This topic couldn't be more timely! I am in the process of selling my NYC condo and buying a Loudoun County new construction home. To start with, the condo had marble baths - vanities, floors, shower tiles, wall tiles - the whole thing. I hated it! Looking back, I now know why I hated it. I hated it because I always knew that condo was not my forever home. I was always trying to keep it looking fresh and clean and pristine for "when we sell". That meant that I was always wiping up water from the vanities. If we had guests, I would take every opportunity to go into the second bathroom to wipe up whatever water was sitting on the vanity. This was a constant issue and stress for me and my poor husband who was an innocent bystander to my obsession. One day my cat peed on the bath mat on the floor and the etching in front of the tub freaked me out and I couldn't look at it without worrying about a potential buyer's complaints. One night I put my contact case on the vanity without drying it off and to this day there is an outline of a contact case on that vanity. All this being said, the first person who looked at my condo made me a full price offer with no mention of the barthroom marble! Now that we are building our dream home, I have decided to put in 150 feet of Carrara marble kitchen counters and am plotting for that day In the future when I can afford to redo the builder 4x4 ceramic tiles in the master bathroom our budget requires we get now with Carrara marble tiles and vanities. Long story short, now that I know that this is "my" house and whatever I do with it only has to please me and not some future buyer, I am doing exactly what I want. The thing is that I am a relaxed person who enjoys things that feel warm and homey and used but have an underlying elegance. Marble is perfect for me! I can't wait to have it and enjoy it and appreciate it's characteristics rather than fighting them. Marble boils down to this, if you are going to fight every mark and indication of use - DON'T GET IT it is not for you. Stick with granite or something else that will look brand new in 20 years. If you appreciate a patina and signs of use, then get it and love it.

It's a homeopathic derived from a species of the daisy plant.Used to prevent excessive bruising,bleeding,pain and trauma.Can be used topically or internally.I have heard of it but never used it so don't know if it works.I have read that what is sold OTC doesn't contain enough of the concentrate to be effective.Lots of pros and cons as with most other homeopathic remedies.It can be prescribed by a doctor but has to be monitored closely. Here is a link that might be useful: Arnica

Well.... no luck finding any photos of crested sweetheart out of bloom. But, I ordered it and will post bush shots once I have them in case anyone else is like me and wants to see the foliage without the blooms. Just to be safe I'm planning to train it up a group of metal arbors with climbing Iceberg in case I don't like the look of crested sweetheart when it's not blooming. Poor, consistent, underappreciated Iceberg. I treat it like a workhorse slave, behind the scenes, making everyone else look good.

Black quartz counter top with sliver flecks with white Cabinets and my white marble floors lookings amazing and classy... Black will not change color over the years like the white or cream color counter tops that easily get stained and change color within 2-3 years... In addition, it will hide burn marks and mistakes placing a hot object on the counter tops... I have seen 1 year old homes with a nice cream color counter with burn marks that totally ruins it... Also, I am not looking to hide dust or crumbs since I am clean freak so the black color is perfect fine with me... Also, my house is well lit...