Show Us Your Life Friday

"No matter where I serve my guests,  

it seems they like my kitchen best!"

This saying is cross-stitched on some decorative towels of my grandmother's that now hang off the oven handle at the lake.  And I believe it's such a true statement!  We've had a few parties here at the apartment and lots of friends over this past year, and it seems that we always congregate in the kitchen.  And I love it.  

Today at Kelly's Korner is Show Us Your Life Friday, specifically the Dining Room.  We don't have a "formal" Dining Room, but we do have a breakfast room/kitchen area.  Last year, from May to September, I looked at 17 apartments.  (I shouldn't admit that, probably.  Mind you, I was bored and job hunting until mid-September.  And it was a way of coping with my "in between" life stage, ha!)  

All that to say, when Claire and I walked into this apartment, we turned the corner around the fireplace and gasped.  Or squealed.  Or maybe both...I don't really remember.  But I know that we fell in love with the kitchen.

See the pot rack?  That's one of my favorite things.  

And here it is with furniture.  I've always wanted a red kitchen since I was little.  I remember antique shopping with my mom and running across a kitchen with all these red accents and thinking that it was so cool.  So here I am, a grown up, and I actually have a red kitchen.  Love it.

The table was my grandmother's, who we called Nanny.  The chairs used to be white with a blue and white check.  When I moved into my favorite college apartment junior year, I repainted and stained them (with a lot of help from my mom and aunt!) and got the chairs recovered.  Pretty much everything in that room was given to me.  It pays to have a mom as a decorator!

This October, there are eight bloggers that are doing "31 Days of..."  I like this because it means that I'll have lots of blogs to read this month!  Today on My First Kitchen, Kendra began her month of "31 Days to An Inspired Table."  

Honestly, I had no idea what to expect.  I thought it would be more on how to decorate a table, but I was pleasantly surprised today when she charged her readers to do this:

"Make a list of what you want your friends and family to expect when it's time for dinner. Call it your Family Food Culture. How do you want everyone to feel around the table? What kinds of memories do you want to create? What expectations to do you have of yourself as a cook and an entertainer? Are all of them authentic to you and your family?"

While I don't really feel the need to make a "Family Food Culture" for where I am in life, it does seem like a really cool idea.  My schedule and Claire's is so different right now, that we've gone at least five days without seeing each other more than once last month!  Crazy that you can live in the same place and not see each other.  But we do always get to catch up, and I love it!  Hence why we don't have regular meals at our table.

(And I have to brag a bit...)  Last night, I did eat dinner at the kitchen table, because Adam made the most delicious pork chops.  He's a great cook, and I think we've made lots of memories in our kitchens--it's definitely a place of a lot of laughter! 

So welcome to our little apartment's dining area.  Come and stay awhile...we guarantee you'll smile.