I feel that the Kempas will look wonderful in your kitchen. I feel you are better off with Kempas floors that lean more toward the cherry color than cherry hardwood floors despite the beauty of American Cherry if you have a lot of floor traffic being that Kempas is a harder wood. If I did not have to have a hard floor, I may have went with the American Cherry floors since to me that beauty is unmatched but the 950 Janka Rating is not good for me with 4 small dogs and home office client traffic. I love Kempas hardwood floors so I feel you made a great choice. I keep going back and forth between the Brazilian Cherry, Kempas, Pradoo and Santos Mahogany engineered hardwood floors since I find all of these exotic woods gorgeous. It is just that I really seem to like the BR-111 line due to the sawn cut and the looks of its grain and they do not offer Kempas. So I would have to go with Bella Kempas engineered hardwood floors or Hartco Valenza Collection which both have a thicker plywood base and are 1/4" wider but cost more also. I like that the Kempas only has a medium degree of color change and not a dramatic color change difference and I like that it is about the same price as Brazilian Cherry while the Pradoo and the Santos Mahogany cost more despite their beautiful grain and coloring.

We started out with real but Dh came from a family that would get the "Charlie Brown" tree (five or six branches) and I came from a family that always had the "perfect" tree. My dad would remove branches from the bottom and drill holes in the trunk if need be to give the tree the perfect shape. Shopping for a tree with DH became a hassle. Sometimes I would have to go to several tree lots to find the one I wanted. Then came the 70's with the shag carpeting and I succumbed to the artificial because vacuuming needles in shag carpeting seemed an impossibility. It made tree time much more pleasant in our household, too. Then we moved to PA and right behind us was a tree farm. I put up the artificial in the family room early December and Christmas Eve when everyone was in bed, i snuck in a live tree for the living room, decorated it, and put some of Santa's presents under it. When DH went into the LR to turn on the Christmas music he said kids, come see what's in here. They were all surprised and later that day each one when asked separately what their favorite present was that year said the real tree. That became a tradition for many years. the artificial in the family room and the live one in the living room. At one point I had five trees. Now, I'm down to a table top, but it's a pretty big table top one and I'm happy with it. Everyone says how great a real one smells but to tell you the truth, I think it smells good for about a day, and then you don't smell anything anymore. Even when I bring in fresh greens it smells good for a very short period. Not worth all the extra trouble IMO.

I read the book last summer and LOVED it! At the time I had just graduated college and gotten my first "real job" as an assistant in NY city, so I was completely able to relate. The only thing I did not like about the book was the ending- but it WAS realistic, not a typical happily ever after story-book ending... so in a way it was good. I just saw the movie with my mom last night (who also read the book) and although we both enjoyed the movie, we were a little dissapointed. I expected it to be a different, but there are so many things they could've done better. First of all I CANNOT STAND Anne Hathaway!!! She's weird looking first of all, she was WAY too nerdy for this role, and she completely over-acts. I think she's painful to watch. The role of Andrea should've been played by someone more natural, funny/sarcastic, and she shoulve been kinda unmotivated at first- crashing on her friend's couch b/c she has no apartment, eating a lot, drinking, smoking, sleeping til noon- still in college mentality...the way she's portrayed in the book. I think Kate Hudson would've been a good choice. She's a little too mature for the role, but if this movie came out 4 or 5 years ago, she would be it. Anne Hathaway was just HORRIBLE. She was too flimsy and jittery and not funny AT ALL. Ugh she's such a bad actress. Meryl Streep however is a brilliant actress. Anything she does is great! However, the role was definitely written too nice. The character of Miranda in the book didnt have conversations with Andrea, she simply just ordered her around. She was meaner and showed no emotion. Whoever said they made her too human was right... I know however for the movie they want to show more of a relationship between her and Andrea, but the writers could've made her just a tad meaner. And my final complaint is the lack of build up with her outside-work relationships. Lily in the book gradually became an alcoholic, hooking up with shady guys in bars b/c she was neglected by her over-working friend. In the movie she had 4 lines and no personality. Also they made the boyfriend so DULL in the movie. Plus I wasn't feeling their relationship AT ALL. They looked unnatural together. Other than all that, it was a cute movie. I just think they could've made it SO much better. "That's all"

We have faux ones in votives in the Itty Bitty Stonehouse because the kids typically use it for sleepovers. Other than that, I only use real candles. But while I own candlesticks and candelabras, I don't use those anymore. I use either votives or pillars in lanterns, both of which feel safer as they are harder to tip. We use candles outdoors (we love our huge multiwick citronella one below) when we are sitting outside chatting or dining. We always use votives on the DR table with company, and often on sunday dinners at home. Those candles are unscented; I do not like a scent when I am eating. There is always a candle bedside, the kind with their own lids. That is the one place where I like a scent. Either Diptyque Fig or Voluspa Elysian Gardens or Linnaes Wild Fern. At out last house, we had a screened verandah with one brick wall. I hung an iron candleabra on that wall and on summer evenings we would burn beeswax candles. That was so pretty, I really miss it!