Not too long ago, I shared with everyone that I am the owner of a new gas grill, and so far, this relationship really seems to be taking off!  We were safe on first base mid last week with some burgers and slid into second with tasty kabobs last weekend.  I’m contemplating rounding third with a flank steak tomorrow night, but I don’t want to get labeled as “fast.” 😉

I also have to tell ya’, the grill is a nice patio accessory.  It’s shiny and new and in the early evening it reflects a glint or two of the setting sun…kind of like a pretty Van Cleef & Arpels bangle.

By some freak accident yesterday, I actually found myself alone in the early evening, and so I neglected the laundry (sshhh….don’t tell Martha Stewart!), took my current read (Keith Richards’ “Life”) and sat out back to catch the breeze and turn a few pages.  But somewhere between Exile on Main Street and Goats Head Soup, I noticed the sharp contrast between my shiny new grill and my pathetic patio furniture.  It’s kind of like the Van Cleef bangle is resting on the gnarled arm of the garden gnome.  While I appreciate a healthy amount of contrast in my decor – a new white couch atop a centuries old kilim rug, for example, this is different.  The patio situation just isn’t cutting it.  So lucky for me, summer is almost over, and whether you shop at Jason Home & Garden or Target, pretty much all patio furniture is on sale.  Well doesn’t that just “Start Me Up?!”  Were I really a lady of leisure, I would do the whole “Gimme Shelter” thing and consider a daybed and a gazebo (Which crack me up.  Do those fit under the swing set?).  But I’m a mom.  Leisure is mostly left to the five-minute drive between school drop-off and work, and so I’m taking an extra long gander at tables and chairs instead.  And there are some really attractive outdoor throw pillows available everywhere from West Elm to Etsy, so I can still get a little bit of the “lady” thing going, even without the gazebo.

And that, dear friends, is a great way to “keep me happy!” (yeah…all done with the Stones puns now).