kudzu. His company is called The Plumbing Detectives, which I find quirky and charming. He had lots of lovely reviews on Kudzu and is very very local, so it seemed like a good way to go. Justin called him this morning and he showed up at 12:45pm (after originally saying he could come at 2:00pm; that's right, an EARLY contractor...). He was able to fix our funky smelling kitchen problem for $80, which apparently consisted of some kind of rag or steel wool being tangled up in the disposal. This would have happened before we moved in, and explains why it smelled so funky in there... So now, our dishwasher and disposal work, although the plumber says they are "temperamental," which I'm guessing translates to "cheap." We plan to use the disposal next to never and the dishwasher seldom. At some point, we want to re-do the kitchen, so we'll hopefully be able to replace those appliances anyways. I'm already dreaming about finding some mid-century metal cabinets somewhere... Maybe some white Youngstown cabinets??? Lovely.

In other news, we've picked up a few odds and ends since my last post. We haven't done any substantial work on anything, since we've been busy doing things like dealing with our terrible two year old and her tantrums, and I've been trying to finish up my graduate school application (barf). I'm posting some photos below of the new-ish additions.
The newest items are Roxanne's Heywood Wakefield school chairs. We bought them as a pair for $30 at a local antique shop, which I think is a great deal. They are a super cute dark orange color and they weight a million pounds and are virtually indestructible. I looked around a little online to see about getting another pair to make an even set of four, but the only ones I could find were $135 a piece. Stupid. I realize this first photo is oppressively dark, but the flash just makes everything look awful, as you can see by the second photo. In any case, we love these chairs. Now we just need to find the perfect dining room chairs. I e-sniped some cheap Eames shell chairs on ebay, but the auction ends in the middle of the night tonight, and I'm pretty sure the price will go insane before then, so I'm not hopeful. But it would be nice... Those chairs are just WAY TOO EXPENSIVE considering most dealers find them in dumpsters or in random closets of institutional buildings...
Below is the print I found at Value Village in Roswell for $6. I really love it, although I have no idea what or who the print is of/by. Justin thinks the frame looks too 70's, but it doesn't bother me. I was just excited to find something that was the right size for that spot that wasn't a million dollars... And I genuinely do love this print. I'm not sure why though. It just speaks to me...
To fill another awkward spot on the wall, I painted some thrift store frames red, filled them with shiny red wrapping paper and some super fun images from 1960's Coca-Cola "magazines" my mom handed down to me. They are basically advertisements, but veiled as guides on entertaining, with each "issue" featuring a special flower arranging section. My favorite is the one with the graceful lady who used a plant stand as a food display. As always, you can click the image to make it larger. Our camera is so bad...

My mom handed me down this super cute bear bank. He's now part of the kitchen display that is still looking weird. But he's so cute.
Our friends Jesse and Jacquelyn gave us this fabulous IKEA kitchen cart for a super generous and thoughtful house-warming gift. It is insanely practical, and I think it looks perfect under this wall cabinet. I have pipe dreams of painting the bottom part of it, but that will probably happen in like five years...
And here's where my infamous photo ended up. The hallway. It looks nice there though. I won't grumble about it too much. And you can see it from the kitchen, where the photo was taken from...
In context, here's the view looking down the hall from Roxanne's door into the living room. Sorry for the dog booty. She's always trying to sneak it into photos. Oh Katie.
And last but not least, here's a photo of the newest member of our family, Boo Boo. She was a barn cat living with my parents, but now she's ours and we are going to spoil her rotten. She's perfect. Please note the extraordinary restraint I displayed in not saying "purr-fect." Proud? I thought so.