We took a trip to the shore. It was an unseasonably warm day, and we walked alongside the ocean. The sea gulls were calling, the waves were crashing, and I kept taking the biggest breaths possible, filling my lungs with fresh sea air. It felt like a peaceful way to bookend a week that has been, for so many people, a horror show.
Big spaces above the tv are my own personal decorating nightmare. I know more positive people would say, “No, Liz. They’re opportunities for something cool.”
Be that as it may, I am slowly accepting that I’m not a Pollyanna person. I’m more of a this kind of person. I see a big intimidating space of wall and just end up living with it for months, frozen in indecision, and muttering “why can’t you contribute something to this household” as I pass by it every so often.
I am currently listening to the sound of sleet pinging against the window and looking at pictures of roses past. Normally I would be considering whether to take my daily walk, but right now I’m considering whether or not I can make a batch of cookies at 9:30 in the morning without having “a problem.” I’m weighing that rationale with telling myself, “But you could order one of those tiny trampolines and run in place INSIDE, which would totes burn off all the cookie calories.”
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Over ten years ago I started a blog called Mabel’s House. It was my reason to wake up in the morning. I took photos, and decorated my house, and wrote. I had an outlet, a place I could be happy and funnel all my creative energy into one spot. I had a dog I adored. Her name was Mabel. She was a schnauzer-mix, a pushy, loving, hilarious, loud-barking, stranger-hating, couch-squishing baby. She was the queen of the house, so it was only fitting that she was queen of my blog as well.
When Pantone announced their new color of the year, I avidly read some of my favorite design websites. It was startling how much violet shade got throw around. The word Barney was used. A lot. Interior designers were all, “This is great for, um, accents.” Emily Henderson, one of my favorites, got a little tacky and said, “If you’re really into school mascots or graduation gowns, this shade of purple is going to make you very excited.”
But I have my own opinions. It’s no secret which side of the aubergine fence I’m standing on, or sitting in, given the color of my office walls.
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