"the look"

As if we don't have enough to do at our house, "the farm," as I've started to call it, I am now considering decorating my kitchen - cottage style. I asked Doug one day if he knew what cottage style was, and as he got a thoughtful look upon his face, he suddenly brightened and said

"what we are doing?"

"very good, Doug."

We now have dark, rich, wood cabinets, which means we also have a dark kitchen. I have taped paint samples and two pictures torn from magazines, similar to this insert, to one of the cabinet doors. On the hood of the oven, there are paint samples of this finish-type paint you can buy. One of my gal friends (thanks, Karen) got the bright idea that we might be able to paint the entire stove with it. What a great idea!

For me, it is all about "the look," and that transcends from my yard, to the carport, the porch, the garden, the entryway, my bathrooms, the entire house. I always have my eye open for that little detail that will make my home a bit homier. I remember early on when Doug and I started dating and at that time, I thought it was adorable, the way he sat on the sofa and yelled and screamed at the ballgame. (That was before the WHOO sound became so very annoying.) I remember emailing Donna and saying "I had a man on my sofa last night watching a ballgame. As if I'd found a new pillow, this man was my perfect, new accessory.

Then, there is ME. You know how it goes, girls. We are always looking at one another.

Clothes,

body,

hair,

make-up,

jewelry.

You know you are, so don't deny it. Women dress more for other women than men. Men, we ask you opinion, but we are being nice. We really don't care what you think. If we say

"does this make my butt look big?",

we are either fishing for a compliment or just trying to get you to look at our butt.

A local shop here in Bloomington, who has a look I like, is Lola Rue, on the corner of 10th and College. I read about the publication Artful Blogging, on Alicia Paulson's blog because she was featured in it. Then, I read that Lola Rue carried the publication. I wanted to go in there anyway and this was the perfect excuse. I met the delightful shop owner, Lisa, and we had a very nice visit. She opened her shop last November. That is when I moved to Bloomington. I left with the magazine and two nest prints in my bag. The shop is full of cottage, shabby-chic, and they have classes, too. Go see Lisa, gals, and take something home. End of plug.

When I bought my car, my thought was does this look good on me? My red Honda Civic EX? Oh, yeah.

And guys, when we make you get all dressed up and lookin' fine for a night on the town, it has absolutely nothing to do with you. You are, again, a mere accessory. It is more about how you look on our arm. Similar to a charm bracelet, we are only wondering if you make us look better, to complete the ensemble. So now you don't have to wonder what is going on when you come out of the bedroom and we say

"are you going to wear that?"

or

"you aren't wearing those shoes, are you?"

or my personal favorite

"did you shave?" (and tweeze your nose hairs?)

It is because we want you to look good, because when you look good, we look good.

So when you wonder, fellas, why we love to peruse magazines and shops and websites, we are just looking for the latest look. Because that is what it is all about.