Things got very hectic with Thanksgiving, Black Friday sales, etc. but I did want to take a moment to thank everyone for sharing their tables and to show you what I decided with mine. lv_r_golden: I'm swooning over the fall leaf theme--which gave me some inspiration for my kids' table. ladypat: Your small votive candles around the table make it look so warm and inviting. I tried to recreate that look, but didn't work for me, though, at last minute. Perhaps next year. gsciencechick: Lovely crystal! Do post pics of your new french doors. awm03: I'm in love with your dining room. The pairing of that table and chairs is truely inspirational. Joann: Your daughter has a lovely home and table. I'm so envious of her large dining room table! I ended up following Linda's advice to arrange the pumpkins on a tray. I added the fall leaves and pinecones that my DDs collected and came up with this: The I added a bouquet of flowers to the buffet: Here is what I came up with for the kids' table: Mine 9-year-old DD helped to arrange the leaves and pinecones for their centerpiece: Remember my friend who added a last minute guest? She gave me the prettiest hostess gift of two bird candles. I added them to my pumpkin centerpiece like so: I am now wondering how I can update this centerpiece for a Christmas look. I think I can use the birds and pinecones, but I need to swap out the pumpkins and leaves for something else. Any suggestions? Also, what can I do with the pumpkins now when I am done for them?

This may not be the answer you are looking for, but this is the conclusion that we came to when considering doing a medallion. We like change. A lot. So much so that committing to one design behind the cooktop felt constricting to us. Even with our calendars, we look forward to changing the page to a new picture by the end of the month because we've become tired of the old one. So my suggestion would be to do a shallow shelf where something decorative could be set up behind the cooktop. A picture, decorative tins, a beautiful platter, something that you find pretty. You have a beautiful space, and with the induction I think putting something above it would be relatively safe, as long as it is secured so it doesn't fall on your cooktop! You could even have a tiled medallion mounted and framed like a picture to hang over the cooktop that could be changed out relatively easily.

I haven't priced used Macs but it sounds in the ball park. Doesn't much matter anyway, it's not like you can return it. <lol> I love OSX and you'll find it a little different than Windows but you'll pick up quickly enough (and wonder why Microsoft hasn't put some of these features into Windows). Apple's native browser, Safari, isn't the greatest so you'll want to add Firefox and/or Chrome. OpenOffice is available for OSX if you need an office suite. You're likely maxed out on RAM but if you want to speed things up a bit you might think about replacing the hard drive with a solid state drive (SSD). Prices of SSDs have dropped considerably.

Hello all, No I did not end up with the GE Cafe fridge. If you all have read reviews, NO refrigerators have good reviews as far as reliability. I ended up with the Samsung 4-door, French Door, Food Showcase (which is the door-in-door feature). I had time to watch prices since we were in renovation and the Samsung was $1,100 cheaper than the GE Cafe for the same amount of space and I got a couple extra features like the water bottle that is in the left door and refills itself automatically. I thought that was a dumb feature, but now that I have it, I see I use it a lot! It's much faster to pour the water from the pitcher if you are filling up a larger bottle or pitcher, than to wait for the little water filler on the outside of the door. And it was my hubby who wanted that 4th door---which is the drawer right above the freezer. I wasn't sure but I love, love, love that! It holds all our cheese, yogurts a few cans of pop or water, and if I have a half a lemon or something like that, which would normally get lost in the fruit or veggie bin, I just pop it right there in the front so it is not forgotten about! The only complaint I have is that the ice maker takes up room in the top left side of the fridge. You don't have this with the GE. But we got the big 28.7 cu. ft. one and we keep a lot of food and have had no issues with space. As far as reliability, since ALL brands seem to have bad reviews, I figured the best thing I could do is get the most extended warranty possible. So I got the Citi Visa which adds 2 years to any warranty (yes---that's a feature of the card!) as long as the total warranty period is not longer than 7 years. Bought it at Home Depot along with the 5 year extended warranty which was around $295 I think, and then Citi will extend the warranty out two more years to SEVEN years! If a fridge is going to be problematic, I figure it will do it in the first seven years. And they will repair but will replace if they have to come out more than 3 times. So I figure I saved about $1300 including taxes by choosing the Samsung over the GE Cafe. As far as my GE Cafe range and microwave, yes I have loved them both so far! Had the range about 6 months and the microwave about 4 months. I got them both in stainless. Someone asked how far it sticks out from the cabinets. I can see about 3/4" of the black side of the oven sticking out beyond the cabinets and then of course the entire oven door sticks out beyond that. I don't mind the handles sticking out beyond that. It seems normal to me. I love having the double oven and the convection feature, although for 95% of the things we do, we can use the upper oven. There is planty of space fo almost everything including a cake or a deep casserole dish. I use a lot of cast iron so that is good, but I had some old Revere Ware stainless that I thought I could use. They are all good except the ones that have copper bottoms and they won't work on this stove. The microwave is a microwave! Haven't used the convection feature on it yet. Anyway, I would recommend both appliances although they are a bit pricey. They do look great in the kitchen!