Ahhh!!!!  I have so many things I want to blog about but I’m so busy!  My parents are coming to visit this weekend and the apartment is still in shambles. 

We NEED to get a loft bed for the storage space.

Check out this ultra cool loft from Compact-Living.

Sure I’d be scared of it falling and me and Mr. Bee dying, but when it looks this cool who cares?  Unfortunately it’s made by a Swedish company (first Ikea and now this?  Those Swedes are good!).

Most likely we’ll have to get something custom made… but I’m thinking not as high as a traditional loft bed.

 Kfresh designs had these pics of Carrie’s apartment from Sex and the City up on her site yesterday.  This is HUGE for a Manhattan apartment!  I would kill someone for that much closet space… and shelf space… and kitchen space.

Mr. Bee and I actually registered for this same duvet set in celadon at Bloomies… but we ended up cancelling that registry.

This is Miranda’s apartment…

This coffee table looks so much like the one I bought!

This is Charlotte’s apartment…

This is Samantha’s apartment….

Which do you like best?  Charlotte’s is way too girly upper east side for me, Miranda and Samantha’s apartments are modern, Miranda’s apartment is masculine even, while Carrie’s is the most unkempt but it’s kinda romantic with its eclectic pieces.

I think I like Carrie’s best.  It’s the smallest but it’s the warmest and most inviting.

(images via hbo)

    I want to bring texture and warmth into the living room and the best way to do that is with the living room rug. 

By the way, the coffee table with the little stools pictured above is cute!

A 5 x 8 Bound Sisal Rug is $259 at Pottery Barn and $250 for a 6 x 9 one at Crate and Barrel.

Ikea sells a similar sisal rug for a lot cheaper – this 5’5 x 7’7 Egeby rug is $139.   

 This 5 x 8 seagrass rug is $149 from Pottery Barn.  The sisal rug looks like it’s better quality – sturdier.

Overstock actually has a huge selection of rugs.  A 4’9 x7’9 seagrass rug is only $59.99.  Plus shipping is only $2.95 – what a deal!  I’d be reluctant to purchase a rug from Overstock but this one actually has a ton of great customer reviews. 

I don’t know if I want to go with a natural fiber rug like the ones pictured above, or a wool rug.  I do like wool rugs better, but they also cost more.

This 5×8 Linen Rug from Room & Board is $499.  I can go with a neutral color like this that’ll complement the green or beige sofa we plan on buying…

Or I could go with a bolder red which would complement our exposed brick wall.

I like floral rugs too like this Adeline Rug one from Pottery Barn.  $399 for 5×8.  But I don’t know how Mr. Bee would feel about floral…

One thing’s for sure – I don’t like the oriental style rugs.

Does anyone own a sisal rug?  Is it easy to clean?   Seems like it’d be hard to vacuum.

I need to buy a rug asap because I don’t have a sofa…. my parents are coming next weekend and they’ll have nowhere to sleep! 

 How cute is this mug?

(via decor8)

Next Tuesday is the Neat Freaks Event.  I’m going.

One of the main areas of disagreement Mr. Bee and I have is over the laundry – he wants to send it out, I want to do it myself.  In our old apartment, we had a laundry room in the building so it made sense to do it ourselves.  But it was so time consuming Mr. Bee still wanted to send it out. 

Now our walk-up doesn’t have a laundry room so we sent our laundry out for the first time last week.  There’s a laundromat half a block away where you can do your laundry yourself or have them do it for you. 

 
(image via nataliedee)

Anyway we picked up our laundry and there was a sweatshirt in there that wasn’t ours!  We did 3 loads worth… I wouldn’t even notice if something of ours was missing.  Plus the towels were crunchy – not nearly as soft as when I do them.  It costs $1 pound with a minimum of 8 pounds, an additional $2.50 if you want your loads separated.  Is that a fair price?  I have no idea.

Do you send your laundry out?  Having your own laundry machines is such a luxury.

Last night Mr. Bee and I went to a Peruvian restaurant called Lima’s Taste Ceviche Bar.  OMG – I think I have a new favorite restaurant.  Not only was everything delicious, it was spicy, affordable, and it’s only 2 blocks away!!!  A dream come true!

We started off with the Ceviche Grilled Picante Oysters.  Delicious sauce but not enough oysters because you know how much I love oysters.  Then for our main course I had the Seafood Picante, and Mr. Bee had the Lomo Saltado.  We asked the waiter to make it super spicy – it was medium spicy but the sauce was delicioso. 

The waiter brought out 2 kinds of hot sauce – one was a mild green puree that was yummy but not spicy, another was a peruvian pepper chopped up.  The peruvian pepper was SO good.  I think the waiter was shocked when I dumped all the peppers on my dish.  He said most customers can’t handle it, but that’s how spicy he likes to eat it too.  I think we bonded over our love of spicy. 

I didn’t take my camera last night because I was running late and ran out the door so these are actually pictures from the restaurant’s website.  They have a huge menu so I can’t wait to go back and try everything on it!  I’d never had Peruvian food before but if it’s this spicy, I can add it to my favorite cuisines - Korean, Mexican and Thai.  Mr. Bee found the restaurant – he knows me well.

 I just saw these pillows on design*sponge.  I love them!   I want, I want, I want!

When I was looking for fresh oysters for my oyster shot party, my friend Yewool recommended The Lobster Place in the West Village.  I ended up buying the oysters from the Whole Foods in Union Square but this past weeked Mr. Bee and I happened to walk by the Lobster Place so we went in. 

OMG so many different kinds of oysters!!  Fresh seafood galore – lobster, fish, mussels, clams, scallops, shrimp…

This place is awesome - definitely where I’m going now for my seafood.

Now that we have our coffee table/dining table, we need to decide on a sofa and buy a color coodinating living room rug before my parents get here.   We also need to buy:

• 
  
  mirror for over fireplace (Crate & Barrel had some nice and reasonably priced options)


• 
  
  loft bed (looking to get this custom made)


• 
  
  mini freezer (I freeze everything and our freezer is too small)


• 
  
  2 bookcases/desks


• 
  
  1 chair for Mr. Bee


• 
  
  stackable/foldable dining chairs

Our filled to the brim bookcases are really overwhelming the living room so we’re going to get rid of at least half our books.  I’m considering buying these leaning desks & bookshelves from Crate and Barrel.  They have a nice open layout and take up minimal space so Mr. Bee and I could both have one.  Plus they’re on sale right now for $129.