You have to start somewhere...

...and we might as well start in my neuroses.

Last weekend I decided a lot of things. First off, I decided that I am happiest when I'm in the midst of what we call "projects" in this house. Sometimes it's crafty, sometimes it's in the garden, sometimes it's cooking, but it's always related to creating. I need an outlet.

I also decided that I wanted to share some of this stuff with the world. Now, normally my perfectionist tendencies wouldn't allow such a public display--way too much opportunity for people to point out flaws. Or to point and laugh at their laptops and say, "What the living ?!*& is that supposed to be?!" But it occurred to me that that attitude is 1) self-centered, because it assumes that there's actually someone *reading* it; and 2) self-defeating, because why not share it, give and get ideas, have some community?

Decision number three: quit being jealous of other people's skills if I'm not going to put myself out there in the same way. My friend Nikki over at The Lovely Residence inadvertently broke me of that one. I used to read blogs and try to console myself that the men & women creating them were probably jerks, even if they did have cute houses and cute kids and clever writing skills. So when I found out that Nikki has this cute little blog (with a cute little kid on the way, damn her), I refused to read it at first, precisely because I know that Nikki's not actually a jerk. Baaah! Illusion ruined! So I had to analyze what, exactly, was going on at The Lovely Residence. And then, there it was. Nikki fixed up her backsplash with some cute-ass little decals, right? Yeah, well, I fixed mine up that way six months ago! So...yeah! Take that! And I have a camera! Yeah! Go!

Then I told my friend CG, my self-appointed life coach, about it. I knew she would sarcastically provoke me into actually creating a post. This is the kind of life coach she is.


Reasonable Facsimile started as an idea a long, long time ago for a cooking show, actually. A friend and I would go to a restaurant, try out amazing food, and then come home and create--wait for it--A REASONABLE FACSIMILE for less. Then, as I got more and more about design and decorating and remodeling our house, it became apparent that we needed more than just food fakery. Not just pretty things around the house, either, but a reasonable facsimile of the life that we're "supposed to have"--the one where I'm skinny, and my dogs don't shed, and my daughter puts her toys away every night and my husband loves to do dishes.

So, that's where Reasonable Facsimile is coming from. As I look at the beautiful blogs out there--and I mean beautiful--I wonder how these people do it. But then I look at my life, and I think, you know, even if it's not perfect, it's a reasonable facsimile.

Honest: next thing has pictures of something I made. Read on.