Frivolity

The other night, while we were out walking, Nate asked me to unrestrainedly name off material things I'd like to have in life...taking no thought for the expense. I hardly know how to think if not in terms of expense, but I did my best. "It'd be nice to have a beach house or a mountain cabin (mostly 'cause I think it would be double awesome to decorate a "just-for-fun" themed house.)" Then he asked me to narrow the list to just the things that I realistically hoped we'd be able to have someday, that I'd be genuinely disappointed if we couldn't. Here's what I said:

"I'd like to be able to get good haircuts without also getting good ulcers over the cost."

"I'd like to be able to afford a few little somethings from Boden, but mostly just to shop liberally at Target and TJ Maxx."

"I'd like to be able to feed guests at a big yummy dining room table, without stressing over what kind of toll the generosity was going to take on our grocery budget."

"And," I admitted, "if I have a brood of kids that necessitates a larger-than-sedan-sized mode of transportation, I'll be decently disappointed if I can't drive a Honda Odyssey Mini-van (a sort of fancy, new-ish one,) cause a mini-van has never been atop my list of desired vehicles, and I'll be danged if I have to drive a klunky Chevy Astro." (Actually, I'd probably be fine, I would be fine. But when I find myself in a millimeter-deep state of soul, I cling to my Odyssey fantasy with a white-knuckled grip.)

There was one thing that I told Nate that I wanted, though, that actually made him stop walking and pull me in for a big squeeze, 'cause he thought it was "cute." (Which made me think he was cute.)

"I really want to have cute, colorful dishes. Like more than we'd ever need for just our family. And a pretty, farm-house-style hutch to display them in.

That picture is one of the things I stumbled across on my voracious virtual shop yesterday morning; I think the avarice was weather-related. Sometimes when it rains, I feel like shopping. Since it's pretty much been raining here for like three weeks STRAIGHT, you can imagine the intensity with which my consumer desires are mounting. Since an actual weather-induced spree isn't in the budget for the foreseeable decade, I decided to do some virtual window shopping during nap-time yesterday. It was strangely cathartic, if slightly desire promoting.

Here are a few things that struck my fancy:

This dress from Shabby Apple:

The Tamarind Bedding Set From Anthropologie:

It's so cheerful, but of course, I couldn't import a decent picture (double grrr!) so you've got to click HERE to see a bigger picture and zoom in on the print.

Also liked these Kitchen Storage Jars fom IKEA:

Wouldn't it look cute to have several of them in your pantry, filled with oats, pasta, lentils, dry beans, and sugar? Like this one:

And who wouldn't want their front door to look like this in October?

Or a table and flowers like this in their entry?

Or a desk like this whereupon to set one's laptop and blog...

Ahhh! It's fun to dream--kind of like shallow, selfish make-believe for grown-ups!