coffee and deals

On Wednesday we celebrated my husbands 33rd birthday.  He was slightly depressed about turning another year older and the never ending snow falling outside our window, but it was fun having a relaxing snow day snuggled up together as a family.

Last night we took a quick family outing to the mall so that he could spend some of his birthday money on this

Hario V60 Buono Kettle
Image from Williams-Sonoma

Yes, my husband bought a teakettle.  I guess I should explain that my husband is a coffee aficionado.  He has more coffee making machines and tools than I think is necessary for one person to own (though I'm sure he could say the same thing about my vices.)

In January he bought this Chemex coffee maker which I must admit makes a very smooth cup of coffee. Unfortunately, for pour-over-coffee brewers our pfaltzgraff teapot isn't cutting it.  I guess the Hario Buono can pour water so precisely that if you look closely enough you can see the water droplets form into a thin stream of water (at least that's what my husband says).  I will admit that coffee making is indeed an art, just look at all the websites devoted to it, but I'm not sure we really need ALL these coffee making methods.

Chemex Glass Coffee Maker
Image from Williams-Sonoma

Somehow I resisted the sirens call of every single item in Williams-Sonoma (even with a gift card in my pocket).  I can't say the same thing about my trip into Pottery Barn.  I was planning on "just looking" but then I happened upon the 50-75% shelves at the back of the store and that was that.

I got these silver ornament vase fillers for $3.99 (originally $10).  Silver features predominantly in my Christmas decorations so I couldn't pass theses up.

I also grabbed this glass glitter music sheet ornament for $1.77 (originally $6).  I don't know if the whole music sheet obsession will still be going next year, but I loved this design and thought that I could use this as a template for making other ornaments next year.

My husband exact words were "What is that?" when I showed this to him after we got home.  I love little signs for the bathroom but haven't found one that was subtle enough.  This is only about 5" wide and 2.5" tall which is perfect.  This was half off at only $3.99.  I can't wait for my husband to put it up today.

My best deal of the night were these rattan stars.  As soon as I saw them in the Christmas catalogue I was in love.  Originally priced at $29 each there was no way I was going to buy them.  Now they are marked down to $10.99 each.  So I snapped up the three they had left which basically means I got three for the price of one.  Love it!

All in all I spent $42 on $111 worth of merchandise.  Not too shabby.  I always love getting holiday goodies on sale.  It's so much fun to put them away and rediscover them the next time around.