I have a friend that has a treasure chest of honkers. They are beautiful, she has rings, bracelets, a Rolex watch, a diamond watch, you name it she can probably find it in her jewelry box. There are some of us who can wear diamonds with great style like we were born to it and others like myself that if I had a large diamond on, i'd probably get arrested. I have one friend who has a ROCK, it is around 7 1/2 carat solitare. Knowing her husband, it was an investment of sorts. She was afraid to wear it until her daughter said "mom go ahead and wear it, the way you dress no one would ever think it was real anyway." I do have a solitare, it's one carat, Neil bought it for me for my 30th anniversary. He said he wanted me to have a larger diamond but he was afraid i'd shoot him for wasting money. When we got married he couldn't afford an engagement ring and had always felt bad because he said he had wanted everyone to know that I was spoken for. It didn't bother me but it did him so now I have a ring. My wedding ring and his are alike, the only thing I asked was that it be a wide band, it is. I will always treasure my wedding ring. When I look at it I am reminded that at least once in my life I got something right.

sieblonde, it's all lovely! I can't see as how YOU need ideas . . . but you asked, so; It might be nice the wall you're going to put in on the righthand side be a bit taller, for contrast, and to give a choice of two different seating heights. It looks like you intend to curve it, that will give some nice variation too. I am working with brick out back and stone out front... but nothing fit to LOOK at right now. GH-

Hi anele; I totally know what you mean about being a vegan making your social life difficult! I am really impressed that you're a veg in a family of omnivores ... wow. It is not easy! Well, I guess we're "just" the strictest of vegetarians, although I find that my children (two and four year-olds) and I feel and do better when following a vegan diet. (My husband is an omnivore, but only outside the house -- at home, he is also a strict veg. He also finds he doesn't do well after eating ice cream but he eats it anyway!) When the children are out at school or with friends I don't freak out when they get (dairy) cheese pizza or baked goods made with egg, but at home, I try to bake only vegan and we only use soy yogurt and soy milk. (They are always forbidden from drinking dairy milk and eating dairy ice cream / sherbert. Both make them vomit and that's just unfair to their little systems.) I've yet to find a non-dairy cheese which isn't repulsive, so that's a hard one for us .... When we lived in San Francisco (CA) we also found being vegan socially isolating -- even as a vegetarian it was hard. But now we live in Boulder (CO) where being a vegan is socially easier, but when we socialize (outside the house) we're just vegetarian. We'll go with the flow up to a certain point. I have to say it is just so much easier to even be a vegan in this day and age with all the substitute products available to us! But even still, it's work. I really do applaud you for being a veg in your home!

One of the things I've loved about my remodel is the immigrant workers I've come in contact with-- what craftsmen. I'm very touched to see the South American stone workers, the Russian painters, and the Italian tile guys working hard to bring my kitchen together. How blessed we are, and what a great country is the U.S.A. And to the O.P.--- sorry, I only know how to sing happy birthday in Polish!