We had a nice weekend, all and all. First, the Man and I went to Classic Treasures, where I purchased the above--well, what it is? Dresser? Chest of drawers? Bureau? I'm not sure, but I like it very much. It has serpentine drawers. I didn't know that's what those curvy-type drawers are called, but now I do.

I used my parents' Christmas check to buy my serpentine ... er ... piece. My parents always send a nice check every year, but usually I use it to pay bills. But this year they were fairly insistent that I not use it to pay bills, but to buy myself something nice. Well, I've been wanting a nice ... er ... item for the front hallway, and when I saw those serpentine drawers, I knew they were exactly what I was looking for.

Really, they were. The day before I'd been in Crate & Barrel, and I saw a nice--chest? Would you call it a chest? No, I don't think it's a chest. I saw a nice piece, and it had serpentine drawers (though I didn't know that's what it had; I just thought they were curvy drawers, silly me), and I liked it very much, but didn't like the price tag at all. Pricey there at the Crate & Barrel!

But it gave me an idea of what to look for, and for that, I'm thankful to pricey Crate & Barrel. Because when I walked into Classic Treasures, I knew what I was looking for, and there it was. Oh, we looked at all sorts of bureaus/chests/dressers before we came across the above-pictured item, and many of them were lovely, but as soon as I saw the above-pictured item, I knew that was it.

And it was.

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The Man's birthday was quite nice. We started it off by attending a birthday party for Millard Filmore, who as you may or may not know was the 13th president of the United States and our last Whig. Our neighbors, Amy and Anthony, typically have a New Year's Day Waffle and Champagne brunch, but they were out of town on New Year's Day, so this year they had a birthday party for Millard Filmore, which I'm pleased to report also involved waffles and champagne.

We've just gotten to be friends with Amy and Anthony this year. They live way down on the corner and have chickens and a great big garden. We've been friendly for years, waving and chatting for a few minutes, but it hasn't really been until this year that our friendliness gelled into friendship. This year, Will and I started chicken-sitting for Amy and Anthony, and chickens will often cement a friendship I've found, haven't you? (I'm making that up, but I like the way it sounds.)

Now, if you have read this blog for any length of time, you know that everyone in this family besides Jack is an extreme introvert, and Jack doesn't like to get up before noon if he doesn't have to and this party started at 11 a.m., so we were all a little wary about going, as much as we like Amy and Anthony and their chickens. We feared the small talk. We feared the awkward silences our bon mots often engender. We feared we'd meet the folks on the neighborhood listserv who really drive us crazy with their constant emailing about whether or not you should kill a copperhead in your yard (the answer to that question, if you're curious, is yes, though some of our neighbors think that it hurts the copperheads' feelings and therefore should be avoided).

But you know what? It was great fun, and everyone but Will had a good time (no one was playing football or throwing food, so it wasn't Will's kind of party). I finally met my neighbor who has all the glorious sculpture in his yard, and Clifton got to talk to Anthony about gardening, and Jack did very well on the Millard Filmore Quiz, though sadly did not have the highest score so did not win the big prize, a box of chocolate truffles.

We left feeling happy and uplifted (except for Will, although he did find the communal box of chocolate truffles toward the end of the party, so it wasn't a total bust for him). We have nice neighbors! We know more about Millard Filmore than we thought we did! Champagne in the morning is fun!

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That's it for now, I believe. It's 50 degrees and beautiful here, but tomorrow it's supposed to rain. I went to the gym yesterday. Does that cover it? Yes, I believe that about covers it. Cheers!