Guilty Pleasure Tuesday: Picket Signs

I spent a lot of my growing-up time living in a log home. I wouldn't necessarily say "Log Cabin," because when I do, for me, it connotates some kind of living-on-the-land situation with Abraham Lincoln and a fireplace where you dried your clothes and made toast with a wrought-iron plate...or whatever. My parents still live there, whilst they dream of setting it on fire and living in a camper in Arizona. That's the retired person's new American Dream, isn't it?

Anyway, when I was a preteen, I hated the idea of "country living," and dreamed of some kind of high-rise urban dwelling like I saw Whoopi Goldberg robbing in, "Burglar." A place where there were long-stemmed Calla Lilies resting in glass vases with colored water, leather sofas that no one ever sat on, and fancy high-tech answering machines with snappy-ass messages like, "It's me...you know what to do."

As I got older, went to college and then returned back for a life of career success in Western Pennsylvania (I'm still waiting for that last part), I grew to really the idea of rural settings and dwellings. Let's not get excited, though. The "need" for the things that suburbia offers, a coffeeshop, a place to buy slightly-fancy shampoo and an Ikea, is still something that I feel is kind of important in my life, but having those things within a 30-minute drive isn't out of the question. Having all of the benefits of urban living fifty minutes away isn't that bad, either. Basically, I want it all.

When I was a kid, I hated the idea of a little bungalow with a white picket fence and a garden, but now...as long as I didn't have the sign the mortgage, it's not such a bad idea. I know that this severely reduces my street-cred, but a white picket fence is kind of adorable.

That's what Frou Frou Shit is all about, isn't it? The insanely adorable things that catch my attention. The things that I love. The details I adore.

I took this photo on the way to the Post Office today...with my new camera: A Nikon Coolpix L120. I hate the "Coolpix" moniker, but I'm having a great time with this camera. I'm sure that I'll like it even more when I know how to use it.

I wonder if my appreciate of rural life isn't just my way of dealing with getting older. It pairs nicely with my comfort shoes and my outdoor performance clothing. Who knew aging would be like this?