I've always had a major thing for fairy lights. And yet, for whatever reason, I've never hung them other than at Christmastime, because the logistical issues have always vexed me: I don't want them on all the time, but I would like them on some of the time, but I don't want to have to remember to turn them on because then I'll just never do it, and et cetera ad lazyfinitum.

But we have a yard now, and not just a yard: no no, a California yard. Which is basically a second living room. We spend a lot of time out there, and there are big windows all over the house leading out to it, so visually it's just a really significant part of the house. So: fairy light time it was, but not just fairy lights: no no, lighting bug fairy lights. Which are tinier, more delicate versions of traditional ones, and which gently blink off and on, creating the (surprisingly realistic) effect of actual fireflies. It is lovely.

Lovely lovely lovely.

I don't even know how to describe the Big Daddy's showroom in San Francisco, other than to say that it's paradise. Francesca works with the company and introduced me to them when we drove through LA (there's a showroom there, too), and now I'm basically a superfan and would like to decorate our entire house from top to bottom with their pieces, please. I was in the city for a meeting yesterday morning, so I swung by to check out potential dining room tables (because ours is just way too small for our weirdly large dining room), and then oops: it was two hours later, and they had fed me cookies while I had elaborate fantasies involving pendant lights and leather-wrapped benches.

In theory, Big Daddy's is an antique and custom furniture store...but that's sort of like describing an animal-style In 'N' Out burger as "a hamburger": it doesn't even scratch the surface. What Big Daddy's really is: an Alice in Wonderland-style maze filled (literally filled to the rafters) with one-of-a-kind pieces, spectacular reproductions, and custom creations of the in-house team of welders and wood-workers. Clients can also work with staff designers to customize pieces, adding, say, fold-out stools made from reclaimed prison table bases to a dining table made from old bowling alley lanes (really; I saw both of these things while I was there).

Also: there are bird cages the size of studio apartments hanging from the ceiling, and next to them is an actual airplane suspended over a wall of buckets, and over there in the corner is a Lucite egg chair hanging from a massive iron wrench-type base, and oh hey, I just tripped over a tiger-print couch, just sitting there all tiger-printed and perfect.

Photo by Indy

Wearing: 1.State Midi Skirt & Crop Top; Steve Madden Heels

Our dining room was a surprise to me. It's about six times larger than any dining room I've had ever before in my life - almost strangely large, given that the house itself is not especially massive - and when we first loaded our furniture in I had no idea what to do with it, because our dining room table, as much as I love it, looked like doll furniture. We have a massive dining room table in our near future, but in the meantime I decided to make the dining room feel a little less cavernous and empty by creating a sidebar area next to the table.