TILE HAS BEEN CHOSEN AND WILL BE ORDERED NEXT WEEK!

So I FINALLY made a decision, so say hello to my backsplash tiles!

Handmade, very light Beige/gray, with a crackle finish.  

I'm going to go off topic just a bit to explain a disappointing truth about where we live.
There are many little cities around us and I drive to all of them to shop like any born and raised Californian would do.  There is a city called Belleuve that has a particular attitude "in general".  There is "new" money here and that's what people have blamed this attitude on. Why it's there, I don't know.  All I know is that it WAS shocking and it IS disappointing because I just wasn't expecting it.  This mentality has bled a little into other little cities around it, but it stems from Bellevue, so I'll only address that city.  This "Bellevue" mentality is a thought process in Bellevue confirmed by those that have lived there forever and by those that are transplants.  Obviously it's not everywhere, but it's the "majority" mindset.

The mentality is:

• If you pay more, you are worth more (self worth, not $$);
• If you pay more,  you are better than those around you;
• If you pay more, you are "IT". 

Even if those items are not worth what they pay, it doesn't matter.
It's about boasting to your friends how much you paid for ego sake.
Ok yes I get it...if you have a ton of money and you aren't a shopper, then it's just easier to pay the price, but this issue is more tied to ego. 
To SAY you payed $4000. for a light fixture or $116. per sq ft for tile is good for the EGO, so that's how it is.

One recent example:
A canvas sign outside a lighting store in Bellevue was advertising a sale they were having and it read, "get it before your neighbor does".  Yuk!!!!!

Another example:
I talked to an artist at the Art show in Bellevue that said if she does not increase her prices for that particular show, she won't sell anything. She knows her prices are fair market value at the other art fairs she attends, but can't sell in Bellevue unless she overprices....due to the ego in Bellevue. 

I have named this "pulling a Bellevue".
I don't like it, but have come to expect it and am no longer surprised by it. 

So this is where the tile place is "pulling a Bellevue" on us. 
The tiles I am ordering are handmade in Portland at the main store no matter if you order in Bellevue or Portland.  If I purchase them through the Bellevue store, they are $8.50 more a sq ft.
That's $8.50 MORE a sq ft. - not $8.50 more for the entire order.
And, in Bellevue each handmade size of tile is price differently whereas Portland's tiles are all priced the same (except the penny tiles I posted about the other day).
Speaking of those penny tiles (circle tiles) that I love, they are $51. MORE a sq ft in Bellevue than Portland.
It's INSANE! 

Personally, I get great satisfaction finding the best quality for the best price...I get a rush of adrenaline even thinking about, so you know where I'm headed next week.....Portland to order those tiles.